My Documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QELep4mm_z8
Teens and Relationships

My Qualities

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Faithful

     Faithful is the woman in the all white cloak with the blinding rock on her left ring finger. Every piece of clothing she owns is white, not a single drop of color. Her wardrobe shows her innocence and her pure genuine spirit. The ring she cherishes over everything is from her beloved husband Commitment. They’ve been married for over 30 years and have never grown tired of eachother. Since she was a young teenager Faithful was always loyal to her close friends and family and in her young love relationships. Something in her made her do right by everyone she trusted, and she always had their backs. She had met Commitment through their mutual friend, Devoted, and from then on they knew they were each other’s soul mates. 

Passionate

Passionate has a strong emotion for everything she does, and gets into all of her hobbies. She sits on the bench and glides her wrinkled and worn out hands across the black and white keys. She closes her eyes as she strikes a loud, harmonious chord. The notes ring off the piano and fill the room. Her hands shake with rage as she plays but also prance with delicacy. As she gets into her favorite part of the piece her head rolls back and she goes to a new world. The music rushes through her veins and her whole body falls numb to the instruments sound.

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Artistic

         Artistic sits beneath the tall oak tree and looks out at the bright open sky. She holds her pad and pen close to her body as her hand begins to free draw. She is very quiet, usually the silent one of the group, because she’d much rather express her voice through art. Her words write across the canvas and flow from side to side with ease. Her unique paintings and abstract sculptures make here even more mysterious. Nobody quite understands Artistic, not even her aunt Creativity. Everybody interprets her differently and makes their own judgments. She is one of a kind.

 

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Inspiration

     Inspiration radiates the entire neighborhood. She steps outside to get the morning paper and the neighbors applaud and gawk in amazement. Her story and transformation attract everyone to her, and make her almost a local celebrity. People look at Inspiration and say they want to be just like her, or hope to be a pivoting figure one day just like she. Some even call her an idol.

     She wears bright colors, neon pink, lime green, and sunny yellow. Emitting her light and aura to anyone in her reach. She touches people’s hearts with her words of wisdom and her knowledge of overcoming. Her best friend Perseverance, is her everything. Without her she would not be the person that she is today, or be in the state she’s in.

Inspiration is in anything and everything. She is hidden beneath the cracks and concrete of this here world. Look at anything and you will find her, just waiting to get inside of your mind and entangle into your thoughts. She rests in the places some people would never think of, but waits there anyway for the right person to discover her.

Inspiration has been through it all, and to this day still struggles a little through life. She continues to shed light on a few of her friends, including Depression, Sorrow and Guilt. Everyday she has that huge smile that nobody could miss planted on her face, and those glistening bright hazel eyes. If you ever do see her stop and talk to her, engage in a conversation with her; understand all that was said to you and think back on your life.

Qualities

A quality is a characteristic or attribute you have that sets you apart from other people, and makes you unique and original.
Qualities I have:

• Has a good sense of humor
• Gets along with mostly everybody
• Smart
• Nice to everyone
• Genuine
• Different
• Creative
• Honest
• Trustworthy
• Fun
• Has a big imagination

Personification
To me personification is giving human like qualities or traits to inanimate objects or things that aren't alive

Dandelion Wine Discussion Questions

1. The Dandelion wine symbolizes how Douglas is alive and taking in everything around him, and it symbolizes that beauty. And he thought of memories as the dandelions as his memories.

2. Leo Auffman's wife was upset by the Happiness Machine because the joy was all an allusion. She wasn't really in Paris or indulging in her wishes, hopes or dreams, it was all a fantasy.

3. The concept of the ravine symbolizes a darkness, and even death. it also could represent the darkness within themselves, or the town.

4. I can see why Mrs. Bentley decided to deny her past, but it wasn't necessarily the right thing to do. Because your past makes you the person you are and shapes you into the being you are. We all make choices that we aren't proud of in our life but you have to learn from your mistakes and make you a better person.

5. As the boys documented they learned about how valuable time was, and how it gets wasted so easily but it sort of contradicts itself because during this process of reflecting their to busy counting instead of just enjoying it.

