1st Semester Books

This first semester, I have read six books.  I read "In Defense of Food", "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian", "Nation", "Split", "In Pursuit of Perfection", and of course, "Lord of the Flies".  I have found that my favorite book so far has been "In Pursuit of Perfection" by Geno Auriemma, one of the best basketball coach of all time.  I get to hear about the multiple women's basketball seasons at UConn first hand.  I love getting to hear the opinions of someone I respect so much.  Obviously, my interest in this book is because it is about basketball.  If I like the book, I actually enjoy reading, something I have not experienced much in the past.
This next semester, I will work on finding other subjects I enjoy reading about.  I can't read about sports all the time, so I want to find other book I like.  I think I'm going to try reading a book that  one of my classmates has enjoyed and suggested.  By the end of the school year, I want to have read around twelve books, varying in topics.  Hopefully, I can expand my pleasure of reading so that it isn't just a task.

Jack through the chapters

           Throughout the first few chapters, Jack has always been a rood arrogant boy. He has a huge trouble with power and authority. At first, all it seemed for him to care about was being chief and in charge. Now, he is absolutely focused on hunting. It's part of his "tough guy" image. All of his comments are just to intimidate others and boost himself up. Such as, "We'll have rules. Lots of rules.", "Who cares what you believe-Fatty!" That reminds me, Jack has some kind of deep hatred for Piggy. The only thing that he reveals as why he would not like him so much is simply because of his weight and slowness. I'm sure it is something deeper than that, but for now, it just comes across as discrimination.
            Another thing, Jack seems to only care about himself. Just listen to the way he talks to others, especially to Piggy. I can't help but wonder about his past at home. This must be something dug deep down into him. It's not just his personality. It can't be. Something must have happened long ago, and this is just how he deals with it. I am curious to see if he ever reveals anything later in the book. For now, we must wait.

Midterm coming up

          As far as midterms go for this class, I'm not too worried. English is a subject where if you understand the material, you don't really have to cram the information into your head. I've personally just paid attention in class and basically remember everything.
          There are still some hazy areas here and there. I am a little confused on the literary elements. I'm sure if I reviewed them, I'd remember, but when I hear those words, I automatically assume that some elaborate list should pop into my head, but it doesn't. Anyway, with review in class and studying at home, I'm sure I'll do fine.

TRAPPED

If my classmates and I were trapped on an island along with a group of first graders, I think we would manage. Staying alive in a situation like this certainly wouldn't be easy, but considering our discussion in class, we would put our minds together and make it out of there alive. The key thing to remember is that everybody has something to contribute. Some people are loud leaders, while other quietly observe. The hard part is finding out who can work together.
One thing we had plenty of in our class was leaders. Diamond was keeping us all organized and making sure things didn't get out of control. Alex and I were taking charge and assigning roles to everyone and establishing a "game plan". Emory was working on how to keep us from fighting by creating a small government. The disadvantage was that there were a lot of people that kept quite even though they had great ideas. Akbar finally spoke up and decided that the first thing to do was scout out the island and find a water source. That was a necessary task and to be honest, I overlooked it. It may take one to lead, but for us to live through and experience like that, we would need to all work as one. I think we would.

FREE POST

            I never know what to write about in these, but I guess I could write about the LSU women's basketball team this year. We did really well for a while and made it to the final four a couple times a while ago, but we lost our coach Pokey Chatman a few years ago. We're finally starting to adjust, and it should be a good year considering we got some new freshmen that are supposed to be great.
            There is one problem though: Pat Summit, Tennessee's previous coach for years, has retired because of her early-onset Alzheimer's  (I want to show some respect for her and what she's done for Tennessee's program over the many years. She is one of the best coaches of all time!) ...but, back to the problem: Our current coach, Nikki Caldwell, was a previous Tennessee player. I worry that after this season, Tennessee will make a coaching offer to Nikki, considering what a great job she has done at LSU. Understandably, I would expect her to take the offer and go coach at her own school. Hopefully, she'll stay with us for a few years, but I guess we'll just see what happens.

