Author: Sophie R

IRJE#7 – The Reappearance of Rachel Price

In The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson, a young girl named Bel explains her situation about how her mother has been missing for 16 years, and presumed dead. She explains how her mother went missing when she was 2 and she was left in the back seat until a passer by found her. After the case was closed 16 years later her mother was found while they were making a documentary about her disappearance and the case turned into a reappearance documentary.

“The people who loved you, the ones who really cared, they would always come back. Sometimes, they even came back from the dead.” (page. 93)

In this quotation Bel is saying how the people who loved and care about you will always come back, but when she is saying they will even come back from the dead, Bel suspects that her mother faked her being missing and is determined to figure it out. she suspects that her disappearance was faked because her mother slips up about details of her missing. later in the book she figures out where her mother really was 

PW#7 – My Christmas Break

 

This Christmas my family and I went to Mexico for Christmas. It was our first time going somewhere hot for Christmas but I enjoyed it. I spent a lot of time in the sun with my family and playing volleyball with my cousins. I also loved walking on the beach and hanging out with other people at the resort at night. When I got back I also did lots of winter activities here like ice skating, looking at Christmas lights and hanging out with family friends. With my family we also made gingerbread houses and decorated for Christmas before we left and decorating is one of my favourite parts of Christmas. Next Christmas I am hoping that my family goes to the East coast to see the rest of my extended family. I really like going there for Christmas because it really is like a winter wonderland with all the snow and trees, I think that is my favourite place to be for Christmas. 

 

PR – A Christmas Carol

Reading a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, I thought it was fun to read something I had heard so much about and pieces of this book through my childhood. When Scrooge’s journey in the book took him from greedy and rude to joyful and generosity shows that nobody is exempt from changing. This book also made me think how compassion and kindness can really change lives. It really shows how people can let their past define them and allow their circumstances to become more closed off, especially towards others.  Scrooge’s transformation is proof that everyone can change and it’s necessary if they want to live meaningful lives. This book makes me think about how Scrooge was taking his privileges for granted and not sharing them with others, like his family. This book for me was very slow for reading and I felt a little bit bored while reading it because I had heard parts of it my whole life and felt like I was just re-reading it. I also tend to not like older books because of the type of language they use and I find it harder to read because it is more confusing. I noticed how Dickens depicts the joy of simple human connection. The Cratchit’s, despite their poverty, are very warm and loving, contrasting the sharp and coldness of Scrooge. In the end the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, reflects on people taking life for granted, and how they need to be more kind and loving to anyone because you never know what they are going through.

IRJE #6 – A Good Girls Guide to Murder

A Good Girls Guide to Murder, by Holly Jackson, is about a girl named Pippa Fitz-Amobi is in high school and has to chose a project for her senior year graduation credit. She chooses to solve a closed case of a murder in her small town that she thinks should not be closed. The following quote is from page 19, chapter 2.

“When you ask people in town what happened to Andie Bell, they’ll tell you without hesitation: ‘She was murdered by Salil Singh.’ No ‘allegedly,’ no ‘might have,’ no ‘probably,’ no ‘most likely.’ He did it, they say. Sal Singh killed Andie. But I’m just not so sure.” (p.19)

In this quotation Pip is saying how she really thinks that Salil did not kill Andie and that the town is wrong, therefore she will be trying to “solve” the case herself while not getting into the actual case as that could be dangerous. After she figures out that she might be on to something and others involved in the case see this too she begins to contact the police about reopening this case. The whole town is convinced that Salil killed his girlfriend Andie Bell, but even the police case says that they are “almost certain”. 

PW #6 – future secret garden

If I ever had my own secret garden it would have so many fun things. When you first walk in it would have a straight pathway to a middle circle with a large and very artistic water fountain with colourful flowers around it. Then after the middle there would be a couple paths going in other directions. The first one to the left would take you down a small winding path to a pond where you would cross on tile stepping stones, and the path there will be surrounded by big and tall bushes of flowers that are very colourful. Then after the stepping stones across the pond, is a little porch with a roof and a swing bench to sit in and read outside. On the path straight from the middle points in will be an arch of flowers that are pink and blue and green. Through that arch is a small little cabin with a Mediterranean/beach house design inside. The cabin is in a big field with flowers and trees and tall grass, perfect for picnics. lastly the path on the right goes through a stone path with ancient looking pillars, and a look out to a my future house. After you go through this path you end at the pool with pool chairs connected to my future house. The whole garden is divided by large and beautiful flowers and plants. This is what my future house and garden will be like.

