Reflection Essay

Author: Billy Lau // Category:
1. Explain one or two ways my writing has improved (or not). Include a few examples from my posts over time, with analysis and links to the original posts, to illustrate how the improvement(s) happened.
9. Has blogging had any other effects on my life beyond strictly my "school life"? Explain.
7.  What have I learned from my struggles with writer's block? Why do I tend to get stuck? How do I tend to get unstuck? Notice any patterns?



    First off, I would like to say how much I love my blog. I do not want to let it go, but if Mr. Sutherland does not stay than I can not blog. I just wish the new teacher(if there is one) will let us use our blogs again. I probably will not find the time to blog and forget about it all, but I still will miss it completely. However, one thing I will not forget is how fun it was writing “randomly”.My favorite part of doing this blog were the quick writes. In the quick writes, I wrote about my thoughts on Justin Bieber to reasons why someone should buy an Ipad. I also wrote about society issues like racism and how facebook affects everyone. In this reflection, I will be talking about how my improved writing in my blogs has changed me in many different ways.
This blog really showed how much my writing improved blog by blog. I remember starting off this blog, with a bad state of mind. I thought the whole idea of a blog was stupid, so I completely plagiarized everything. I plagiarized on a quick write explaining the story behind a video game. I started off saying,
This is the story of Halo1: Combat Evolved.  This is an Xbox video game that I love...
then I went on copying word per word off of wikipedia. After a couple of weeks of doing this blog I felt so stupid and decided to delete it completely. Then, I went on to other blog posts talking about things that interested me and I began to like having a blog. I remember doing a blog post about facebook, and I had a really great time doing it.  
My improvements in this was that I added a lot of depth and reason in this posts. I actually thought about this posts hard and went on doing a lot of research. I think I did good, listing suggestions on how we can avoid facebook. Comparing my facebook post to my Halo post, there are major differences. I also noticed that I had better grammar in my Facebook posts, and that is a major improvement for me. In the Halo post, I just plagiarized a story and there was really not much thinking. It was like a really short video game summary. As I look further into my posts, I noticed a changed in my blogs. They seemed to get longer and more interesting. I think that at one point I wanted to add some humor into my blogs, and I did this in a posts about abbreviations. I did this because I felt that my readers were not interested, so I wanted to grab them in by integrating something that will make them laugh. 
I dont think that this posts is the best but at least it captures the reader’s attention, and that, is also a major improvement.I also talked about things that affect society like my experiences with social things such as racism. 
This is what I put in my blog post because I am so tired of listen to all the crap at school or on the streets. In my other blog, I also talked about global warming. Our science teacher talked about how global warming is killing us humans and we are the ones that caused that. I was so scared and I gotten so alert that  I felt that I should tell the  world about it.  
 Overall, I incorporated a lot of things that are not really academic to my blog posts to make it fun to read.
    My Friday’s have been changed because of blogger. I have been sleeping a little later than I expected. Usually, I sleep really early on Friday because I want to make up for the hours I missed on the school days . I am not saying that this is bad, because writing is really fun too. I can say that writing blog posts has helped me grow in other classes too. For instance, in corbally’s class my essays have improved greatly. I used to get C’s and D’s in her class but now I am getting some B’s. That has been the change that affected my school life. Outside of my school life, I have been telling everyone about blogger. I been telling everyone that they can read my blog because I talk about things besides academics.
Writing so much has not gotten me completely away from writer’s block. I still get stuck every once in a while, especially when I am distracted or when I am not an expert in the topic. I think for every three posts, I get stuck on at least one. To not get stuck, I start by thinking of a topic that I am completely familiar in. This way, I do not get stuck at all, but this does not always work. I think I get stuck sometimes because I forget what I am writing about or what I am going to write about. I may go use the bathroom and come back and totally forget what I was writing about. I can get pass this by making a plan or an outline before every blog posts. This way, I will know exactly what I am going to say before I even start typing. I have not tried this plan but I can guarantee it will work.
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FINAL DRAFT OF HOLES

Author: Billy Lau // Category:

