Lit Circle Reflection

For the Animal Farm unit we have been meeting in small groups to discuss the chapters.  Using this method allows us to go more in depth to see what the author is saying in-between the lines.  Our first discussion was a bit slow but, like everything else, it isn't ever perfect the first time.  I didn't mark all the pages I wanted to discuss in the reading making it more difficult to go back in the book and point out passages.  I also didn't give my group members enough time to answer the questions.  Our group was more timid and less thorough with our answers to the questions.  In the self evaluation, I graded myself very similar to Ms. Harper with mostly the same grade in each category.   I felt our group was more prepared for the next discussion.  This was due to the fact that we knew what to expect and already had  one discussion.  Our second discussion was much more detailed and we were able to break down the text even more.  We had an overall better energy and were more comfortable throughout the discussion.  I also came more ready individually and I was able to contribute more to the conversation.  We still need to improve the depth of our discussions so we can explore all the different aspects of the writing.  In conclusion, my group and myself have improved from the first to the second discussion and we will further improve as the discussions continue.

A Great Leader

A Leader who has made a difference in my life is is Coach Murph.  Coach Murph is an assistant Cross Country coach and has been my coach for almost two seasons.  She was one of Coach Hunter’s runners when she was a student at San Ramon and now she works along side of him as a dedicated coach.  She is so nice and relatable and is someone you can talk to anytime about anything.  She is firm and well respected while helping the runners achieve their goals.  At every race she cheers loudest of all.  She is very encouraging and really wants everyone to do their best. Coach Murph is very hard working.   In addition to coaching, she is a middle school PE teacher and after working hard all day she comes to San Ramon to practice with us.  Coach Murph is an amazing runner and has run in four 100 mile races, completing all four!  She is so inspirational because when she is running she raises money for Miles for Smiles, sending kids to camp who

cannot afford it.  Murph is such an amazing runner and person and makes me want to work hard in practice everyday.

            
Unlike Coach Murph, Ralph is just a kid with not as developed leadership qualities.  He sometimes does what is best for the group and is not very motivational.  He is unable to get the boys to work together and aim for a common goal.  His weak leadership skills make some of the boys angry.  The boys on the island begin to grow apart and eventually become two separate tribes.  These tribes, one headed by Jack and the other by Ralph, turn into enemies. 

Two major things that enhance this rivalry are, Jack stealing Piggy’s glasses and Ralph trying to bring the rest of the boys back to his tribe.  Coach Murph on the other hand is very authoritative and is a great leader for our team.  Coach Murph has been an amazing leader in my life and I would never be where I am in my running without her.  

Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief: Brimmed with Secrets

Reviewed by Ellie Stoutt

The Holocaust is something we will never forget.  It was a time where an entire religion was being tortured and killed by their own country.  An extreme act of racism where there were victims, prosecutors, and people who just stood by and watched.  As Mosane Katsav said, “The Holocaust is not only a tragedy to the jewish people, it is a failure to humanity as a whole.”  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak takes place in this catastrophic time period.  

The Book Thief is a realistic fiction book that is centered around the main character Liesel Meminger, a nine year old german girl whose story is told by the voice of death. Liesel has had a sad life, she does not really remember her father, her mother gave her up and is assumed to be dead because her beliefs did not coincide with Hitler’s codes, and her brother died on the train ride to their new foster parents.  However, as the voice of death said, “You could argue that Liesel Meminger had it easy.  She did have it easy compared to Max Vandenburg.  Certainly, her brother practically died in her arms.  Her mother abandoned her.  But anything was better than being a Jew”(Zusak 161).  She is brought to Hans and Rosa Hubermann who are on the poorer side of the social pyramid.  Rosa is very strict where Hans is on the rather soft side but, they are both great parents to Liesel.  Liesel never learned how to read.  When she begins to go to school the other kids tease her for not being able to read and as a result she develops a great desire to read.  She has already stolen one book, The Grave Digger’s Handbook, from there she begins to steal more books from burnings and books she happens to find that others have left behind.  With the help of her foster father Hans who begins to secretly read with her and the mayor’s wife who is more than generous when sharing her books, Lisel begins to read one word at a time.  Then arrives Max who is a friend of Han’s son.  There’s something very dangerous about Max, he is Jewish.  This brings great risk to the Hubermanns and gives great responsibility to Liesel who is forced to keep all these secrets.

This book is very descriptive and has amazing imagery.  “A mountain range of rubble was written, designed, erected around her.  She was clutching a book”(Zusak 13). The Book Thief shows what it was truly like to live in the Holocaust time period.  Time Magazine said, “Zusak doesn’t sugarcoat anything…”  Focusing on Liesel gives a unique perspective on the book.  She is effected by the Holocaust blatantly but, is not necessarily harmed by it.  She is almost shielded by the harm of the Holocaust but ,as the book progresses the shade is slowly lifted.  The atrocity of the time is being described through her innocent eyes.  She also talks to people who are very pro Hitler and do not completely understand what he is doing to their country.  Liesel is growing up in a home where they are neutral.  Her parents do not really like Hitler but they do not speak out about it and this gives Liesel a different outlook on the way Hitler rules versus some of her other friends.  “‘Did the Füherer take her away?’... He said, ‘I think he might have, yes.’... ‘I knew it.’ ‘I hate Füherer,’ she said. ‘I hate him.’... He slapped Liesel Meminger squarely in the face”(Zusak 115). 

