Journal entry #1

 Today I witnessed something that truly made me reflect as a person. Throughout the last few years many things have changed in my life, including my beliefs. I now feel a strong longing to know "why" and "how" whereas previously in my life I've just sort of accepted things for what they are. And after thinking long and hard about whether the phrase "put good in, get good out" is actually valid, today I realized that, that isn't actually a sound statement. Sure, there are ideas of Karma, the good old "what goes around comes around" but those are just ideas and beliefs. The truth is, is that you don't always get what you put out, be that positive or negative energy. Its that we all are effected by each other, very single "cause" has "effect", an emotion behind it that has been somehow altered, influenced by someone else and their actions, its cyclic. So I share my experience with you in hopes that you too can understand.

This afternoon as I got on the city bus with a friend of mine to head home after a seemingly endless, routine day of high school a younger boy, probably a few grades lower than us tried to get on the bus. . The problem  with this was, was that he didn't have his ID which serves as a bus pass for students who attend my school. It was freezing outside, one of the coldest days so far this winter and the snow was coming down. The boy was wearing a pair of running sneakers, jeans, and a t shirt. No joke... a t-shirt. He stood there apologizing and rubbing his arms in desperation for warmth, begging the bus driver to let him on, But bus driver wouldn't let him on as he yelled at him in a viscous tone telling him that " He didn't care how he got him" because " he wasn't his problem"...this struck something in me. We've had this bus driver for a while, he's always mad about something, the kind of guy that never "lets one slide". I sat there so angry at this man for not showing even the slightest bit of human decency. I mean he was a bus driver for Christ sake. My friend quickly pulled out her wallet and handed the boy a dollar so that he wouldn't have to trek home in the freezing cold without a coat, the proper shoes, or even cloves. For the remainder of the drive home my friend and I sat there enraged at the driver. When it came time for me to get off I pulled the stopping cord on the bus and he pulled to the next stop. When I stood up I felt as if the angry had just poured off of me like water cascading down a waterfall and I said thank you to him. Whereas ten minutes ago I probably wouldn't have said anything or even been rude. But what I realized is that if I was rude to the driver after he was rude to the boy, what would make me different from him? Nothing would've made us different because chances are not many people have been nice to him in his life time and maybe that's why he carries so much hate around with him.
- Grace

QUALITIES

Luscious

Luscious is a five foot two Latina with more spice and attitude than her best friend Meretricious. She's great at math but enjoys social studies more. She loves to sing despite the fact that she's no good at it. She grew up in the barrio with her abuela, Empathy and younger brother Ancillary.

During the weekdays she spends her time caring for her brother and making empanadillas to sell at church while abuela works three jobs to support her nietos. On Saturdays, her only free day, Luscious spends her time out on the streets of the barrio. Falling in lust and selling love to different men who don't respect her or see her as more than a coin on the curb. They'd use her body for what it offered. Contrary ti popular belief, Luscious was not a stupid girl... she'd just been used to being treated this way by men, nothing but an accessory or tool for their pleasure.


 Magic

Mr. Magic is scientific. He lives alone on hundreds of Acres or land, and looks at life on earth as phase.

Magic was my third grade teacher, he taught us that if you believe in yourself nothing could stop or hold you back from succeeding. He would bring specimens to class in old glass jars for us all to pass around and observe. We all stared at them completely amazed.

He spoke passionately and quickly, but not to quickly that you couldn't understand… Like spoken word poetry.  When he taught, he preformed as if he were on stage acting out Shakespeare. His feet kicked and shuffled, his hands danced along to the tone in his voice, resembling a signer for the deaf.

Mr. Magic painted galaxy’s on the board so we could see there was so much more complexity to life other than ourselves. He’d throw atoms and atrophic gases into the air creating neon cosmos.  All the third graders would “ ouh” and “ah”

And at the end of each day packed  with astonishment, Magic would hand out lollipops  They weren't just any lollipops though. These were large and spherical, resembling planets. We would always joke that he would stab planets and serve them to us. With one lick you could taste the stars.