This is my final draft, and I accidentally editted over my old draft, so now my old draft is gone.
8.  Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth. You can also analyze a relationship between two different characters.   
       In the book Holes, by Louis Sachar, it talks about as boy name Stanley Yelnats, who is sent to Camp Green Lake because he was blamed for stealing shoes. Camp Green Lake is in the middle of a desert and is a  juvenile camp for teenagers who have to dig holes. Stanley meets other boys in the camp and he is forced to dig a 5 foot hole everyday. In the middle of the story, Stanley finds out that the teenagers and him are not digging holes for character but they are searching for something.  The campers that he meets at camp are very different and they each have unique personalities and characteristics. The characters are X-Ray, Squid, Magnet, Armpit, Zero, and Stanley.
      A character in this book that really interests me is Zero. Stanley and Zero’s relationship differs from time to time. In the beginning, the relationship was less than friends. However, at the end, they are best friends that care for each other and help each other out. Zero's real name is not Zero, but Hector. He was named Zero by his cabin mates, and has been called that all his life. He is named this because he knows nothing. To his cabin mates, Zero is a nobody. But you can't blame a homeless orphan living on the streets to know how to read and write. In the book, it saids that Zero was left at a store by his mom one day and his mom never came back.  
      However, Zero may have gone through a lot of adversity, but he still is very smart and would stand up for himself anytime. In the beginning, he is portrayed as a small lonely kid who never talks and has a scowl on his face. In the middle, he meets Stanley and he starts talking again.  Stanley figures out that he does not talk because he hates answering questions. Zero feels too ashamed to answer questions because other people will always mock and tease him. 
      One day, Zero can not stand Camp Green Lake so he runs away. However, he also says that he likes digging holes, and would dig half of Stanley's hole to get english and math lessons from Stanley. Stanley eventually figures out that he is really good in learning math, because of his speed. However, english seems to be a little harder for him. When Zero runs away, Stanley follows behind and finds Zero in a boat eating 100 years old peach juice. Zero is shown here that he is super giving because he gives the rest of his peaches drink to Stanley. 
       In the end, Zero begins to talk more to Stanley. Zero seems to trust Stanley a lot so he opens up for him. Zero shows his honest side and admits that he was the one who stole the shoes that Stanley got blamed for stealing. 
"If Zero had just kept those shoes, then neither of them would be here right now."
That was the reason why Stanley was in Camp Green Lake.   
         Another character that really interests me is X-Ray. X-Ray is another juvenile at Green Lake Camp. He is the leader of his tent and he likes to boss everyone around.  Everyone listens to what X-Ray has to say, even though he is the smallest and is black. This surprises Stanley because he grew up in a racist community and wonders why no one fights against him for power.
"X-Ray was always at the front of the line. Then came Armpit, Squid, Zigzag, Magnet, and Zero. Stanley got behind Zero." pg 50
During water break time, X-Ray has to make sure that everyone is in the correct order. He puts himself in front of everyone and Stanley last after Zero.  X- Ray leads tent D, even though Mr. Pendanski is the real head of the tent. X-Ray is also the name giver for most people; he names Stanley, Caveman, and everyone starts calling him that from then on.
        The Warden wants kids to dig holes, because she is looking for something valuable. X-Ray can barely see without his glasses, so he can not find anything valuable in his holes. He tells Stanley to give him whatever he finds, so X-Ray can take the day off. Stanley only agrees because he wants X-Ray to like him. X-Ray has his ways of staying at the head because he has many friends. Therefore, Stanley uses this and does nice things for X-Ray. In return, X-Ray stands up for Stanley whenever he gets picked on.
"Be cool, " said X-Ray. He put his hand on Stanley's shoulder. "You don't want to mess with the cave man," he warned. "The Caveman's cool," said Armpit. pg 44
     However, one day Stanley becomes friends with Zero, and X-Ray does not like that. Sometimes, X-Ray is jealous of Stanley, because X-Ray wants more attention to him than to Stanley. X-Ray has no way of controlling this. In the end, I predict that X-Ray will stop helping Stanley, and the whole group will like Stanley more than X-Ray, and turn their back against him. In this novel there are barely any racism in it. The author states that everyone looks the same color after they have dug their hole. Digging holes makes all the campers equal and it is supposed to build character. The group is very diverse too with two Africans, two Latinos, and two Caucasians.
    In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book because I was expecting a very childish story. However, I was blown backed by the amount of interest I have about this book as I continued reading. I could not put the book down , and I think I caught "holes" fever. Overall, this book is amazing, and I chose this question in particularly because I really liked how the author incorporated a different personality for each character. On a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the best book ever and 1 being horrible, I think this deserved a 10.     
      
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Final Book Review for "Holes"

Author: Billy Lau // Category:

