Aaron M's (potter_boy10) Digital Portfolio

Notes - Here is a thesis writing i wrote for Taking Sides. Taking Sides is a book i read during the year, and in this writing, i wrote my thesis on what i thought was going to happen.

Notes - Here is the beginning to my academy authentic. Its obviously not finished, but it was the start to my never finished writing piece.

The Library

Chapter 2

By: Aaron T M

Sarah had just got finished getting ready. She had a flashlight, a warm sweater, and a hat. She sneaked past her parent's bedroom and went downstairs. She opened the door and went outside.

"It's freezing" she muttered to herself. After she had checked no one was watching, although hardly anyone would see her this late at night, she crept across the street. She got to the front door and slowly opened it.

Sarah then saw the most dazzling house she had ever seen. It was filled with beautiful white marble. The walls had the most interesting pictures of food. Sarah never thought art of food could be so beautiful.

Then she came back to her senses. She went upstairs to find the books. Even then she didn't know why these books were so inviting to her, almost like they were written for her.

After checking a couple rooms she had found it. She opened the door and looked inside. As she opened the door it creaked a bit and the sound scared her.

The room was the most beautiful room she had ever seen. The book cases were made of pure marble. The floor was a thick black color. The room must have been the size of an average classroom. It was even big enough so that their were rows of books in this single room. She had guessed that their were about 1000 books.

She walked along and started on a row. She found a book which had a light blue spine and yellow edges. She took it out and slowly opened it. As suddenly has the inside pages felt air, a howling scream filled the room. She slammed the book shut, her heart now beating faster then ever. She put it back, wondering whether all the books were like this.

She began to walk around the room once more. Peering down each aisle as she went. When she had reached an interesting looking book, she would pull it out and gaze at its cover. Only this time she knew opening the book wasnt the best idea right now. She had noticed however, an inch thick layer of dust had covered the whole room. As if no one had been here in years.

No sooner then when she had reached the 12th aisle, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She panicked, picking up her things and hastily thinking of what she should do. She half heartedly hoped that the old lady would just skip the room and not even open the door. Immediately she knew she was mistaken. Sarah heard the slow creaking of the door handle as it turned to open the door.

She quickly ran up an aisle but knew it was hopeless. She was cornered. Sarah heard the creaking of the floor as the footsteps got closer. Taking a turn, she found the end of the room. A corned filled with spiderwebs was where she was stuck. The old lady turned the corner out of one of the aisles. Seeing sarah, she walked at her, a menace in her eyes. Scared, Sarah hit a book case and a small, black book fell out and opened in front of her. She glanced down the see the book.

Immediately she heard the rushing of wind in her ears. She was getting sucked into the book. Trying to stop herself, there was no way out. An invisible force seemed to be pulling her ears. Then it all stopped. Something was wrong. Sarah wasnt in the old ladys house anymore, she was in a jail. But it didnt seem like any jail on earth. The bars and gate were made of some greenish, shiny material.

Suddenly a 7 foot tall man, or she thought it was a man, came to her cell. This troll like man had a horrible smell to him, and his face was contorted.

"Hello pretty" he said drawlingly "Interesting how a highly respected lady like yourself can end up in jail, but then again, it runs in the family doesn't it."

Notes - Here is my chapter 2 of my academy authentic, it was the last chapter i wrote of it, and I do think it is a little better than chapter 2, but still not perfect.

All Blog-Ons for the 2007-2008 school year.

9-20-07

What is the one chore that you despise the most?

The one chore I despise the most is trash. I despise the trash for many reasons. One is it plain stinks, it smells like old food. Whenever i grab the trash bag i get a huge whiff of rotting banana. Also when I'm really tired I still have no choice and I still have to do it. One other stinky thing about it is whenever i have to do the trash, i have to go around the whole house getting trash, which can take quite a while. We have about 7 trash cans in our house, then i have to bring it to the trashcans in the garage. After that, every Sunday i bring the trashcans to the street, then on Monday, bring it back in. Even though I don't have very many chores, trash is definitely the worst.

