One of the many great parts of Brookes Westshore is its high amount of homework that pushes its students to use their time wisely while still enjoying sports and other activities the school encourages. However, this week I have not appreciated it at all. Compared to all the horrible public schools I have gone to in the Sd62 area, the homework amount placed on students is incredibly lower than any of the grade levels at our school. Never in my life have I felt more stressed about unmemorable sheets of paper that won’t matter to me in less than a month from now. Of course, as many can agree homework can be a reasonable tool to promote learning outside the classroom with students, and this is one of the many reasons why I decided to join Brooks in the first place. Yet when I feel as if I have to stay up till midnight for the past five nights in a row the work can seem a bit dimming to my mental health which is why instead of worrying, contemplating, and thinking of reasons why it feels like I’m the only person who’s having issues with this I will be no longer be participating in such an act as homework for the next following week. I do not recommend anyone else try this method of relaxation unless they are entirely prepared for the consequences of their actions like I am.
Author: Polina
IRJE #6 Gone Girl
As I am finishing Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn I found it to be one of the most exceptionally engaging stories to follow where one of the narrators, Amy Dunne, is unreliable for perspective. It follows her as she fakes her death to frame her husband Nick.
”I am so much happier now that I am dead.”
I chose this quotation because it represents the character depth of this beloved main character. Amy unhappy with her marriage, her life, and most of all her husband’s actions does not care about the consequences of hers because, by this point in her life, she has gone mentally insane. As a normal person reading this, you might think most definitely this would turn people off from such a book, however, you’re completely wrong and that is one of the many reasons why I love this book instead of finding it boring like I do with many others.
PR The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and the Experience of Memorizing
When I first started reading The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, I never thought I would have to memorize ballads from it later on. The story follows an ancient mariner who tells a story to a wedding guest who is stopped by his frightening glare. Before this, I had never thought of reading ballads as an actual form of reading. However, it was not as bad as I believed it would be. I greatly admired how each line was spaced enough to make me feel like I wasn’t reading a story at all, but a text message on my phone instead. The text itself, as could be expected in a Mr. Macknight classroom, did not make sense at all, which also made it considerably more exhausting to memorize. Also, the fact that we were forced to recite it afterward in front of our classmates made me and many others who struggle with public speaking not want to step foot in Brookes Westshore at all. Overall I’m not mad or sour over my grade I just don’t understand how making children feel bad in front of all their classmates relates to English or helps us in my future paths to greatness.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde PW
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson was a surprising story, to say the least, that dives into the duality of human nature. Set in Victorian London, the story follows Dr. Henry Jekyll, a scientist who could hide his inner darkness with a mysterious potion. To be completely honest this book didn’t amaze me how everyone said it would. I found it to be very boring at times with most things being too straightforward for any imaginative thinking to evolve. Having said that it wasn’t as boring as some of the other books I have read in the past, which meant thankfully it wasn’t a complete bore.
PW#6 Don’t mind this I had nothing to write about!
I know how it feels to be stuck at home for a week. It can be frustrating and boring, especially when you’re used to being out and about with no care in the world. One of my friends was in this situation recently when they caught a cold and had to stay home to recover. They couldn’t go to school, meet friends, or do any of the usual activities they had planned on doing. They felt constantly isolated and restless, but they tried to make the best of this burden by catching up on reading, binge-watching TV shows/movies, and connecting with friends online that they hadn’t talked to in a while. They took the time to rest and take care of themselves, which was important for their recovery, one of the many things they hadn’t done often. Nonetheless, after a week, they of course were feeling much better and were ready to get back to their normal routine. With this, they learned that sometimes being stuck at home can be an opportunity to slow down and take a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. This person was me!
IRJE #5 Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of The Dead
As I have just started reading Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of The Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, I don’t know much about this book at all. The book starts in a Polish village across the border from the Czech Republic, with our main character being woken up and finding out her long-time neighbor Big Foot is dead.
”Please get dressed. Big Foot is dead.”
I choose this quotation above all others because, like the main character herself, she doesn’t know how to react, what to say, or even what to do in this situation just like us as the readers. We just opened this book let alone encountered new characters for the first time and now one has already died right in front of our own very eyes. Speechless, this was a great start for this book.
PW Our Town by: Thornton Wilder
Our Town by Thornton Wilder, is filled with characters with the exact purpose of showing us as an audience how much people in their day-to-day lives change and evolve. As this is a play, it is divided into three acts with them all mainly focusing on Emily. The first covers her childhood, the second her marriage to George, and the third her final resting place in the town’s graveyard. Emily little by little with each act, undergoes physical changes more present than any other character. This shows us how we are also changing as the story goes on without knowing.