6. "The Lonely One" is the antagonist of the novel and he's the figure whom all the kids fear. He's connected to the ravine because the ravine resembles darkness and "The Lonely One" is looked as the figure who lurks in the dark and can never be killed. Lavinia did kill "The Lonely One" but the boys refuse to believe that because they think that he can never be killed, and the man who was killed looking nothing like him.

7. It was a very hot morning and Douglas had a fever and suffered from a heat stroke. The junk man Jonas helps him by giving him two bottles of cool air and tells him too drink it through his nose and that cures his fever.

8.The summer of 1928 never truly ended for Douglas, because what he learned over the summer he will never truly forget and will stay with him forever. And Bradbury portrayed summer to be a magical time and a little boys favorite time, but in this case it was a time of new beginnings and a ton of new discoveries.

Dandelion Wine paragraph response

"Dandelion Wine" by Ray Bradbury is a very confusing novel to me. Sometimes I don't understand what's happening in the novel at times. One key thing I did understand in this section that I read though was time. It kept reoccurring in the text and seemed to be very prevalent. Doug was reminiscing on times he had spent with John because John was going to leave to live with his father, and Doug was sad because they had grown to become such good friends. And Doug was talking about how he just wanted time to stop and not go by so fast. He also noticed how the world was and how it was changing as time went on, and he promised his brother that they needed to stick around for a long time, and they would never leave each others side.

Rules for Formatting Screenplay

• Always have a cover page
• Every character that has a speaking role is in capital letters
• Capitalize any sound that is important to the narrative
• Dialogue is formatted in the center
• Use master headers for location 
• Put the action or what is taking place under the master header
• Put o.s if it's off screen, put o.c if it's off camera and put v.o if it's a voice over
• Use a sub heading when it is in the same location but in a new part of the location
• When action interrupts dialogue make a new indentation
• Write out all numbers because each page has to be a minute long
• If something needs emphasis underline
• Indicate who you are talking to

Karlamarie and Aleah's Video Shots

http://youtu.be/-s9VQmM-Ibw
 http://youtu.be/-TanBAuExiY

http://youtu.be/ylde7GzZ9Yg

Edward Scissorhands Discussion Questions

1A. The entire neighborhood is constructed, describe the colors used in the neighborhood scenes?
They're all bright colors and neonny.
1B. What could be the desired effect in this use of color?
That they're all happy and in sync as a community, and also partly wealthy.

2. As the woman drives up to the haunted house there is background music playing. What is the desired effect of this music? Describe two other places in the film where the soundtrack or film score affected your viewing of that scene.
To show the aura of the house and to also give it emotion and feel. Another place the music is used in the movie that affected my viewing was when he was cutting the hedges. They used playful music and made it sharp and jumpy. Also when Edward was mad after getting framed for breaking into the house he was very upset so they played raging music as he stormed through the neighborhood.

3. How does the costuming set the main character, Edward apart from the other community members and why do you think Edward is meant to be so visually different? How does this help the actor portray his role?
Him being so different makes him stand out as a unique individual so it makes sense he's the main character. And everyone in the community dresses alike with wild colors while Edward just wears black.

4. What is Tim Burton (Director) saying about the nature of conformity in this film? How does he use color and visual imagery to driveome this point?Edward tried to fit in and wear nor hmal clothes and interact with the people in the community but it ended up not working out for him and driving him even more crazy. The colors tie into this because Edward didn't look like everybody else with the way he dressed which means he was trying to be different.

5. Is Edward a tragic figure? Why or why not based on the outcome of the film.
Edward to me is a tragic figure because he can never fit in wherever he is and he also struggles with his hands each and everyday. And the outcome is him returning home because he can't take the community anymore which is tragic.

6. What are some of the highlights, twists and turns of the story?
One of the twists is when Edward is being framed for breaking in because i didn't think that they were going to do that to him, but then that resulted in another twist which was the fact that Kim started to like Edward and I didn't think she would come around and like him too.

