Final Assesment Of English 12

My semester in English 12 is coming to an end and I have gained lots of information for my essay writing, public speaking, literary analysis and incorporating lots of new sophisticated vocabulary. Upon reflecting on my goals, I believe they were relevant goals because they needed to be worked on and improved. Moreover, they were some of my weak points in English as I needed to refine and retouch them. Of my three goals, I believe that I have improved my vocabulary through learning lots of new sophisticated vocabulary which I have tried my best to incorporate in my writing. Furthermore, I have also successfully managed to improve my literary analysis by writing at a higher level by incorporating new vocab. The only goal I still need to work towards is to improve my essay writing by doing lots of practice essays and recieving feedback. Overall, I think these goals that I set out in the starting of the semester were pretty accurate in terms of my English skills. As the provincial exam is approaching pretty quick, I have improved in a lot of areas since the semester started.

Inquiry Reflection (Step #7 of Inquiry Process)

Inquiry question - How can ads and commercials be misleading?

As I gathered my research for my inquiry, I learned lots of things that were certainly not expected. For example, I learned some new techniques of false advertising that I never knew before. In addition, some other things I learned were: how ads tend to be misleading, in what ways they can be misleading and why they are designed this way. Most of the information on this topic was fairly new to me as I have never really been exposed to this particular topic. During the inquiry process, the only big challenge I faced was how to put all this information together and present it. After all, I finally figured out what information to present and in what way I will present it. Though it was really hard to figure out, I finally got an idea to work. Next time, I would start by deciding on what way I will present all the information rather than figuring that out last. I would also try to use a different platform to present my information next time. I can connect my inquiry to my life because I watch TV like everyday and now I will be careful about the ads that are being advertised and I would interpret them more closely. Furthermore, I would like to continue to explore how ads are made and how much money it takes to advertise them in the TV, radio, and on the media. There isn't really anything I found confusing about my inquiry. Lastly, some new questions that I developed were: how do the owners of the ads make the ads misleading and what their main purpose of doing so.

Dystopian Novel: Connections to Themes & Issues

Censorship – Censorship is censoring, suppressing, and limiting information to the public. This picture shows how fast food and many other advertisements can be misleading. It shows what is being advertised in the ads and compared to what we get in reality. It shows how good, yummy and tasty the food looks like in the ads but doesn’t show how bad it is really in terms of carbohydrates, sugar and calories.   

Surveillance – Surveillance is supervising, being watched over, or being closely observed. This article shows how the NSA (National Security Agency) spys on Americans. In other words, they are closely observing the phone calls, internet communication, documents and may other things of Americans. The article represents the theme of surveillance as the NSA is closely observing the Americans.

NSA Surveillance Article

Propaganda – Propaganda is information designed to publicize, promote or persuade people. These videos of the iPhone 6 are made so perfectly not only to promote their product but to persuade people. They show different aspects of the phone to buy the customers attention quickly. Each angle of the video is taken to show the quality of the phone and how the customer should buy it.  

  











Power/Control - Power is the ability to do something and control is the power to direct people or take control of something. This article shows how much control the U.S government has over their citizens. The rules and regulations that the citizens have to follow can sometimes be suffocating which are set out by the controlling government. the government wants to run its citizens the way that they would like and not care about anyone else's opinions.

Power/Control Article  

Hamlet Act 3 Twitter Summary

                                 





























































The two central characters that were chosen are Gertrude and Claudius. They had significant roles in Act 3. Hamlet killed Polonius instead of Claudius because he didn't know who was hiding behind the curtains when he was talking to Gertrude. Gertrude thought Hamlet was also going to kill her too and she was shocked when she found out that he killed Polonius. She saw Hamlet talking and staring into the empty air which was the ghost and she considered Hamlet crazy and insane. On the other hand, Claudius feels unsafe and doesn't want Hamlet to stay because he cannot risk the danger Hamlet is representing. He wants Hamlet to go with Guildenstern to England.

Hamlet: On revenge

In my opinion, revenge is not a good thing as we have been taught this way. Revenge states that if someone hits you, you will hit them back in simpler words. It is a desire to repay an injury or take a wrong action which is often some sort of violence. I think its not good because it often causes harm. However, some people think revenge is good because it gives you some type of satisfaction and some people feel worse if they get revenge on someone because they think it over and over again. In contrast to that, when people don't get revenge, they tend to trivialize the event by telling themselves that because they didn't act on their vengeful feeling, it wasn't a big deal. Then its easier to forget it and move on. Even if you take revenge on someone, you will feel good for a little while but when you are left alone with regret, you will feel like an idiot for taking revenge. Revenge is bad because you are lowering yourself to their level and you are becoming just as bad as them. Revenge just basically increases anger rather than decreasing it because if ruminations. In the process of taking revenge, one might end up doing things that they might regret later on in life.