The second most significant transformation in this story is Emily’s husband George Gibbs. After becoming the town’s high school baseball star, he starts to change for the worse in Emily’s eyes. Conceited, annoying, stuck up all words she would have used to describe her unknown future husband-to-be. Nonetheless, George, once more changes again after finding out how Emily is feeling, going as far as to change his mind around Agriculture School because he wants to keep Emily happy as before. This in and of itself shows us It’s always possible for a person to change multiple times, and a person’s character is never final.
Overall I didn’t mind this book, it was well-patience, fit with this unit, and generally was great as a play. However, unlike some people in the class, I found myself falling asleep at some points without trying because of how boring it was. I do not care for any of the characters so all the secret plot twists and turns for example Emily’s death did not do anything to me. As a person who lives in Sooke (right outside of Langford if you don’t know) because this is based on a ”normal rural life” this could have contributed to the fact of why I was so bored so take whatever I write with a grain of salt.
PW#5 Wednesday 24th
Over the many years, I have lived in Canada, surprisingly I have never gone skiing or snowboarding. As many of you must have figured out this entire English blog is formerly on the Mount Washington trip happening on Wednesday morning. I’ve never quite been interested in any winter sports besides figure skating when I was very young. This meant my family and I had never had the intention of doing/starting so by going up any famous mountain on the island. I’m greatly excited about this opportunity, and I believe this first trip will bring many more in the future during my time here in Canada.
At first, I considerably dreamt of trying snowboarding for the first time, however, once I started to notice and better grasp how people realistically do so, I got significantly scared for my well-being if I did so as well. Snowboarding is a dangerous sport for countless reasons, nonetheless, the profound reason that had me cross-examining my decision was how you are supposed to put the breaks when you wish to stop. Instead of pushing forward or some other possible way, you must turn your whole body to the side, press the edge of your board, and lift your heels slightly all at the same time while keeping a good distance from anything nearby. With this in mind, I would have never been able to survive on that snowboard and I’m unruly glad to be able to be going ski instead.
Story of Joseph My Thoughts
The story of Joseph well known by many people across all cultures and religions, follows Joseph the proud son of Jacob, and his journey with God. At the story’s beginning, Joseph is a seventeen-year-old boy who lives with all eleven of his brethren and his father Jacob. Unlike the rest of his family, he gets privileges for being his father’s favorite, which makes him the prime target of hatred by his brethren. For this, they plan to kill him in the heat of the moment after their father sends Joseph to “spy” or look after them once more. As they are deliberating how they will tell their father after the job has been executed one of the brethren proposes the idea of selling him into slavery instead. With this, the prize of money as well as unavoidable death will be combined for their amusement.?
As he is sold into slavery his first days do not go as anyone had planned. The wife of the man who bought Joseph had excused him of raping her in broad daylight. Of course, Joseph had not done so and even his captives did not believe the story of lies made by the mistress, and they sent him to jail instead. Years go by with no sight of freedom, all until a former prisoner he had helped prove innocent told their Pharaoh of his gifts with God.? The story goes on for many more twists and turns, however, I believe the beginning of this story was the most intriguing and deserves above all else to be written about in my blog post. As a person who has never read one single verse from any Bible, it was very interesting to read a small insight into how it is.
IRJE #4 ”The Catcher in the Rye”
”The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger must be one of the greatest books I have ever read in my whole life. I adore every single thing a person can love about a book. I love the writing, the storytelling, and most of all I love the main character, Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield is not a character most writers I find would ever want to write about, especially because of the way he speaks about any topic.
I kept sitting there getting drunk and waiting for old Tina and Janine to come out and do their stuff, but they weren’t there. A flitty-looking guy with wavy hair came out and played the piano, and then this new babe, Valencia, came out and sang. (p.g.165)
As I have shown to you just now, he talks not so kindly towards women, nonetheless, that’s honesty one of the many things I love most about him. Of course in the real world outside of this wonderful novel, this is not something anyone would want to hear coming out of a person’s mouth. However, in the book world, I love to read the real and honest thoughts of the person I am reading about. I have never understood why writers write books with clear intentions to try to make it seem their character is always thinking, talking, or acting like a good perfect person. I hate that, real people aren’t always perfect. Real people make mistakes, and without those unfavorable actions, the character never seems to me as a real person.
