DeLia

Welcome to My English wikispace page. In here you will find the projects that I did as a 9th grader at Science Leadership Academy.

My work as a 9th grade student in this portfolio shows my growth as a writer. It also shows how my creativity improved.

I think that Im a pretty good writer. I think that I could still use a little help with the creative parts of projects.

I liked this proces. I encountered the process of not knowing how I wanted to present it. I worked with Ms. Dunn and she said that this would be easiest.

I am most proud of my 2nd quarter Benchmark. I think it took alot of courage for me to write this. It was hard but I was able to do it, and im proud that I did.

Benchmarks Quarter 1 This a ABC thesis paper that we wrote after we read the Odyssey. I wrote mine on Telemachus' journey to find his father. The reason why I picked this one is because I thought that this had to deal the most with my life and growing with a mother and not really have the male influence in my life.

Telemachus experiences great difficulty as he struggles to be a man. In the first book of __The Odyssey__ we see Telemachus experience difficulty as he transitions from boyhood to manhood. In the first three books of __The Odyssey__ we see Telemachus gain maturity and self confidence. He begins a journey to find out the truth about his father and it is through this journey that Telemachus emerges as a leader. Athena is the inspiration and source of his courage for Telemachus to grow into manhood. One way he does this is when Telemachus announces his plans. He says the same words as Athena did before and he begins to think that his father is coming home. Telemachus says, “Now, If hear my father’s alive and coming home, hard pressed as I am, I’ll brave out one more year.” (p. 100-243, 244) Telemachus does not want to give his mother up until he knows that his father is dead. In this situation, the suitors want Penelope which gives him the courage because he does not wanting a suitor to marry Penelope. So he is inspired to stay one more year. On Telemachus’ journey to manhood, he realizes he must kill the suitors in order to become a man. Telemachus gets ready to address the elders who are the fathers of the suitors. Telemachus asks the elders if they can please get their sons away from his mother, Penelope. Telemachus tells the suitors to back off from Penelope because he doesn’t want them close to his mother. When he addresses the suitors he says, “My father is worlds away, dead or alive, who knows?” (p. 97-146) The final way that Telemachus gains confidence is when he visits with King Nestor. Nestor tells Telemachus that his father, Odysseus, was a great war hero. “Your father, yes, if you are in fact his son…I look at you and a sense of wonder takes me. Your father, yes, if you are in fact his-I’d swear no youngster could ever speak like you, so apt, so telling.” (p. 111-137-140) At this point, King Nestor has confirmed that he believes that Telemachus is truly Odysseus’ son and that he exhibits the same qualities as the great war hero. Athena also inspires Telemachus again. “And no one there could hope to rival Odysseus, not for sheer cunning-at every twist of strategy he excelled us all.” (p. 111-134-136) Stepping up to the suitors when he takes Athena’s advice, and his visit with King Nestor are the ways that Telemachus gains confidence and becomes a man. When he addresses the suitors he shows that he can stand up to the suitors by telling them to back off. He also gains confidence and maturity when he takes Athena’s advice. Lastly, King Nestor tells Telemachus that he resembles his father and that his father was a great war hero. These events build up Telemachus’ confidence. This is how Telemachus is gaining confidence and starting to take on leadership.

Quarter 2 For this benchmark we had to write about a life changing experience. I picked the death of my father. I though that this would be a good topic to write about because it was a huge lost for me. media type="file" key="Alex DeLia Memoir.m4a" width="300" height="50"

Quarter 3 We had to write a AB thesis for the book Kindred. I decided to write about how Rufus isnt really that bad. He just does the things he does because he is a product of his environment

While Rufus is a product of his environment, he ends up not being all that bad.

