Response to Literature Book Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT-hTCdVrnQ

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Vocabulary for "A Shot At It" & Something Else I Forgot

1) The boy that had a crush on her was mesmerized by the way she was dressed and her strut.

2) Her movements were impeccably so graceful dancing ballet, floating like a bird.

3) I was petrified by how my friend changed her look from yesterday wearing just casual clothes, to today wearing those girly skirts and tank tops. What happened?

4) The band's concert last night was totally chaotic from the moment I arrived.

5) Wanting to tease my friend, I mimicked her until she couldn't stand me blocking what she was trying to say anymore.

6) For some reason, you resemble my cousin that's living in America.

7) I built a statue of my dog, that commemorates his death on October 28th, 2010, in my heart. (true story)

<-- a picture of a dog from the move "Hachiko" based on a true story. 8) The recent acquisition that I just found out is that I have "Casual Day" tomorrow.

9) My mom dissuaded me from going to that party last week.

10) Though she was sad, she stoically accepted the fact that she lost the ice skating competition and will try harder the next year.

--> I've always wanted to do a trick like that, but I never got the chance because I moved here :(

Vocabulary for "Stop the Sun" & "Gentlemen of Rio en Medio"

Stop the Sun:
1) There was a commotion in the hallway about two boys fighting.
2) Bill Gates foundered the Microsoft Office.
3) My parents ruined my day by telling me that we're moving.
4) The right side of my mouth was inerted because of the medicine the dentist gave me.

Gentlemen of Rio en Medio:
1) My siblings and I negotiated about who would go on the computer at what time.
2) Counting how many trees you saw in a day were innumerable.
3) My sister and I decided on the boundaries of our shared room.
4) Each of us are descendants from our parents and/or grandparents.

"Gentlemen of Rio en Medio" Literature Focus #8

My theme that I wrote down for question number five was "A small thing can turn out to be really important". I used this as a theme because there's many things that can be important but only a few things that can be EXTREMELY important. Such as in the book, what was really important was the orchard trees. Even though the old man grew the trees for the children, the Americans didn't like the fact that the children play on the trees after the house was sold.

I honestly don't remember much of any poems, novels, or stories with the similar themes. But one that I do remember is one novel that's called "How the Pops Stole Christmas" (I heard this a long time ago, and 'pops' means the popular people). It's about a girl named Jenny overreacting that her friend didn't invite her to the New Year's Eve party and she thinks that the popular kids have something to do with it. They both talk about how something small can be so important to a person's life. Like in this novel, Jenny disappointed and wondering why her friend won't invite her. And in the story that we were reading, the old man finds the orchard trees very important.

"Stop the Sun" Literay Focus #7

I think Terry made the right decision about asking his father about his experiences in Vietnam because if he didn't, then he wouldn't know a part of his father's life. The family should know everything about each other, that's how they could deal with things and talk about it. If something's personal, you should be able to feel comfortable talking to someone that you trust and is trustworthy.

In this case, I don't know why Terry's father was holding it in. First, he should've told his wife, she's most trustworthy because well, she's the wife! If he wouldn't tell her, then he wouldn't trust her. If he didn't trust her, then he wouldn't have married her. Both Terry and his mother were worried about him, which meant that they cared. Sometimes talking about things that make you stressed out helps you feel better and glad that you led it out. Keeping thins stuck inside makes you feel sad and angry and stresses you. Terry wanted to know about why his father was acting so strange, and it bothered him. I bet if any of your fathers' were whimpering on the floor in a mall or something like that, you'd ask them what's wrong. And if they didn't tell you or he didn't even tell your mother, you'd get mad and even more curious, just like Terry was.

