Happy Mothers' Day!♥

The Three Little Hats!♥

The Three Little Hats -

The Italian Risorgimento!♥

Sonnet!♥

The Way of TEA♥

Sado, the traditional way of tea
Has been around for many centuries
It may seem simple but surely it's not
There are steps to take and the tea is hot!

The soul needs to be cleansed and purified
The mind has to be free of any thoughts
One must breath deeply and fully relax
In order to feel the serenity

Green froth forms inside the beautiful bowl
The matcha is whisked to a perfection
The fukusa is folded and replaced
While the bowl moves across the tatami

Savor the sweet and unique wagashi
Because soon after comes the bitter tea!

Poetry Analysis!♥

MYP Reflection: Semester 1

I am proud of what I was able to accomplish in the first semester, but there is room for improvements! There is no specific pattern to most of my grades, and therefore, they are quite inconsistent. However, there is one criterion where my grades are more consistent; Criterion C (Skills). This is the category for Document Based Questions (DBQs). Although I feel as if I struggle with drawing my own conclusions from what I see or read, I can tell, from the table above, that my strengths are in Criterion C/DBQs. This being said, I still feel like one of my main weaknesses is the inability to go in depth and fully answer a question. I am able to come up with a satisfactory answer, however, I usually miss some key ideas. Sometimes it can be difficult for me to read a passage, for example, and then be able to take key ideas and answer the "so what?" question. I am quite sure that if I focus on finding key points, connecting them, and drawing conclusions from them, my grades in Criterion A (Knowledge & Understanding) would increase. Another weakness that I have is managing my time during an assessment. I always spend too much time on the first few problems and then I run out of time for the last few. I can improve by planning out my time and setting a time limit for each question. Also, if I am more prepared before class I can balance my time better. Hopefully I can make these improvements happen in the second semester!

Can You Define Love?♥

She is no stranger to the miseries of unrequited love,

She is free, afloat, watching somebody else,

She pretends to spy her loved ones in sun-speckled cloud shapes,

She has not been asleep.

Squashed roses, in darkening shades of pink, float on the water

Your time has come, they say

Go, be brave.

She has a distinct hourglass figure,

She wears a long, lilac gown,

Her skin is white as whole milk,

Her lips are a peachy orange.

She finally closes her eyes,

Kiss me, kiss, kiss, sweetheart, she whispers.

He holds out a hand for her to grab,

Both beautiful, they meet,

She doesn’t blush, and he breaks down,

She lets him fall into the calm, glassy waters,

This is the thing called ‘love’

A story of enchantment.

Reflectively Speaking!♥

When the speech project was introduced to us, the first topic that came to my mind was womens’ rights in the Middle East. I thought of burkhas and hijabs and how much I dislike them and decided that I definitely wanted to include something about them in my speech. After researching a little and talking to Mr. Bellew, I realized that it was better to make my topic related to the whole world because there are many cases of the oppression of womens’ rights everywhere. Not only did I read and learn more about womens’ rights throughout this process, but I also learned how to be a more persuasive and more effective public speaker through the use of literary devices. While writing my speech I was sometimes conscious of the devices that I was using. But most of the time it happened naturally. I used repetition, an anecdote, personal pronouns, and more. After we had delivered our speeches and had to annotate them, I noticed that I had more devices than I had expected and that many were put in unconsciously. I feel like the main thing I learned was the importance of each of the literary devices and how much of an effect they really have on making the speeches more persuasive.

In my opinion, both presentation and content have a huge impact on persuading a listener. These two factors depend on each other very much, because without one, the speech is either pointless or not very interesting and persuasive. Without the adequate content, the speech becomes pointless and even though it sounds good because of its strong presentation, it still lacks the support from the content. However, if the content is excellent but the presentation is not, then the speech becomes either boring or not persuasive at all. Therefore I believe that although it is extremely important for a person to have great presentation, their content also makes a big difference!

My speech related to the mission statement (“Canadian Academy inspires students to inquire, reflect, and choose to compassionately impact the world throughout their lives”). In my speech I initially asked the audience to change their perspectives on womens’ rights. From there they can “choose to compassionately impact the world” and make a difference especially in Islamic countries in the Middle East. I hope I was able to inspire women in the audience to be their best and to attempt to impact the world.

Nationalism: Cohesive or Divisive?

nationalism -

The Oppression of Women's Rights!

Women's Rights Around The World!

The Oppression of Women's Rights -

My Goals for the Future!♥

I have both short term goals and long term goals for my future. My main short term goal related to my education is to have a 4.0 GPA for the second semester. My grades are very important to me so my goal has always been to have straight As. I want this to continue throughout the rest of my highschool years and therefore I need to keep up my efforts and always try my best. I also want to prepare for the SATs so that I can get a high score that will help with college. My main long term goal is to be accepted to a great college in the United States and have a job that I am passionate about, such as a chemical engineer, architect, or lawyer.

