I never thought I would be reading a book about vampires, but from all the attention this book as gotten, I thought I would give it a try. That is when I absolutely fell in love with Stephanie Meyers ’s books. New Moon is the second book of the series and is narrated in first person by Bella and has an obvious parallel with Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Bella recognizes that she is in danger of playing out the history’s greatest romantic tragedy. Keeping Romeo and Juliet in the forefront of the readers mind actually helps the author build the tension for the climax of the story, because we can all see the tragedy that is waiting to happen.

Bella (Kristen Stewart) has been going out with her vampire boyfriend Edward (Robert Pattinson) for six months. The only thing that worries her is his steadfast refusal to even consider making her into a vampire like him. As the day of her eighteenth birthday rolls around she feels less than happy, because she is now older than Edward, who will never age past seventeen. To celebrate her birthday Edward takes Bella to a birthday party at his family’s home. But when a stupid accident that leaves Bella covered in blood and nearly triggers a feeding frenzy in Jasper, Edward’s brother, the party takes an interesting twist. That is when I started to really get into the book and it just got way more intense. Edward suddenly becomes more distant towards to Bella and finally he tells her that he and his family are leaving Forks, to never return, and he no longer wants to see her. The pain that Bella feels when Edward abandons her is extremely well written and is really what this story is about.  Most of the things that happen to Bella in New Moon are as a result of the overwhelming loss that she is trying to bear.  Her friendship with Jacob has a doomed quality to it not only because he obviously loves her while she is in love with Edward, but because he is a werewolf and he naturally hates all vampires.

Edward is Bella’s whole world and his abandonment was really harsh on her. Her whole world falls apart and as she becomes withdrawn from the world she soon loses most of her friends becoming even more isolated and lonely. Even though Edward was not in this book very much, the emotions left behind by his departure felt real and familiar to me. Knowing the feeling of a heartbroken teenager and having felt that many times in the past, my heart broke again for Bella as she struggled to live her life without Edward and hold on to him at the same time. And as time goes on, the war inside rages on as she struggles on whether or not she should move on and give what is left of her shattered heart to another or live with the whole that was left gapping in her chest. When she does something dangerous she starts hallucinating and thinks she can hear Edward telling her not to do anything stupid and to be more careful. This leads to a whole new range of interests for Bella including learning to ride a motorbike and cliff diving, because she feels that he is still with her at those times. Her old friend Jacob Black becomes her partner in crime, fixing up her motorbike for her and teaching her to ride it. Although the pain of Edward’s departure never leaves Bella, Jacob soon becomes her best friend and he helps to fill some of the voids in her life.

Jacob himself is no ordinary boy and soon Bella discovers that part of his Quileute heritage is to be cursed to be a werewolf. Certain members of the tribe turn into werewolves in their teenage years in response to the presence of vampires. Werewolves and vampires are natural enemies and the enmity runs deep on both sides. Alice, Edward’s sister, returns to Forks and although she brings no news of Edward with her, her extraordinary gift of being able to see the future soon tells her that Edward is heading on a path of self destruction that only Bella can advert. But will Bella be in time to stop the tragedy? That was the question that prevented me from putting that book down. There was always some kinds of twists and intense moments in the book that made me wonder what is going to happen next.

How does being the member of a particular group affect our identity and sense of self? There where two main groups in this book, the vampires and the werewolves. Edward belonged to the vampires and Jacob (Taylor Lautner) belonged to the werewolves. Belonging to such groups that hated each other, shaped both of the characters identities. It made Edward grow a sense of fear and anger. Belonging to that group made him scared of what might happen to Bella, because of what he was. A vampire. But on the other hand, Jacob had a total different affect. It shaped his identity and sense of self by making him happier and hopeful that he might be able to be the one that ends up with Bella, instead of his enemy, Edward. Those certain aspects of life that each character conveyed made them more unique and distinctive. Those identity and sense of self affects are not only found in fiction books, but also in our day-to-day lives.

The most important step in any major accomplishment is setting a specific goal. When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning and by dreams that need completion, then we truly live life. By setting goals, people keep their mind focused on those goal and off the obstacles that will arise when they’re striving to do their  best. If there is a goal in life that takes a lot of energy, that requires a lot of work, that ”incurs” a great deal of interest and that is a challenge, waking up to see what the new day brings will be one of the reasons that goal was originally set.

A person needs to achieve certain goals in one’s life before you can call them successful. Success is to achieve goals, that have been set. I have set certain goals I would like to achieve in my lifetime. They are personal while others are professional. My professional goals in life are to find a good job that makes me happy, get a good education, and find a job that makes enough money for me to support my family.