Watch Where You're Going - LA Short Story

Darlene Nguyen 8p6

Watch Where You’re Going

“Ms. Elmajian was so hard on me yesterday. If she keeps this up, I swear that I’m going to quit ice skating,” Vanessa complained with her slick, black hair, a beanie that hugged her head, a red scarf that clumsily wrapped around her neck, and boots that were all the way up to her knees as we entered the “Wilson Park”.
“Calm down, Vanessa,” I said with glossy, brown hair, a sparkly burette, a purple cotton scarf that’s let loose around my neck, and black fuzzy boots, “She’s helping us become the best. Besides, if she doesn’t push us this hard, we aren’t going to be ready for the ‘Christmas Show on Ice’.”
“It’s easy for you to say, Demetria,” Anabelle said with light red/orange hair, a pink headband, a green scarf that’s carelessly trapping her neck, and boots that sagging on her feet,“You’re just too good. Every time Ms. Elmajian criticizes me, she always compares me to you.”
“No she doesn’t.” I scoffed as we continued to walk.
Saturday, December 16th was one of those days when Vanessa, Anabelle and I hung out at the park. Strutting down the path, the cool, wind blew through our hair, chilling our faces, but we didn’t care. Two coats and a pair of comfortable boots which covered each of us kept us warm. I felt so warm inside as if there was a ring of warmth surrounding me.
“Hey you!” I heard a boy’s voice behind me.
“Huh?” I turned around and saw a boy waving at me that I recognized in Palos Verdes Intermediate School (PVIS), the school that I went to. I smiled back and as I turned back around, I banged into something really hard with my head. It felt like a hammer just smashed my brain. I blinked my eyes several times but every time I opened my eyes the world was spinning very quickly. I felt something warm dripping down my head and was pretty sure it was blood. And just like that I fell to the floor, feeling paralyzed.
“OH MY GOD! Demetria are you okay?!” asked Vanessa sounding worried.
“Obviously she isn’t! Look at her, she’s bleeding!” exclaimed Anabelle.
“Call 911!” said the guy who distracted me, whom I couldn’t remember the name of.
It all started fading away and seconds later, I blacked out.
“She’s opening her eyes!” I heard a strange voice yell
White walls, white sheets, the beeping sounds, the smell of medicine and a bunch of men in lab coats… Was I in a hospital? How did I get here? I tried to sit up but my head hurt, throwing myself back on the bed.
“Take it easy, Ms. Telecar.”One of the men in white told me and handed me some sort of medicine and a cup of water. “This medicine will make you feel better.”
I complied and took the pill. A few minutes later staying awake, his skin color started turning green and his two eyes became four. That’s when I realized, I was in an alien world. The next day I went to school my friends thought I was acting strange.
“You guys have pretty, green alien faces,” I smiled at Anabelle and Vanessa when I arrived to school after the incident.
“Umm, are you okay, Demetria?” asked Anabelle as she felt my forehead.
"OMG! Your alien hand touched my forehead! Eeeek!”
The school bell rang and everyone rushed into their classes. I walked slowly admiring this alien planet, taking my time to go to class. It felt like I didn’t care about school. I opened the door and walked in calmly as if I was early to class. The classroom was awesome. It was all green and yellow and full of all kinds of high-tech stuff. My classmates were even more fascinating. Their skin color and number of eyes varied. One guy had red skin (I think he was a Martian) and five eyes. How much more can you see with three additional eyes? I wondered.
“Where have you been, Ms. Telecar?” Ms. Blackstad asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Looking at how many green things you guys have in your alien world,” I said simply.
“STOP joking around and get to your seat!”
“What if I don’t want to? I want to explore your planet and see how many odd shaped antennas you have, like you! It looks like you have three” I giggled.
“Excuse me?!”
“Yeah! They’re so long and pointy, but I love them anyway. Your forearms are like all buffed. Do you work out? And oooh, your tail! Did you trim the hair off of it?” Everyone in the classroom started to giggle.
“NO! I don’t have a tail or antennas! What is going on with you, Demetria?!”
“Well, I’m living in an alien universe, duh!”
“That’s it! I’m done with your jokes. To the principal’s office, NOW!”
“Yay, I can’t wait! I bet principles look the funniest.” How would the principle’s room look like? I wondered as I skipped away.
A few minutes after the principle, who, by the way was definitely from Venus, let me into his office, my parents came in and had a little talk with the principal. My parents took me home and I stayed at home for the rest of the week, until it was time to go back to the hospital. When we went to our room, the doctor gave me sleeping drugs.
After a while, I woke up once again squinting at the bright light. My mom explained me that I got brain surgery and fixed the bleeding from my head. I was so glad and I couldn’t wait to get back to school! I asked her what happened to the aliens that I met and my mom said that it was all my imagination. She also advised me to apologize to Ms. Blackstad.
“Of course I’m going to go and apologize to her.” I said as if it was obvious, “What about ice skating?”
“You’ll have to take a small break and you probably won’t be able to perform in ‘Christmas Show on Ice’.”
“Why?! I practiced really hard with the girls. I was thinking about going solo!”
“Maybe next year, sweetheart,” she kissed me on my forehead, “Think of it as a life long lesson, kind of. Always watch where you’re going.”