Next year, if I am still at Canadian Academy, I would like to take Economics HL. I am passionate about math and since this course involves math I am quite sure that I would also be passionate about this course. Economics relates to everyday life and is often based on common sense which interests me. I also want to try something new since the only time that I have been exposed to economics was in 7th grade for one quarter. However, I also would not mind taking History HL. This is because I enjoy DBQs; analyzing data, then drawing conclusions from it. So far I have enjoyed Social Studies and I like studying history and finding changes or continuities, for example. Both history and economics interest me and I am sure that I would be passionate about both the courses.

Day vs. Night!♥

My Photographic Memory!♥

After 12 years of going to school, I have discovered that I am a visual learner. I am good at memorization and I have a pretty good photographic memory. For example, I can look at something and remember it very well later on. I am good at finding my way around new places just by being there once or twice since I am able to record certain objects, for example, in my memory just by glancing at them! I think that the reason why I love visual art so much is because of my way of learning. Also, I think it is possible that spelling is one of my strengths because of my photographic memory. By memorizing how the letters of the word look and are arranged on a page, I can also remember how they are spelled properly! When I look at a text and read it, I can understand and remember it quite well. With this, I am able to memorize speeches quite easily in short amounts of time and other things such as monologues and more. However, I am not very good at listening, (because of my short attention span) which is one of my weaknesses in terms of learning (my friends always complain about this). And for this reason, I do not learn or understand much when I hear or listen to a lecture. Because I have this problem, I should find ways to help myself out. I should take detailed notes during class and maybe even include diagrams or drawings to go along with my notes. Then, when I am at home, I can review by re-reading my notes and studying off of them. This will make my learning much more effective and successful!

Mini Commentary!♥

After Dark Passage:

"On her table is a coffee cup. And an ashtray. Next to the ashtray, a navy blue baseball cap with a Boston Red Sox 'B.' It might be a little too large for her head. A brown leather shoulder bag rests on the seat next to her. It bulges as if its contents had been thrown in on the spur of the moment. She reaches out at regular intervals and brings the coffee cup to her mouth, but she doesn't appear to be enjoying the flavor. She drinks because she has a coffee cup in front of her: that is her role as a customer."

What is Murakami trying to achieve with his use of language in this passage?

Murakami’s style creates an awkward and mysterious mood, which reflects the type of language he uses in this passage. There are many incomplete sentences that the author uses such as, “Next to the ashtray, a navy blue baseball cap with a Boston Red Sox ‘B’.” This creates a sense of awkwardness since the sentences are short and choppy. He sometimes begins his sentences with conjunctions, for example, when he writes, “And an ashtray.” Again this is a different way of writing and therefore makes the reader feel uncomfortable, which is exactly what Murakami intends. He also has no transitions between his ideas; he moves from one idea to another without linking them together. “It might be a little to large for her head. A brown leather shoulder bag rests on the seat next to her.” The fact that he does not include transitions makes the ideas more mysterious to the reader and creates a sense of curiosity. The precise language techniques that Murakami uses reflect the uncomfortable feeling that the reader is left with.

Imaginary Pastiche!♥

Imaginary Pastiche -

Classroom Pastiche!♥

Classroom Pastiche -

Short Story Essay!♥

Short Story Essay -

Antigone Comparison Essay!♥

saudi gov. ENGLISH ESSAY -

My Strengths and Weaknesses!♥

So far, I have written two essays in my tenth grade English class. The first one was an in-class short story literary essay and the second one was related to the themes of Antigone. In both essays I had my strengths and weaknesses, which I can hopefully improve on by the end of the school year.

Strengths: Usually when I write about a topic that interests me and that I am passionate about, I can write more and connect more with it, which, overall, makes my writing better. Overtime, I've become better at including examples in my essay to help with the reader's understanding. I feel like this has become one of my strengths. I am also quite good at coming up with lots of ideas (but that can sometimes be a problem) and I can develop them pretty well! When it comes to grammar, spelling, and punctuation, I usually do well and have no problems! Just need to pay attention to my weaknesses!

Weaknesses: One problem I've always had with my essays is including advanced and difficult vocabulary. I always use simple words and don't usually have a variety. This is one of my major weaknesses, which I really have to work on. Another significant weakness is that I'm not always able to develop my ideas in an organized and coherent way and keep one idea per paragraph. I tend to include information that sometimes doesn't relate to the topic sentence or thoughts being conveyed in the paragraph. Lastly, I do not always go into depth with my arguments and information. I think that if I really focus on those weaknesses I can definitely improve by the end of the year, and in the future, as I write more and more essays and work on different types of formal writing.