Heroin

Heroins real name is a secret. He lives in the most unexpected and expected places all at once. Heroin wears his money on his sleeve. He takes things and people away from life. He is volatile, a sinister being. Him and his brothers, Coke, Meth, and ecstasy all share a middle name, Addiction.  The only woman that knows his real first name is the same woman that, despite everything he does to hurt himself promises that she will always love him. For a while he kept her, locked in the chains of his deepest darkest insecurities. Stuck in a room full of broken dreams shattered into pieces like smashed porcelain  The lock on the door is i love you, I'm going to change, I promise.  Heroin breaks promises, he tells lies. The only escape from this Lucifer comes from within.Yet every time she think about leaving him, her heart plummets back to zero like a carnival game of ring the bell. She repeats the words " I can save him!" She can't. He's  lost in the world of his own fantasies. 

LAUGHTER 

Laughter is so light, when she runs she floats on memories. Laughter doesn't always have the best manners but she sincerely makes an effort to. Laughter is an unexpected visitor,s he comes to weddings, schools, performances, and even sometimes interrupts conversations. Laughter never attends funerals. She is loved by all. 

Written by: Grace Keller

Guns don't kill people; People kill people. (creative short story piece)

 The shadowed cherry wood was cool against me. The space, pitch black except a creek of dim light that broke the darkness and shinned on the spot next to me. There was nothing beside me but a few old buttons and loose change. His house was quiet, too quiet for a summer night.There was no talking or interactions being made. I just remember a constant yet extremely muffed blare of an audience laughing on some late- night talk show on the television in the living room.
   Hours must have passed by...then angry. No, furious stomps up the stairs, like beats on a drop shook the house. A door swung open slamming viciously at the wall. He riffled through the room in search of something... me? When he stepped in front I saw him, sweaty and soaked with tears. He had a gash out of his face. When he saw me he reached for me and tucked me  underneath his belt buckle. I could tell by his hysteric panting and trembling he was now carrying on with nothing but pure adrenalin. The boy didn't want to return back to the gang fight. But he knew he had to defend his own. The boy wanted his mother.
  By now we were turning corners and running down side streets. After a while I lost track of all the left and right turns we had made, All the ducking and squatting behind cars, and all the gun shots tired. All of a sudden a loud cry, a cry like no other ever heard came from across the street. Anthony soon recognized the cry. The same cry once let out by a boy named Patrick let out at his fathers funeral six years ago. Anthony stood up behind the car, reached for me, cocked me, and bang... bang... bang, started firing off random shots. No aim at all. The three boys fled the scene around the same time that the cops we raising around the corners and driving up on lawns. Anthony ran to his friend who was now lying in the middle of an intersection screaming for help and for his mother, a slim, soulful, woman who cooked everything in butter and sang church hips as she gardened. The boy feel his knees, his head flew back and his fists tightened  He swung his arms up and beat them at the ground. His childhood best friend was gone, possibly slipped into a different life or on the way to heaven. But just gone in Anthony's eyes.
  The constant abandonment was too much for the sixteen year-old to handle. He not only cried for Tony, he cried for his mother who past away from cancer only about a year ago. He cried for his little sister who had received the wrong kind of loving from her daddy at an early age and was then taken away from the family. Anthony cried for his ward and their struggle.
  The cops approached the boy and bent him over against the police car and sternly jammed his wrists in hand cuffs. The cops treated him like a delinquent, not like a human being.



Written by: Grace R.G. Keller

What is a quality?

Dictionary definition:

Noun

1. The standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something: "quality of life".
2. General excellence of standard or level: "quality beers"

Some qualities that I have are:

1. Widows peak
2. Green/ blue/ grey eyes
3. thin nail beds 
4. Being adventures
5. Being sensative to others feelings

 Personification dictionary definition:

Noun

1. The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in...
2. A figure intended to represent an abstract quality.

My definition:  Giving nonliving things, inanimate objects human like behavior or characteristics.

Example: The wind danced around the room gracefully.

- Grace <3

DANDELION WINE DISCUSSION QUESTION ANSWERS

1. In Dandelion Wine the most commonly used metaphor of the novel is the creation of the wine which becomes a distillation of the warm summer days. The concept of the dandelion wine being bottled and stored is so that even on the coldest days of winter they'd have a piece of summer with them.

2. Leo Auffman's wife is very skeptical of her husbands attempted invention of the " Happiness Machine" because she feels it's impossible to make. Mrs. Auffman is usually skeptical about his inventions anyway.

3. The significance of the ravine story is to show the readers the horrors of living in a small town. The ravine is where the towns people meet the wilderness

4. No, I don't think it's right for Mrs. Bentley to deny her past but I understand why she did, she felt as if she couldn't prove it to the young girls any more than she already had.Even after she gave them her childhood treasures they didn't believe her.