PR to “Enemy of the People”
The play An Enemy of The People by Henrik Ibsen is a unique and unconventional insight into political matters such as the rights of the compact majority. Instead of being a lighthearted play as many were at the time, it forces on Doctor Thomas Stockmann, a captivating and direct medical officer who finds the prize possession of his hometown has been contaminated by an animal tannery. Throughout reading this play, I began to question democracy and how most governments are run present day. As demonstrated myriad of times, following Doctor Stockmann’s discovery the compact majority rather than disagreeing openly with what is spread through the town, choose to oblige with whatever is agreed upon in fear of punishment. This more than ever before, is relevant to our global status in the invention of phones and other technology which has stripped mankind of our individuality. An Enemy of the People, therefore, serves as a cautionary tale that will be cherished by future generations, just as it has been by previous ones before it.
PW #4 Reasoning
According to my friend Spencer, there are only three types of reasoning in the world: religious, scientific, and Speebphilosophy – his own unique approach to life. Unlike religious and scientific thinking, Speebphilosophy does not rely on any principles or a comprehensive understanding on how the world works. It instead relies on basic common insects every human can achieve by shutting down their past, future, and present thinking.
Over the weekend it was deeply interesting for me to hear this, especially because of the fact I’ve never thought to make my way of thinking/living upon life before. The idea of constructing my own belief was so abstract and out of the ordinary that I almost jumped out of my seat when I heard this. Not only have I never thought to make my own reasoning before, but I’ve also never relied on any other type of reasoning besides scientific to answer different frequently asked questions, which have already been answered for me.
Questions such as ‘Why don’t snakes have arms?’ Or even more heavy-hitting questions such as ‘Why do humans need something to believe in?’ Were all answered by Speebphilosophy with fresh answers that have never been thought of before. Of course, these answers were horrifically wrong, to say the least, nonetheless, it is interesting to note how he had even thought of doing anything so dull-witted before knowing full-heartedly he was wrong. By knowing he was wrong from the minute he started thinking, Spencer could let his imagination run wild, with no restraints in sight. This I believe is something people should do more often to clear their minds and generally have fun creating solutions in a world that has all the answers for us.
IRJE #3 It Ends with Us
I honestly don’t have much to say about It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover, besides the fact I can’t wait to finish it. As I am reaching the final pages of this horrible book I stop and reflect on how have I ever gotten myself into such a mess in the first place. I used to just dislike how it was written, however, now I hate every single thing about it. I hate the characters and how they act so immaturely. I hate how unrealistic it is and I hate how there is only one character I don’t despise!
I should probably say no, but he’s half responsible for the child growing inside of me. If he’s going to offer physical labor I’m going to take it, no matter how angry I still am at him.
I picked this quotation for my last writing piece, for the simple reason of being it being on the page I stopped reading last night. I can’t take reading this book anymore and I hope whoever finds it after I have donated it, doesn’t pick it up and throws it in the trash instead.
PW #3 Obsession in Movies
Nothing can explain my enthrallment with obsession and how the mind works. This weekend I re-watched Fight Club, one of my favorite films let alone one of the greatest of all time. I love movies that tackle what obsession is, American Psycho, Black Swan, and Sound of Metal are all films I would also highly recommend to any viewer. Obsession, unlike love, is secretly and ridiculously hard to express on screen. The explanation being, because of how closely it is related to love/madness. Countless find most films that try to portray their leading role as being ludicrously obsessed, get portrayed as being crazy or in love instead, which is much different from being obsessed. Thus, comes the predicament of there being much fewer films on obsession than on any other subject. This greatly saddens me as even the highly acclaimed films I have recommended beforehand, unfortunately, feature some sort or another of this problem as well. I have yet to find any film that can satisfy my wants of an enthusiastic yet realistic sight of modern-day obsession, however, I will keep pursuing this marvelous task.
IRJE #2 It Ends with Us
To be frank, I wouldn’t say I like this book. I don’t like the writing, the pace, or even the characters themselves. In Colleen Hoover’s book, It Ends with Us, she writes about a girl called Lily Bloom and her exciting brand-new life in the city. Nonetheless, we come to find out information about her past life and how it’s affecting her now.
My mother stepped inside and quickly shut it, locking it behind her. I’ll never forget what she looked like. She had blood coming down from her lip. Her eye was already starting to swell, and she had a clump of hair just resting on her shoulder.