Personal Response MYP4

While reading ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ I thought it was very interesting. I did really enjoy this book and I would recommend it to other people. I really liked the mystery of this book and the genre, as it is similar to other books I like. This book makes me think that Dr. Jekyll is crazy and that the twist and turns of this book were very fitting for his character. It also made me think about how many people struggle with the conflict of their own identity, which is a very complex thing to include in a book, especially that was written in 1886, which would have not really been accepted at the time. How Stevenson uses the supernatural elements to the story is very interesting again considering the time it was written. I think that the way that stevenson told the story was successful and using the supernatural / imaginary elements were good for the story, as he was able to express what he was trying to say easier and maybe in a more interesting way for readers. The way that Stevenson wrote this book kept readers interested in the story, with how he built suspense and the way that he described things made the way he wrote more compelling. The ending of this story was not what I excepted and I think it could have been described more as I think Stevenson ended the story abruptly and in a more boring way. In the end I enjoyed reading ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ and I would recommend this book to people. Throughout the year this is one of the books I enjoyed the most, and I did really like that this book was not very long so it kept my attention. 

PW #5

One of the sports I do is skiing. I have been skiing for 7 years now with my family and with different clubs/teams. I started skiing at our local mountain, and have skied some other different places but I would love to explore and ski Europe. My dad grew up skiing and thought it wild be something fun for my family, but at first my brother and I hated it, after a year or two we started to like it and improved enough to start clubs and travel teams. Skiing is one of the sports that makes me feel calm (most of the time) but I also just love being in the snow and hanging out with my friends for a weekend in the snow. I have gotten very used to our local mountain and we know everyone, everything and all the trails. I love taking my friends around and showing them things and taking my dog for walks in the snow.

IRJE#4 – Five Survive

Five survive, by Holly Jackson, is about 6 friends who are taking a road trip for spring break and on their road trip they got lost, they took a turn and ended up in a dead end forest road. While they were trying to turn around they popped one tire, which they figured out and fixed easily. Once they got back in the RV that they were driving for spring break, turned around, and all four tires went out. This means they were stranded and they had no cell service. They went out to check it out, and the gas tank was also leaking, someone had shot at the RV.

Simon scoffed. ‘Sure, just a misunderstanding. There’s a sniper out there with a high-powered rifle and a laser sight who’s decided to use us as target practice. But yeah, just a misunderstanding.’ He’d changed his tone. (p.70)

In this quotation Simon (one of the 6 friends) is responding to one of his friends who says that maybe this person thought they were someone else and they didn’t mean to shoot at them. In this quotation he is being very sassy towards his friend and saying sarcastically that what his friend said was very wrong.

PW #4 – What I Want To Be When I Grow Up

When I grow up I want to be something in the legal system or the medial field. I wanted to be in the medical field but now I think that the medical field might not be good for me. I really want to have my own business, and since I want to be in the legal profession I could own my own law firm. I think I would like to do intellectual property and copyrights, with the copyrights I would like to specialize in science and medical sides of it. Because I am interested in the medical field, if I do the medical and science based copyrights this will point towards both my career interests. I would like to get my bachelors degree in biomedical sciences and/or biochemistry, and my masters degree in business and/or science field.  if I own my own firm I would like to have people who work there that specialize in the other sides of intellectual property. As well as being an IP lawyer, I would like to travel as much as I can, even traveling for work conferences to cool places.

Personal Response to Our Town

Our Town, by Thornton Wilder, I give this book and play a 6.5 out of 10. I didn’t really like it because it’s not something I would normally read or watch, but after watching it I think its good that we read it for english because it wasn’t that bad. I think the effect of not having props or sets is that you can really focus on what they are saying, read along, and analyze what they are doing instead of having props and sets to distract. I think that the role of the stage manager is to be a narrator and really explain what they are saying and even guide the characters so that they understand what is happening. I did notice that some of the characters and especially the stage manager break the “fourth wall” quite often. I think this is because they are trying to almost pause the play and explain then continue or like they are talking right to you. Compared to the book they are obviously very similar because this book is almost like a directors script, but in the play you get to see the people and maybe you imagined them differently, and you get to hear their voices and how they act. I enjoyed the play more because of this.

IRJE#3 Kill Joy

Kill Joy, by Holly Jackson, is a novella of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, it is about Pip and a couple of her friends who host a fake murder mystery night. Pip is deciding what her Capstone project will be and is wanting to solve the case that happened in her town 5 years ago, where a well known girl in town is murder and everyone thinks its her boyfriend who did it. Since she is already interested in the solving cases topic, she is very excited and thinks she will be great at this game night.

 “And it had been good, right up until the end. The whole world outside this house had disappeared; it had been just Pip and her mind and a problem to solve. Exactly the way she liked it. Exactly when she was most herself. But she’d been wrong. Pip hated being wrong.” (p.113)

After she realizes that she was wrong about who killed the person in their fake case she was questioning whether she should do the “closed” case in her town for her senior project. This quotation is saying how she is becoming unconfident in her solving abilities and doesn’t like being wrong. 

