Reflection 9/28/13

Byron Mason II

9/28/13

Rehak, 6^th

Reflection 9/28/13

     This week was pretty decent. There was the NJHS induction. It was actually kind of funny. The students who were NHS officials were acting like the ceremony was sacred or something. I was laughing at the fact that they were so serious.

      Progress reports came out and mine was decent. I got A’s and B’s and a C in World Studies, but it it’s not a big deal because I’m about two points away from a B and I’ll bring it up in no time.

     Saturday, there were two meetings I had to go to because I got into these two programs. I didn't do that much after. The next day I watched football and did my homework.

    

The Accuser

Byron Mason II

9/25/13

Rehak, 6^th

The Accuser

     Joseph McCarthy was born on November 14^th, 1908 in Appleton, Wisconsin. McCarthy was born into a Roman Catholic family and the 5^th child out of nine other children. At the age of fourteen, McCarthy dropped out of school and began to work as a chicken farmer. He later became the manager of a grocery store not far from his home. 

     It wasn't until 1928 before McCarthy returned to school. Eventually, McCarthy achieved qualifications good enough to get into Marquette University. The result of McCarthy attending Marquette led him to graduate with his law diploma. He began to practice law, but was not very successful so he had to rely on playing poker just to keep his finances somewhat stable.

     After failing in law, McCarthy dived into politics, supporting Franklin D. Roosevelt. Despite his efforts, McCarthy failed to become the Democratic candidate for district attorney. This led him to switch to the Republican Party, where he became a circuit court judge.

     When World War II started, McCarthy resigned as a judge and joined the marines. After the war, McCarthy ran to become a candidate for the Republican senate. He ran a very dirty campaign against his opponent, Robert La Follete.  Not only did McCarthy exaggerate his service in the war for leverage for his election, he made very inappropriate and inaccurate accusations about La Follete. McCarthy won the campaign, but La Follete eventually committed suicide due to the overwhelming accusations.

     McCarthy’s first few years of being in the Senate were very unimpressive. On top of that, people were beginning to discover how he lied about his war records. McCarthy was also being investigated for tax offences and for receiving bribes from the Pepsi-Cola Company. Due to all of the bad publicity, McCarthy began to fear that he would lose his position in the Senate. This made McCarthy go and seek help from his closest advisers  who suggested that McCarthy begin a campaign accusing the Democratic Party of containing communists. McCarthy took this advice and later made a statement claiming that he had a list of two hundred five people in the State Department that were communists. McCarthy had created more issues for the United States with his accusation that any other individual in modern times.

     It wasn't long until McCarthy lost his position of power in the Senate. People began to lose interest in his communist theories. On top of all the corruption, McCarthy was also a huge alcoholic. It was soon discovered that he had serious cirrhosis on his liver. Unable to drop his drinking habits, McCarthy died on May 2^nd, 1957. When his death was mentioned in the newspaper, it was written that he had drunk himself to death.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmccarthy.htm

http://www.coldwar.org/articles/50s/senatorjosephmccarthy.asp

Reflection 9/22

Byron Mason II

9/22/13

Rehak, 6^th

^{Reflection 9/22/13}

     ^{This week was decent I guess. It’s pretty quiet at home since my sister went off for college. But it’s not a big deal because she’s not that far away from home. Families actually had the opportunity to go the college to see their kids and siblings off, but I couldn't go since I had school. I was trying to get signed out but my parents weren't budging.}  

     ^{The rest of the entire week I was trying to get my recommendations and stuff together for this organization I’m trying to get into. I didn't really have a lot of time because I had a lot of tests and quizzes to study for. But I eventually got it finished and submitted my application. The worst part was that I had to get all of my stuff done on a Friday, so I couldn't make any plans. Even worse than that, I had to wake up early and go to the organization’s interview. It was for around five hours. But it wasn't that bad because there were people that I knew over there who were interviewing me.}

     ^{After the interview, I chilled at home for a minute and then went to hang out with some friends.}

  

Reflection 9/15/13

Byron Mason II

9/15/13

Rehak, 6^th

Reflection 9/15/13

     This week was pretty decent. The only thing I didn't like about this week was the results of some of my quiz results in a few classes. World Studies is one of my strongest subjects and I felt that I did really well on the test that covered the chapter we read. There were four questions on the test and I got one wrong, which gave me a seventy five percent on the test. That resulted in my grade dropping from a one hundred to an eighty one in World Studies. I was really frustrated because I was doing pretty well and then my grade just plummeted. But then the next day, my teacher explained that since it was the first test, the grades of many people would drop because there are not many other grades to balance the score out.

     I also didn't do to well on a math quiz I had, but I did very well on another quiz so I still have a good grade in that class.

     The weekend was pretty boring. I went to a football game and saw some relatives. But that was it. The most important part of this weekend is the fact that my sister is going to college. So my family will be going out to dinner to celebrate her last day at home. But no one is feeling down that my sister is leaving because she’s going to Northwestern, which means that she’ll only be around 30 minutes from home. It’ll be weird being the only child, but I know I can always go see my sister if I want to.

