"Still Here"

You may not see me
you may not know me
But I am still here

Family and friends gather around me
They look down and remember me

I’m still here
although its seems like I am not

Investigative Journalism: The Lost Money

"The Lost Money"

     One morning at Heritage Middle School, the eighth grade students were informed by their teachers that someone has stolen the money that was going to go to their field trip at Springfield. Since the cost of this field trip was $80 per student, a lot of money was collected.

     It was catastrophic. Immediately students called their parents informing them of what they were just told. Students were accusing each other for being the culprit.

     At the end of the day, students were informed that it was all a part of our ELA lesson of journalism. The eighth grade students learned that they shouldn't go into conclusions without knowing the full story.

1 Quarter Reflection

Now that the first quarter has come to an end, I have noticed the progress I have gone throughout this quarter. For example, now I have learned a new technique to use when writing an essay. The TIQA technique has helped me in ELA and in other classes when it comes to writing an essay in different topics. Before I learned about this, I wasn't so great when it came to writing essays. Something else that has also helped me is the "Investigation Jounalism". When doing this, it helps me get better at not putting in some of my opinions when writing something. I use to accidentally add in my opinions that I have, but now with this unit, I have gotten use to when it is okay to have bias and when it's not meant to be bias.

I also learned a lot about the world. I have learned how we should appreciate our freedom to choose. I learned this from the book The Giver because in this book, the people in the community had no say in what they could do. In the United States we do have that freedom, but I guess that sometimes we just forget that we are lucky enough to have this right that we don't appreciate it as much as other people that wish they had this right.

Some goals that I have for the next three other quarters in ELA are to learn more on how to write a newscast report and to finish my 10 book challenge. I want to learn more on how to write a newscast report because since I don't know what I want to be when I grow up yet and I chose a career that has to do with writing a report, I would know how to do it. It's a skill that I think will one day come in handy, so knowing how to do it properly is important. I want to finish my 10 book challenge because I normally just read about 5 books every year. So for me to be able to double that amount will just be an accomplishment. I also want to take advantage of this challenge and read other genres that I haven't read before.

The Giver: Film vs. Book

      There were many similarities and differences when it came to the events between the film and the book. One major event that happened in the film and the book was how the Giver, Jonas, and Gabe are the only ones that will be able to see the memories. In the book, when Jonas is about the leave, the Giver and Jonas think about who Jonas can take to Elsewhere when he says “There’s a little female with pale eyes. But she’s only a Six.”(156) This quote shows how Jonas and The Giver were trying to remember of any of the people in the community that have pale eyes. That means that if someone has place eyes, that person can be the next Receiver of Memory. In the movie the Giver, Jonas, and Gabe all have a symbol if they are going to be the next Receiver, like in the book. The difference is that instead of having pale eyes, they all three have a big birthmark on the wrist on their hand. This difference changes a lot of things because Jonas in the book also learns about color this way. The pale eyes also showed us that rule that pointing out the differences someone has within the community was seen as rude and not polite. In the movie, having the birthmark didn't really have a big part except with seeing color or anything major like that except for the fact that it might be more obvious if people see that the Receiver of Memory and the in training Receiver of Memory have the exact same birthmark on the exact same place.
      The ending of The Giver between the film and the book had some major differences with some minor details, but it also had some similarities. In the book, we see how the memories the Giver has given him help him along the way because “ Then it flickered suddenly, and he felt tiny tongues of heat begin to creep across and into his frozen feet and legs. He felt his face begin to glow and the tense, cold skin oh his arms and hands relax. For a fleeting second he felt the he wanted to keep it to himself, to let himself bathe in sunlight, unburdened by anything or anyone else,”(177) This quote shows how the memories helped him get through the coldness in the ending. Also, throughout the whole ending, the book always stayed on Jonas's point of view, it never changed. In the film, we saw the point of view change. We saw what had happened to the community when all the memories were being released to all of the people there. This did help us out when watching the film because we were able to see how the memories affected them. If the change of point of view didn't change,most people that didn't read the book wouldn't see how there was a chance that the community might change to how it use to be, with the memories.
      Although there were many differences between the film and book, I was able to get a better understanding with the film. In the film, I was able to visually see how the story was unfolding. I saw all of the different point of views which helped me see what the other characters were doing/thinking while Jonas was in his training and learning about memories. I also saw how the friendships that Jonas had with the other characters affected him later in the film. In the book, I didn't really see what happened to everyone else which might have been a way for the readers o find out more rules and get to know the community a little better. In the book I had a hard time on understanding on how the journey went when Jonas was leaving the community. In the film, even though it was different, I was able to visually see how the journey went and I saw what happened back in community which was a big part since we saw how the community reacted to receiving the memories.

The Giver: Dynamic Character & Theme

     The theme of “The Giver” is that the memories are important to learn from, to teach others, and to get wisdom from. In the book, the Giver was telling Jonas how it felt having all of these memories and he told Jonas,“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.”(154). This quote shows how being the only person that can see theses memories gives him the feeling of loneliness because he can’t talk about them or shares them to other people in the community except to the new Receiver of Memory, which is basically one person. He also says that memories should be shared. This is true because if everyone has these memories they will learn and see how good it is to have that freedom to make choices, make mistakes, and see how having differences and not sameness is good too.   The Giver shows many examples of how memories are important to learn from, to teach others, and to get wisdom from, throughout the book. In the book, the Giver tells Jonas memories are important because, “It’s just that...without the memories it’s all meaningless.”(105). This quote shows that if these memories didn’t exist, it would just be all meaningless and there wouldn’t be anything for people to feel actual emotions. This also shows that memories are a huge deal when it comes to wisdom because if there aren’t any memories, the Elders of the community wouldn’t know what to do when a problem comes up.

     Throughout the book, Jonas changes. That makes him a dynamic character. In the beginning if the book, Jonas describes himself in one word, he says, “Apprehensive, Jonas decided. That’s what I am.(4). Apprehensive means that someone is fearful, they are always scared of what might happen in the future.  This is how Jonas was throughout the beginning of the book, but he changed further along the book.    Jonas has changed drastically from how he has felt on the beginning of the book to the end of the book. At the end of the book, Jonas is about to leave the community when “He felt, surprisingly, no fear, nor any regret at leaving the community behind.”(163). This quote shows how he now isn't apprehensive anymore since he doesn't fear in unknown that he will be facing because he is leaving the community now. He also isn't scared about the fact that he is leaving the community which is something that the Jonas from the beginning of the book might not even think about leaving the community, which is what he is now doing.