This is my final draft, and I accidentally editted over my old draft, so now my old draft is gone.
8.  Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth. You can also analyze a relationship between two different characters.   
       In the book Holes, by Louis Sachar, it talks about as boy name Stanley Yelnats, who is sent to Camp Green Lake because he was blamed for stealing shoes. Camp Green Lake is in the middle of a desert and is a  juvenile camp for teenagers who have to dig holes. Stanley meets other boys in the camp and he is forced to dig a 5 foot hole everyday. In the middle of the story, Stanley finds out that the teenagers and him are not digging holes for character but they are searching for something.  The campers that he meets at camp are very different and they each have unique personalities and characteristics. The characters are X-Ray, Squid, Magnet, Armpit, Zero, and Stanley.
      A character in this book that really interests me is Zero. Stanley and Zero’s relationship differs from time to time. In the beginning, the relationship was less than friends. However, at the end, they are best friends that care for each other and help each other out. Zero's real name is not Zero, but Hector. He was named Zero by his cabin mates, and has been called that all his life. He is named this because he knows nothing. To his cabin mates, Zero is a nobody. But you can't blame a homeless orphan living on the streets to know how to read and write. In the book, it saids that Zero was left at a store by his mom one day and his mom never came back.  
      However, Zero may have gone through a lot of adversity, but he still is very smart and would stand up for himself anytime. In the beginning, he is portrayed as a small lonely kid who never talks and has a scowl on his face. In the middle, he meets Stanley and he starts talking again.  Stanley figures out that he does not talk because he hates answering questions. Zero feels too ashamed to answer questions because other people will always mock and tease him. 
      One day, Zero can not stand Camp Green Lake so he runs away. However, he also says that he likes digging holes, and would dig half of Stanley's hole to get english and math lessons from Stanley. Stanley eventually figures out that he is really good in learning math, because of his speed. However, english seems to be a little harder for him. When Zero runs away, Stanley follows behind and finds Zero in a boat eating 100 years old peach juice. Zero is shown here that he is super giving because he gives the rest of his peaches drink to Stanley. 
       In the end, Zero begins to talk more to Stanley. Zero seems to trust Stanley a lot so he opens up for him. Zero shows his honest side and admits that he was the one who stole the shoes that Stanley got blamed for stealing. 
"If Zero had just kept those shoes, then neither of them would be here right now."
That was the reason why Stanley was in Camp Green Lake.   
         Another character that really interests me is X-Ray. X-Ray is another juvenile at Green Lake Camp. He is the leader of his tent and he likes to boss everyone around.  Everyone listens to what X-Ray has to say, even though he is the smallest and is black. This surprises Stanley because he grew up in a racist community and wonders why no one fights against him for power.
"X-Ray was always at the front of the line. Then came Armpit, Squid, Zigzag, Magnet, and Zero. Stanley got behind Zero." pg 50
During water break time, X-Ray has to make sure that everyone is in the correct order. He puts himself in front of everyone and Stanley last after Zero.  X- Ray leads tent D, even though Mr. Pendanski is the real head of the tent. X-Ray is also the name giver for most people; he names Stanley, Caveman, and everyone starts calling him that from then on.
        The Warden wants kids to dig holes, because she is looking for something valuable. X-Ray can barely see without his glasses, so he can not find anything valuable in his holes. He tells Stanley to give him whatever he finds, so X-Ray can take the day off. Stanley only agrees because he wants X-Ray to like him. X-Ray has his ways of staying at the head because he has many friends. Therefore, Stanley uses this and does nice things for X-Ray. In return, X-Ray stands up for Stanley whenever he gets picked on.
"Be cool, " said X-Ray. He put his hand on Stanley's shoulder. "You don't want to mess with the cave man," he warned. "The Caveman's cool," said Armpit. pg 44
     However, one day Stanley becomes friends with Zero, and X-Ray does not like that. Sometimes, X-Ray is jealous of Stanley, because X-Ray wants more attention to him than to Stanley. X-Ray has no way of controlling this. In the end, I predict that X-Ray will stop helping Stanley, and the whole group will like Stanley more than X-Ray, and turn their back against him. In this novel there are barely any racism in it. The author states that everyone looks the same color after they have dug their hole. Digging holes makes all the campers equal and it is supposed to build character. The group is very diverse too with two Africans, two Latinos, and two Caucasians.
    In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book because I was expecting a very childish story. However, I was blown backed by the amount of interest I have about this book as I continued reading. I could not put the book down , and I think I caught "holes" fever. Overall, this book is amazing, and I chose this question in particularly because I really liked how the author incorporated a different personality for each character. On a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the best book ever and 1 being horrible, I think this deserved a 10.     
     
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Peer review comments

Author: Billy Lau // Category:
Here are the comments I left for my tablemates' rough drafts...


"Hang Liang"
I think that you should not focus on three questions, but maybe two. I am totally sure you can focus in and talk more about one question. I also suggest you can make a conclusion paragraph if you want. The grammar part is sort of restricting me from understanding what you are trying to say. Also, in the introduction, you can combine most of those sentences.

"Karisa Coleman"
I find that some sentences are seemingly similar and repetitive.I think you should change that, and I think that you should add more cm, because your quotes are very long.I also really like how you can tell the story and answer the questions at the same time.


"Sam Everett"
Maybe to lengthen this draft, which you already have, is to add an introduction with the plot of the story. When I started reading this, I did not know what you were talking about until I read further on into the paragraph. I find that "How did they end up writing this particular book? How is the author's life reflected in the book?" and "What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?" are similar questions, and you could tie them all together.

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