Reflecting on my goals

As the semester is half over, it is now time to reflect on my goals that I had made for myself back in February for English. These goals were very accurate as they show an understanding of the aspects of English that I needed to work and improve on as the semester progressed. I have now managed to achieve a 5 on my literary analysis which is a big improvement for me as I have never really achieved that mark before. I improved my writing skills by learning new vocab and practicing writing at a higher level. It took some time to incorporate the vocab in my writing but I finally managed to get it. This was a major goal for me in English as it is needed to complete the provincial exam which is in June. One goal that I still need to work on is my essay writing skills which are also needed for the provincial exam. I can improve them by reading higher level essays or by practicing by writing practice essays and receiving feedback for them.  

Invictus: Response

The poem that has inspired me with inspiration and hope in difficult times is called "You can be whatever you want to be" by Donna Levine. This poem speaks about our hidden potentials which can unveil to chase our dreams and ambitions. However, for doing so, we need to take a step forward and build up our courage to connect with our mind, body and soul. This is basically what the poem is trying to convey. The aspect of the poem that I particularly found inspiring was found in the first two stanza's of the poem. the part that I found inspiring was where Donna Levine says we all have the potential to be whatever we want to be and we all have the energy to do whatever we want to do. This helped me into what I was experiencing in grade 10. In grade 10, I found out that I have to work super hard to become what I wanted to become which was an engineer. I thought that I didn't have what it takes to become a professional successful engineer. Therefore, this poem and particularly the first two stanzas of this poem helped me in that difficult time. It gave me hope, courage and motivated me to keep working hard to achieve my goal. This poem was a huge encouragement which provided me with a lot of motivation.

The Breakfast Club: Social Identity & Adolescent Egocentrism

At Sullivan Heights, we have divided ourselves in different levels of hierarchy. The top level of the pyramid is the principals. They are prone to act as leaders and role models in the school. It is their duty to create a educational atmosphere and shape a vision of academic success. The next level is the staff of the school. They are there to maintain the school in proper shape and to set excellent examples in front of students. However, teachers always try to improve their teaching skills in order for them to teach at their best and for students to learn to their utmost. After that comes the senior students of the school which include the grade 11's and 12's. These students set a great example for the junior students. They are the ones who are more experienced and show leadership attributes to the junior students. At the bottom of the pyramid, come the junior students which are in grades 8 to 10. They have little to no experience in high school as these are their first couple of years here. They are learning how to become a high school student and how to be confident in their actions.

Based on this hierarchy, we value the top of the pyramid. Essentially we value what the principals have to say or believe. Those are the decisions and rules and regulations that we follow in order to be part of the school community. The decisions that the principals make are the ones that are followed by the staff and students. Although, they are considered as the head of the school, they are the ones that have the most power and the most authority to take an action in the school community.

In my opinion, I totally agree with Piaget's theory of adolescent egocentrism. I agree with his theory because this actually exists and teenagers do what they think is right and don't want to listen to what others have to say to them. They are self-centered where they don't care what others think about them and just want to do what they think is correct.

Gender & Identity Beyond Pink and Blue

We have identified four "agents of socialization" when it comes to socially constructed differences between males and females.

1. Family
2. Peers
3. Culture and/or religion
4. Media

Each of these have their own positive and negative examples, messages, and impacts.

Firstly, the tradition in the twenty-first century of family households has shifted a bit where as many years ago there used to be a more traditional way of living in a family. For instance, a positive example for family in today's generation results in a household where chores are distributed equally between male and female children. Chores include cleaning and cooking. On the other hand, a negative example would be that chores assigned based upon more traditional roles. For example, girls would normally cook and clean whereas boys would mow the lawn and do the laundry.

Secondly, peers have a huge influence on us in many ways. A positive example can be that by talking to your opposite gender and the same gender is useful and helpful in many ways. For example, getting opinions from girls and boys in helpful because you are hearing from both sides and how they think about something. Perhaps, if you want to make a strong decision, you should be prolonged to ask both genders to see what they think. On the other side of the spectrum, a negative example would be asking the same gender about what they think about something. By doing this, you will not hear the opinions of the opposite gender and this way you can be misguided.

