annotating focus for LOTF

I am annotating for psychological setting in LOTF and some things have stood out to me.  I started the  chart in the end of chapter 4 and wrote some but kind of dwindled at the end of chapter 5 because I couldn't put thoughts together very well. 
OK so here I go...
In chapter 4 it got really happy and in the mood children should be in when some of the kids were reenacting killing the pig, but the mood went down when they all stopped because Ralph was calling an assembly for later when he was going to tell them a speech he wanted people to listen to and wanted it to sound authoritative and powerful.
Then in chapter 5, Ralph was calm and unburdened by all goings on on the island when walking on his strip of beach to think and then he was brave and prepared for his speech but then was thinking on what a leader was- a true leader- and had all these "must be"'s and how they have to make decisions and have to be wise, but then came to realize, even though Piggy wasn't chief material, he could think and was wise.  Later on in his speech Ralph pointed out how lazy they all were saying how they would drink water from the stream that they put in coconut shells but ended up just drinking from the stream.  He got all hopeful saying how they could start over and be happy and then Jack stepped in and ruined it talking about the beast and how it's making everybody scared because they're sissies and cry-babies and they had to man up and deal with it.  This started a huge fight which made the tension rise a lot and at the end they- Ralph and Piggy- realized that grownups were who kept everybody in line at home but there were none here and it was going to be difficult without them.
The tension and bad or sad feelings have gone way up in these last 2 chapters, mainly chapter 5.

what we've learned in class

I remember pretty well all the stuff we have just leaned, like the literary elements and short stories and literacy things, but I could use some review on all the things we learned in the beginning of the year such as traits of writing and the process.
Also, some review on the uses of colon and semi colon would be helpful because I think I might still be using one of them in a wrong way, but am not sure...

reading over the break

 Heist Society by Ally Carter
11/20 20 minutes, 30 pages
11/21 85 minutes, 135 pages
11/22 115minutes, 126 pages
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
11/25 10 minutes, pages 76-79
11/26  50 minutes, pages 80-91

Well, we are all reading LOTF so I wont really go into that, plus I'm doing that other post on my reading focus, so I'll tell y'all about Heist Society.
Wow.  I really liked this book.  It was just enough action with the right amount of comedy and romance and it blended really well together.  I read it pretty fast, but that's mainly because I was at a basketball game, perfect place for me to read for some reason.  I can concentrate so much better amidst the noise and everything than I can in the quiet... hm...
This book was about a girl, Katerina, and how she pulled off a heist at an art museum and it did really well in describing the locations and pulling together facts later on in the book that I could actually remember and connect with rather than just flat out telling you which I found really interesting and cool.  So... yep:)

in class LOTF activity

OK, so the activity we did in class.  Well, it was definitely interesting; we had 4 people who nominated themselves as our rulers, some people in the corner talking about enslaving the first graders, killing people, and colonizing the nation, and the people asking for a boat, as well as those who wanted nap time or who just wanted class to end.  It was pretty cool though to see how everyone would've responded or how they acted as they would've- they might care more if it were a real life situation, who knows? But ya, it was fun.
Also, we took a democratic style vote as to what form of government we would be- democratic- and it was really spread out as to who was in charge.  There was a supreme ruler, 4 kings/queens, princesses, people, slaves, it was all confusing but the group work got done in the selective groups.  Like, the four rulers talked amongst themselves as to what they would do and the "supreme ruler" people would talk amongst themselves to formulate their own ideas.  It kind of helps you realize who you would hang out with in an event like this.  I would probably stay away from the boys suggesting colonization, slavery, and death, so now at least I know that!
But really, it was a fun class activity to do:)
<3

reading times!

Mark of Athena      17 pages, 13 minutes
                               20 pages, 18 minutes
Lord of the Flies    24 pages, 120 minutes (all that annotating! and I was confused...)

 So close to being finished with Mark of Athena! I am so excited! Well anyways, I read chapter one of Lord of the Flies and, personally, it's not my favorite book.  For me, at least, it's a slow read and I'm not a really violent, war- like, and so meaningful type of book person so, well there's that, but it's interesting so far.
I like how Golding describes the characters by how they look and act rather than just one or the other and I found the first chapter interesting, but, I dont know, it's just not my type of book.  I got most of the stuff Golding was talking about but I don't get the meanings of what everything refers to.  There's an island with pink rock everywhere and it's shaped like a boat, there's a boy who likes the play with his glasses when he's nervous or under negative pressure and there's a kind of built twelve and a half year old who has blonde hair and is named Ralph.  There's also Jack, or is he Merridew? I'm not sure, but for some reason, I feel he's evil.
Yep! Haha so I'll try to warm up to this book, I really will, and I think that once swimming is over, although I will be sad about it, I can really focus on it and maybe like it, who knows?
<3

Reading Times!