Rapes Alice (pp. 123-124)

Treats Dana as a slave when he’s upset about his father dying (p. 245) (p. 254)

Writes free papers (p. 251) (p. 253)

In the book __Kindred__, by Octivia E. Bulter, while Rufus is a product of his environment, he ends up to not be all that bad. The first portrayal of Rufus being a product of his environment as opposed to an inherently bad person is the raping of Alice. Dana states, “I was beginning to realize that he loved the woman to her misfortune. There was no shame in raping a black woman, but there could be shame in loving one.”(p. 124) Rufus really loved Alice but he can’t marry her because he would be taking a lot of heat from everyone. It was frowned upon for a white man to marry a black woman. So he did the only thing that slave owners really could and that was to rape her. “I don’t want her sold, though, he whispered. Her fault or not, I don’t want her dying in some rice swamp.”(p. 123) This shows that he really cares about Alice as more than a slave. Another reason of how the environment affects Rufus is when he puts Dana to work in the fields after she kills his father. Dana states, “Sent me to the fields, had me beaten, made me spend nearly months sleeping on the floor of the mother’s room, sold people … He hasn’t raped me, Kevin. He understands though, you don’t seem to, that for him that would be a form of suicide.” (p. 245) She ‘s being treated differently because Rufus needs her in his life. “Rufus had been keeping me more than he needed me now. He called me to share his meals openly, and he seemed to listen when I talked to him about freeing the slaves.” (p. 254) Rufus realized that he needs Dana to survive. So Dana is spending more time with Rufus. This one is where Rufus becomes a good person and doesn’t let the environment affect him. Dana convinces Rufus to write Free papers for his kids.” Everything was all right. I even went on with Joe’s lessons. Me! I told her I would free both of them.” “She didn’t believe you. You wouldn’t put anything into writing.” “I would have.” I shrugged. “ Where are the children Ruf?” “In Baltimore with my mother’s sister.” “But … why?” “To punish her, scare her. To make her see what could happen if she didn’t … if she tried to leave me.” (p. 251) She doesn’t know where the kids are and she thought that Rufus sold the kids. So, she was relieved that they were in Baltimore with my mother’s sister. “Aunt Dana, Aunt Dana!” And a hug later, “I can read better now. Daddy’s been teaching me. Wanna hear?” “Sure I do.” I looked up at Rufus. Daddy? (p. 253) Rufus is teaching his children how to read. Dana is happy that he is doing something good. When Rufus sends Dana to work in the fields that was a little surprising to me. After all that she did for him and for this to happen to her and plus Rufus didn’t like his dad all that much. This is where I think he is a product of his Environment because after someone does all that for you and you repay like that is kinda harsh. So, in of the book __Kindred__, you can see that Rufus actually has a heart and that there’s more to him then what his character portrays in the beginning of the book. While Dana had a lot to do with it, it is still evident that even though Rufus is a product of his environment, he still has a heart deep down.

Macbeth Quotes and Creative piece This was not a Benchmark, but it was a major project. What we had to do is we had to pick quotes from the book that showed how Macbeth or Lady Macbeth changed through the book.

Say, you imperfect speakers , tell me more: By Finel’s death I know I am Thane of Glamis But how cawdor? The thane of cawdor lives, A prosperous gentleman ; and to be king strands not within the prospect of belief, No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence You owe this strange intelligence, or why Upon this blasted heath you stop our way With such prophetic greeting. Speak I will charge you. -Macbeth Act I scene III

After Macbeth and Banquo come back after talking with the three witches he tells Lady Macbeth what they said and they talk about it and come up with a plan. What the witches said is that Macbeth will be king and that Banquo wont be a king but his three sons will be king .Macbeth wants to be king now but so the they come up with is to kill King Duncan. What this mean to me is Macbeth is talking to Lady Macbeth and about to come up with a plan to kill Duncan. Macbeth is scared to kill Duncan, even though he wants to be king. He has never killed anybody before and he is afraid that he will be to paranoid and tell that to everyone and blow his chances of becoming king.

I have done the deed. Didst thou hear the noise. - Macbeth Act II scene II

This is right after he kills Duncan. He returns home with the bloody daggers in his hands and his hands full of blood. The noise he is talking about is himself. Now he is paranoid and wont sleep, he is suspicious of every noise he hears. He now has to keep a eye out so that no ones that kills him in his sleep. At this point in the play we find out that he has a conscience. He feels guilty that he killed Duncan.