5. Every event Douglas and Tom wrote there was a moral to be learned in them. But eventually they discover many things about their neighborhood and it overwhelmed them. 

6.Yes, she kills him with a pair of sewing scissors.

7.Douglas starts to get sick because of all the depressing things that happened, hes coming to find out that bad things happen all the time, even in the summer. There are deaths, divorces, fights, etc. A man named Mr. Jonahs gives him a bottle of winter air that's cures him.

8. The summer of 1928 doesn't truly end because of the wine stored in the basement that brings back summer days.

- Grace <3

DANDELION WINE by Ray Bradbury

This book is broken up into a series of short, almost poetic stories called vignettes. The vignette that starts on page 68 is my favorite in the entire book because it's s humorous but at the same time still mantains the heavily description of the rest of the book. This part is about older lady named Mrs. Bentley and two little girls named Alice and Jane and a boy named Tom. She's telling them about how she used to be young and pretty just like them but they don't believe her and ultimately end up really hurting her feelings so she wanted to prove to the children that she once was young so she brings out her childhood treasures and they start to believe. The next day the two girls come back to her house and get to go through and take what they want of her "little girl's things".

THE LINKS TO OUR SHOTS

http://youtu.be/_y0ZCUN40vk - high angle shot of the cafe

http://youtu.be/ZlpMCMOCTUU - low angle shot

http://youtu.be/8GlxQsVWZww - medium shot

SCREENPLAY

• Put name pf project after the title
• Name of authors after that
• Tell what the story is based on (if any)
• Name of subsequent writers in order of work preformance
• Currect writer 
•  Name of company
• On the top of every paper put- Exterior or interior (location)- Day or night 
• Capitalize the names of each character 
• Under the names, in parenthesizes you put what they're doing 
• (V.O) is voice over, which is when you can hear thoughts but cannot see the character (O.S) is on screen and (O.C) on camera
• To write a montage bullet point th events in the montage and don't start a new header

The End of Poverty? (Documentary)

This documentary goes into the depths of poverty, the struggle of people in poverty, and how it started a long time ago. I think the interviews in the Documentary are the most interesting thing in it because they give you a better idea of how it is rather than someone just listing off facts and statistics. I think the set up of the information displayed in the Documentary is in a good order also and keeps your interest.

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury (my halfway point review)

    I think this film is very interesting, it tells the story of an evil circus visiting a small town taking the lives of the towns people and turning them back into the younger version of themselves. The two boys Jim and Will are the only people that have seen the circus leader do the evil things on the towns people and well, they know far too much now and the circus leader is hunting the boys town. The film is full of suspense. The only thing that isn't as up to par as I would like it to be is the special effects; They're a bit corny but I believe that's because it's an older movie.

- Grace <3 

Ray Bradbury 

  (August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012)

 He was a very well known and respected American author of Horror, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. Most known for his science fiction and horror stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles. Most of Ray's pieces have been transformed into comics, films, and even television shows. In 1936, at a secondhand bookstore in Hollywood, Ray Bradbury discovered a handbill promoting meetings of the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society. Thrilled to find there were others with his interests, at the age of sixteen Bradbury joined a weekly Thursday-night conclave.

List of novels:

• (1950) The Martian Chronicles 
• (1953) Fahrenheit 451
• (1957) Dandelion Wine
• (1962) Something Wicked This Way Comes
• (1972) The Halloween Tree
• (1985) Death Is a Lonely Business
• (1990) A Graveyard for Lunatics
• (1992) Green Shadows, White W
• (2002) Let's All Kill Constance
• (2006) Farewell Summer

He also has a ton of plays, collections, short stories, screenplays, ect. 

                            

 Facts about the author:  

• The Bradbury family moved to Los Angele's, California in 1934.

• Bradbury had just graduated from high school when he met Robert Heinlein, then 31 years old. Bradbury recalled, "He was well known, and he wrote humanistic science fiction, which influenced me to dare to be human instead of mechanical."
• Ray Bradbury was married to Marguerite McClure (January 16, 1922 – November 24, 2003) from 1947 until her death; they had four daughters
•  Bradbury died in Los Angeles, California, on June 5, 2012, at the age of 91, after a lengthy illness.