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. People aim too high for high positions in life. That could be a problem when they know they could never be able to reach that high and never get to that position. But when people do achieve those goals that they have wanted to achieve, they do not get that sense of happiness or ‘’satisfactory”. When people set their goals and dreams in life, they do not know the great deal of challenges that follow or all the hard work that has to be done to achieve that goal. Only the benefits gained are taken into consideration. All the disadvantages are left out of this issue,when those deprivations could affect the person in a great deal of ways.

It is very important for me to receive a good education. Most job fields require a descent education. If I don’t have an education I would not be able to function properly at the work place and I would not understand what to do. To maintain a good job that will make good money will require me to go thorough schooling or training and maybe even both. Education is the first and foremost way to become successful, because the job I will choose will need me go to school and maybe even beyond college.

My family has always wanted me to be a ”lawyer” . I thought about what they said and about all the hardships that I would face trying to get to that position. And instead of being a lawyer, which is something I have never even thought of doing, I set my goal for being a doctor. They support me through my decision, because they know that I have always wanted to have a position in medicine. Even though I am aware of all the struggles I am going to face, I still look forward to it. The motivation I get from family and friends plays a big role as well. Their support helps me consider what my life is going to be like after I accomplish that goal. What I get by achieving my goals is not as important as what I become by achieving them.

Everyone changes in different ways. It could be a small change or a big change. I know I have definitely changed. Moving to “Canada” changed my perspective and my philosophy of life. It made me more aware of what kinds of things are expected from me as a teenager. It changed the way I act with people. It changed the way I talk and made me think more of what I should say before I say it.

Changing as person is a big step for me. I would have to adapt to the differences. That is what I had to do when I moved to Canada. I had to live the same way people here live, which is very differently from my way. I guess this is not a bad thing, because I could learn new things and learn more about different “cultures”. It teaches me how to be different and how to deal with life’s struggles. Moving here made me more “distinguished” from the rest in the way I talk, the way I behave, the way I learn, and they way I deal with things. I was influenced by many people including my parents and my friends.

Many people are like me too. Some of them change in big ways, while others don’t.
Moving to Canada was the main reason is changed so much. Even though there has been other things and events in my life that have changed me and made me the person I am, moving was a very good experience. I don’t really want to move back, because I want to keep learning and changing.

Throughout the year, I have read different books with various stories. But one of the books stood out the most. “Here Today” written by “Ann M Martin” is the book I chose to write about, because I’m sure it would relate to any teenager in our society and questions that are asked everyday are answered in here. It talks about a young girl named Ellie that lives with her family in a small town called Spectacle. After her mother, Doris, gets a job as a model and moves to New York City, Ellie begins to struggle to take care of her siblings. In the climax of the story, Ellie decides that it would be best if she just ran away to New York to find her mother. She thought that she could get her mother back and everything would be back to normal.

But what she didn’t know is that her mother’s actions are going to bring her family various consequences that she is going to have to deal with. It shows us that other people’s actions can affect us as well. This all ties back to when Doris left her family behind, which was a bad decision. She had to make a decision of running away or staying back. But Ellie went to find her mother for many reasons. Emotions and feeling were playing an important role in Ellie’s decision making. These feeling and emotions where spiraling and were getting out of control. She needed her mother beside her, which is what every teenage girl needs. Apparently, Ellie valued her mother and she wanted her back in her life. She valued their relationship. Values was one of the causes that made Ellie go with the decision she made.

Another reason Ellie went to find her mother is because she felt like she was being pressured to do it. This tells us that parents are a big part of our decision making process. Usually, we tend to be pressured to make decisions that would please our parents and peers. But in my opinion, we have to do what we think is right, because the choice we make when we are younger would affect us for the rest of our lives. “Consequences” is another major reason. People make decisions without thinking of the consequences that follow after. Even after Ellie goes to get her mother back, Doris stays in New York City and tells Ellie that she doesn’t want to live with her children anymore. Ellie thought that it was a waste of time that she came to New York. But after she goes back to her town, she gets in trouble with her father. She had to do many chores around the house and take care of her younger siblings. Throughout the whole book Ellie’s thoughts, struggles, and emotions are clearly portrayed and explained through the author’s words and analogies. Even though these consequences of cleaning and taking care of other people are not very big, people today are faced with many bigger consequences and issues that have to be dealt with on daily basis.

