Second Semester Portfolio

http://clarissalevai.wix.com/myportfolio

Go to the link above to see portfolio.

Parent's Reflection: (Post as comment on this blog post)

1) What did you learn about your child's achievements and experiences in MeneMAC this past year?

Creating a Society Assignment (Kari Lau and Clarissa Levai)

Society's Name: Novae Terrae (New World in Latin)

Logo:

10 Ultimate Laws

• Respect everyone’s sexual orientation, gender identity, and heritage.
• Everyone is entitled to a quality education.
• Education shall be required to teach students of home skills (taxes, cooking, etc), and how our society works
• Everyone is granted with free healthcare. In addition, each citizen have the right to free will of body.
• Everyone has a freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.
• Descendants from Kari Lau and Clarissa Levai shall be the rulers forever in Novae Terrae's society.
• If any rules shall be broken then, the supreme court of Novae Terrae's society shall determine the if they go to the correction facility or be banished.
• Each family is only permitted to have two children.
• However, if they have more than two then, they must hand it over to adoption center or if they want to keep them they must pay $300 for each extra child.
• On every fifteenth day of each month, workers shall be paid. On the last day of each month, fines and taxes shall be paid.
• Taxes are dependent on salary however, there will be no tax exceptions.
• No citizen shall leave our society, without consent of leaders.

5 allowed:

• People are allowed to express themselves with the exception of trans-ethnicity.
• People are allowed to care for one pet.
• People are allowed to choose their own occupations.
• People are allowed to dress freely as long as it has Novae Terrae society’s logo on it.
• Students are allowed to join the militia if no other options are available.

5 restrictions:

• Standardized testing is not allowed.
• Discrimination is not allowed.
• Abusing the environment is not allowed.
• Human assault weapons are not allowed, except for military usage.
• Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton is not allowed.

Houses:

• In average sized houses, three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, and kitchen. For every citizen in Novae Terrae's Society.

Where they live:

• In a closed of society, in the middle nowhere. Walls surrounds the city, and doors can only be opened with Leaders’ consent. A large dome covers the top of the fencing, to regulate weather.

Clothing:

• People are allowed to wear whatever, just as long as it has the logo of the society on it.

How people are ranked:

• There is no ranking. Two branches, citizen and leaders. (The leaders are determined with the bloodline of Kari Lau and Clarissa Levai.)

Summary

• Over all, our new society is called Novae Terrae, which is Latin for New World. Our citizen's live in this closed off society, where everyone has equal rights with each other. They may wear whatever they want, but most have our society's logo on it. There's no ranking, only the leaders and citizens. Leaders are determined by Kari Lau's and Clarissa Levai's bloodline. The ten ultimate laws include, respecting everyone's sexual orientation, gender identity, and heritage. Everyone is required to have a quality education, which will include classes that will help with other things in life, like taxes and cooking. Everyone is granted free healthcare and have the will to do whatever with their bodies. Also everyone has a freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. Descendants from Kari Lau's and Clarissa Levai's bloodline shall rule the society forever. If any rules shall be broken then, the supreme court of Novae Terrae's society shall determine the if they go to the correction facility or be banished. Households may have only two children. Or will have to pay the fine of $300 or send the extra child to the adoption center. On the fifteenth of every month, working citizen's shall be paid. But on the last day of every month, citizens in households are required to pay fines, taxes, etc. Our last ultimate rule, is that nobody is allowed to leave without leader's consent. Now the five accepted rules are people are allowed to express themselves with the exception of trans-ethnicity, to care for one pet, to choose their own occupations, to dress freely as long as it has Novae Terrae society’s logo on it, to join the militia if no other options are available. Standardized testing, discrimination, abusing the environment, human assault weapons (accept for military usage) and Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are all not allowed.