Reading Response

          This week, we got a little break from short stories, so I finally got to get back to my book, "Geno: In Pursuit of Perfection".  A little refresher, Geno Auriemma is the Uconn Womens' Basketball coach. He has won multiple championships and was this year's Olympic team coach.  Basically, the whole book is just Geno going through each season he coached, talking about the players, and all of their accomplishments.
          Since one of my goals is to be play college basketball one day, it is really interesting to get a coach's point of view on what they look for in players, how they recruit, and quite honestly, what completely turns them away from a player. I have always admire Geno and his coaching style. A lot of people think he's a complete jerk because of how blunt he is. He doesn't sugar-coat anything. I love coaches like that. The varsity coaches at EHS are Coach Bourgeois and Coach K. Both are also football coaches, so you could imagine that they are not afraid to yell at us just like they do the guys. I've also had coaches who are just too sweet and just care about "trying your best" and "doing what you can do". I hate that because here's the  thing: just trying your best is not going to get you anywhere once you're playing at a higher level. I feel that when one of my coaches just looks at me and says, "Julia is you mess this up one more time, you're running, and by the way that was a terrible pass," it makes me better. Yeah, it may make me a little upset at first, but I know it will make me improve in the long run. Anyway, I'm enjoying this book a lot and suggest it to any other basketball players looking for something to read.

Short Stories

For my three short stories of my choice, I read "The Sniper," "The Return", and "Hills like White Elephants". I truly did not like "The Return". I just found it kind of boring and depressing. "Hills like White Elephants" was alright, but it was extremely confusing. I felt like the author wrote the whole story and then cut it in half to create an ending. That leaves us with "The Sniper". I liked this story a lot, so I'll use this for my thesis.

I thesis statement could be, "The man was an experienced soldier and was well prepared for the attack". He could shoot precisely from far away and still remain in secrecy. Also, when he got shot in the arm, he knew exactly how to care for and clean the wound. This could be argued against because he did make one crucial mistake: the man he shot was his brother. I think this would be a good topic for my thesis. 

Literary ElementsI

I think that the story with the strongest characterization traits is definitely "Waltz of a Fat Man." The way the author describes Noe is so realistic! I feel like I can see his fat stature and the way he looks into the mirror in denial thinking things like, " On his best days, Noe could make that weight look like muscles." The author does a great job of describing Noe.
Not only are there vivid descriptions, but so many things can be understood through Noe's actions. For example, "When he shook the hands of women, he did so vigorously, hoping to see movement on their bodies, some small adventure to take his breath, some nodding yes, some quite dance of the upper body. The first adventure of a man." Seriously? I would just like to say how pathetic that is, but anyway, the author says nothing about how desperate and kind of creepy Noe is. Through this action though, we can assume so many things. The author provides perfect examples of showing, not telling.

CLASS PARTICIPATION

So.... I would say this is probably the class I participate in the most. I pay attention in my other classes, but I don't really engage myself into class discussions. In English, I do participate a lot and will definitely put my say into the conversations. I guess it's easy to talk about because I understand it, and there's so many possibilities to discuss. In science and math, there's almost nothing to discuss. You either know it or you don't. There's hardly any variations, which I hate, so that's basically why I choose to participate in English.

I would say, if there's something to work on it's making sure I'm on time with all of my supplies. I'm usually either late or don't have time to go to my locker to get my binder. I manage without it usually, just writing all of my notes on a sheet of scrap paper, but it would be easier just to have all of my stuff together before I walk into the classroom. Overall, I personally think I am really good about participating in class on a regular basis.

"A Blank Sheet of Paper"

"A Blank Sheet of Paper"

I am a writer.

I simply write what I think.

That gives me my voice.

GENO: IN PERSUIT OF PERFECTION

I started a new book this week. It's an autobiography by Geno Auriemma, who in my opinion is the best women's basketball coach of all time. (sorry Pat) haha. He has won back to back national championships at UConn, consisting of some of today's best players in the WNBA, like Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird. The plot of the book is basically Geno going through the years starting from about 1980 through 2005. He talks about the individuals seasons, all the different players that impacted the games, and his feeling throughout his coaching career. It's super interesting!
I have actually enjoyed reading this week. Instead of just reading two and a half hours, I read four. That's seriously one of the first times I've ever read more that I was forced to. Oh yeah, back to the plot thing. I guess the different seasons are kind of like the episodes Dr. D mentioned in class: each having their on climax and  resolution. I  think I'm going to enjoy reading this book a lot. Geno is hilarious too! :)

Reading Response: Griffin and Sabine

Well this is supposed to be the second paragraph,  but my computed decided to freak out and make me type here. These books have postcards written to both Griffin and Sabine, with occasional letters. It's a sweet story, but gets very complicated in the end. Griffin begins to doubt that  Sabine is even real. Basically, he kind of goes insane. It's an out there book with some far fetched stuf f in it. I thought its was OK, but I bet some people would like it a lot.This week, I read a strange book. Well, books. It's a series of three short books, consisting of about twenty pages each. They are not normal pages though. The story is about the interaction of a famous artist and a fan in love with his work through postcards and letters. Over time, the two fall in love and plan to meet each other one day, but come across many obstacles in the
ir way.