Just like I said in the beginning, anyone could relate to this story of life pressures, values and consequences. I know I could. Four years ago, my parents wanted to move to Canada, because they thought that it would be a good place for us to live. Of course, I didn’t want to move and leave my family and friends behind. I felt like I was being pressured to do it. But I was only twelve years old and didn’t really have a say in my parents decisions. When I moved to Canada, I really liked it here and regret wanting to stay back. It comes to show me that decisions don’t always have to be bad ones. They can be good if you can think of all the consequences that might arise with the decision. So far I haven’t had to make any life changing decisions, but I know that I will have to make one soon. I have make a good choice when I have to pick what I want to be when I’m older. I am being pressured by my family to decide on something that would benefit me for the rest of my life. But the decision that I will make is going to be one were I will know all of it’s consequences.

“Titanic”, the film which cost 200+ million dollars is a good film that was catipulted into becoming a great, best picture winning film. The Titanic received 11 oscars out of 14 nominations in 1998. Brock Lovett is a treasure hunter searching for profit under the sea in the debris of the wrecked liner Titanic. In particular, he is searching for a necklace featuring an historic blue diamond that is rumoured to have sunk with the ship. He believes he is on the right track when his crew retrieves a safe in which he finds a sketch of a beautiful woman wearing the diamond. The drawing is shown on a TV news programme, and an old lady called Rose Dawson Calvert comes forward claiming that she is the woman in the drawing. When questioned by the treasure hunters, she tells them her story.

When she joined the Titanic for her maiden voyage Rose DeWitt Bukater “(Kate Winslet)”as she was known then, was 17 years old. Her mother had little money, so she was taking Rose to America to marry rich Cal Hockley- a match that Rose would rather have avoided. Attempting to commit suicide, she was saved by Jack Dawson “(Leonardo DiCaprio)”, a charming third-class passenger that won a free ticket on the Titanic in a poker game. Jack and Rose started to spend time together, ultimately falling in love, in spite of the disapproval of both her mother and Hockley. Hockley would have done anything to prevent Jack seeing Rose, and falsely accused him of theft. After Rose realizes that Jack was innocent, she goes to save him from the bottom of the ship where Hockley locked him up. After all the struggles and pain the two characters go through during the sinking of the ship, they end up leaving each other forever.

Even though some people say that they don’t cry while watching this movie, I am the total opposite. Every time I see it, I start to cry and the worst thing about it is that I can’t stop. The only part that makes me cry is the music in the credits and the part where Jack is drowning. I just couldn’t believe that the people that were saved on the boats, didn’t help the people that were stuck in the freezing water. But if you look at that today, I don’t think anything would change the people’s perspective and make them go help the ones in need. I would absolutely go see this movie again, because it is something I would never get tired of watching.

“How can I be happy”? is an “Epicurean” and a “Stoic” question that would explain their beliefs. In the old city of Rome, there was two types of citizens. The patricians and the plebs. The patricians population, was mainly composed of the senators and the wealthier citizens of Rome, which meant that only members of the patricians could be elected to be in the senate. There where three well known senators- Julius Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey. These three popular senators had different views on the philosophy of life.

“Julius Caesar” followed the philosophy of Epicureanism. Epicureans embrace Aristotle’s conception of self-love, because the goal of Epicureanism is pleasure achieved through the removal of physical pain and mental anxiety. The Epicureans just wanted to be happy and have fun. They never thought of the consequences of their actions. This lead to the belief of having free will and no immortal soul. Nothing can come from nothing and that the things that have been on earth have always been here, are some of the other beliefs of Epicureanism. There is no reason for things to happen around us and that everything occurred, because of chance or change.

Most of the citizens of Rome were called plebs. They weren’t exactly rich or popular. They just did what benefited them and what they thought was right. The plebs were Stoics, which means that something can come from nothing. Unlike the Epicureans, the Stoics grant the highest importance to self-preservation, by believing that virtue and wisdom are the necessary abilities to achieve satisfaction. They were followers of the philosophy of having an immortal soul, but not free will. Stoic people believed in God and that everything happens for a reason. Since they thought that something can come from nothing, they believed that our universe and our surroundings were here forever. Our universe is made up of small atoms that have been there since the formation of earth.

Since Crassus was a Stoic, most of the plebs were following in his footsteps. But that all changed around, when Caesar began to promise and offer the citizens land grants and raises in their salary. They started following Caesar and wanted him to be king, because that would definitely raise their standard of living. The assassins of Caesar saw him as an intimidation to their system of government and thought that it would be the right time to get rid of him. I don’t blame the plebs for following Caesar, because if I was living in Rome at that time, I would be very lucky if I got a salary raise or a land grant. I guess now the plebs had to go back to their old ways of following Stoicism.

Wherever you look today, you can see people helping each other. That is what I tried to do on the day of the bake sale. For one of our leadership activities, one of the groups had to have a bake sale to raise money. I thought it was a very good idea and an excellent way to raise money. The bake sale was being held at lunch and two of the group members were not there to help out. One of the members of the group is a really good friend of mine, so I thought that they would really appreciate if I helped out.