Bring them before us. To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo stick deep, And is his royalty of nature reigns that Which would be feared. ‘Tis much he dares; And to that dauntless temper of his mind He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor to act in safety. There is none but he Whose being I do fear ; and under him My genius is rebuked, as it is said Mark Antony’s was by Caesar. He child the sisters When first they put the name of king upon me, And bade them to speak to him. Then, prophetlike, They hailed him father to a line of kings. Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown And put a barren scepter in my grip, Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, No son of mine succeeding. If ‘t be so, For Banquo ‘s issue have I filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered; Put rancors in the vessel of my peace Only for them , and mine eternal jewel given to common enemy of man to make them kings-the seeds of Banquo kings. Rather then so, come, Fate, into the list, And champion me to th’ utterance. Who’s there? - Macbeth Act III scene I Macbeth is planning Banquo death. He’s saying that even though he is his best friend that he cant take the chance that Banquo will tell somebody what he did to Duncan. Macbeth feels that it is Banquo best instrest to tell someone that Macbeth killed Duncan so that Banquo son’s can be king. At this point in the play he is at the point where he cant trust anybody anymore, so much so that he is planning to kill his Best Friend.

See they encounter thee with their hearts’ Thanks. Both sides are even. Here I’ll sit th’ midst. Be large in mirth ; anon we’ll drink a measure The table round. There’s blood upon thy face. - Macbeth Act III scene IV

This is when he kills Banquo. He is paranoid that Banquo will tell on him just so that his sons can be king. What Macbeth is trying to say is that he killed Banquo and he is content with it. Macbeth just killed his Best Friend and he dosent really care, because he though that he was his biggest threat and that he could lose his throne.

To Kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet And to baited with the rabble’s curse. Through Birnman Wood be come to Dunsinane, And thou opposed , being of no woman born, Yet I will try last. Before my body I will throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff , and damned be him that first cries”Hold enough” - Macbeth Act V scene VIII This is Macbeth final quote in the play. This occurs when he is fighting Macduff. He dosent want Malcolm to become king. What he is saying is he would rather kiss the ground then see Malcolm become king, because right now Macbeth is king. And then later in he says that Macduff will pay for what he did to him. Macbeth is now dead.

Me Mag This was the first project we did in the school year. This was basically a introduction so that we could all get to know each other. I am a huge baseball fan and this was in September towards the end of the baseball season so I was really excited about making this.

Journals These journal entry's were optional. I wanted to do them because I wanted to get some of my own writing into here. The first two entry's are one's that our English teacher Ms. Dunn gave us as topics. The second two were one's that I wanted to write. I feel like it isn’t right for people to be treated this way. It’s something that I’ve heard about a lot before so it’s not like a major scare. The way it relates to Freedom Writers is that it is a bad area and there’s violence. But in the Freedom Writers they go to school and get a good education. In Bosnia these are people who are living normal lives and are brought into war. All violence in the world must stop. That will never happen.

How do our family relationships shape us?

I think family relationships shape us because it controls how we are as adults. Most of the family relationships in my family aren’t good. My mom hopes that we won’t turn out like that, because right now we’re the only ones who still have that good relationship. I hope that we don’t because I don’t have anywhere else to go. I think that we will always be close. How it shapes us is that people who aren’t that close to their parents tend to have more trust issues and usually don’t have that many friends so if you have a strong trust at home you will have a strong trust for the rest of your life with your parents and family.

This year was not a good year for me at all. It started off okay and then went downhill. I was overwhelmed with the work load and really couldn’t get all of it done in one night. I was really asking the teachers for help cause I really didn’t understand it.

The second quarter wasn’t all that bad, but it wasn’t my standards. We got alot work then we did in the first quarter and I was overwhelmed by it. I got a couple d’s and c’s which was ok.

