Shakespeare

This week we started to read Much Ado About Nothing, and learn about Shakespeare's Comedies and his Tragedies.  Much Ado About Nothing is already looking to be a promising book.  The set up for comedy is great, and the characters are perfectly matched.  I am looking forward to seeing how everything works out, whether Don John succeeds in ruining the marriage, or if Claudio gets to marry Hero and Benedict and Beatrice get together.

Mistakes

I just noticed the note under the title on my book.  It says "A Surgeon's Note on an Imperfect Science".  While reading this book, i have come to learn how much medicine is an imperfect science.  Atul Gawande tells of a story were a car crash victim comes into the ER, and they try to intubate her (tube down the throat to help breathing).  The resident failed the first time, and tried again.  In doing this, he caused inflammation in the throat making breathing for her impossible.  Reading this really sent home the point that surgeons are just like everyone else.  They can make mistakes too.

Outside Reading

The main character talks about why specialization in hospitals can make a huge difference.  In one extreme case, two different hospitals were introduced to the same new procedure.  The first hospital had new people working on the procedure daily and had a low success rate.  The second hospital keep the same staff of people working on the procedure and had a extremely high success rate.  Practice makes perfect

Daily Work

Last week we spend most of class peer editing our research papers.  Then on friday we watched a very interesting documentary on Shakespeare.  I don't know what grade i'm going to get on my research paper, but i struggled with it and the grade may not be so good. 

Class Work

This week we worked on our research papers.  I chose the topic of stem cell research.  It's intresting to read about because there are many old articles that say stem cell is going to be the main topic of the 2008 election, yet I have yet to hear of it in any debates so far.  

Complications for the Surgeon

For the beginning of the book, the main character has had go through the burden of practicing procedures on patients.  Now, as he goes into his seventh year of residency, he goes through the burden of telling untrained beginner's, once like himself, to practice on patients.  This give the main character a whole new level of things to worry about, because he is liable if they mess up.

Complications #2

I had read further in the book and it brings up some scary things.  It talks about how surgical residents go through with learning how to do the procedures.  When they do their first procedure they know the anatomy of the body, but cutting into the body is a whole different thing.  It also goes over how the hospital will never let residents practice on well known/family members in the hospital for those reasons.

Research Paper

This week and the last week we have started working on a research paper.  I have decided to work on the issue of Stem Cells.  I have gotten all my sources, but I'm having lots of trouble supporting my thesis, which is should stem cells be allowed to be taken from aborted fetuses.  There doesn't seem to be to much information on the subject.

Complications

My new outside reading book is great!  It's about a upcoming intern surgeon, and the choices he has to make or follow.  I've always been interested in medicine, and my brother works at HCMC (Hennepin County Medical Center) so i guess it kind of runs in the family.  Hopefully this book will be an enjoyable read.

Day-To-Day

Class was pretty easy this week, but the substitute teacher wasn't very good.  We learned  about the difference between ethics and morals, which i had mixed up before the unit.  

All My Sons

Everytime i read that Joe killed 21 pilotes and still doesn't think he did wrong, i am shocked. The play had a deep and depressing aspect to it, but i expected more out of the book. Yes, the ending was sad, but over all the play dragged on without alot of variation. The mom got old to read about, always forcing her ideas on others, that Larry was alive. The theme that was evident in this was what to choose: family or strangers (nation). Joe choses

Prediction for All My Sons

I predict that chris is going to be outraged by his father and move to New York with Ann.  Kate Keller won't be able to take the thought of her son Larry being dead so she will go crazy.  George will be happy and the neighbors will have their rumors confirmed.

We had the second WEST SIDE STORY rehearsal today!  We've put in over 20,000 hours total into it, and we are practicing till 10:30 everyday now, so if you can make any of the days... i highly recommend going!  It'll be a blast!

All My Sons

This book infuriates me! i can't stand Kate. She is the exact type of a person that I hate! Kate tries to force her beliefs (in this case, Larry's alive) on others. It's apparent that it bothers the other too because when she is grilling Ann to say that she still believes that Larry is alive, they show discomfort for what she is doing.

Cheating

For the previous week, which was short because of M.E.A, we have been working with flow maps and reading articles on such things as cheating. The cheating article really brought to my attention all of the cheating the people do to get ahead. The one type of cheating i cannot stand is sports, and i have 2 reasons. 1) little kids often look up to athletes as role models and dream to be like them one day. 2) they are payed ridicules amounts of money for their talent, and if they are going the cheat for the money, they don't deserve it.

Memorable Ending

Today i finished Memorial Day. It was a thrill ride for the last 300 pages. I couldn't put the book down, and i literarily read the last 300 pages in 2 days. The terrorist planed to explode a nuclear bomb on washington, but Rapp snipes the terrorist from a helicopter and the gets the bomb. what can't mich rapp do?

Class

Thursday we wrote our Reviews for the movie 400 Blows. I spent much more time than normal on the essay and i believe it's really good. I tried to incorporate a bigger vocabulary in it also, getting my true feeling of the scenes across. Friday we got to spend all day posting on blogs, but i was way to distracted by Homecoming to get any work done. That's why i'm writing this today.

Vince Flynn

Mich Rapp has is awesome! He has some hostages, and to make this guy talk he shoots him in the knee. To give him further agony, Mich give the guy a tiny dose of morphine so when it died off he would be in more pain. This all worked to get the hostage to give important intel that terrorists were going to bomb Washington D.C.

