Writing Reflection

Ideas and content

As a writer some of my ideas are very well explained whereas some are not, this is because sometimes I put a lot of effort into one of the ideas and then I get distracted whilst doing the rest of them “Caesar shall forth. The things that threaten’d me Ne’er look’d but on my back; when they shall see the face of Caesar, They are vanished.” This quotation sets the scene and drives Caesar as being a fearless man who, much though he didn’t want to be influenced, felt threatened by this overpowering dream of Calpurnia’s. This quotation is what I think is one of my thorough ones because it explains the scene in which the character is being set into.
could improve my ideas and enhance the contents by staying on-task, not talking to my peers, and ask the teachers if I need help.

Organization
My writing demonstrates organization because it includes all the right amount of paragraphs, thesis statement, topic sentence etc. They are mostly in the required order. "But he was yet to believe in Decius’ effective words towards Caesar. “This dream is all amiss interpreted; It was a vision fair and fortunate… Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck Reviving blood, and that great men shall press For tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance.”

I could improve my organization by doing the preparation sheets that the teachers give us to practice and do before we work on the essays whether its an essay to do at home or during class time.

Personal Growth
My writing has improved because I have payed more attention in class knowing mostly what the topic is about. I understood what I needed to write about.

SLR Reflection
I think the SLR that suits me best would be 'Think Creatively' because I express my writing with a creative thought. Even though it might not fit the topic or the understanding of the given sources, either way it still comes out creatively.

Julius Caesar's Mistakes

“Caesar shall forth. The things that threaten’d me Ne’er look’d but on my back; when they shall see the face of Caesar, They are vanished.” This quotation sets the scene and drives Caesar as being a fearless man who, much though he didn’t want to be influenced, felt threatened by this overpowering dream of Calpurnia’s. Thrice she had cried out in her sleep ‘Help, ho! They murder Caesar!’ Caesar’s motivating factors were his pompous and yet gullible approach and attitude towards handling any situation. He justifies his decision as being a fearless ruler.

Caesar was a pompous man because he thought he was more important than everyone around him, yet he was a gullible man because he fell in many traps set or said by other people, which didn’t do him good. “The gods do this in shame of cowardice: Caesar shall be a beast without a heart if he should stay at home today for fear.” There was a storm in Rome, and Caesar was awoken by Calpurnia’s dream. She had called out ‘Help, ho! They murder Caesar!’ three times. Which was then treated by the powerful words of Decius Brutus. Caesar thought of himself as a very unique, fearless and important being. He felt he was above all, even above danger if that’s what came in his path. He compared himself to a fierce lion, yet he was the most terrible of them. He feared no one at all.

But he was yet to believe in Decius’ effective words towards Caesar. “This dream is all amiss interpreted; It was a vision fair and fortunate… Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck Reviving blood, and that great men shall press For tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance.” Caesar had told Decius that he would not go to the capitol because his wife feared his death, and then Caesar told Decius Calpurnia’s dream word by word. Caesar was cajoled and drawn to the compliments made so brilliantly and cunningly by Decius.

The main conflict of the play is that Caesar thought of himself as a unique person, but more importantly he thought he was very fierce in the things he did. Caesar thought of himself as an important person because he mostly cared about himself more than those people around him, but his gullible beliefs led him to make the wrong decisions that were important to his everyday life. Pompous and gullible led Caesar to behave in the wrong manners that didn’t do him well. Caesar’s goal was to become king; I think he did not complete his goal because he was assassinated when he was going to be crowned king of Rome. His goal to become king was worthy because he thought Rome needed a king and because he wanted to become king.

The Lost Boys of Sudan

Peter... That is my name. I've been having some trouble keeping up with the culture here in America. Everything is so different, everything is at a very brisk pace and everything is confusing. This is contrary to the life I had back in Sudan, where everything was calm, cheerful and at a very slow tempo.

Here the standard of living is very expensive. I try to keep up with my rent. Food and clothes are quite manageable here because of my frugal way of living. School and school work are a problem. After school I have to earn a living and after I finish work I still have homework from school. This keeps me up very late. The next day I have to repeat it over again. I find myself tired, stressed and sometimes a bit depressed. I hope things will get better.