I had to go to the kitchen of the school and prepare some of the food there. I unpacked some of the pastries and sweets. With the help of my friends, I took the food and placed on on the tables in the cafeteria. We sold a lot of food and sweets. Many people were buying them, which was a very good sign that we were getting a lot of money for the fundraiser. When the bake sale was over, I helped count all the money that the group made, which was a lot.

Even though I wasn’t a part of that group, I still thought that it would be helpful. And I was right about that. They really appreciated my help. Even though it wasn’t a huge good deed, I still felt the sense of accomplishment. I absolutely don’t regret taking my lunch our to help out some of my classmates. In my opinion, doing something like that is something big.

Racing,
Running as fast as I can.
I feel my heart in my chest.
I know what I’m looking for,
Im just lost.
I trip over nothing,
Reminding me of my struggles.
I don’t like looking back.
The grass cushions my fall,
Like their sympathy to my mourning.
I’m trapped,
Like the fence surrounding this field.
The clear sky and freedom,
Defines those moments.
And I get up.
Remember the happiness,
Those that care for you,
Always strong like the tallest tree.
Their smile, my laughter,
The good times.
I see it in the clearing,
My history in that rotting cabin.
The life of my ancestors,
So fragile with meaning.
And the missing door invites me in.
The smell of age,
The dust, preserved.
Beneath the dirt lies a photograph,
Where I descend from,
Where am I going?
I don’t see myself,
But I know I’m there somewhere.
I don’t understand.
It’s like going in circles.
I’m not them.
I step outside,
And walk toward the still water.
All the years it sustained,
Through drought and flood.
Like a family.
I stand near the edge,
And glance through the muddy water,
I see my reflection, and I recognize myself.
They may still run in my blood,
But I’m satisfied with who I am.

When we started writing poems over the course of the year, I have seen many people change in their forms of writing. When I write my poems, I try to convey messages to the reader. I give enough information for the reader to understand the poem, but I still try to keep the reader guessing. I tell the reader what the story is about from many different angles. This allows them to understand the poem from many different points of views. One of my poems that has all of those characteristics is called “The Murder”. I usually write poems that inspire me. Those poems give me many great ideas that I can use. Poems writing is not as easy as it seems. You need to have a main topic to write about. Writing poems in grade 10, definitely made me more acknowledged and aware of what kinds of poems people like to read.

I noticed that “Shelby’s Poems” also share the same characteristics as mine. We both try to portray messages, but she her poems are way more detailed. She describes what is happening in every situation. She goes deep into the story and tells the reader the exact emotions and feelings that main character is going through. In one of her poems, she kept going back to “previous experiences” that the character has went through. Tying past experiences with present situations allowed Shelby to explain what is happening in the story. The poem was talking about someone being lost a and not finding their way to where they need to go. The way we write our stories is very interesting and significant.

The”iPod Touch” is a portable media player and a personal digital assistant. It has many different features, including Apple’s Safari web browser, access to Apple’s ”App Store,”external volume controls, a built-in speaker, a contoured back, and Bluetooth support. It is the first iPod with wireless access to the iTunes Store. The second generation iPod Touch has a glass touchscreen display covering most of the top surface and a physical home button off the touchscreen. It has many more features than the other iPods, including maps, weather, youtube, and e-mail.

The iPod Touch rates between $300 and $600, depending on how much music and information it holds. 100 million 8 gigabit flash chips have been placed on Apple’s order form for 2009. This is almost double the amount that Apple ordered last year. This sleek and innovative device will keep you plenty entertained for sure. Especially with music apps from Pandora and AOL adding Internet radio capability.

People usually mistake the iPod Touch for the ”iPhone”. They both share the same hardware platform and are controlled by the same operating system. The iPod Touch lacks some of the iPhone’s features such as access to a phone network and a camera. The iPod Touch is slimmer and lighter than the iPhone. The iPod touch is a device that everyone in today’s world should have. The advertisement and commercials that we see everyday, also help people get more information about the iPod Touches. It helps the apple store get many more customers and more people are now interested in buying an iPod Touch.

This is the link to my five easy pieces. I think I did a really good job on that poem.

http://iblog.stjschool.org/jeljawhari/2009/05/01/five-easy-pieces/

This is the link to Jesse’s first line poem called the undefeated.

http://iblog.stjschool.org/jmckay/2009/04/27/i-stared-at-their-faces/

This is the link to Tracy’s a journey to nowhere

http://iblog.stjschool.org/tstafford/2009/05/06/a-journey-towhere