Merchant of Venice Final Draft

Outward appearances are important to many people nowadays in this generation. The rise of plastic surgery, makeup, and clothing styles are at a peek. Making more and more people get sucked in the latest trends and follow them. Making people to be more judgmental on appearances, instead of what's on the inside. "The Merchant of Venice" by Shakespeare, is a play about revenge, love, and greed. It follows Bassanio and Antonio, asking a loan from the main antagonist, Shylock the "evil" Jewish man. Bassanio hoping to win the heart of Portia, a fair lady in waiting who's father has left her with three chest for her suitors to pick from, asks Antonio for a loan, however he must ask Shylock for the loan. Portia, who has no decision to her suitor what so ever, chooses to ignore the fact of outward appearances, but prefers what people are on the inside. In "The Merchant of Venice", written by Shakespeare, the message behind the play is that the inside value counts more than appearances.

The play announces that appearances didn't matter was when the Prince of Morocco decides to come see Portia, right before he vows to his promise to never marry a woman if he doesn't chose the right casket. He asks her not to mind his dark skin, obviously insecure about his appearance, how ever Portia doesn't care. She states, "As far as choice is concerned, I don't go by looks," (Shakespeare, 55). Completely disregarding what the prince had said. Not caring about how he looked like, but how he was valued on the inside. Leaving behind the theme of the play, appearances don't matter. Letting the reader believe that just because of the outward appearances aren't what they seek, it doesn't mean that they should be afraid to show themselves. They are really only valued if they are a good person. When the Prince of Morocco finally does chose his casket of the gold, silver, or lead, When he does choose, he chooses wrong. He states, "Or shall I imagine her entombed in silver, which is ten times less valuable than gold? A sinful thought! No gem so rich was ever set in anything less than gold," (Shakespeare, 93). How he chose is that he thought that the most valuable chest would hold the portrait of Portia, relying on the appearance of gold to lead his thought and choice. Gold may be very valuable, but in the sense of the scenario it wasn't. It was a fool's choice, thinking that just because Portia was of high status, that she was only worthy of gold is very unwise. Obviously, the appearance of gold was not an important aspect in how much value held on the inside. Just because it was gold and the appearance was promising, but often gold is thought with greed. Making the value of was really on the inside not well. But that doesn't mean that the value has to be right all the time, it's just what's in what counts more than appearances. It might look good on the outside, however it might not necessarily be the right choice. In the end, the choosing of the caskets were based on the value of how the thought of appearance, than it was on the actual choice. 

Secondly, when Bassanio finally arrives to chose the chest that will determine his fate, he chooses correctly. Shown in the quote, "Therefore, gaudy gold, food for Midas, I want none of you. Nor of you, silver, stuff of common currency. But you, worthless lead, which threatens rather than promises, your plain speaking appeals more than the eloquence of your rivals" (Shakespeare, 121).Bassiano believed that not just because of the "worthless lead" appearance, didn't mean that the lead wasn't just as worthy as the other choices. It wasn't a competition of value, but a competition of high thinking and to win over Portia. The outward appearance wasn't promising however, since the value of it on the inside was enough to count, even if it wasn't that good.to began with. When finally everything had settled down between the dispute between Antonio and Shylock, Bassanio returns home to Portia, giving away his ring to the lawyer, who was really Portia the whole time. Portia asks for the ring back, She states, "You were to blame - I must be frank with you - in parting so lightly with your wife's first gift. It was put on your finger with vows, and riveted to your flesh with trust," (Shakespeare, 201). She only gave him the ring to see if he was trustworthy to be her husband, not that she had any choice. Portia wanted to make sure that the man she married had a good heart and would never betray her, by parting with something that he had promised to never remove. Her thoughts were more toward the personality than appearances. Only caring about what the value (personality) was on the inside and not really caring what was on the outside.  In the end, outward appearances didn't matter, but the value of what was inside did.

In conclusion, the theme of the play, "Of Merchant of Venice", by Shakespeare, was that, the value inside counts more than the appearance. The play started off by having Portia's suitors line up and chose their caskets, picking the wrong one. They understand that the lead would be incorrect because of the value of appearance.  But it is revealed that just because it's lead, it doesn't matter, because lead can be just as worthy as gold. Portia then checks out Bassanio, to make sure that his heart was trustworthy. To make sure she didn't marry a man without a good personality, someone who wouldn't break a vow to her. Making the theme be; appearances don't matter, but the value of what's inside is what counts. Unlike a lot of people nowadays, where appearances do matter, Shakespeare points out it doesn't. People live in a world where appearances are what matter and what the value is on the inside has less affect on people. 