10/29  8 minutes, 9 pages
           7 minutes, 7 pages
10/30  30 minutes, 28 pages
10/31  10 minutes, 20 pages
           30 minutes, 35 pages
            20 minutes, 17 pages
11/1  5 minutes, 2 pages
         12 minutes, 18 pages
11/5 30 minutes, 36 pages

Well, I'm currently reading Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan and let me just say I LOVE IT!!!! I'm not going to spoil it for anyone currently reading it or those planning on it, which I recommend by the way... Yep! Everyone reading this should read it if they have not already.
In this book I really like how Riordan writes because I can follow along easily and read fast but also understand it while taking in information... Pretty cool:)  His books are some of the few (and by few I mean like 15...) books that I can follow along like that in, which is one reason why I love all of his books.  Yay!! So, yep...:)

My best and worst experience

How can it be that something that feels so good doesn’t at the same time? Well I’m gonna tell you…

         To me, the best experience is when you finish something, for me it’s a race, and looking up at the score board right before you get out of the water, seeing your new time, faster than before.  You know you just gave your all and it paid off with a new time for the next meet.  You know you did your best and that your coaches and family and friends are proud of you.  They give you a hug or a high five, telling you “Good job! I’m proud of you,” and you feel on top of the world with joy. 

         During the race you were excited too, knowing that you just paced someone who was seated faster than you by multiple seconds and that you can actually do that, it comes as a surprise to you.  You feel proud of yourself when you take a breath and see all the people cheering, some for you, some for others, and just taking it all in as there are people here who want me to succeed in this, I’m going to make them proud of me and then realizing you do that when you get out is reward enough for anything.  Before the races though, is not really any good experience unless you get a pep talk or something by friends or coaches who realize you’re freaking out, shaking even, and want you to do well.  You calm down just enough to get up on the block for the right race and get a good start.  This is the downside…

        This is also a really bad experience because once you finish this race, it may not be for everything you finish, and you are in pain.  Your legs feel numb and you’re getting your heart rate down by taking deep breaths and going to the warm down pool to, well, warm down.  Your physically and mentally tired, having had to figure out how to pace and if you can keep up with the much faster person in the lane next to you and if you are going to not do well or not make the coaches proud, if your goggles are falling off or filling up with water, if you’ll hit or miss the divider, there are many more… 

        During the race you are in pain as well, because you can’t just breathe every stroke but you can’t hold your breath a whole lap because you need oxygen.  Your lungs hate you and your legs feel like they’re going to fall off, yet somehow at the end of your race you put your all into the finish, giving it all you’ve got.  If you’re race was 30 seconds, less than that, 2 minutes, 6 minutes, however long it may be, you are just as tired for you have just given your all and it had hopefully paid off in some way or another.

        Before the race is a whole different story; some people get excited, some nervous, some sick, some are just impassive thinking it’s just this one thing, nothing too bad.  I myself shake a little and have a pit of nerves, sometimes they aren’t too bad sometimes I wish I never swam, that nothing comes out of feeling like this.  But that is where I’m wrong. 

        I make people proud of me and help my team with points, maybe, and I get to know that I didn’t mess up.  I didn’t fail at something.  I’m actually OK at a sport for once.  I know I am because I just dropped time and I hear my coach say “good race, Wendy” as I am getting our like I heard him say “Let’s go, Wendy” as I stood up on the block.  It’s an overall really good feeling after and before some bad ones to know that they have faith that you can do well.

        So sure the pros outweigh the cons, at least in my opinion, but I would have to say that the best and yet worst experience that I’ve ever had would have to be the time before, during, and after a race.  You go through feelings from sick with fear to elatedness of dropping time, whether it be less than second, less time than you can motion in, or 8 seconds, you know your work paid off.  I’m no Olympian, not going to be, but from this experience you can feel like you just won a gold medal and its close enough in my book.