10-9-07

How do you prove something about a book?

You prove something about a book by taking evidence from the writing and making it fact. So if someone says, "I finished 1st in the big race", what you get from that is that they won 1st place. It can also be more complicated then that. If someone says, "I finished in record time on the track", you can assume they got first. So making something in a book fact can be hard. You need to have sure evidence. Sometimes that is a obvious statement like "I got first". Except if the statement is to vague, like, "I got record time", you can only assume they got first place. Sometimes in books, you never truly know, considering you don't have a picture and your not their. Also a character may be wrong or lying. This happens a lot with villains when they lie. In Harry Potter, a character Severus Snape seems to be evil. He kills, he is on the other side. Except that you have only one character's point of view. Like in this book, whenever you hear it from Harry's view he is bad, but when any other adult talks about him, he is good. Another thing, you never get into the character's mind that you want to know most about. This leads to many thoughts and theories in any book. The only way to get fact is to get inside their mind.

11-7-07

Should debates be organized? Why or why not?

If debates were organized, how would you organize it. Would you make it completely planned out, or do you think that debates should even be organized. Well if i were to plan a debate, i would plan it so each person gets a fair shot. I would start out by each person getting to say their theory or thought. Then another chance to say why they think it is true. Then another chance to argue why the other persons statement is wrong. Then keep going back and foward untill either the debate is over or until both the people agree with on a theory.

11-13-07

What are the keys to success?

In my opinion, the most important key to success is perseverance. Being able to persevere can make the difference. If you start out with nothing, and you persevere to have everything, you can achieve that goal. Even if you are born into a family with millions of dollars, you still have to persevere to get what you want. These are the reasons why i think perseverance is the most important key to success.

1-9-08

Is equality a virtue? Should we be striving for it? Why or why not?

In my opinion, equality is not a virtue. Equality would mean there would be no individuals, nothing better or worse, nothing to debate about, or to learn about. It seems like it would make life boring, if everything was the same, you could never argue with someone that a Ferrari is better than a Porsche. In sports, if everyone was the same, it would be boring.

1-12-08

Do you think that the Handicapper General was handicapped? Why or why not?

No i don't think that for a couple of reasons. It would make since for someone in a place of power, to want to make anyone else, seem lesser than them. For instance, Voldemort, was infuriated when anyone else was better than him, or was going to stop him. Sauron and Saruman, both wanted to stop anyone who could stop them. Those in a place of power don't want anyone to threaten. their power. So when the handicapper general saw people without their handicaps, she was frightened because they, at that point, were equal to her, and that couldn't go well with her. So she made them all put their handicaps back on, and make them be lesser than her.

1-14-08

What is the Act of Creation?

Creation, creation is making something that hasn't been made yet. Creation can also be changing something, to make something else. Also, creation is different than an idea. An idea is the thought of making something, so basically an idea is just the thought. On the other hand, creation is forming that idea into a project, or thing. You could have the idea of making a new movie. The creation is actually making that movie into a movie, and share it with the world. Except when you combine these two things, you get a creation. You cant create something without an idea, but you can have an idea, without the creation. In my mind though, completing the idea, is creating it into a creation.

1-15-08

What is Existence?

Something that exists. To exist is to be an idea, creation, something alive, something you can see, feel, smell, taste, hear, or something that makes a difference in the world. One other idea, is everything that we know of exists. We know that John Elway exists, so he is in existence. We know goblins exist in books, which still means they are in existence. After what i heard from other people, it seems that people have the idea that existence is the act of being real. But some people think that existence is never known, because we don't know whether or not we really exist. Although, in my mind, existence is anything that is visible, touchable, smellable, hearable, and tastable. Also what ever makes a difference in the world, like you cant see, touch, smell, hear, or taste air, but it still makes a difference by letting us live.

2-26-08

How will you share your personal curriculum?

