iMotion

An iMotion video for Extra Credit.

My Secret

Hello. I am sure, from the title, that you are amused. A secret... That could mean quite a few things. I will tell you this though. It sure was a lot of fun. It only lasted for an hour though... And only three people know about it. I am sure by this point that you are confused.

I do not know if you will be able to guess my secret before the end of this letter. It is a pretty tough one, and after you find out the secret, I am sure you will reread this to see all the clues you missed.

My secret has sub-secrets, ones that are even harder to figure out than the main secret. There are four sub-secrets within the main secret. All of these sub-secrets took place within an hour of each other, which is funny because I drove 45 minutes each way to get to my location.

So far, that was the best Sunday I have had this year (so far). Although the drive was long, it was worth it. The view was nice too! Lake Erie is so calm this time of year.

I am glad I am back in the spirit of getting on these tall, tall mountains. It was fun to visit an old one, and to see two new ones. It is not everyday that they put in a huge scream-generator.

The food was great too! Those fries were delicious. Whoever thought of putting seafood and potatoes together is a genius, and I applaud them for it.

By now, you may have figured out my secret. If you have not, the answers are below :

My Main Secret - I went to Cedar Point for opening weekend.

Sub-Secret 1 - I rode Millenium Force.

Sub-Secret 2 - I rode Pipe Scream.

Sub-Secret 3 - I rode Lake Erie Eagles.

Sub-Secret 4 - I ate at Chickie's and Pete's (a new restaurant in the park), and had their delicious new Crab Fries

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda

If Victor would have wrote a letter to his family saying what he was really doing, the story would have been changed dramatically. The first "alternate ending" that I think could have occurred is the monster would not have been completed, and would remain a pile of limbs instead of a terrible creature. If Victor's family heard of the terrible things he was doing, they may have come to visit him at Ingolstadt. They could have talked him out of creating a monster and got him to return home. While his marriage may not have taken place this way (I assume Elizabeth would not want to marry crazy Victor), the lives of William, Justine, and Henry could have been saved. The monster (because he would not exist) could not have killed William and Henry. Because William would still be alive, Justine would not be charged with murder, and she would still be alive.

A second "alternate ending" that I think could have occurred is the killing of the monster. If the time Victor's family arrived to visit him was after the creation of the monster, his family could have helped him kill it. The story could have been the Frankenstein family going throughout Europe to try and find this crazy monster and kill it. While I am sure deaths would still happen, they could have happened in a less secretive way. The story could have been in a complete opposite direction than the way it went.

Left Out

Sometimes, people get rejected or left out by others. This can make a person feel sad, angry, or upset to name a few emotions. Below is a situation in which Tommy, the main character, feels left out by his bigger and more athletic friends :

Tommy was in the ninth grade. He was finally in high school where he could be away from those annoying sixth graders. It was hard for him to believe that he was that annoying just three years ago...

The high school was much bigger than the middle school. It was so big that Tommy felt like he was lost most of the time. He did not feel like he felt in.

"Why does one school need four gyms?" Tommy asked himself often.

As per his normal schedule, Tommy was leaving the school at three in the afternoon. The school lets out at 2:40, but Tommy stays behind to get help on his math homework. As Tommy was walking past one of the gyms, he heard a faint beating sound. When he reached the gym doors, he took a look inside. He saw two of the older students, Adrian and Terri, playing basketball. Tommy was never great at sports, but he enjoyed playing them when he had the chance. Tommy threw down his backpack and walked over to his acquaintances.

"Hey, can I play?" Tommy asks brightly to the two seniors.

"Why would we let you play?" snorts Terri. "Basketball is only fun if your taller than five feet!" he jokes while Adrian laughs.

"Your just a stupid freshman." Adrian adds on.

Tommy, feeling upset and wanting to cry, runs from the gym and leaves his backpack behind.