7. Research online what people Tim Burton consistently works with for his productions and list three here. Discuss why creatively this might be important for a Director.
One person he's worked with multiple times is Johnny Depp, who was the star of this film Edward Scissorhands. And two other people are Helena Bonham Carter and Danny Elfman. This might be a smart choice because they know how the actors work and their specialties.

"The End Of Poverty?"

Recently we have been watching a film called "The End of Poverty?" and it's very interesting so far. Poverty has always been something that intrigued me because I felt that it was a matter that always was unanswered and wasn't always shone upon. This movie shows exactly what poverty is and how people are struggling with and how they go through it everyday, and it makes me want to help them even more. If I had the essentials and a ton of money a big chunk of it would go to charities and the less fortunate because I know that it would be going to a better cause. Poverty needs to be one of the key issues that we look into because it is a very serious matter and we shouldn't take it lightly. The movie is very good so far and I can't wait to watch the rest of it.

Reflection

In class we continued watching "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury and it was very suspenseful. In the section of the movie we watched last class it had a ton of action and suspense. The boys got caught sneaking into the carnival after it closed and was spying on the magician and some of his coworkers torturing a man electrically. Since they got caught the magician has been trying to find them since, because they know about what goes on after carnival hours and it's supposed to be secretive. This was my favorite part of the movie yet because it had a lot of drama and it made me want to keep watching, so I can't wait to watch more.

Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury, the award winning author of the novel Something Wicked This Way Comes is a very influential writer. His writing and theater career spanned more than seventy years, and in those seventy years he had over 500 published works including 100 short stories and close to 50 novels. Some of his work includes: "Fahrenheit 451" "The Martian Chronicles" "Dandelion Wine" and "The Illustrated Man". Not only that but 65 of his stories were adapted for televisions hit show The Ray Bradbury Show, but his work did not go unrecognized. In 2000 he was awarded Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, an the National Medal of Arts in 2004. What sets Ray Bradbury apart from other writers is his creativity. Once you read one of his stories or sees one of his movies you will never be able to forget it. His writing changed the way people thought and had an impact on various audiences, which gave him an even bigger appeal and made him one of the 20th centuries most notable authors.

Something Wicked This Way Comes is a scientific novel that was written in 1962. The story combines fantasy and horror together and also analyzes the conflicts of good and evil. I'm very excited to watch this movie because it seems entertaining and a little more scary.

Film Studies

A memorable film from my childhood is Finding Nemo. It was probably one of the most classic child animated films ever. The scene that automatically comes to mind when I think of Nemo is when he is being snatched up by the scuba diver and taken into the doctors office fish tank. It struck me when I was a kid because I thought it was so sad and suspenseful. My favorite movie currently is The Last Song starring Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth. It's my favorite because it has so much drama and it always kept me interested throughout the entire film. I also love movies that are romantic because they're just so cute to me. But both movies are still my favorite.

Karlamarie and Aleah's Critique On Edward Scissorhands

In Reading and Writing for Self Discovery class we viewed the movie Edward Scissorhands directed by Tim Burton. It shows how Edward struggled trying to be normal and trying to fit in with his new environment. Tim Burton cast Johnny Depp to play the lead character of Edward Scissorhands, and we both agree he made the right choice. It was a smart choice to cast him because Johnny Depp’s eyes were very mysterious and his parts had such limited lines so he spoke with his eyes a lot. He also was able to speak in a monotonous tone that added to his character even more, showing his dark shy side.

            Tim Burton, the writer and director of the film is a very creative and distinct man. Most of his films usually have some dark features to them and a lot of them are animated, but not all. I especially think in Edward Scissorhands that he was creative because of the scriptwriting. He distinguished each character with their own little quirk, and also gave Edward minimal lines. He also made the main character Edward stand out from all of the others, which made his importance even more evident. All of the characters in the local neighborhood wore bright colors and were very outspoken, but Edward always wore black and was very shy. The costume choice and differences of scenery differentiated the people of the community and Edward.

            One useful technique was shot vs. scene. Every once in a while when Edward wouldn’t speak they would close in on his face, which portrayed even more emotion and added drama to the shot as well. Another important technique that was very relevant in the film was montage. They would constantly flashback to when Edward was with the inventor trying to get his own pair of hands, but then would transition back into present time in the neighborhood. So the technique of transition also tied into montage.

