Sunday, April 15, 2012

PLAGIARIZING

What did the student do wrong? What could he/she have done to include the source correctly?


What the student did wrong was that he/she plagiarized. He/she took someone else's work and made it his/her own without giving the author any credit. What the student could have done, was cited the source which would be giving the author his/her much deserved credit, or paraphrasing it and then stating where he/she got his/her information.


What are at least 3 ways to avoid plagiarizing?


1. Paraphrase where you got your information so it shows you understand the context
2. Cite your source; give the author the credit they deserve
3. After reading the passage, based off of it try and form your own thoughts/opinions or even build off theirs.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Reflecting on Posts

     Reading through the list of blogs Ms. Galang posted, there were two that really stood out to me. The first was Joyce's response to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The second was Sofia's response on Pablo Picasso's "La Vie".
     One reason I liked Joyce's response was because I agreed with all that she said. In her post, she compared Katniss's two love interests. She said she was Team Peeta because he was the sensitive one who always looked out for Katniss no matter what, while Gale wasn't quite as thoughtful even though he was very protective of her. 
     I'm also Teem Peeta because I think his character is just really likeable and he's so sweet and the things he's done for Katniss are so selfless and thoughtful that you really can't not like him. Gale doesn't really come off that way. He is more protective and not as sensitive which doesn't make him as likeable as Peeta. 
     The second post that I really liked was Sofia's post on Picasso's painting "La Vie". What stood out to me about her response is that when she inferred what the painting meant, she went back and used events that were happening around that time in his life to find out what the painting meant to him. I think she made I really deep connection to the painting and what had just happened in his life that I wouldn't have thought of, but after I read it I agree with 100%. Sofia said that the man in the painting was Picasso's friend who had committed suicide from depression over his lover. And the woman standing next to him is his lover. Now this is what interested me the most, she said that the woman who was painting them symbolized death. She thought of this from the solemn look on her face and her dark clothing, and that painting them was like drawing out the rest of their lives and determining how long they will live/ what will happen. She also though of the baby as representing life, symbolizing the cycle of life, and how for every death, there is a birth. I think Sofia did a really good job of getting into Picasso's head to see how he was feeling when he painted "La Vie".
     I think I could improve my blogposts by going deeper into what I'm writing about and try and think of something unexpected to say to make readers more interested. And when I write about the books I'm reading, I could put myself in a character's shoes and try to make the decision they are making in the book.