Tommy, being the rejected person in this story, feels upset that he is left out. As seen in the beginning of the story, Tommy does not feel like he fits in at the school. He is constantly lost, but glad that he is away from younger students. But now, Tommy is the younger student that nobody likes. When he enters the gym, he gets quite excited at the thought of playing basketball. He was probably happy to think that he might finally fit in with the seniors.

Once he was rejected quite rudely by the seniors, Tommy became upset so much that he wanted to cry. He was so upset that when he ran from the gym, he forgot his backpack.

Remember to ALWAYS be nice to people. Their response is unknown, and it may be drastic. Even if a mean comment was only intended to be a joke, it probably will not come across that way.

Atmosphere, Action, and Supernatural

Of the three elements - atmosphere, action, and supernatural - in the story Frankenstein, I feel that atmosphere is the most effective. I say this because atmosphere is everything in a book. If the setting (atmosphere) was not described, readers would not be able to understand the story as well. If mood (atmosphere) was not in the story, the characters would not be understood as well as if mood was in place. Atmosphere is everything. Here are a few examples of atmosphere in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

"It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs."

This scene creates a very vivid picture of what is going on. It is a rainy night, November (probably cold weather), and dark. Victor, quite mad at this time, has a dead monster that he created lying at his feet. After infusing it with electricity, the monster awakens...

"It was completely dark when I arrived in the environs of Geneva; the gates of the town were already shut; and I was obliged to pass the night at Secheron, a village at the distance of half a league from the city. The sky was serene; and, as I was unable to rest, I resolved to visit the spot where my poor William had been murdered. As I could not pass through the town, I was obliged to cross the lake in a boat to arrive at Plainpalais. During this short voyage I saw the lightning playing on the summit of Mont Blanc in the most beautiful figures. The storm appeared to approach rapidly, and, on landing, I ascended a low hill, that I might observe its progress. It advanced; the heavens were clouded, and I soon felt the rain coming slowly in large drops, but its violence quickly increased."

This scene creates imagery for what Victor had to go to once he arrived at his hometown. The gates were closed, so he was not getting in. He had to return to a village a little ways away from the city for the night. The sky was stormy, and he could tell that the weather was about to get really bad.

"I spent the following day roaming through the valley. I stood beside the sources of the Arveiron, which take their rise in a glacier, that with slow pace is advancing down from the summit of the hills to barricade the valley. The abrupt sides of vast mountains were before me; the icy wall of the glacier overhung me; a few shattered pines were scattered around; and the solemn silence of this glorious presence-chamber of imperial nature was broken only by the brawling waves or the fall of some vast fragment, the thunder sound of the avalanche or the cracking, reverberated along the mountains, of the accumulated ice, which, through the silent working of immutable laws, was ever and anon rent and torn, as if it had been but a plaything in their hands."

This final quote really sets the mood for the story. You can tell that Victor has gone to a place where very few or no men have been before. It is deserted and beautiful. It takes so long to just describe the setting before we can get to anything else. This really helps the readers understand the setting, and subsequently, the story better.

If it was not for atmosphere, this book would have been quite dull, hard to understand (due to the lack of settings), and shorter. Much of the story is Victor describing the setting so we understand it. Atmosphere is the most important of the three elements.

Frankenstein and My Ghost Story

Mary Shelley had an interesting beginning to her story Frankenstein. The story begins with four different letters written by Robert Walton, an explorer in the Arctic Circle. Walton is writing these letters to his sister who lives in England. During Walton's trip, he comes across a stranger that is near death. After the stranger is welcomed aboard the ship, he tells Walton that there is a story to how he came to be this way. After a bit of persuasion, Walton got the stranger to tell his story. The book, after is point, is a manuscript of the stranger's story.

If I had to write a ghost story, I would begin by talking about the setting's past. I would want to draw the readers into the history of the setting (location), what happened, and why the new people (which would become the main characters) are going to this location. I would probably make the location have a terrible past of murder and crime, and would say that the location is supposedly haunted. The new characters, who do not believe that it is haunted, would go to this location to prove it. Unfortunately for them, only one will come out alive...