I think my family back in Sudan is most important. They need my help but right now I am unable to assist them because of my very tight schedule. They have no idea how many resources are available here in America and one day I hope I can share these with them. I have also realized that racism is quite common here. Some people think that because I am black I am a danger to them and feel we are all criminals because of our color.

People also didn't talk to me. Well, only people with the same skin color interacted with me. I still tried to fit in by trying to join basketball games with the white people. I try to fit in by eating American food, like cheesburgers, fried chicken etc... I got a car, it took me a while to learn to drive it.

Overall I feel that over a matter of time I could learn the American ways. Easier handling of things I haven't been used to and interacting with different people from a different race or color.

Duet Acting

The context is Brutus' house at nighttime, Brutus is meeting with the rest of the conspirators to plan Caesars assassination and recruiting more conspirators to achieve the assassination, Brutus insists they have an oath to bind them together, but Cassius says no. The passage is significant because it shows how Brutus is anxious for the Ides of March and that he is determined to kill Caesar by then.

Act Two, Scene 1

Lines: 1-60

SCENE I. Rome. BRUTUS's orchard.

Enter BRUTUS

BRUTUS :

What, Lucius, ho!
I cannot, by the progress of the stars,
Give guess how near to day. Lucius, I say!
I would it were my fault to sleep so soundly.
When, Lucius, when? awake, I say! what, Lucius!

Enter LUCIUS

LUCIUS :

Call'd you, my lord?

BRUTUS :

Get me a taper in my study, Lucius:
When it is lighted, come and call me here.

LUCIUS :

I will, my lord.

Exit

BRUTUS :

It must be by his death: and for my part,
I know no personal cause to spurn at him,
But for the general. He would be crown'd:
How that might change his nature, there's the question.
It is the bright day that brings forth the adder;
And that craves wary walking. Crown him?--that;--
And then, I grant, we put a sting in him,
That at his will he may do danger with.
The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins
Remorse from power: and, to speak truth of Caesar,
I have not known when his affections sway'd
More than his reason. But 'tis a common proof,
That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
Whereto the climber-upward turns his face;
But when he once attains the upmost round.
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend. So Caesar may.
Then, lest he may, prevent. And, since the quarrel
Will bear no colour for the thing he is,
Fashion it thus; that what he is, augmented,
Would run to these and these extremities:
And therefore think him as a serpent's egg
Which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous,
And kill him in the shell.

Partner: Aizuddin Zainol

School Of Athens - Raphael

Which character would like to be in the painting 'The School Of Athens', and why?

I would like to be Pythagoras because as Lamblichus said once, that Pythia his pregnant mother would give birth to a man extremely beautiful, wise, and beneficial to humankind. It is said that Pythia was the mother of Pythagoras. It was natural for the ancient biographers to inquire as to origins of Pythagoras' remarkable system. It is not easy to say how much Pythagoras learned from the Egyptian priests, or indeed, whether he learned anything at all from them.

The secret religious rites of the Pythagoreans exhibited nothing but what might have been adopted in the spirit of Greek religion, by those who knew nothing of Egyptian mysteries. There is little direct evidence as to the kind and amount of knowledge which Pythagoras acquired, or as to his definite philosophical views.

School Of Athens - Raphael

Which character would like to be in the painting 'The School Of Athens', and why?

I would like to be Pythagoras because as Lamblichus said once, that Pythia his pregnant mother would give birth to a man extremely beautiful, wise, and beneficial to humankind. It is said that Pythia was the mother of Pythagoras. It was natural for the ancient biographers to inquire as to origins of Pythagoras' remarkable system.

Questions on Leonardo Da Vinci

• How can Da Vinci be characterized as a true Renaissance Man?
I think that Leonardo Da Vinci was a renaissance man because I think that he made lots of money on the paintings he did and those army ideas he had he sold for a lot of money, Leonardo didn't like violence himself but he needed the money for a living.

On the trip to the exhibit I learned that he wasn't a rich man, but he sold what he painted/drew, after all he needed money for food, housing, water, and clothes. Leonardo Da Vinci hated war he despised it, but then again he needed money in order to live.