The 3rd quarter was really bad. I got 2 d’s 2 f’s and 1 c. I went to grade recovery and it changed my report card to 4 d’s and a c. I really don’t know why but I really didn’t try hard at all.

In the 4th quarter I said that I would do all my work and try my hardest but that was eaiser said then done. I really slacked off and didn’t get my work done and now I regret it so much. I scared that I might have to go to summer school and that it would ruin my summer.

This has been a unreal season for the Flyers so far. At the beginning of the season they were suppose to be a good team and compete for the Stanley Cup. Turns out they did, but it wasn’t the easy the road.

The off season started off well for them with the acquisition of Defenseman Chris Pronger. When I heard I was so happy. This was a great move getting the experienced Defenseman to help out a very young inexperienced Flyers Defense.

Then we got Ray Emery to be our goalie. I hated this move. I didn’t like Emery and I didn’t think he would be very good.

Those were the two only huge moves, we had some minor moves that really paid off. We signed two fourth line key players in Ian Lapierirre and Blair Betts. The Betts deal was more impressive because we signed him a day before the Season started. These two players have been huge through out the course of the season.

The Flyers Brought up rookie James Vanriemsdyk JVR for short as flyers fan and players call him, Had a great year playing with fellow young star Claude Giroux. Along with Aaron Asham this line produced a lot through the course of the season.

The season started off good for the Flyers and goalie Ray Emery with a 3-0 Shutout road win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Then the flyers went on to win their next two games for a 3-0 start. They were playing great. Then they were streaky winning a couple in a row losing a couple in a row. Then all of a sudden their injury prone goalie Ray Emery did just that and got injured.

Brian Boucher of” Boosh “ as flyers fan call him was the new starting goalie. The Flyers looked for a Backup and found one in Michael Leighton. Boosh didn’t do all that bad until he got injured, leaving the Flyers with Michael Leighton in net. I had never heard of Leighton before and though he was a rookie but turns out he is a well traveled veteran.

Michael Leighton at the time was playing well and then in the middle of a game he got injured. Luckily Ray Emery was coming back from injury which was lucky.

Emery came back and then Boucher was coming back from injury. We sent Boucher to the minors in order to keep Leighton Who was back now too. After playing in a couple more games in November Emery got injured again, this time he was finished for the season.

It was Leighton’s time to shine now, or we hoped. After the disappointing end to the first game of the “New Year” which was the Winter Classic on New year’s day the Flyers who were in 6th place in the playoffs suddenly fell to 14th place in the east .It looked like it was over for the Flyers in the 2010 season. Then a beat up Flyers team got some key players back and then we went on a amazing win streak to get us back in the hunt. Then a week before the trade deadline the Flyers made a trade that I at first thought wasn’t good in getting Villie Leino from Detroit.

Flyers Fan didn’t really get to see Leino’s true talent until the Playoffs.

After this he played in a couple games in the season. His Debut came against a team he knew very well in the Chicago Blackhawks. The Flyers Won that game with 2.5 Seconds left in Regulation From Defenseman Chris Pronger.

Then the Flyers lost Leighton for what we thought would be the rest of the season and left it in the hands of Brian Boucher. No Flyers Fan though that what would happen the final two months of the season, would happen. With a Healthy team Boucher lead the Flyers into a Playoff spot.

So With the Final day of the regular season here there were three teams fighting for two playoff spots. The Flyers Had it the easiest until The Montreal Canadianes won, which now meant that the Flyers had to win to get in to the Playoffs. This looked like it wouldn’t happen because the Flyers were down 1-0 heading into the last period. As the period got underway it looked harder and harder for the Flyers to get in. Then With five left Defenseman Matt Carle scored a goal to tie the game up at 1-1. This gave Flyers hope. As the Final horn sounded it was tied at 1-1, Which meant a five minutes 4 on 4 sudden death overtime. First team to score wins and gets the Final Playoff Spot. The Rangers who were a pretty good Shootout team was stalling to get to the Shootout. After the Five minute overtime it was still 1-1. This meant Shootout. I was so scared at this moment. Danny Briere was the first one to Shoot, he scored. Flyers up 1- 0 in the shootout. Rangers turn now. Boucher kept his cool and stopped it. Then it was Flyers Captain Mike Richards, he was stoned by Henrik Lundqvist. If Brian Boucher was able to stop this we would win and go to the Playoffs. He couldn’t 1-1. This round was huge. The Flyers sent young Star Claude Giroux out to try to give us the lead. He scored, Flyers up 2-1. Now it was up to Boucher. The Rangers had their best shootout guy trying to tie it up. But Boucher Stoned him Flyers were going to the Playoffs as the final team to get in.