Robert Walton (as interpreted from the story)

The eerie setting of my story...

Spring Break

One thing that I hope to do over Spring Break is visit the Aut-O-Rama drive in theater. A drive in is a theater with an outside movie screen (usually 80-150 feet tall) and no seats. Instead, a person drives their car up to the theater, parks their vehicle, and sit in it the duration of the movie(s). Since a drive in is an outdoor theater, it is closed most of the fall and all of winter. Every year in spring, the Aut-O-Rama opens up and starts a great season of fun, movies, and great food.

This Friday, April 4th, is opening weekend for the Aut-O-Rama. They are going to show "Captain America : The Winter Soldier" and "Thor : The Dark World" on Screen One. Additionally, they are going to show "Frozen" and "The Lego Movie" on Screen Two. I can not wait to go see Captain America in another great Marvel movie!

Some food that the drive in offers include french fries, hot dogs, hamburgers and cheeseburgers, subs, pizza, assorted candy, ice cream, and of course, popcorn. The food at the drive in is the best food in the world. It tastes amazing, which probably means it is bad for a person's health, but that really does not matter. It is too good to pass up! I can not wait to be back out there in just a short few hours.

Flying or Invisibility

If I had to choose between flying or being able to be invisible, I would choose flying. Flying is something that humans have wanted to do since the beginning of time. We wanted to do it so much that we even invented a machine to do it for us, the plane. It would be amazing to have the ability to just get up and fly anywhere I wanted for any reason at all.

Flying is also the best form of transportation. I would no longer need a car or expensive gas to fuel it. When I want to go somewhere, I could just get up and fly. Additionally, there would be no traffic to get in my way, so I would arrive at my destination faster. Once I got to my destination, I would not need a parking spot. I would just land and walk in to my destination.

Flying has so many more advantages. It is more practical. It is also easier to manage. Invisibility would be used to do bad or mischievous tasks, neither of which I would do. Since I would not do these, there is no need for me to have invisibility. Flying would be the better choice by a long shot.

Advice for Class of 2017

One bit of advice that I would offer to the Class of 2017 for OGTs next year is not to freak of too much. The tests are very easy, and most of the answers to the questions are right there on the test. Here are some helpful tips for all five of the tests :

• Writing - Learn sentence structure. It will be helpful if the person taking the tests can tell what type of sentence it is and to know how to write those sentences. Use a VARIETY of sentence structures throughout the essays.
• Writing / Reading - Learn how to analyze texts to look for answers and quotes for later.
• Writing - Learn the "Five Paragraph" writing style and how to use graphic organizers, webs, and rough copies. This will come in handy when writing the essays on the test.
• Science - Study up on Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, Biology, and Technology. Be ready to write at least one extended response / short answer for each category.
• Math - Do not worry about memorizing formulas, as they are available on the test for you. But, know how to use the formulas in certain situations.
• History - Concentrate on Economics, Government, and the Industrial Revolution. These areas are hit hard on the tests.
• Reading - Look for the answers in the story! Most of them are right in front of the test taker.
• Reading - When writing extended responses and short answers, always quote the story to back up the answer given.

Good luck! I am sure everyone will do just fine.

Desperate Measures

Sometimes in life, people get stuck in situations that they might not want to be in. Once in these situations, it may be extremely hard or impossible to get out. Sometimes, people might feel like they are stuck in an unfixable situation, and they might try some desperate measures. I personally have not had many of these types of situations, but have had a few. One particular time that I was stuck in one of these situations was last year in English class.

One thing that I strive for in school is a perfect 4.0 GPA. It is very hard to earn that high of a GPA, and takes a dedication throughout the whole semester. To earn an overall A in a class, you have to earn an A in both grading periods and an A, B, or C on the midterm/final OR earn an A in one grading period, a B in another grading period, and an A on the midterm/final. As I was nearing the end of the second semester, I was pretty much ensured and A in each class except for English. It was looking like I was going to earn a B for the second grading period, which means I would have to get an A on the final, something which seemed nearly impossible.