Draft of Ther Merchant of Venice Essay

Outward appearances are important to many people nowadays in this generation. The rise of plastic surgery, makeup, and clothing styles are at a peek. Making more and more people get sucked in the latest trends and follow them. Making people to be more judgmental on appearances, instead of what's on the inside. "The Merchant of Venice" by Shakespeare, is a play about revenge, love, and greed. It follows Bassanio and Antonio, asking a loan from the main antagonist, Shylock the "evil" Jewish man. Bassanio hoping to win the heart of Portia, a fair lady in waiting who's father has left her with three chest for her suitors to pick from, asks Antonio for a loan, however he must ask Shylock for the loan. Portia, who has no decision to her suitor what so ever, chooses to ignore the fact of outward appearances, but prefers what people are on the inside. In "The Merchant of Venice", written by Shakespeare, the message behind the play is that it doesn't matter what an appearance is, but what the value is on the inside.

The play announces that appearances didn't matter was when the Prince of Morocco decides to come see Portia, right before he vows to his promise to never marry a woman if he doesn't chose the right casket. He asks her not to mind his dark skin, obviously insecure about his appearance, how ever Portia doesn't care. She states, "As far as choice is concerned, I don't go by looks," (Shakespeare, 55). Completely disregarding what the prince had said. Not caring about how he looked like, but how he was valued on the inside. With that impression on himself, Portia herself wasn't a bit too excited to marry a man who wasn't happy with what he had. When the Prince of Morocco finally does chose his casket of the gold, silver, or lead, When he does choose, he chooses wrong. He states, "Or shall I imagine her entombed in silver, which is ten times less valuable than gold? A sinful thought! No gem so rich was ever set in anything less than gold," (Shakespeare, 93). How he chose is that he thought that the most valuable chest would hold the portrait of Portia, relying on the appearance of gold to lead his thought and choice. Gold may be very valuable, but in the sense of the scenario it wasn't. It was a fool's choice, thinking that just because Portia was of high status, that she was only worthy of gold is very unwise. Obviously, the appearance of gold was not an important aspect in how much value she held on the inside. In the end, the choosing of the caskets were based on the value of how the thought of greed, than it was on the actual appearance.

Secondly, when Bassanio finally arrives to chose the chest that will determine his fate, he chooses correctly. Shown in the quote, "Therefore, gaudy gold, food for Midas, I want none of you. Nor of you, silver, stuff of common currency. But you, worthless lead, which threatens rather than promises, your plain speaking appeals more than the eloquence of your rivals" (Shakespeare, 121).Bassiano believed that not just because of the "worthless lead" appearance, didn't mean that the lead wasn't just as worthy as the other choices. It wasn't a competition of value, but a competition of high thinking and to wind over Portia. To make sure that Portia didn't just go to any brute who thinks that appearances of money could win over what the value of love on the inside. When finally everything had settled down between the dispute between Antonio and Shylock, Bassnio returns home to Portia, giving away his ring to the lawyer, who was really Portia the whole time. Portia asks for the ring back, She states, "You were to blame - I must be frank with you - in parting so lightly with your wife's first gift. It was put on your finger with vows, and riveted to your flesh with trust," (Shakespeare, 201). She only gave him the ring to see if he was trustworthy to be her husband, not that she had any choice. Portia wanted to make sure that the man she married had a good heart and would never betray her, by parting with something that he had promised to never remove. In the end, outward appearances didn't matter, but the value of what was inside did.

In conclusion, the theme of the play, "Of Merchant of Venice", by Shakespeare, was that, appearances don't matter but what the value of the inside that counts. The play started off by having Portia's suitors line up and chose their caskets, picking the wrong one. They understand that the lead would be incorrect because of the value of appearance.  But it is revealed that just because it's lead, it doesn't matter, because lead can be just as worthy as gold. Portia then checks out Bassanio, to make sure that his heart was trustworthy. To make sure she didn't marry a man without a good personality, someone who wouldn't break a vow to her. Making the theme be; appearances don't matter, but the value of what's inside is what counts. Unlike a lot of people nowadays, where appearances do matter, Shakespeare points out it doesn't.