            But we can both agree that scenery was a very important aspect of the film. The color choice of the houses and the whole community helped with the characterization of the characters. Since their houses and whole neighborhood were so bright they were all connected and cheery and all resembled the same values and that sort of thing. But then Edwards home is referred to as the “Haunted House on the Hill” and is dark and twisted and eerie looking. So it only made sense that he wouldn’t be like everybody else coming into Peg’s household.

            Costumes also linked ideas in the movie. Edward’s knack for leather, all black attire and his pair of scissor hands made him very unique and out there. While in the community the girls wore skirts, neon colors and 90s clothing. The costumes set the two people apart because they didn’t look at all alike and made them even more of an odd pair.

            This film used a lot of techniques and elaborated it’s costumes and scenery, making it a must see film. While watching this film you have to dive deeper than just enjoying it, you have to look at it’s visuals and its choice of speech and character. We both recommend this film because it is a classic, creative and very well-written movie.

Broken Families

The root cause of poverty and income disparity is linked to the absence of marriage. Broken families are becoming a common occurrence in inner-cities as well as in impoverished places. But what people really don't know about these broken households is just how much they affect the children. It not only affects them, but they will have a high chance of having a broken family of their own, continuing the cycle. It also has an affect on the economy and on their education. Broken families not only earn less of an income, but they experience lower levels of education as well. Children from fatherless homes make up:
85 percent of youth in prison
71 percent of all high school drop outs
85 percent of children with behavior disorders 
*40% of children growing up today in America are being raised without a father*

Divorce has a huge effect on children. Half of all American children will witness the break up of a parents marriage. We need to understand that the youth and children are in our hands. Teenagers in these single-parent families are 3 times more likely to need psychological help. Divorce can be prevented by communication, as in talking about your problems openly. And never bring your children into you, heated discussions need to be said when the kids aren't around. For the kids sake don't rush into marriage or having kids if you aren't ready to commit and be together to raise them. Just remember that the youth is our future, so lets raise them right.

Chew On This

The investigative journalism novel Chew On This by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson was a very interesting story. I learned a lot about the food I was actually consuming, and that it isn't all that I thought it was. First off I learned that french fries were cooked in beef oil, so they technically used meat as well. Which upset many vegetarians, which is no surprise. But what I was most disturbed about was the slaughterhouses.The way they man-handled the animals and the way they had them in captive. Some of the chickens were thrown against the walls and stomped on, and that was how they were killed. I doubt that I will ever ever stop eating meat, but I am now more aware and educated on this issue.

Edward Scissorhands

The movie Edward Scissorhands was directed by the very famous man Tim Burton. He has directed many films including:
The Corpse Bride
Alice in Wonderland
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Coraline
Charlie and The Chocolate Factory
And etc.
His movies tend to be animated a lot, but not all the time and they usually are dark movies. He cast Johnny Depp to play the part of Edward. Not only that but he was also then later cast in Tims later film Alice in Wonderland.
I think that watching this film will make us pay attention to all that goes into film making and might spark new ideas into our creative minds :)

Soul Food

The steam rises from the surface of mama’s fine china,

Gospel music rings from wall to wall,

As the smell of rich, tender food fills the entire room.

You look down at my plate and see food,

Mac n cheese, collard greens, corn bread and ribs.

But when I look at my plate I view different things.

I view culture,

I view morals,

I view a sense of identity.

 The food mushed together on this single plate,

Represent a community.

A place of coming together.

To rejoice on all of the good times,

And to reminisce on all we’ve been through.

Get to know me :)

Hi!
My names Aleah, and I live in Upstate New York. I live with both my parents and my older brother, and I am the youngest of five. My hobbies include listening to music and dancing, playing the piano, cheer leading and of course writing. I also love going to the movies and shopping! If you know me you know that I have an obsession with the rapper Drake. I love listening to his music and I think he writes about real genuine things, that's why I probably like him because I'm a writer as well. I hope you enjoy my blog and posts and feel free to comment your opinions, but all nice please :]