A Separate Peace is a fictional story that takes place during World War II. The setting of the story takes place at Devon, a all boy private school. The campus is perceived as a beautiful place with green grass and a clear river during the summer. It is generally a peaceful place that is secluded from the world that is consumed in war and loss. The book is fictional, but many aspects can be related to present day. The war is never really described except for when they read the news and it doesn’t make a big impact on their isolated world. The many wars that go on today doesn’t make a big impact on our everyday lives either. Usually, we continue on our daily routine without much thought of the death and destruction that is occurring somewhere else. Eventually tension rises on campus when the boys are about to graduate, because the war is about to effect their lives. Security today keeps tightening as the fear in the people rise when the war from the other side of the planet leaks into home. The youth and innocence of the boys in the story are still seen today with the carelessness of boys and their attitude of the world revolving around them. The story may be fictional, but many of the topics are still relevant in our world.

     Gene succeeds in academics and is relatively quite. He  believes in following the rules. This is hypocritical for he breaks rules all the time with Finny without question. Easily influenced, he skips classes and breaks various other rules with Finny. Though Gene has a smart brain, he doesn’t know how to think on his own very well. Gene typically follows whatever somebody says to do, even if it puts him in danger. Gene submits to every whim of Finny’s. Gene let’s Finny train him for the 1944 Olympics. This is a waste of time for Gene, because Gene’s goals are in academics and with the war on there won’t be a Olympics. Many times in the story Gene tries to be like Finny by trying on his clothes and such. This infers that Gene hasn’t established a identity for himself, so maybe that’s why he obeys Finny’s every word. Gene is also a jealous and competitive person. He envies Finny for getting away with things when he breaks the rules and of his athletic skill that comes easy to him. Gene shakes the branch on the tree, that makes Finny fall, out of jealousy. Gene is continuously comparing himself to others. He wants to be ahead of everybody. Aggressively attacking his studies, Gene is competing against Chet for valedictorian. Gene compares himself to Finny and thinks he is better, because he is excellent in academics and okay in athletics where Finny is terrible in academics and is excellent in athletics. Although Gene is smart, he still has much more maturing to do. He has many flaws and he needs a major boost in confidence, so he can think for himself.

A Separate Peace, symbolizes the peaceful isolation of the Devon school from the world which is filled with war and violence. The boys are young and innocent and play in childish games through the summer. The war seems fake to the undisturbed campus. The only notion of war they have is the loss of luxury of the maid service and the food shortage, so they don’t get great food anymore. The rest of the world is consumed by the war and their daily agenda is based on the war. Picking apples and shoveling snow is the only toll it takes on the boys.  At the end of the story, the war and loss creeps on to campus, but the symbol of peaceful isolation takes on a new form. Gene finds peace with in himself, while boys are facing new fears entering the army. The title also means the battle waged within oneself. People create enemies that they must overcome. Jealousy and guilt is what Gene battles. Gene knocks Finny out of the tree out of jealousy and is filled with guilt, because of his action. Eventually, Finny forgives Gene and Gene feels relieved that his best friend has forgiven him. He conquers his enemy and believes it has died with Finny. Gene is separated from the other boys who are facing new enemies. Gene is at peace with himself even as he enters the battlefield, because he has already won his war.

This presentation is about the history of school shootings in America. Most of us think that will never happen to us. In reality, we are all suceptible to this happening to us. Measures need to be taken to protect ourselves. The question here is what can we do to stop this from happening again?

School Shootings

I enjoyed using Glogster for this project. it is like a virtual poster board, but I don’t have to deal with the annoying scissors and glue. Also, unlike the traditional poster board, I could add video to the Glogster. The Glogster was used for my Por y Para project. The project helped me be able to distinguish the difference between the two words.

A Mason le gusta sacar buenas notas todos los días. A Mason le gustan los perros. A Mason le gusta estudiar frecuentemente. A Mason le disgusta bailar siempre. A Mason le disgusta jugar al fútbol. A Mason le disgusta la escuela a veces. A Mason le gusta correr. A Mason le gusta leer.

The Mis Gustos project help me learned how to use the gusta verbs correctly. I liked the project, because it was fun learning more about the ipads. Also, I liked talking about the things I love to do.

The Travel Across America project was fun. It taught us how to plan a whole vacation.  It also taught me how to do a spreadsheet and a block form business letter. I liked researching and working with the slide show.

I love doing ballet, piano, and band. I play the clarinet. We have at my house 7 chickens, 1 rooster, 10 chicks, a cat, and a hamster. I love to read. My favorite author is Gail Carson Levine. I am a straight a student. I like to play outside.