Introduction to - Into the Wild - by: John Krakauer

Into the Wild is based off a true story.  Christopher McCandless journeys on a two-year hike across America (and parts of Canada to get to Alaska).  He gave away his savings and drove for a long time, and eventually abandoned his car too.  Christopher continues to walk and hitchhike across America until he hitchhiked to the Stampede Trail in Alaska.  He ventures out with only 10 pounds of rice, a rifle and bullets, a camera, some reading material (including a guide to edible plants, Tana'ina Plantlore).  After about 100 days, he died.  He was later found by moose hunters.

picture from: http://www.farnorthscience.com/
Info from: wikipedia.com

Dreams!

Jonathan Kolson

Yellows

Mrs. Zurkowski

1/31/11

Dream

            I had a dream, a realistic dream.  I dreamt that I woke up and that school was two hours late.  I dreamt that I woke up to my radio alarm and that they announced that school was 2 hours late.  I thought to myself, “Yay,” and clicked the snooze button.  I fell back to sleep in my dream and woke up to my mom yelling at me to wake up! I announced that we were two hours late to her and she was happy and went back to sleep. I wake up and check the schedule two hours later to find out that we weren’t two hours late! I got to school and just continued my daily routine.  My dream was so realistic to me that I actually kept myself from going to school!

Picture from: http://www.eso-garden.com/

Welcome to Semester 3!

HELLO!  Wlecome back to my blog in semester 3.  In this semester i will be finishing A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespear, and starting a new book!  I will be reading Into The Wild by .... which is based off a true story!  I have changed so much from September.  The time has passed so quickly!  I hope you will still be following when I finish the school year. I will be trying fit all my changes during the year into one of my last blogs for the year.  I know that I will be adding how confident I am now compared to September.  I never thought i would adjust this fast.  I hope you like this semester's blog posts!

Picture from: http://www.theholidayzone.com/

The Game of Your Life

Catching Fire
By: Suzanne Collins

Experience the thrills and adventure of Katniss while she fights for her life.

The romances of Katniss will entangle you in a plot so enticing that the only way to stop is to finish.

Katniss's every move leads to the collapse of a huge conspiracy within the oppressive  government.

Green

Jonathan Kolson

Mrs. Zurkowski

Honors English

10/28/10

The Green Room of Edgar Allan Poe’s Story “Masque of the Red Death”

            The Green room in “Masque of the Red Death”, by Edgar Allan Poe, has many different interpretations.  The first of the three is a stage of life, adolescence in this case.  The second is time of day relative to life span.  The last is related to the seasons of your life.

            Green is the third room of the seven in Poe’s story, being the third room means that it would be the third title given to you.  First title is baby, second is child, and third is teen.  Teens seem to try and rebel and fight against the other colors. Green is outstanding against the earlier blue and purple and the later orange.  It seems fitting for green to be associated with teens.

            The time of day for green is morning along with blue and purple.  Green is the latest in the morning when everything is becoming green again.  It is not hot yet but it is not cold either.  It is the best time for things to grow.  Relating this to age, teens grow maturely and physically during this time.  Green seems to be the most vibrant time of the day, and teens are extremely vibrant too.

            Green, in the form of seasons, is summer.  It fits with summer because summer is a fun time and teens just want to have fun.  Summer is also very green.  Summer is full of green leaves and grass.  If spring is the time of new life, then summer is the time of learning and growing.

Some Notes of O. Henry

Image from: www.shirleyassociation.com

• O. Henry was an amazing short story writer who included a plot twist in many of his stories.
• William Sydney Porter was O. Henry's real name, O. Henry was just a pen name.
• He was born in Greensboro, South Carolina.
• He moved to Houston, Texas when he was fifteen.
• He moved to Austin, Texas in 1882.
• During 1897, William was accused of embezzling money.
• He moved to New York City, New York, in 1902, after completing three years of his five year sentence.
• O. Henry published over 600 short stories.
• He married Sara Lindsay Coleman in 1907.
• O. Henry died of cirrhosis of the liver during June 5, 1910.

Sources:
http://www.online-literature.com/o_henry/

Edgar Allan Poe

1. Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died October 7, 1849.
2. Poe's father left the family, and, shortly after, his mother died.
3. The cause of Poe's death is unsure, here are five theories: Cholera, congestion of the brain, heart disease, epilepsy, and syphilis.
4. According to the Poe museum, Poe's home state was Virginia.
5. The Baltimore Poe Society says that Poe's home is in Baltimore.
6. Poe was expelled from the United States Military Academy in West Point, South Carolina.
7. Poe married his 13 year old cousin, Virginia Clemm.
8. I think that Poe's marriage was not right, it may have been back then but it is against my morals.
9. "Murders in the Rue Morgue" was the first of the Poe scary stories.
12. I envision Poe as a twisted old man.