I will probably use some technology way of sharing. Word, power point, ext. Also, this way the projects will be easier to make for me, because i know a lot about those programs. I could also use garage-band.

3-28-08

How can you make a comment about something someone has done, in a productive way?

Comments that make the creator still want to pursue their goal, but make their idea better. One example is a constructive criticism. It gives the creator ideas on how to make it better, but doesn't hurt the creators feelings. Also, in my opinion, broad comments can be more hurtful, rather than specific comments. Saying, this whole page sucks, can be really mean. Another idea on how you can say that is, I really liked where you were going with this page, but maybe you could be more specific on certain topics. I would definitely rather hear the second comment, than the first.

4-3-08

What do Utopias symbolize? What does that mean?

Utopias begin to symbolize the meaning of perfect, and with that impossible. Since all other attempts at a perfect society have failed, shouldn't that mean its impossible. How can their be no problems in the human race, thats how life is, filled with problems and issues. unless their is no problems, everything goes as planned, he utopia inst corrupted, utopias must be impossible. Until they are achieved.

4-28-08

Why does a good society need a usable scapegoat?

Scapegoats are important because when something goes wrong in the government, thats its citizens are not supposed to know about, the government can say it was something for someone else. This way, the people in the society don't panic, and they think nothing is wrong.

5-8-08

What do you want your utopia to be known as?

I want it to be known as the society that kept the earth alive, so that millions of years from now, when its back to normal, everyone will remember Dasini's utopia, as the society that kept earth alive.

5-12-08

How have I impacted the world this year?

I don't know how largely we impacted the world. I guess we may have by giving the world more ideas. By giving these ideas, more things can happen to our entire community on earth.

5-13-08

What does it mean to win a battle (or a war)?

It obviously depends on the situation, but it is basically gaining something you didn't have at first. Whether that be land, people, a right to do or not to do something. It seems every war has been about winning something that gives them more power.

5-14-08

Will the other animals ever rebel against the pigs?

Since I have already read the whole book, I will look deeper, into will they after the book is over. My opinion is that they will not, it seems the only ones left alive at the end, who may rebel, are so old, they will be dead very soon. Which means, everyone except for the pigs, and napoleon, everyone in the society was born into it, and this is how they grew up, and learned, so it does not seem wrong. Maybe if the animals who were there from the beginning were all still alive, and young, they might rebel. So I think there is barely any chance of rebellion. It says at the end that the pigs were so alike to the humans, you couldn't tell them apart. I believe this rules out other humans and farms fighting against them. In my opinion, the best chance of anyone starting a rebellion is if the pigs start to treat a certain group of animals terribly, that might lead them to fighting against the power.

Notes- These are all my blog-ons for the whole year. A blog on is just a write-on, except on my blog, so here they all are.

Legal or Illegal

1. Creating a collage using a famous piece of art and some of your own drawings.

- It is legal because you arent selling the art and you arent taking credit for the artwork.

I think it is legal

I think it should be legal

2. Hacking someone’s computer game and making it better then selling it.

- It is illegal because you are changing someone elses property and selling it as your own. Also hacking is illegal.

I think it is illegal

I think it should be illegal

3. Taking someone’s direct quote from a book without citing it.

- It is illegal because it is something they wrote and you arent giving them credit for there work.

I think it is illegal

I think it should be illegal

4. Taking someone’s ideas from a book and listing them as one of your biggest influences in the bio.

- It is legal because you are still giving them credit for there work, and it being your influence isnt illegal.

I think it is legal

I think it should be legal

5. Using two pieces of different music to make a new one.

- It is illegal because it is someone elses music or property and your are using it for your own gain without permission

I think it is illegal

I think it should be illegal

6. Creating a replica of a building in Google Sketch-up.

- It is legal because you are not planning on changing the real building and you are not stealing anything of anyone elses.

It is legal

It should be legal

7. Creating a parody of the latest blockbuster film and putting it up on YouTube.

- Legal because you arent selling it and it is for the public to use.

