Dear Mother,

            As a child, you always taught me to love one another. Now that I’m older, I have come to realize that there are many different types of love that we experience throughout our lives. When I was little I loved you, and father more than anything in the world, and I still feel that way now. I’ve also experienced love in the form of friendship. It’s a wonderful thing to know that I have friends who truly love and care about me. In these past few days, I’ve experienced a new and exciting type of love; the love between a man and a woman who have deep feelings for one another. This man I love is Romeo. He turned my world upside down and has become my everything. There is only one problem…Romeo is a Montague, our hated enemy.

            Mother, I am asking you to please understand and support my love for Romeo. You were the one who told me to love one another, and I have found the man who I love the most. Romeo has asked to marry me, and I have no regrets whatsoever with my answer of, yes. I pray that you accept and support my love for Romeo.

                                                                                            Love,

                                                                                            Juliet

Advice Column

Dear Anna,

            This Thursday, I am supposed to be getting married to a girl whom I love. I am just so excited for the wedding and to be married! However, this girl does not seem to feel the same way. It seems as if she doesn’t love me back. What should I do in order to make her love me?

                                                                                                                                                         -Desperate Lover

Well Paris, this seems to be a very sticky situation. I am guessing that this is an arranged marriage, which is often a sure sign of disaster. No matter how hard you try, you probably won’t be able to convince this girl to love you. Love is a very strong feeling that not all people experience in their lifetime. In order to truly love someone, you must want to do anything for them, and be with them for the rest of your life. You can’t force this girl to love you, but there are some things that you could do to make your married life with her pleasant. Always treat her with respect and kindness. Be patient and gentle, and be there for her in times of need. If she knows that she can trust in you, her feelings towards you will gradually become stronger. Just remember to always treat her right, and you will end up with a happy marriage!

Reflection

The topic that I chose for our Romeo and Juliet unit is love. When I was deciding what topic to focus on, I tried to pick the one that I could best relate to and understand. I am a very loving person, and I feel that love is one of the most important things in our society. I also picked love because Romeo and Juliet truly is one of the greatest love stories of all time, and if there is one thing that I would want to focus on when I’m reading, it would be love. Love was portrayed in many ways throughout the play. Romeo and Juliet obviously share a deep love for each other, but there are also different types of love in this book. Love between friends and family is clearly evident and plays an important part in making Romeo and Juliet the classic story that it is.

The first piece that I chose was my letter that was written from Juliet to her mother. In this letter, Juliet is telling her mother about her new experiences with love. She is also asking for her mother’s support and understanding with her decision to marry Romeo. She knows that her love for Romeo will be shocking news for her mother, and all she wants is her mother’s approval. This is an excellent example of how love is such an important topic in the play. Juliet has experienced many types of love throughout her life and she wants her mother to understand the intensity of her new love for Romeo.

The next piece that I chose was my advice column. Paris, Juliet’s future husband, is asking for advice on how to deal with Juliet, who does not seem to love him back. He is worried that his new married life with Juliet will not be enjoyable for her because she does not seem to be interested in him. He is confused as to why Juliet does not love him, even though he loves her. The advice he is given is very simple, yet valuable. He is told that love is a very strong feeling, and is not always felt by everyone. He cannot force Juliet to love him, but in order for him to have a happy and enjoyable married life, he needs to treat Juliet with respect and kindness.

I think that everyone who starts out reading Romeo and Juliet have the same opinion that I did. I was a little hesitant and wondered why we really had to read this book. I knew that it was a literary classic, so there had to be a good reason why we were reading it. As we got more in-depth with the unit, I began to realize that reading Shakespeare wasn’t really that bad after all! Yes, the Shakespearean language was a little puzzling at first, but as we kept reading, the unfamiliar words and phrases became more familiar and actually made sense. Romeo and Juliet also gave me a new understanding on what love really is. Anyone can say, “I love you,” but not everyone can express their love for each other like Romeo and Juliet did. I found their passion and love for each other to be somewhat over the top, yet also very inspiring. The fact that Romeo would take his own life, just to be with his deceased wife, is an example of what true love really is. Now that I have had my first experience reading Shakespeare, I feel like I have become more educated when it comes to advanced literature. I also think that Romeo and Juliet has shown me a new definition of what true love really is.

Alexis was very stressed with the accident, and her sister’s odd behavior was making things worse. It seemed like Kasey, Alexis’s sister, had multiple personalities and she was not always acting like herself. Kasey also was caught sneaking around the house late at night and working on mysterious “projects.” Sometimes, when Kasey would speak, her voice would be low and piercing, and her eyes would turn a bright green. Alexis could tell that something was up, but she couldn’t figure out what it was! When a new investigation on her father’s car crash revealed that the break wires had been cut, Alexis knew that it had to have something to do with Kasey who had been in the garage the night before the accident. But Alexis couldn’t figure out why in the world Kasey would do something like that!

Things with Kasey started to get progressively worse. Sometimes when Kasey would touch Alexis, it would burn and leave marks. Kasey was caught sneaking around the house late at night. She also took one of Alexis’s school year books and placed huge red X’s over certain students’ faces. She was even working on a mysterious school “project” involving the family trees of her classmates. Alexis finally decided that she needed to solve this mystery. But in order to solve it, she needed to do the unthinkable: team up with the head cheerleader at her school, Megan, who knew that there was some sort of paranormal activity happening. Usually, Alexis would never talk to a girl like her, but Megan had an interest in Kasey and her unusual behaviors. The two girls surprisingly bonded and learned a lot about each other. They researched Kasey’s behavior and figured out that there was an evil spirit possessing Kasey, forcing her to do terrible things. The two girls then discovered that a tragic accident occurred in Alexis’s house a long time ago. A young girl had been chased up a tree by some kids who were making fun of her, and fell out of the tree and died. They realized that the evil spirit inside of Kasey is the spirit of the girl who had died. Alexis and Megan then found a list of names that Kasey had written down. They searched the names and found out that they were all ancestors of the kids who had originally chased the girl up into the tree and caused her death. By putting two and two together, Megan and Alexis realized that Kasey’s list was actually a list of people that the spirit inside of her wanted to kill in order to get revenge! The two girls also discovered that the evil spirit had a power center in Alexis’s house. The power center was an old doll that originally belonged to the young girl. When Kasey’s spirit went crazy and made her try to kill Alexis and Megan, Alexis figured out that she needed to destroy the doll in order for the spirit to go away. She was successful in doing so, and saved everyone from the evil spirit.

