Reflection of high school so far...

As of this point in time, I am about 1/8 through my freshman school year. I learned a lot in high school. So far, the best thing about high school is the freedom that I have. For instance, during my lunch period, nor,ally if I were in middle school I would have to stay in the cafeteria everyday and bring my own lunch from home. In high school, I could do whatever I want during my free period. I can go out to Pirendello's , or Village Pizza, I can stay in the library the whole period and study, or I can stay in the cafeteria. The decision is up to me. It makes me feel more grown up and independent. Also, if a teacher for a specific class that I have doesn't show up after 5 minutes after the second bell rings, I have a free period. That's awesome! However, the worst thing about high school so far is the workload. For me, I am in all honors classes so I get SOOOO much work. On top of that, the material and curriculum is also more challenging. To make things even worse, I play a fall sport, tennis, and most days I don't even get home until 7:00 pm!!!!! I get home and I have so much work to do and such little time to do it. I know eventually I will adapt to the workload but for now, that's the worst part of high school.

Mind map of indirect characterization of God

I'm back with a new blog! I know u guys missed me lol. So yesterday and today in class we read a section of Genesis, the story of Noah's Arc. When we read this story, we tried to find indirect characterization of the one and only, God. In my mind map shown above, I included some of my details from the story and explained what this told me about God. When I found my quotes from the story and analyzed them, certain conclusions that I made about God were surprising to me and some where not. I was raised to believe that God knows best and that God is forgiving and kind to everyone. However, in my textual evidence about God in the green bubble, I made the conclusion that God is kind and forgiving ONLY to those who deserve it. In this case, God was kind to Noah and everyone else, he drowned in a huge flood. I had always thought that no matter who you are, God will always be kind and forgive you. This textual evidence proved me wrong. Also, in the textual evidence in the red bubble, it says that God was sorry that he created mankind. This shows that God made a mistake and that he did the wrong thing. I always thought that God always did the right thing and that he knew what was best. Apparently I was wrong because God regrets creating humanity.

Garden of Eden blog

Hey Guys! I’m back with a new blog because Mr. Reiff assigned it to us for homework. Today in class we read the beginning of Genisis and on the story of Adam and Eve. In the story, God forbids Adam and Eve from eating a fruit from the sacred tree in the middle of Eden. A cunning snake tricks Eve into eating the fruit and convincing Adam to eat one too. In my opinion, I think that God planned this to happen all along. I don’t mean this in a way to offend people. I think that God might have put this holy, sacred, mysterious tree right smack in the middle of the Garden of Eden purposely to test Adam and Eve whether they would obey him or not. I mean, what would be the point of putting a tree that was pleasing to the eye that is not allowed in such an obvious spot? I think that God was testing Adam and Eve. In the story, God says to Adam, “…but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” This quote that is said to Adam makes this tree of “good and evil” seem very mysterious. This probably triggered Adam and Eve to be curious. Even though it was an evil serpent that actually talked Eve into eating it, If it wasn’t for God putting that tree in the garden in the first place, there would be no serpent tricking Eve.

Compare and Contrast Flood Mythology, Deucalion and Pyrrha and The Epic of Gilgamesh

Deucalion and Pyrrha is a Greek flood mythology story that is basically about man named Deucalion and his wife, Pyrrha that survive a flood. Deucalion is warned by his father that Zeus will bring a great flood and that he should build an arc for him and his wife. When I read this story, it reminded me of The Epic of Gilgamesh a lot. Also at the same time, they had certain differences. One similarity between Deucalion and Pyrrha and The Epic of Gilgamesh is that both the main characters were men and they both survived the flood only themselves and their wives. Also, after the flood ended they both arrived at a mountain that they would live. Another similarity between the two stories is that they both were warned by immortal beings. However, in Utanapishti’s case, a God named Ea warned him, while Deucalion had his father who happened to be a titan named Prometheus. Another similarity between the two stories is that the reason behind the God’s wanting to flood the city is because of a human issue. The difference between that though is that in Utanapishti’’s story, the people were too loud. In Deucalion’s story, the people were too wicked and evil. A difference between the two stories is that  in The Epic of Gilgamesh, the flood lasted seven days while in Deucalion’s story, the flood lasted nine days. Finally, the last difference between the two stories is that when Utanapishti survived and lived on a mountain, he was punished by becoming immortal while Deucalion and Pyrrha were rewarded by creating mankind.


http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/myths/qt/101807Deucalion.htm - That is the link to where I read about Deucalion and Pyrrha.

Welcome to my blog!

Hey everybody! Welcome to my blog! My name is Julia Friedman and I am 14 years old. I made this blog because my English teacher, Mr. Reiff, made us create a blog that we will be managing and maintaining throughout the school year. I am excited to see what kinds of blogs I will be posting in the future. Now, for some information about myself, I go to Roslyn high school, I have a twin sister and an older brother and I love to play tennis. My favorite color is turquoise, my favorite tv show is Lost, and my favorite book is Maximum Ride.