PW #3 – Places I Want to Visit

I want to travel to many places but I also want to explore more of Canada. I would love to visit more of Europe especially Spain, Portugal, France and Greece. I want to travel to these places because I really want to see the culture the views. Some other places I want to travel to are Switzerland, Germany and Iceland because I think they are not as usual places to go and it would be a very fun experience. If I ever travel to Switzerland I would also go to Italy because there is a glacier that connects them both, that you can ski over the border, and I have wanted to go to that spot for a very long time. In Canada I want to go to P.E.I. and New Brunswick, because i think that it would be beautiful. And if I travel to Iceland I would want to see the ponies that they have in the rolling hills, and all the cool history.

IRJE#2

The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, is about two feuding social groups, the Greasers and the Socs (short for “Socials”).T he context to this quotation is that there was a fire at their local church because someone left a cigarette and it lit on fire, all the Greasers group ran into the church to save the children in there, and when lots of them left brunt they went to the hospital, where the nurses told them Johnny was burnt the most and with fetal injuries. When Ponyboy and Dally saw Johnny, he was on his deathbed. They told him about how they beat the Socs, but he was to drained to think about that considering his injuries.

“Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold… It’s a good way to be. It’s like the way you try to be, like you used to be. The way I wanted you to be when we were kids. Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold.” (p.148)

In the moment that Johnny tells Ponyboy to “stay gold…” he is referencing the Robert Frost poem that Ponyboy had shared with him earlier in the book, nothing gold can stay. The poems meaning is that beauty and innocence are fleeting, and that you have to hold on to it. By Johnny saying this he is saying to Ponyboy that he needs to hold on to that “gold” for as long as he can.

PW #2 – Some Christmas Traditions

My Family’s Christmas Traditions

Every year, my family goes to Ontario, where the rest of my family is, to celebrate Christmas with my great-grandparents. Last year was our first year staying here. Even though we didn’t go to Ontario, we still did many of our regular traditions.

Two years ago, we started a new tradition where we could have whatever takeout food we wanted for Christmas Day dinner. On Christmas Eve, we would all get dressed up and have a nice dinner. We decided to do this because with all my family around and all the other things to clean up, this made it easier for everyone.

Another one of our traditions is that my great-grandmother would make “girls’ Christmas stockings,” and all the girls in my family, who were her grandchildren, would get a super fun stocking filled with self-care items. I think my favorite tradition is my Nana’s Christmas girls’ stockings.

IRJE #1

In the book We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart, follows a wealthy family who spends every summer of their private island, the main focus of this book is Cadence, after she suffered a head injury during one of their summers there, and has a hard time remembering almost anything from the past trips to this island. While there were there this summer with all of her cousins and friends they go around a circle and say their favourite mottos.

always do what you’re afraid to do p.122

This quote is from Ralph Waldo Emerson but is said multiple times by the main character Cadence Sinclair, as a part of her personal journey trying to get her memory back. I think this is an important quote to use because it is used so many times in the book. Including when Cadence does things she is scared of but it brings back her memories.

PW #1 – My Favourite Season

My favourite season is winter, while i also really like summer and spring, but winter is my favourite. It’s my favourite because my birthday and christmas are in the winter. I like christmas because I get to see my family and spend time with them off of school. I also love winter because I love to ski and during the winter months I get to ski with my friends and spend time in the snow, which I love. another reason why I like the winter and snow is because I love to take my dog and play in the snow with him. I like Christmas  also because it’s so pretty with the snow and all the Christmas lights, during winter i love to do things with my friends and decorate for Christmas. I also really like to decorate cookies and gingerbread houses with my friends and family.

“Master and man” personal response

I did not really enjoy this novella, I thought there were way to many filler words and things could have been said and described with way less words. I also didn’t really like how the majority of the story is just them being cold and lost in the woods with their horse, I feel that there wasn’t a lot to take in and felt it was very boring having pretty much the same topic and scene throughout most of the book. I also think the book could have better explained the time frame and it would have been nicer to read. Since the book was written long ago some words will be different which makes sense because they didn’t have the easier words or maybe you didn’t use the words when writing a book, if this was written in todays age I think I would have liked it more.

My introduction

Hi my name is Sophia, I was born in Toronto, Ontario on November 27th 2010, I moved to Victoria when i was 4 years old. I have a little brother who also goes to Brookes, and 1 year old dog named Campbell. I was named after the italian model Sophia loren. My favourite colours are navy blue and light pink. My favourite things to do are train my dog, watch movies, and visit my horse. I love to travel and in the future I hope to travel more around Europe and I would like to move there. I would love to become a lawyer of some sort in the future, possibly a patent lawyer in the science and medical field.