Unite

My teammates and I were doing our running workout on Friday, when Coach K came outside and gave us an inspirational talk. He basically said that if he wants one thing, it's for us to be united as one. He wants us to play as a team and not focus on ourselves. One person can't win a state championship, it has to be won as a group. This will most likely be our main struggle as a basketball team this year.
Our team is full of very talented people, who are big scorers. We are all extremely close and love being around each other, but I worry that on the court, we'll forget all that and only focus on ourselves scoring our fifteen points. A team will never work like that. You have to be unselfish and as they say, be willing to "take one for the team." It's going to be our main obstacle to overcome this year.

READING RESPONSE

This week, I finally finish my book Split. Overall, it was a pretty awesome book. It always kept me on my toes. You never know what will happen next. The only bummer was that it was kind of an open ending. It has some good morals in it though. Like, the people you know will always be there for you is your family. I live by that rule everyday.
For my next book, I think I'll read a book about one of the best women's basketball coaches of all time: Geno Auriemma. He coaches for both Uconn and the women's USA team. From what I've seen, he is very upfront with his players and treats them the same he would a team of guys. I respect him for that, and hope I can learn more from this book. Oh yeah, he coached two of my favorite WNBA players too: Dianna Taurasi and Sue Bird.

Literacy Narrative

Alright, so, I kind of already know what my literacy narrative's going to be about, but I want some feedback to see if you guys like it. We're going to have to go way back to sixth grade with Mrs. G. She seriously taught me to enjoy writing and gave me the confidence to know that I was at least half decent at it. I give her credit for making English my favorite academic class.
After class one day, she pulled me aside and told me how much she like reading my writing and that I had developed this thing called voice. Now, to an eleven year old, I first off, needed a definition of this. After she explained it, she said it was something usually taught around eighth grade, so that was definitely a confidence boost. After that, I put more thought into writing and learned my strengths and weaknesses. I am very thankful for what Mrs. G has done for me.

Reading Response

I really enjoyed reading Split this week. It was an exciting section of the book, when Jace and Christian return to their home in attempts to rescue their abused mother. They both discover some things about their past. After much persuasion, their mother denies their offer, and they return home. Alone.
I noticed how much effort Swati Avasthi, the author of Split, puts into conveying a strong voice quality into his writing. He makes me feel like I'm inside Jace's mind, experiencing the struggles in his life. He uses descriptive words and vivid detail in order to make the scenes as realistic as possible. I love his writing and  respect it completely.

Comments Response

(This blog is in response to Alex Dumas's comment about our running for basketball.)
Alex-
First off, thanks for the compliment on my blog. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it! I think we both feel the same way about this year's running and weights. It's definitely tough, but it needs to be done, especially if we want to do well in playoffs this year.
I guess it's all about who was the advantage, whether it's strenght, height, or speed. We all know that our team isn't exactly full of height. We don't have anybody that's six feet or anything, so that means that we have to be that much stronger, faster, and better in every aspect of the game. I think that this early training might be the key to our success this year as a team. We'll just have to see how it goes!

Split: Bad Habits Passed On

So, in my last post, I told you about the book "Split" and explained to you a brief part of Jace's life, filled with abuse from his father. This week, I found out that Jace had once hit his own girlfriend, obviously not thinking, and felt horrible afterwards. Maybe the saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," actually has some meaning to it.
From what I've read, Jace does not support his fathers abuse to his mother at all. It disgusts him in ways I can't explain. Well, he sure was shocked when he caught himself throwing a punch at his girlfriend out of anger. This is what some people don't realize: If a child sees one of his parents doing something, he is likely to do it too. It's just as simple as that. Not only does Jace's father put his family in danger, but now his son he is passing it on to his son. It was the first thing that came to Jace's mind when he got mad at his girlfriend because that's what he grew up seeing. This is just adds to how horrible abuse really is.

This Week's Training

Left. Right. Left. Right. It's the only thing going through my mind. Just keep going. The scorching red track rubbing against my blistering feet. Sweat dripping down my back, all I can is hear the panting of my teammates and can hardly keep myself from collapsing. 
I slowly find myself falling behind. This can't happen. I'm not going to be seen by my teammates as "the weak runner." As a freshman, I'm just trying to prove myself. Don't let all your hard work go to waste. Push through it. Left. Right. Left. Right. It becomes mechanic, and I feel myself getting faster and faster. Before I know it, I'm back with my teammates. We finish our run and cross the finish line as a team.