Furthermore, our religion and culture also has an affect on our daily lives. In today's generation a household system has no head of the family. The mom and the dad have equal rights and have a equal say in everything which would be considered as a positive example. On the other hand, in some religions, the head of the family is usually the dad. He is the one who controls everything and he is more superior than the mom. For example, everything needs to get approved by him in order for something to happen. This is considered as a negative example because the mom and dad don't have equal rights. Therefore, the mom lacks and is limited to what she can say in the household.  

Lastly, media has a great impact on our lives. A positive example would be that some advertisements, images, commercials and magazines are only aimed towards one gender. For example, a Gillette razor commercial is only aimed towards men whereas a Victoria secret commercial is only aimed towards women. A negative example can be that, research shows that there are many fewer females than males in almost all forms of mainstream media and those who do appear often portrayed in very stereotypical ways. In everything from advertising, television programming, newspapers and magazines, women and girls are more likely to be shown in a home, performing domestic chores such as doing laundry or cleaning. Men are also stereotyped by the media where they are often associated with competition, aggression and violence. They have considerably more economic and political power in society than women.

Personality Profile

In this post, I will discuss and summarize my findings from the 2 personality quizzes that I completed. The quizzes helped me figure out my strengths and weaknesses in particular areas. I will start out by listing my strengths that I already knew. My strengths that I already knew are body movement and logic/math. These are some of my strengths that I already knew before starting the quizzes. I like to play a variety of sports and take part in various physical activities. My logical thinking and math skills are exceptional as I am very keen about them. Another strength of mine that I discovered and was a bit surprising to me was that I am spatial meaning I can remember things by visualizing. Therefore, I like to learn things from visual clues. For example, graphs, diagrams, pictures and maps. Some of my weaknesses that I already knew about myself were that I am not a naturalist and I am not musical. On the other hand, I discovered that I am not linguistic. Furthermore, the results that I found out from the second quiz were that I have a slight preference of Introversion over Extroversion. I also have a slight preference of sensing over intuition. In contrast to that, I have a moderate preference of thinking over feeling. Lastly, I have marginal or no preference of judging over perceiving. These results were pretty accurate in my opinion as they represented my personality.

Getting to Know You

          The very first day of my grade 7 year was quite fascinating as it was my graduating year from elementary school. I had always waited for this particular year to come around. However, high school right around the corner was also a little nerve-racking. As the summer break came to its end I hoped to make this year a memorable one with many moments to remember. In addition, I was a little shy at first but as the school year progressed I transformed myself into a person who was very easy to get along with. During this year, I wasn’t focused in my academics as much as I was more focused on enjoying my last year in elementary by joining various school teams as that was part of what I had planned to do this year.

          
          I have changed over the course of years in comparison to who I was in grade 7. Now that I have a very complex personality, I am compiled of the following traits: hardworking, knowledgeable, cooperative, honest, motivated, committed and a team player. Furthermore, my likes and dislikes also set me apart from others. I personally love technology as its one of my major interests. I have a passion for playing and watching a variety of sports as I am very athletic. Some of my dislikes include things like dancing, rollercoaster rides and drawing since I don’t consider myself artistic. Additionally, my main target at this time is to look forward to graduate and attend university with exceptional grades.

          Now that I have given a little taste of who I was in grade 7 and who I am today, I will now discuss who I will be at the end of the school year. As this last year of my journey here at Sullivan Heights came to an end, I became a high school graduate. Moreover, I hope to have accomplished to be accepted to UBC. Having accomplished that milestone, I will be getting ready and looking forward to attend post-secondary and pursue a career in engineering. In addition, my biggest goal would be to achieve a prestigious bachelor’s degree in Applied Sciences. I plan to make this happen by being committed, motivated, hardworking and reliable. In the future, I want to become a trustworthy, sophisticated and a successful individual. 

About Me

My name is Devansh Chopra and this blog is for my English 12 class as I will be using this very frequently. Its a great way to make my learning visible and it shows a record or artifact of my learning journey as I move through English. First off, in this post I will highlight some things about me. I have a family of 4 which consists of my dad, my mom, my sister and myself. All of these particular individuals mean a lot to me. They have been through all the ups and downs with me. Moreover, my hobbies/interests include watching and playing a variety of sports. They serve as a recreation where I am able to rejuvenate my mind. I also have a passion for the latest technology as I am always fascinated about new products in the market. In addition, my target in the future is to graduate either from SFU or UBC and become a successful mechanical engineer. Now that I have highlighted some things about me, I will now outline three learning goals that I have for English 12.

1. Improving my vocabulary by reading lots of new sophisticated vocabulary
2. Improving my essay writing through lots of practice and receiving feedback
3. Improving my literary analysis by practicing and extending my thinking by thinking outside the box