Grammar Lesson: Words Often Confused

Lesson: Words Often Confused
Byron Mason II

THE FACTS: Words often confused are words that sound similar and have similar spelling as well, but the definition of the words are completely different.

WHY IT'S CONFUSING: This concept is so confusing because the words are very similar, but they have completely different meanings. Therefore, if a writer does not know the difference between two words that seem similar, they will end up using a word that is not suited for the situation that he or she is trying to describe.

HOW TO REMEMBER: The best way to distinguish words that are often confused is to learn and memorize these specific words. If you can memorize the spelling and definitions of a pair of words that are always mistaken for one another, you will not mistake them when writing.

Circle the word that completes the sentence.
1. My blue cardigan _____ my jeans. (complements/ compliments)
2. A bead of sweat rolled down her cheek as she tried to _____ the bomb. (diffuse/ defuse)
3. The young boy cringed when his teacher told him to go to the _____. (Principle/ principal)

Try these on your own, and then ask the teacher or a friend to review.
1. I didn’t recognize the territory, but my mom assured me that we were on the right _____. (course/ coarse)
2. I think that we are going to like _____ new home. (our/ are)
3. A feeling of dread crept into my chest when my friend said that the _____ was not working. (break/ brake)

Work on these for some extra practice.
1. The girl tripped as she tired to maneuver her way out of the _____. (isle/ aisle)
2. He hit a tree and fell off of his bike. No wonder he’s _____. (sore/ soar)
3. The girl burst into tears, knowing that the others would never _____ her. (accept, except)

Citation: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-reference/words-that-are-often-confused,  http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/commonly-confused-words

Reflection of Week 9/8/13

     This week was the second week of school and it was pretty cool. I had a decent amount of quizzes and tests. On top of that, there was an abundance of homework. But I was able to handle it and eventually, finishing the large work load will seem like nothing.
     Nothing really interesting happened this week but Friday was actually kind of fun. In my 7th period world studies class, we had to bring in an article to discuss in class. I didn't want to share my story but I ended up sharing it anyway. It was about this vigilante in Mexico who was killing bus drivers to avenge the women who had been raped at foreign assembly plants. I was surprised when my story led to an all out discussion whether it was right for the woman to have taken the law into her own hands. It was funny because so many people were so serious about it.
     The rest of the day was pretty boring but after school, I had to go to my graduation ceremony for my completion of a journalism program I did over the summer. It wasn't a huge event so I just had my parents and my uncle come. My sister was at work so she couldn't come. But the ceremony was really nice and I got to see my friends from the program.
     For the rest of the weekend, I watched football, did my homework, and got ready for next week.

Neighborhood Narrative: Old New Kid on the Block

Old New Kid on the Block

     I hopped off the bus reluctantly, feeling like I got off at the wrong stop. I looked around, bewildered.

     “I got to figure out a way to get to-,” I busted into a coughing fit as I was interrupted by a gust of black fumes that was coming from the bus as it pulled off in a loud screech. My eyes watered and I felt like there was a bonfire in my throat. After a minute, I waved most of the smoke away, sputtering as I managed to get the rest of the fumes out of my system.

     “Great,” I muttered as I doubled over. After I regained my composure, I wiped my eyes and looked up, to see an old aged man looking down at me.

     “Are you ok?” The man asked. Ambivalence was in his voice. He didn't really care if I was ok or not, it was just common curtsy.

     “Yeah,” I managed to reply. “Do you know where Auburn Street is?” The man scratched his long, white scraggly beard and finally pointed down the street.

     “Walk a few blocks and you should see it,” he said. I nodded thanks to the man and bounded down the street. I walked a couple blocks and just like the old man said, there was Auburn Street. As soon as I turned onto the street I was hit with a wave of awe. The neighborhood looked like something straight out of a fairy tale. How could a place like this be surrounded by a bunch of gas stations and shoddy apartments? The neighborhood was as tranquil as an autumn leaf falling to the ground. The lush green trees complemented and concealed some of the large brick houses.  I was surprised how the houses from down the block were twice as big because so many trees concealed their true size. Among the rest of the greenery were birds and squirrels. The occasional alley cat lurked around driveways and lawns. I could hear dogs barking from down the street and the sound of a basketball constantly hitting the pavement. Every once and awhile, all these sounds of the neighborhood were drowned out by the approaching of a train not too far away.

     Most of the residents seemed like nice people. Many of them were walking their dogs. And I guessed that some of the other residents were not too fond of strangers that stumbled into their neighborhood. If looks could kill, I would have dropped dead right at the spot. Even the dogs were growling at me like I was an extraterrestrial. I ignored the stares though and continued on my way. I passed a few houses with people sitting on their front porches, enjoying the warm weather. A few of the residents glanced at me and went back to whatever they were doing, clearly uninterested in me. I walked a few more blocks until I found the house I was looking for. I walked up to the steps leading to the house to find my friends sitting on his porch, palming a basketball.

     “About time,” he muttered.