I think it is legal

I think it should be legal

8. Typing out a chapter of someone’s book and putting links to pictures of all of the places it mentions.

- Legal because you arent selling it and you are just showing public pictures.

I think it is legal

I think it should be legal

9. Taking the beat or melody of a famous song and looping it to create

something new to sing or rap over, without asking for permission to use

the sample.

- Illegal because the beat or melody isnt yours to use.

I think it is illegal

I think it should be illegal

10. Using a well known movie clip, and dubbing you and your friends

making up funny, rude comments over top of it so that it looks like

they are saying what you want them to.

- Legal because you are just doing it for your own enjoyment and you arent selling it

I think it is legal

I think it should be legal

Notes - This is just a fun thing we did in language arts, it was about whether or not we think something should be illegal, and why or why not. Which was pretty entertaining to hear everyone's different ideas.

Dragonwings Essay

Moonshadow's opinion of American demons changed because of the nice demons he had met. At first he thought American demons would eat his flesh. Except after a while, he realized that even the demons wouldn't eat mankind. The two demons that I believe changed his mind the most were Ms. Whitlaw and Robin.

Slowly and slowly throughout the book, Moonshadow became more accepting toward them. One big experience that seemed to affect him, was when he punched the bully. He realized that like anywhere else, to gain respect, he had to beat the leader of the pack. This showed him that the the Middle Kingdom was just like anywhere else if you look deep enough.

Ms. Whitlaw showed Moonshadow many things. The most important was that only some people were evil. Before Moonshadow's first experience with Ms. Whitlaw, he thought a lot of things about her. He had been scared out of his wits. He thought she would be ugly, horrible, smelly, mean, non-human like. When the door first opened, some of his worries went away. She was pretty, not ugly. She wasn't smelly, non-human like. Even then though, he was still worried. He had thought he was risking his life walking in the house. Through out the visit, his father persisted to him to show manners. This was just like in the middle kingdom. To gain respect, you must show respect. It seemed to help Moonshadow when he showed his manners. This got Ms. Whitlaw to treat him kindly and soon he got to understand her. The possibly most important of Ms. Whitlaw's involvement in the book, was teaching Moonshadow to write. Being able to write made it possible for Moonshadow to write to the Wright brothers. This helped his father with his dreams and showed both of them that anything is possible. To send letters home as well was very important, paying someone to write the letter would have been very expensive. This way, they would be able to save money for many other needs as well. Ms. Whitlaw was one of the only people who respected Moonshadow, and she made a huge difference.

The second person who I believe helped him the most was Robin. Robin was his first friend in America. I think without Robin, Moonshadow would have thought that all American kids were like the bullies. Seeing a kind and caring American child really seemed to help him live in and understand America. Having a friend in the saddest times can help so much. Without Robin, Moonshadow would have had no friends and would not enjoy America one bit. Also she helped him read. Moonshadow being able to read helped him understand America so much better. He was able to read books, signs, and letters. Without reading, Moonshadow wouldn't have never been able to receive letters from the Wright brothers. Moonshadow seemed to finally accept and understand the demons, and Robin seemed to help immensely.

Being able to change an opinion can be challenging. Except changing a kid's opinion of a whole country is near impossible. Robin and Ms. Whitlaw did this unknowingly and it started from their first meeting. This makes me think that there are few people in a persons life who can truly change their opinion. And apparently Ms. Whitlaw and Robin were those two people. Without them, Moonshadow could still be hiding inside, scared to death of these flesh-eating monsters.

Notes - This is an essay i wrote about dragonwings, a book i read for language arts, i don't remember what i wrote about in it, so just read it and enjoy.

Squirrel Monkey Poem

Don't jump to far

Pace yourself for whats ahead.

If you fall out of the tree climb back up

Let your peep be heard

Don't let branches stand in your way

Persevere toward your goals

Find the strongest branch

Don't be sad for what you've never had