A Retrieved Reformation - Vocabulary

1) People who are usually addicted to drugs can't stop to rehabilitate. 
2) Criminals who want to get clemency because they're tired of being the bad guys, act better to get respect from the community.
3) I had an exclusive sneek peak at the new movie of "The Chronicles of Narnia".
4) Anguished, she dumped her boyfriend for cheating on her.

"A Retrieved Reformation" - Writing Focus

I had a friend named Linh. She's not your typical girl walking around school. First of all she's tall, and her hair is super long with highlights, making her look cool with some dyed hair (not that it's a bad thing, of course). It's also hilarious about how she runs! I'm not insulting her, but when she runs it's like her leg can't really bend like an average person's so her legs kind of go to the side. But who knows if she run like a normal person, I just never saw her do it. Also, whenever someone tells a joke that's funny, she mixes it up herself and makes it not make sense, making it even more hysterical. Linh can really cheer people up and I miss her since she's changed schools to ACG.

Homework: Interviewing p.177

Darlene (Me): Where were your parents born?
Onica: Phillipines
Vivi: Vietnam
Lucky: Vietnam

Me: What are your favorite foods?
Onica: caesar salad, steak, frozen yogurt, and burgers
Vivi: sushi
Lucky: vietnamese food, pho, and fast food

Me: What do you most enjoy doing?
Onica: chilling with friends and family; and for myself, go out of town or out of the country
Vivi: writing
Lucky: talking and telling jokes


Me: What is most important to you in life?
Onica: everyone is, but mostly friends and family
Vivi: my daddy
Lucky: family


Well yes, I have some common grounds with each question and each interviewee.

"Hamadi" Vocabulary

1) Today Mr. Patrick kept talking on and on about writing a narrative essay so I thought listening to him was very tedious :)
2) I want to see how people in real life used to dress back in the archaic times, but no one ever dresses like that anymore.
3) My friend across the room made a vague hand gesture, that made it hard to understand.
4) He was inquiring for information from the internet about The Black Eyed Peas.

Auntie Misery & Monkey's Paw Vocabulary

1) She amiably showed us around the house.
2) He always was very presumptuous when he found out he was going to Harvard.
3) They credulity believed all of the rumors they heard.
4) Auntie Misery felt sympathetic to an old man and he granted her a wish for her hospitality.
5) After the bully beaten him up, he limped back to his friends, looking gnarled.

Lemon Brown Vocabulary

1) My brother was probing through his pile of sheets to look for his homework.
2) Katy Perry made an impromptu appearance on American Idol.
3) The student council meeting was tentatively scheduled next week.
4) She looked around intently as her paretns grew more furious.
5) The black clouds looked ominous, ready to attack the city.

The Passing of John Le (Draft #2)

            “WEEEEOOOOH!! WEEEOOOOHHH!! WEEEEOOOOHHH!!!” The sirens of the ambulance roared. No, I didn’t hear it, but I could feel it and the intensity….

His name was John. I’m guessing he was about eighteen years old. I was at a young age at the time when he was well. I don’t remember most of the memories with him, but I can see we had fun in the pictures that I’ve seen.

            There was one picture when we went to the beach. I think I was about 5 years old and he was hugging me and taking me out to the deeper end. But I knew I was having fun by the look of my face and it made me smile. Then there was another picture when we were at their house for my younger sister’s birthday. She was turning two in 2001. We huddled together and took a picture. We were all grinning so happily and yet he had the biggest smile. It was glowing, like the center point. When you look at the picture, his smile would be the first thing you see. My older brother said, “He was a jerk.” But I don’t believe so. I believe that he was kind and that he loved us.