Merchant of Venice Act 1

Act 1 Scenes 1-2

1) The setting of theis story is that it's in Venice, Italy. The time is in the medieval/renissance era. There is a lot of people in the story and they seemed to have a class ranking. The wealthiest being on top. The characters seem like very friendly with each other and they seem like everyone in the class knows everyone. 

2) Antonio is a merchant, whose business is not doing well. Causing Bassanio, who wants another loan from him, but not being able to pay for another loan. Antonio is worried about his business failing.

3) Bassanio wants to get a loan from Antonio. He wants to be a suitor to Portia, a lady who is looking for suitor's to marry. 

4) In Portia's wanted to remain neutral in front of tbe suitors but complains heavily to her hand maid. She wants to do something but can't really do anything because of how her father's will is. The suitor out of three chest. 

Act 1 Scene 3

1) She can't get married to one of her suitors because it really out of her hands because of her father's will. It stated that the suitors had to pick out of three chest, one that contained lead, silver, and gold. But because of this there is some sorr of consequence, because of how easy it could be. Her father wanted her to have a good suitor and make sure that she could be okay. 

2) Shylock is a Jewish man who Bassanio is looking for a loan from. Antonio is also helping him out.   Bassaino needs three thousand ducats (gold coins) from him so he could be a good suitor for Portia.  Shylock agress to the tansition for the gold coins. 

3) Shylock and Antonio come to terms with him by agreeing if Antonio does't pay on tbe day that the payment is due, Shylock can cut off any piece of flesh of anywhete on the body of him. 

4) Shylock is hesitant because of the history of the Jewish people and the Christans conflicts. They don't have an exactly helpful situation, because Antonio is mean to the Jewish people and that's why Shylock is hesitant to accept the offer.

5) No I would not trust Antonio, because it seemed like he didn't really have the money to pay back the loan. He said that he had about four ships to other countires that only held lumber, so in technicality be probably didn't really have the money for this type of transaction. 

Reflections:

I think this is so because we give so much trust into our friends, that we expect them to pay us back. But what would happen if they don't pay them back? There might be a big fight. I don't really think it's smart for Antonio and Shylock to do business, because of how their history is. They don't seem like a good business partners because of this. It seems like they would kill each other when they have the chance. 

Merchant of Venice Anticipation Guide

Don't rely on outward appearances when making judgements; I agree with this statement because a lot people nowadays judge people on appearances. A lot of more people are judging races or the color of the skin of someone. But just because they are apart of the race they shouldn't be judged on it. Some personal experience with this is that a lot of people think that I'm British when they first meet me. It's because I'm supposedly really pale, which also makes people think I'm more stuck up, which I hope that I'm not stuck up.

Justice is always blind; I disagree with this saying. Some people are judged way to unfair. Like a lot people make one mistake like stealing a small item and they get severely punished for it. They might be wrong for taking it but it doesn't have to be such a big punishment. A person might even get to walk away freely, even if they do something severe. My personal experience with this, is that my brother called someone a hypocrite. So the person tackled my brother to the ground and my brother got in trouble. Supposedly the person received a worse punishment. 

A brotherly love between two friends can be just as strong as an intimate love between a man and a woman. For this saying I do agree with it. Friends are more comfortable around each other and they basically know everything about each other. Friendship also lasts longer than relationships. Friends can be themselves when they're around each other. For my personal experience, since I do move around a lot, I have lots of friends across America. I've managed to keep up a lot of my friendships with most of them, so that proves that friendships are forever and can last longer than a relationship.

You can break a promise as long as you have a good excuse. I personally disagree with this statement. Once you've made a promise you shouldn't take back your word. The person who promised with will be disappointed and probably won't trust you again. Trust is really hard to get back if you lose it in the first place. My personal experience is that I broke one of my friends promises and they started ignoring me for a while, until I apologized and tried to receive their trust again. 