Although I dislike this book there is only one thing keeping me from putting it down. That is the small almost miniature paragraphs like this one. There are numerous amounts of depressing books about how sad the world is and how we are all going to die, yet this book somehow never turns into one of those books. Lily Bloom, although having a terrible upbringing, never lets that stop her from doing anything, which is why Colleen Hoover also never forces that part of her life. This book was a notable example for me to understand how writers can make stories not horrifically sad even with the most depressing subjects like abuse.
Master and Man by: Leo Tolstoy: The Thoughts and Feelings of Polina Ulanova
As I first started flipping through the pages of Master and Man, I felt a sense of confusion and wonder by the overall speech and descriptive wording used by Leo Tolstoy. However, as I started reaching the end of this inventive fable my mind and perspective changed drastically. This sense of mystery Leo Tolstoy gave me no longer stayed; it was as if Leo Tolstoy himself was speaking directly to me as he would to an old wise friend.
Puzzling, one of the countless different words I would have used to describe how it felt reading Master and Man. At first, I hated the fact we were reading a translated book. It was extremely old for my taste and the bulk of my class could not even pronounce the year it was published in. The wording particularly provoked me to feel this type of way. Nonetheless, there was one thing that changed my point of view completely in one swift motion. That being the death and or end of the “master” and ”man”, I had been reading so much about.
The “master” at first is portrayed as Vasili Andreevich, a rich and greedy merchant who cares for only his riches. Despite that, later it is significantly implied Vasili Andreevich has never been the “master” at all, yet God himself has always been. Who is consistently portrayed as being quite the opposite of Vasili Andreevich. Yet, the “man” in this story has always been portrayed as being Nikita, one of multiple servants who works for Vasili.
The ending starts when the first original “master” comes to think of his soon-to-be death. He tries with all his might to think of any feasible way to change the situation he put himself in, going as far as to leave the one companion his wife forced him to bring. These pages were horrific for me to read, I had never once read such a deliberately dreadful character in my life. From the very first to the very last page of Master and Man, I had come to love both Vasili and Nikita with all their faults. Hence, I could have never prepared myself for Vasili’s wrongdoing or moreover Nikita’s wrongful belief. Instead of despising Vasili because of his actions, Nikita comes to reason and agrees with them. This infuriated me, and at first, made me think Nikita was dumb-witted. Regardless, I tried to organize my thinking and comprehend what Leo Tolstoy was trying to convey. Despite the countless hours Nikita had been mistreated by Vasili and the world around him, Nikita tried to seek refuge from his true ”master” whom was God and tried to understand Vasili. The same way I was trying to understand Master and Man.
In defiance of their social divisiveness and Vasili’s sinful behavior, Nikita stays true to his generous nature and never changes. From one perspective, Vasili is a perfect example of a character who needs to change for the betterment of the people around him. However, Nikita is an example of a character who should not change despite the people who surround him. This begs the question of whether to change or not to change? Thus, the same question that defines the peculiar message Leo Tolstoy wanted to convey throughout this whole story. This ending without knowing saved this fable for me, and I appreciate how it is written with all its mysterious twists and turns.
PW #2 Thanksgiving: It kind of sucks
One of my least favorite holidays of the entire year is Thanksgiving. I never understood why Americans or Canadians for that matter took it so seriously, especially after all the unnecessary planning that goes into it. You first must prepare for it, days or sometimes even weeks in advance to make sure you have prepared all the ‘necessary’ food for your dinner (e.g. pumpkin pie turkey and so on). You must do this by cooking and slaving away at a hot stove for hours on end, for people who most likely won’t appreciate your tedious amount of work.
Another example of why there’s so much planning that goes into a stupid holiday like Thanksgiving is the number of people that are expected to attend a traditional good old American Thanksgiving. Every Thanksgiving I’ve been to, except my own, has had up to one hundred family members/friends attend, which is an outrageous number, to say the least. One is because the quantity of people who are gathering is so grand it can mean if only one person happens to be sick, the rest will become sick the morning after.
Furthermore, whoever gets stuck in the position of hosting has at least two main jobs. One is the job of cooking which I have mentioned before, and two is the washing of every single plate, fork, and or spoon that is used throughout the night. At first, this could seem to be an extremely small task, however, once you start to think about the number of dishes that can be used in less than an hour the job becomes much more grand.