The story may have come across stronger if the Hubermanns themselves were Jewish then it would have shown what it is truly like for someone who is Jewish to live in these times.  However, the small parts about Max and what it is like for him living in the basement are very informative and helpful to the book.  Although I cannot relate to Liesel Meminger very well, you can really feel her sorrow and the way Death tells the story you can just picture how horrible it would be to be in her shoes.  Overall, The Book Thief is an outstanding novel that conveys a harsh but, true story about the Holocaust.  Even though it is a very deep subject the book flows nicely and is easy to follow.  It will have an extreme impact on anyone who picks it up. 

  

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. New York: Random House Inc., 2006. Print

Malcolm Gladwell and Unconscious Thinking

          William Gladwell's hard hitting piece of writing brings up a topic that most of us never really think about, unconscious thinking.  One example he talks about is William Harding.  Harding was chosen as President because of his good looks.  The thing I found most shocking about this was the fact that the main reason he was elected was his appearance.  This shows that even though we may deny it, we do occasionally judge others based on their appearance.  Although Harding was good looking, he is said to be one of the worst presidents in United States history.  We should always learn about all aspects of a possible leader before giving them our vote.  A good leader should be smart, experienced, hard working, and able to make tough decisions and stand by their decisions.  People automatically went with the more attractive option without really thinking about it.  In other words, they were biased towards better looking people.
         
          We all have biases whether we like it or not. People may try to undo these biases however they cannot be undone because they are done without thinking.  Malcolm Gladwell also mentions the IAT test.  This stands for the Implicit Association Test which tests your implicit or unconscious decisions.  This test reveals some results that may shock some people or make them feel uncomfortable.
         

          As a class, we were able to go online and take this test.  The test has many different topics on unconscious thinking, the two I took were the Gender and Race tests.  The gender test was to see if you associated men with career and women with family or men with family and women with career.  The point was too see if you thought women should take care of the kids and the house and men should work or vise-versa.  My results for this test were very little to no biases toward either group.  The race test related European Americans to "bad" words such as nasty and horrible, and African Americans to "good" words such as joy and love then the words bad and good were switched. This is where you saw if you are partial to European or African Americans.  My result for this test was a very slight preference towards European Americans.  This result was surprising to me because I didn't think I had any biases.  The truth is we all have unconscious biases however, we have never realized them.

Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink talks more about these unconscious biases.  Here is a link to a video where he talks about the book and unconscious thinking.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TRioBKpUwY

Monday vs. Tuesday Late Schedule

          For the school as a whole, the Monday schedule is more beneficial.  It allows the students with A periods to not have a change in schedule and all students get to wake up later on Mondays to help everyone gradually wake up earlier making it a nice transition from the weekend. This year everyone gets to sleep in late.  In the past, school started at 8:30 for all students making the start of school no later for non A period people.  Now school starts at 8:40 for students with A periods and 9:30 for students without, making school start later for everyone.  Last year, after sixth period on Tuesdays students still had to go to A period at the end of the day. This made the day much longer for both students and teachers.  In addition people who played after school sports had to wait over an hour for "A" period to finish to start practice.  Now sixth period is the last class for everyone everyday.  With the start times now staggered on Mondays, traffic is lighter in the morning.  Before you had to get up earlier to avoid traffic in the morning, since the whole school was starting at the same time.
         
         Some people like the Tuesday schedule because lunch was an hour earlier.  Although we now eat lunch at 12:55 instead of 11:55, it doesn't really feel that much longer and you can always have a snack at brunch or during passing periods.  Plus people were often hungry at the end of the day because we ate lunch so early.  Some students also liked the Tuesday schedule because they had time to eat between school and after school sports.  However, this often gave people stomach aches and the inability to perform their best during practices.  Overall, the new Monday late schedule has benefited everyone.

Introduction to me

             Hello! My name is Ellie Stoutt and I am excited to start my blog for english this year.  I'm hoping that by doing this often will help me become a better writer.  This year my biggest goal is to improve my diction.  One of my favorite things to do is read.  My all time favorite book is Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech.


A few of my other hobbies are running and watching old movies,

especially Sound of Music.  I love being at the beach and I am also an avid sports fan. 

My favorite quote is "Shoot for the moon, if you 

miss you'll land among the stars." Les Brown.  This quote is so aspiring because it teaches us that even though we may not reach our ultimate goal, if you put yourself out there something good will always come of it and that's something to remember every day.