Love is blind; I agree with the statement. A lot of people have unrequited love and the other person doesn't even see that the person loves them. People can't really see love, even if it's right in their faces. Also middle schoolers are getting into relationships, but it's just so they can have a social standing and not to benefit their relationship. I don't really have any personal experiences with love, but my mom on their first date with my dad walked out on him because he was from New Jersey. She never thought she was going to marry him.

Stereotypes are often right. This is statement is false. Stereotypes are often thought of true but that's just a judgement because of some people have the traits. Stereotypes are often perceived by society of how a person of that persona should act, which in most cases people don't. It's more like judgement from far away. In my personal experience, a lot of people I know are perceived as something, but they don't follow any type of stereotype. They are their own person.

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is a good motto to live by, is not a good motto to live by. This is basically saying something along the lines of I'll do something for you but it's going to cost you. Which the person who says this can be thinking of something rash for repayment. Which isn't really a good motto to live by if this, Through personal experience it's not good to bargain something if you don't know what the price is for it, because it could be something rash.

Of Mice and Men assignment

Question Number One Response:


In the story of “Of Mice and Men,” by John Steinbeck, the story takes place the era of The Great Depression. As stated in the book, “No mess at all, and when he end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want,” (Steinbeck, 12). People can tell that this is in the Great Depression because working for a month will get you more than fifty dollars. The character, George, was saying this as like it was a lot of money also. In this book, mental retardation plays a major role. The other main character, Lennie, has symptoms of a mental disability, making it hard for him to do what generally people did at this time. “George broke in loudly. ‘Oh! I ain’t saying he’s bright. He ain’t. But I say he's a God damn good worker. He can put up four a hundred pound bale,’” (Steinbeck, 22). George is obviously developed because of his friend’s disability. Making it harder for be both of them to get jobs. Because of Lennie’s disability he doesn’t really know what is wrong and right. In a sense, he just does what he’s told and will do it anyway he can. Which is another big factor, of how the mental disability is progressed in the story. In conclusion, there are big roles that take effect through the story and develop characters throughout “Of Mice and Men,” by John Steinbeck.




Question Number Two Response:

In the story, “Of Mice and Men,” by John Steinbeck, the main antagonist, Curly, is a very developed character. As shown in the quote, “The swamper considered … ‘Well… Tell you what. Curley’s like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He’s alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he’s mad at ‘em because he ain’t a big guy,’” (Steinbeck, 26). Curley is supposedly a short guy with an attitude, but in reality, Curley is a guy with self conscious issues. He wants to tell everyone that he is better than him, just because he’s small, doesn’t mean he can’t get it done. Curley doesn’t anyone to have higher power than him, he doesn’t want to look weak, just because he’s short. “‘The swamper warmed up to his gossip. ‘You seen that glove on his left hand?’ ‘Yeah. I seen it.’ ‘Well, that glove’s fulla vaseline.’ ‘Vaseline? What the hell for?’ ‘Well, I tell ya what - Curley says he’s keeping that hand soft for his wife.’” With that glove full of vaseline, Curley is telling everyone that he is better than anyone, making him full of himself. That he’s cocky. He wants to show everyone that he has a wife and that they don’t. In those days, it was hard for men who worked in one place to another, to get wives. But the glove of vaseline, also says that no one should mess with his wife. In the end, Curley is a well developed character with different kind of traits that define him.


In addition to Curley has more features that make him a unique character. “‘Thinks Slim's with his wife, don’t he?’ said George,” (Steinbeck, 54). Curley doesn’t really trust anyone. He doesn’t trust anyone well and will accuse anyone who is not there at the right time. Like when his wife was missing, he taught Silm went to go sleep with her. But in reality, he was to quick to judge and didn’t trust that Slim was doing nothing to his wife. “Curley was balanced and poised. He slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right,” (Steinbeck, 63). Curley is very persistent and won’t take no as an answer, which usually turns into violence. He’s obviously quick to judge and will take no disrespect, making him to attack Lennie, because he was smiling. He hates it when people make fun of him because he’s really insecure and rather have everyone be afraid of him, because he feels like it’s the only way to have people respect him, because he’s short. In conclusion, Curley in the book, “Of Mice and Men,” by John Steinbeck is a very developed antagonist.