With all I have written, people might expect me to hate Thanksgiving or even not celebrate it at all. Nevertheless, I never have, and I never will. There are many reasons as to why Thanksgiving is such a beloved holiday which is why I do not hate it. Yet, I do hate the so called ‘traditional’ Thanksgiving that most people think of when it comes to this holiday. Because of these so called ‘ways’ show to us by the media on how to have a perfect Thanksgiving dinner, many people find Thanksgiving brings unwanted emotions of loneliness or sadness because of reason such as not being able to celebrate it with family like other people around them can. Thanksgiving can also bring a sense of pressure to have a grand dinner even though the general population can only seek to have one. There are many more reasons someone might hate Thanksgiving, regardless this explains why it’s one my least favorite holidays of the entire year.
IRJE #1 Poison for Breakfast
In Lemony Snicket’s book, Poison for Breakfast. Lemony Snicket goes on a journey to find the soon-to-be corporate of his very own death. After just finishing eating his perfectly well-made breakfast Lemony Snicket receives a strange and mysterious note from his front doorstep which reads ”You had poison for breakfast”
For a few moments, I stared at the scrap of paper in my hands and tried to get my thoughts in order. I even tried to number them, in case it helped.
- Egad!
- There’s no use thinking egad, Snicket. Remain calm
No wait, that should be your third thought.
- Remain calm.
- That’s better.
- Now, then look at the message again.
- You had poison for breakfast.
- Egad! (p.12-13)
I believe this is an important quote for this particular and unusual book because of two reasons. One being, throughout the upcoming chapters Snicket goes through almost every single thing he is thinking of at that very moment even the stupidest thoughts you can imagine. Meaning if you think that was something that shouldn’t be in a book, then I don’t believe you should continue reading either. Second, because this very page which I find to be extremely stupid, is the reason why I even bought this book. It’s so out there and I have never read any professional book with this sort of writing that he does.
PW #1 Learning How To Love a Sport
Since the age of six I had been forced to participate in competitive swimming by both of my parents. Prior to one of the greatest and worst year’s of my life, thus being 2020. At first, I loved to swim. Being able to race and win who ever I was racing, was everything I could have ever wanted. However, this turned out to be the main reason of my short competitive swimming career. After years and years of always having no one I felt who could compete with me in my same age range, I stopped caring and started to become bored. Up until 2020, when all public buildings closed down in my area because of Covid 19. Therefor forcing my parents to finally take me out of swimming, without being able to do anything about it.
I was thrilled, no more lessons, cancelling plans all because they landed on my swimming days and most of all, no more having to beg my mom not to let me go to classes! Nevertheless, it wasn’t all wonderful, as I had previously imaged. Without swimming I had nothing to do after school or even in general. As it was for many people, I started to spend an excessive amount of time on social media. Nine, ten almost eleven hours I would spend of my small bright blue screen given to me that very same year. It didn’t matter this was what I had wanted for so long. I still felt like there was a lingering feeling inside of me that there was something I should have been doing. After the lockdowns were lifted nothing had changed. I didn’t go back to swimming every week, and the feeling obviously never left my side till I got back into the competitive water five years later.
As I felt the cold smelly water dripping down my back as my coach yelled our lesson was over, I felt a sense of home over taking me. Before this I had never understood why people get so inflamed about different sports. They all looked stupid and greatly immature through my point of view, yet I had felt all different types of emotions within the span of two minutes. Angry, I hadn’t started sooner. Sad, I wasn’t as nearly as good as I had once was and lastly joyful I had finally learned to love to swim once again.
All About Me
There are a great number of things I could write about myself and my experiences, however I will not bore you with such things and instead start with the basics such as my name and some simples facts about me. My full name is Polina Ulanova, my whole family is from Russia and we decided to move across the world when I was only six years old in 2015. I’ve been attending Brookes Westshore for almost one full year now and lastly my biggest interest in life at the moment is hanging my friends outside of school. Although I still love Brooks Westshore I still greatly miss my friends who by this point have also switched to different schools where we live, which is right outside of Langford in Sooke BC.
Another fact about myself that I believe is greatly in important to know in English class is that I love to read, yet I find it is terribly hard for me to find a book I see any interest in. This has been like this for me for years now, you can even say as long as I can remember. I don’t hate or dislike any genre, any writer in particular, and or even the darkest of topics. Nevertheless I still find at least half of the books I pick up to be awfully boring or not made for the type of person that I am towards novels.
Last but not least if I were to describe myself as a writer I would say, I still have a lot to grow and learning to do from other writers. However I still love to write when I have a topic I’m passionate about and I’m very excited to be writing throughout the next coming up school year with my fellow classmates and teachers even outside of English class.