Reading Response: Split

I started reading this book called "Split" by Swati Avasthi. Dru read it this summer as her free choice book, so I decided to give it a try myself. When she first told me about it, I thought it would be gross and depressing. I turned out to be really wrong. I'm not very far into it, but I can already tell I'm going to like it.
"Split" is basically about a boy  named Jace that lives in a home of abuse. His father beats both him and his mom. Jace has an older brother that moved out of their house in attempts to start a new life. Jace runs away to go live with his brother, which sounds great and all, but there's one big problem: their mother is still stuck with their father. Alone.
This topic of abusive households honestly just really makes me mad. Seriously, why would you beat your spouse or children? You are their family, and hopefully you love them, so what makes you want to put your hands on them? These people are sick and controlling if you ask me. They are no better than the rest of the their family, so they just need to back off! Ggggggrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! It makes me so mad! I feel so bad for these victims that can't even feel safe in their own homes: Living a life of fear. I hope these families can resolve their many issues.

In Defese of girls lifting weights: An athelete's Manifesto

Alrighty, when the topic of girls lifting weights comes up, a lot of females, athletes or not, have already decided that they aren't going to participate.  "If I lift weights, I'll bulk up and look like a man." That's kind of a ridiculous assumption if you ask me. Yeah, you'll look stronger, but not bulky, just toned.

I lifted weights all summer with the rest of the basketball team, and none of us suddenly became the incredible hulk or anything. Our muscle is more defined, but it doesn't look abnormal. The trick is to lift less weight with higher reps. "Lifting weights basically tears muscle fibers. These fibers then heal back together stronger and larger than before."- Kevin Rail.  Don't get me wrong, you will get bigger muscles, but nothing drastic happens over night.  It takes a long time before you will notice any kind of physical difference. If you are an athlete, lifting weights is very important because you not only need skill for sports, you need strength.

Summer Reading

When I first started reading "In Defense of Food", I thought that it would be terribly boring and repetitive.  I'm not going to lie, in the beginning, it was.  I knew I had to read it, so I decided to make the best out of it and relate it to something I liked.  I tried to pay attention to what the author was saying and think about how it would effect my health in relation to athletics.  I truly have started making an effort to eat better.  I've thrown out some of the processed food and started eating more fruit.  I feel better throughout the day and have more energy.  I feel crazy saying this, but I kind of enjoyed the book, or at least what I took away from it.

I'm Julia

Well, I've never really blogged before, so I guess I'll just tell you a little about me.  So, I'm Julia and I just started my freshman year.  One of the most important things you should know about me is that I spend the majority of my time playing basketball.  I'm usually in the weight room or shooting in the gym, so if you need to find me, you know where to look.  I started playing in 7th grade, and to be honest, i was pretty bad at it.  8th grade season came along, and you could say I had improved a little bit.  I could shoot decently, but could never remember the plays and was constantly confused.  After the season was over, our team was contacted by Coach K and Coach Boo.  There were short of JV players and asked if we were interested in playing.  I decided I might as well give it a try.  After just the first game, I knew basketball was what I wanted to do throughout my four years of high school.  I learned more each practice and got better and better. 
After yet another season came to an end, I knew there was only one thing left to do: play AAU basketball.  I played for a team called The Rockets with Diamond and Alex, two of my best friends in the whole world.  These games sure were different than JV! There wasn't an inexperienced player on a single team.  Everyone had something to offer.  I played alright for  the majority of the season, but I really improved around the end.  I started shooting the ball more and started making a few more shots. Obviously this was a confidence booster, which only made me want to play more.  By then, it was summer and the only thing I could focus on was basketball.  There was hardly a single day that I didn't do training of some sort.  I did a nine week weightlifting program with a few other teammates.  I started running to build my endurance, and, of course, I was constantly working on my shot.  I guess you could say I didn't exactly spend my summer relaxing by the pool.
Our season starts in November, and I'm playing JV and hopefully will get some playing time with the varsity team as well.  I'm so excited to start practices again.  We start weight lifting on Tuesday.  We'll lift every week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  On those days, we'll run in the morning before school and shower in the locker room, go to school, and then lift in the afternoon.  Over the past year, I've made some great new friends, gotten to know my awesome coaches, and learned what it's like to be part of a team.