I got my information from
www.wikipedia.com

- Grace <3

Memorable films

Horror


The Shining directed by Stanly Kubrick was the first " scary movie" I ever watched, I remember the scene where Johnny the father ( Jack Nicholas) tries to break into the room with an axe and yells the coined phrase " HERE'S JOHNNY". The entire movie is a bit of a blur because its been so long since I've seen it but I remember that scene in particular the most. The camera was at eye-level and medium shots.

The movie Dead Silence directed by James Wan is the scariest movie I have ever watched. It's about a woman named Marry Shaw who cuts out peoples tongues and basically steals your soul and puts it inside a doll. There's a poem that goes a long with the movie is this "Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. She had no children, only dolls. And if you see her in your dreams, be sure you never, ever scream." The night after watching that movie i couldn't fall asleep and I kept saying the poem over and over again in my head.

Comedy

One of my favorite comedy movies is Hot Tub Time Machine directed by Steve Pink. Its about a group of friends who have been so wrapped up in their own lives that their not making enough time for each other so they go on a ski trip to the place where they always used to go. One night they all are in the hot tub and accidentally spill an energy in the electrical circuit and it turns into a time machine and takes them back to the 80's, it's kind of inappropriate but its just so funny. Most of the movie is shot at an eye-level shot however there are some birds-eye views.

Another really funny movie is twenty-one Jump Street directed by Chris Miller, staring the lovely Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. The two boys are secret police officers and are sent to a high school on a mission to uncover the new drug that's being passed around. The boys are enrolled in the school and start to really act like they're in high school. This movie is extremely action packed and is shot from many, many angles, including eye-level, medium shot, and  extreme-long shot.


- Grace <3

 

Kathy Baker (Joyce in Edward Scissorhands) 

 

  Kathy Baker played the part of a promiscuous cougar in the film Edward Scissorhands. When her and the neighborhood women see Pegs new visitor (Edward) they all call each other and gossip about who they think it is, after they get off the phone they all run into the street and meet up with each other to march over to Pegs house. Joyce is in the front of the group and rings Peg’s doorbell. Peg answers and all the women start babbling on about the visitor and how it’s rude to not introduce him, then Joyce invites herself and all the girls over for a picnic. At the picnic Joyce and the ladies gather around Edward and spoon-feed him the food they made. Joyce in particular is all over Edward because she’s desperate. Later into the film when Edward is thinking about opening up a salon, she takes him to a shop that’s for sale and shows him around. They check out the back room and Joyce tells Edward to sit down and then asks him if he’d like for her to try on some “ smocks” and basically gives him a strip tease. She then gets on top of him and tries to make out with him; he was extremely uncomfortable and walked out fast. This is shot at a full-front position frame, this indicates intimacy. As I watched the film I noticed that the camera would stop at long shots, eye-level shots, which are the normal standard angle of shooting, and medium shots to show off her crazy outfits.

Personally, I think that she could have portrayed the character a little bit better in certain parts. In the film she was suppose to come off lusty and desperate but at times it was just awkward. Over all I think she did well and truly got in to the role. Her costumes and make-up was on point.

- Grace <3

DISCUSSION ANSWERS ON EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

1. Bright colors, tacky accessories  and heavily patterned furniture and clothing were used in the film to sufficiently show the contrast between Edward and the towns people. 

2. The desired effect of music in the background of movies and films are to make the viewer aware of whats going on and to give the moment emotion. A specific time intense music is played in Edward Scissorhands is when a boy named Jim goes to Edwards house to try to kill him. 

3. Edwards costume and makeup is creepy, its all black with metal accents while the towns people are covered in neon and busy prints.This costume was probably helpful for Johnny Depp to feel in character because it already sets him apart from the rest of the cast. 

4. Tim Burton is showing that the nature of conformity is changing yourself to fit in. Peg immediately tried to cover up his scars and dress him so that people wouldn't judge him.

5.Yes, in one way or another Edward is a tragic character, because he ended up still being secluded from the  rest of the town in the end. 

6. A highlight of the story was when Ed started to make friends with people and was well- liked. A twist was when the Joyce tried to Sadducee Edward and I'd say a turn in the story was when everything went down-hill after the robbery.

7. Tim Burton often uses the same actors in his films because he's familiar with their style of acting and knows their range. A few actors that appear multiple times in Burton films are Helena Boonhom- Carter, Johnny Depp, and Christopher Lee. 

OPINIONS

I thought the film was really good and had a positive message. What I liked the most was the costuming, it was interesting and very well thought out. I also found the set designing was great. 