400 Blows Review

400 Blows
400 Blows is a wonderful rollercoaster ride with twists and turns. The film begins with a heart-warming song while panning the streets of France, setting the tone of a light and cheerful experience. This is one of many fantastic scenes directed by Francois Truffaunt. Also working as the writer and producer, Francois created a glorious movie using multiple aspects of film
Truffaunt used numerous aspects of literature in his film. Similar to literature, symbols were used to create depth in 400 Blows. When walking on the beach, the ocean washed Antoine’s footprints in the sand away. Thus symbolizing his past life leaving, and starting fresh. Another feature parallel with literature is characters. The mother (played by Gilberte Doniel) was portrayed as a cold-hearted woman, and as the film progressed she became suspiciously caring, almost as if she didn’t care about Antoine at all.
The things that separate movies from books are dramatic aspects. The various actors in the film played their parts exceptionally well. The teacher was very notable as a great actor. Guy Decomble’s performance was so good that I felt like he was scolding me when yelling at Antoine. In additional to characters, props are an important aspect of drama. Henri Decaë did a fabulous job through the film. I especially liked his placement of shabby rags in the house as Antoine and his father discussed how they had little money.
Last but no least are Cinematic aspects of film. 400 Blows uses mixes and matches of long shots and camera angle to enhance the scene. As the boys ran through the streets, the camera view slowly drifted upwards to give a whole shot of the streets and stores that the boys hid in, creating a brilliant shot. Another instance is when Antoine runs away from the correctional center. The shot lasts for over a minute giving the viewer a feeling of how long he has to travel, and serious he is about running away.
400 Blows and Black Boy have similarities and differences. Both Richard and Antoine are considered Rebellious. Richard doesn’t accept whites “supremacy” over blacks, and Antoine steals (milk, typewriter). They also believe it’s morally wrong to steal. Antoine steals a typewriter, but feels poorly about it and tries to return it. Richard noticed that is friends would all steal, but he said that wouldn’t get him anywhere. A difference between the two is how Richard craves to learn more and more but he couldn’t afford school most of the time. Antoine stops going to school and starts stealing when his family can take the burden of him going to school.
In my personal opinion, 400 Blows is a film that everyone ought to see. The literary aspects like characters and symbols create a fantastic and beautiful story, as the dramatic aspects draw a vivid picture of each scene for you to witness. The cinematic aspects enhance every scene in the movie to a point where I felt I was in the film. 400 Blows is a must see.

Nuclear Bomb

Mich Rapp has just tortured someone into telling him that a Nuclear Bomb was going to be exploded on Washington D.C. Even though this is just a book, that seemed very real to me. This book is about the war in Iraq against terrorist, just like what is going on in the world right now. So a thought that this could really happen in my life hit me hard. So now i'm zooming through the book trying to figure out what is going to happen.

The Art of Film

I have really enjoyed this weeks film unit. We get to watch great films and learn at the same time. Also, i see aspects of film that i never paid any attention to like camera angles and costumes. I was just watching the Astronaut Farmer and i saw how they used camera angles when filming the Rocket to make it seem huge, a distant thing.

Torture

Memorial Day had a very gripping and descriptive beginning to it. The secret unit of the CIA, deals with terrorism, has a captured a Pakistani. They are holding him and in the "the facility", a place not known to many. The men who work there are in the middle of torturing the Pakistani for information. I find this beginning very effective because it drops the reader in with the tiniest amount of info so the reader can kind of grasp what's going on, but wants to know more.

Bye Bye Black Boy

I really enjoyed the book black boy! It did start off as a very sad, almost disturbing book. As i continued on in the book i found that i couldn't put it down because i had an inner need to know how Richard was going to end up. Thankfully he ended up saving enough to the point where he could leave and go up north to Chicago! That made my day when i finished the chapter.

Vince Flynn

For my outside reading book i shall read the book Memorial Day by Vince Flynn. I have chosen this book because i have heard from 3 people that it is an outstanding book. 1) Bennet Olson, 2) My dad, and 3) a person who works at Barn's and Nobles. There is also an interesting story behind how i got ahold of this book. It was dec. 22 and i had no idea what to get my dad, so i went to Barn's and Nobles, hoping to find a book. The shiny cover got my eye and the Liberian said it was a good book so i got it for my dad. It turns out that there are something like 4 books in this series so i bought 1 book for my dad for christmas, fathers day, birthday, and christmas again!

Black Boy-Part Deluxe

Yesterdays reading really let the me as the reader get a good feel for the life of a African American in the early 1900's. I still am shocked that a boy so little as 12 has been so... for lack of a better word... scary. He say's things that he doesn't know the true meaning of, and is constantly keeping up his reputation. Although i do feel pitty for Richard. He lives in a culture in which if he backs down from a fight and just stays to himself he will get walked all over.

Outside Reading Wednesday

This post it a little late because i had some computer troubles. I really enjoy the book black boy. I find it very intresting and hard to put it down when i have to stop reading, even though it is a little depressing. The part where richard kills the cat sends shivers down my spine.

Today Was a Grand Day

I had some awesome Pop Tarts for breakfast ( strawberry ) and then did some insane dancing after school