The Flyers who were the 7th seed were taking on division rival New Jersey in round 1. The good news for the Flyers is that they took 3 out of 4 in the regular season. That strong showing continued as the Flyers Shocked the Devils. The Flyers lost Jeff Carter, Simon Gange, and Ian Lapierrier to injuries.

We then got the 6th seeded Boston Bruins. This series didn’t start out good for the Flyers losing the first game in overtime. It didn’t stop there we lost game 2 in Boston and game 3 in Philadelphia to go down 0-3 in the series. The Flyers didn’t give up. Even with three key guys down the Flyers didn’t give up. With Simon Gagne returning the Flyers felt even better. Gange ended up playing huge and scoring the Game winning goal in OT, the Flyers were back in the series. Then They won game 5, 4-0 , but the lost Brian Boucher to injury. Michael Leighton just came back that game and now he was tested. Then all Leighton does is get a Shutout as the Flyers tie the series up at 3-3. Then on to Game 7 other than World Champions, Game 7 is the second greatest two words phrase in sports. They had a chance to make history, but it didn’t look like it would happen. They were down 3-0, 15 minutes into the game. Flyers fans were in disbelief. Then rookie JVR got his 1st career playoff goal in his biggest game if his life. That seemed to get them going. They were down 3-1 at the end of the first. Leighton and the flyers got the nerves out and dominated the rest of the game. Scott Hartnell scored and now we were down 3-2. They Danny Briere had a huge goal to tie the game up at 3-3. His goal wasn’t only big it was pretty. Then Leighton had some huge saves to keep the score tied. Third period here we come. It was pretty even until with 7 minutes left Boston got called for a huge 2 minutes Bench minor for having to many men on the ice. This was huge because with 30 seconds left on the powerplay Simon Gagne scored a goal. Flyers up 4-3. It was up to Leighton to make history. As the clock ran downed Flyers fans were staring to cheer. As the clock struck zero the fans who were watching from the Wachovia Center erupted as the Flyers made History!!!!! Being only one of three NHL to come fro 0-3 to win the series. Only The 2004 Boston Red Sox were the only non NHL team to do this.

The Montreal Canadieans were the only team left in the Flyers way from going to the Stanley Cup. The Flyers made sure they did what they didn’t do vs. Boston and win game 1 at home. The won in 6-0 and Halak who was so good in the previous two series was pulled after 30 minutes for giving up 4 goals. Game 2 was more of the same Flyers won 3-0 and took a 2-0 series lead. The Flyers were hoping to go up 3-0 in the series, but that didn’t happen. This was the worst game they played all playoffs and lost 5-1. Then the Flyers bounced back and won Game 4 3-1. Which now meant the Flyers had a chance to clinch a series at home for the First Time in a while. Montreal came out firing and scored Brian Gionta scored 59 seconds into the game .Flyers down 1- 0, but not for long. Mike Richards scored a Empty net goal 5 minutes later to tie it up at 1-1. Then Aaron Asham scored to give the Flyers the lead up 2-1. Jeff Carter scored a goal to put the Flyers up 3-1 in the third. Then with under 5 minutes left Scott Gomez scored and then it was 3-2. With 46 seconds left Jeff Carter got a Empty net goal to give the Flyers a 4-2 lead. The Wachovia erupted and was standing until the Final Horn sounded and then erupted even louder. The Philadelphia Flyers were the 2010 Eastern Conference Champions and were going to take on the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final.