The incident that stuck out the most to me and made me feel strongly was when Jim set Edward up and Edward didn't tell on them, he took the blame and when Edward had trouble getting food into his mouth at dinner on the first night. 

Acceptance was the issue the film raised for me and made me wonder if I would be accepting of Edward. 

My favorite character is Edward because hes so innocent and kind. 

- Grace <3

RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT

We recognize six major social institutions that have been evident in some way in every civilization in history: government, religion, education, economics, family, and the Art.

I chose to research the Government, seeing as though I don't know much about it. That later sparked my interest to look up Government secrets, on a list of conspiracy's Area 51 stood out to me the most. I've heard about it before but I was dying to research more about it because I find that kind of thing interesting. I learned that it's a military base in thee south side of  Nevada, USA and that there supposedly is a lot of alien activity and an alien landing actually. Many people think that if nothing strange happened there then why won't they let people go inside of it and why would it be lined with guards with loaded machine guns. But what I found the most interesting was that almost ever website linked to my search had crazy ads that popped up everywhere, they were colorful with different pictures. I asked a girl next to me what she thought of it and we discussed that it could potentially be something the government hacked on to the site to distract the readers from learning more about Area 51. 


Sources:
www.wisegeeks.com
www.Wikipedia.com
- Grace <3


  

CHEW ON THIS- By: Eric Schlosser & Charles Wilson (my review)



-Investigative journalism

As I read through the book I was sincerely horrified at the things Fast food chains feed the public, the slaughter houses where animals are literally being unnecessarily tortured, and the numbers and statistics of weight gain and people who eat fast food everyday. I found this book to be an eye- opener and I truly can't bring myself to eat fast food anymore, I don't eat it that often but even still I can't imagine knowing the foul things I'm putting in my body and enjoy it. The treatment of the animals disturbed me and infuriated me immensely. 


I strongly recommend this book, its educational and everyone should be aware!



- Grace<3

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS- My review

DIRECTOR: Tim Burton
- Other movies he directed: Alice In Wonderland (2010 film), Batman, Batman Returns, Beetle Juice, Charlie And The Chocalate Factory (film), Corpse Bride, Planet of the apes (2001 film)

WHAT DOES A DIRECTOR DO?  A film's director is involved in every basic stage of its production. Being a director requires the ability to visualize how a script will be acted out, and the perseverance to see a long-term project through to the end. Generally speaking

MAIN CHARACTER : Edward, played by Johnny Depp

THEME: Romantic Fantasy

SETTING:  Suburbia







Sources used to find my information:
 www.curiosity.discovery.com
www.Wikipedia.com
www.google.com/images





-Grace <3

OUR HOUSE

I live in the same place I came home from the hospital to on a sweet August morning, the solid mint green house next to the rustic garage that enclosed our bikes and rakes and lawn mowers. The paint on the garage was old and grey, chipped and pealing back but the rapid growth of the vines that I could never remember the name of, hid the dirt stains. The window of it on the left side has a hole in it from a game of catch played years ago and is too sentimental to be repaired. This house wasn’t as much of a house as it is a legacy, passed down on my paternal side, the stomping grounds of my dad and uncles and aunt and the stomping grounds of his dad and siblings. This house is a picture book of memories, with every scrape of a knee on the pavement on the patio in the back yard, every creaky swing on the old swing set that made you feel five hundred pounds when you went on it because of the sound it made, and every warm dish set down on the dining room table with steam and love rising up evaporating into the outdated drop ceiling you knew it wasn’t the first time it had happened! The hot summers night “porch parties” with citronella candles and luminous fireflies made for a night of fun. All of the fluctuations in air pressure travel outward with sister fights, yelling about barrowed clothes and people hogging the bathroom still rest in the air molecules of my up bringing. My home, my childhood, my livelihood, 

This piece was written as an assignment for one of my Creative Writing classes. We read a book of vignettes by Sandra Cisneros called The House on Mango Street. We were later asked to imitate one of her vignettes but with our own twist. I hope you like it!

- Grace <3 

SALUTATIONS!
 I am a fourteen year old girl who has a strong passion and appreciation for literature. I've always taken a strong interest in poetry, memoirs, and factual investigative journalism. Aside from writing I enjoy photography and fashion. I spend most of my time with friends and family. I attend School of The Arts as a Creative Writing major in hopes to prefect my skill.

- Grace <3