As I was reading this book, I realized that it was the perfect book to be reading around Halloween. It had its scary moments and definitely kept me hooked until the end! The author used a lot of foreshadowing and often gave you information that was not made relevant until later in the book, but made everything come together in the end. This foreshadowing caused a lot of suspense. Although it was a good book, I was not a fan of some of its controversial ideas such as paranormal activity and evil spirits. I personally do not believe in ghosts and spirits, and I know that there are plenty of other people who have the same views. We just recently learned about banned books, and I think that this book could have the criteria to be put on the list of banned books. However, just because the book revolves around some controversial ideas, doesn’t mean that it was a bad book. I think that it was very well written and was filled with suspense and excitement! The suggested audience for this book would probably be young adults because some parts would be too scary for children. I would rate this book 4 stars because it was very suspenseful and thrilling, but was also got a little boring towards the middle. I would recommend it to anyone who’s looking for great read!

At the beginning of the year, I was fairly confident with my computer usage skills and my writing abilities. Little did I know that I would expand my knowledge of computers and writing by enormous amounts throughout the year. The biggest skill that I learned this year was how to write a successful paper with a thesis statement, supporting details, and quotes incorporated. When we started writing our speak essay I was sort of clueless. It took me a while to grasp the concepts of writing an essay, but once I got it, I was very successful. Another thing that I learned in Cyber English that I wasn’t aware of before is that when you read a book, you have to deeply analyze it before you decide if you like it or not. After analyzing the different books we read this year, I realized that they were all very good books. Speak provided a different writing style that presented characters in an entirely different way. To Kill A Mockingbird taught me a very valuable lesson about equality and justice. I’ve definitely learned not to judge a book by its cover!

I feel that I’ve become a better writer throughout this year. Through our blogs, I’ve learned how to put my own opinions into my writing and give readers a different perspective on something. Blogs have really allowed me to express myself and grow as a writer. The usage of hyperlinks in our blogs has also greatly increased my writing skills. Looking back at my first blog post evidently shows my progress. Now when I write I always state my opinion on things and support it with facts and details. I also write more fluently because of our grammar unit. I’m very glad that my writing has improved because being a good writer will be a vital skill for my future.

The last thing that I learned is not necessarily about my writing skills, it’s about working with others. I’ve learned that your fellow students can be a useful tool when writing. Peer- reviews allow my fellow students and friends to examine and edit my writing to make it better. Collaborating with other students is also another way to become a better writer, as I have learned through our Living Histories Project. Writing with others allows you to combine your ideas with theirs to make writing an easier and more successful process. I’ve also learned that when working with others, you must be willing to compromise if you want to do well.

This year in Cyber English I’ve had some hard, stressful, crazy, and awesome experiences. As I look back on this year, I know that I’ve learned things that will help me in the future and for the rest of my life. I want to thank Ms. Degenhardt for being an amazing teacher and teaching me many valuable lessons. I now have a new perspective on English that I will never forget.

This is my last independent reading blog post for my freshman year, and I really wanted to end this year of English writing about something happy…..love. I thought that this quote from the book This Lullaby was a perfect love quote. It is a quote by Remy’s mother Barbara. Barbara has had a very difficult life. She’s gone through many divorces and has been hurt too many times before. Her daughter Remy has also been struggling with relationships as of late. When Remy was having a really bad day and needed someone to talk to, her mother had a talk with Remy about love and life. She explained that although her life has not been the best, she has loved and been loved, and that’s the most important thing. I think that Remy’s mom is absolutely right. Love is what this world needs. It brings people together and makes them happy. Maybe if we all loved a little more and hated a lot less this world would be a better place.

The reader finds out about Remy’s plans soon after her and Dexter start dating.  Dexter, on the other hand, has no idea whatsoever. Having Remy narrate the story makes it much more interesting. The readers all know that Remy is going to end her relationship with Dexter before the summer ends, but they know when or how. It makes you want to keep reading so you can find out what happens. Their relationship ends in an unexpected way that not even Remy knew was coming!

This is the famous song that Remy’s father wrote for her in the book This Lullaby, by Sarah Dessen. Remy’s father left her when she was very young and then ended up dying of a heart attack. This song is the only memory that Remy has of her father. But, for some reason, Remy hates hearing the song. It reminds her of her father who she thinks was a terrible person for leaving and not being the type of father she wanted.

I think that the lyrics in this song are very simple, yet so powerful. Remy’s father expresses his love for her in just a few lines. But there’s one part of the song that doesn’t seem right to me. “Even if I let you down…” Remy’s father is implying to her that he’s going to let her down. If he knows that she’s going to be let down and have a hard time, then why would he do that? The song is so sincere and loving, but at the same time, there’s a feeling of sorrow because he knows that he is going to let Remy down.

I was quite pleased that the meaning of the title was revealed so early in the story. Since I knew the meaning of the title, I was able to better understand everything that was going on in the book and get more out of it. This is why I think that the title of the book, and when its meaning is revealed, can have a huge effect on the reader and the story itself.