There was only one scene that I actually remember him in. I forgot what year it was but it was probably somewhere in kindergarten. My brother, Tom and Thien, John’s younger brothers, took me to laser tag and John went to buy something and he said he was going to come back. They paid for me to go to laser tag, but it was all so dark and seemed frightened me by the faint lights and it felt almost as if I couldn’t see a thing that the insides of my body were shaking. All of that rush sped up to my lungs, which led out a shriek and I made a run for it. They didn’t know I left but I didn’t care. I just waited and sat outside, not knowing I might get kidnapped, calming down. Soon John came jogging back and asked me what’s wrong. I told him I was too scared to go back in there because it was dark and full of older people. He tried comforting me and it did feel better. So he told me to come back in and play with him. I went back in, slowly taking deep breaths, trying to hold in the bad feeling I was getting. And believe it or not, I actually liked it. Since then I loved playing Laser Tag.

             Before I knew it he began to have cancer. At that time I didn’t know what in the world that was, but how everyone made it sound like made me feel scared. My brother told me that he had cancer twice. The first time, they cured it. But then the second time…. the doctors couldn’t. I remembered wanting to go in the hospital but my parents said to stay in the car with my dad in the parking lot. I was eager to go in and see what’s going on, but at that time no one told me. I never got to see John until a few weeks later. We went to their house and I went straight to his room. He was wearing hospital clothes and had all that hospital things around his nose and arms. And the thing that frightened me most was his hair. His head was shaved and it kind of freaked me out a little. I’ve never seen him like that before and I didn’t plan on seeing it either, but I still felt sympathy for him. When I walked in he greeted me with my Vietnamese name in a weak voice, like it was going to crack into a high pitch. I came over, hugged him and talked to him a little. Then I went out of the room to play with my other cousins for a while. When it was time to say “goodbye”, I went back in the room and hugged him once more and told him to get better so we could play again. He smiled but it seemed as if he was holding the pain in.

            Soon enough he was back in the hospital. I remembered waiting in a room impatiently with a bunch of other people I didn’t know.  My older brother was eating Hot Cheetos and I was spinning a nickel, trying to show off that I could do it, looking out the window at the same time. I overheard my parents telling my older brother that when they were seeing John, he was having surgery. They said he was screaming and yelling and I felt my throat twist. It must’ve felt really painful. At first, I thought that was a silly thing. John? Screaming and yelling? But he was so brave and everything. I wanted to go see him so badly but I still couldn’t, because I was so very young. Every time I saw my aunt, she cried her eyes out and it made me want to cry as well.

            Then it was the end. He died. Now just talking about it makes my throat twist and stop typing. I remembered going to a church and all of my mom’s side was there. I didn’t cry, I have no idea why. But if I was a little older, for sure I would’ve cried. My family went up to his coffin, seeing his bald head with his eyes closed, praying. I had no idea what to pray for, so I just closed my eyes so I wouldn’t see him laying there. When it was time to go, everyone stood up got a rose and put it in the coffin or was it on the coffin? I don’t remember but my uncle gave me a rose to give John. It had my heart beating because this was the last time I was ever going to see him. I really thought that he was going to survive. And the worst part is… he was my cousin.

            John Le, died at the age of eighteen because of cancer. One of my family members is gone. One less cousin to count when I try to add up my cousins every once in a while. I wish he was here with me and see how everyone in his life turned out to be. See how the world changed since he’s passed away, since he’s left our lives.

You Wanna Know Me?

Aloha fellow classmates!! My name's Darlene Nguyen and I was born on March 12, 1997. I'm originally from Torrance, California and I was given birth there. At the age of 11, after 5th grade, I moved to Vietnam because of my dad's business. Both my parents are Vietnamese, but I can't speak it very well. I love to wear things that are simple and comfortable. I hate wearing girly clothes. Some people say "fashion first" but I say "comfort first" xP I love making people laugh because it makes me laugh and laughing makes everyone happy :) My favorite hobbies are ice skating, dancing, singing, and acting. I have 3 siblings and I was the 2nd to be given birth. My favorite subject is Drama if that even is a real subject. But if it had to be a main subject, it would be probably Social Studies. So I guess you could tell what i want to be when I grow up ;)

Well here I am in 8th grade and THIS is my Language Arts Literature Blogger Site =P

Flowers for Algernon [Post 1]

Question #7

Dr. Strauss means that how much Charlie has learned already is amazing! He is very impressive and smart for a mental disorder person with an IQ as low as 68. He's also saying that Charlie can do great achievements, same with he and Dr. Nemur learning the difficult Einstein theory without any help. Charlie has the intense motivation and potential to do the operation.