Once I realized that my GPA was in jeopardy, I went to Mrs Roberts to ask her what I could do to bring my grading period grade to an A. She told me that I had already completed all of the extra credit that she assigned, and that it looked like I was going to get a B for the semester. After talking to her a bit longer, she told me that there was one thing I could do to get an A for the grading period. She wanted me to write an essay describing what Early College is, the advantages of attending Early College, the disadvantages of attending Early College, and my personal opinion. I leaped at the chance to do this, so I began my work as soon as I got home.

The essay turned out to take longer than I expected, and was longer in length than Mrs Roberts expected. After it was all finished, I put in about 8-10 hours of work to get it done. It was five paragraphs in length, and was well worded and contained quite a few points and focuses for each of the four segments talked about. Mrs Roberts found it to meet her needs and excepted it. At the end of the semester, I got a B on the final. With the essay added into my 4th grading period grade, I got an A. It was a good thing that I did the essay, or else my GPA would have dropped.

What my trash can looked like when writing...

Trust Me

I have had to convince many people of many different things in my life. Sometimes I have been wrong, and sometimes I have been right. My favorite instance of being right occurred a couple of years ago at Cedar Point. I was at the park with my friend named Brad and his family. Although they had been to Cedar Point quite a few times before, Brad had not ridden a lot of the taller and faster rides. As we were walking through the park, I mentioned that we should ride Millenium Force. Millenium Force is my all time favorite ride at Cedar Point. Everyone in the group agreed that we should ride except for Brad. After a bit of "pep talk" from his family and I, we at least convinced him to stand in line with us until we got to the station. Unfortunately, it was a busy summer day at the park, so there was a two hour wait. We ended up waiting that time, which was actually three hours after some mechanical issues. Once we got to the station, Brad was determined that he was not going to ride. We talked to him, and after a bit of force (his dad literally picked him up and put him in the ride seat), we were ready to ride. Although it was Brad's first time riding, it was at least my 100th. The ride went smooth with a lot of screaming from Brad, but once we pulled back into the station, he had the look on his face. Anyone who has ridden Millenium Force knows what look I am talking about. The wide eyes, fast heartbeat, messed up hair, and the smirk. All of these were signs that he enjoyed the ride. Now, Millenium Force is Brad's favorite ride. His family bought passes the following year, and Brad rode more rides that he was previously scared of. Today, Cedar Point is Brad's favorite place as well as mine.

3rd Quarter Essay Preview

Along with any great feat is struggles. These obstacles can be seen as negative or positive things. I like to see them as positive because I learn from them. One of the struggles that I am facing is organization and planning. Many of my classes occur in different buildings, but my locker is always in one place. I am trying to figure out a way of making as minimum of a number of stops at my locker as possible. The main reason for this is that there is only five minutes between periods. Although I want to stop at my locker as few times as possible, I also do not want to carry many items. This whole situation has many factors in it, and I have not figured out the best solution yet. Another struggle that I am facing is time for homework. I have a very busy schedule, and have a problem of not completing my homework when it would be most convenient. On almost every school day, I do not leave school until 5PM. On top of that, I could have hours of homework or studying to do that night. Both of these struggles are problems I still have to solve.

OGT Testing

The OGT that I feel the least prepared for is the Writing OGT. Writing has never been my strong suit. Do not misinterpret what I mean by this though. I am prepared to take all 5 OGT Tests this March, but writing is the one I worry the most about.

I plan on changing my nervous feelings by working on my diction. One way that I plan on impressing the people who grade the tests is by using better diction on the writing test. I plan on using more educational words instead of simpler words. I also plan on working on my structure of paragraphs and papers. I write well, but the order I write in does not make sense sometimes. I could use tools such as graphic organizers, webs, and lists when planning the essays I am writing. Overall, I feel that I am mostly prepared for the OGT Tests this March, but I will practice all of them because I can only get better.