Of Mice and Men movie poster - Madison, Tyler, Nainoa & Elizabeth

Mental Retardation

Madison & Elizabeth

Mental Retardation

        Mental retardation is an intellectual disability for everyday living. According to Psychology Today, “Mental retardation (MR) is a condition diagnosed before age 18, usually in infancy or prior to birth, that includes below-average general intellectual function, and a lack of the skills necessary for daily living.” Having mental retardation causes the person to think and react slower. With this disability it makes it hard to function without help. According to WebMD “Intellectual disability is thought to affect about 1% of the population. Of those affected, 85% have mild intellectual disability.” This shows that only a small part of the population has a chance in getting this disability. Although most of us have a chance in getting a mild intellectual disability that still creates problems in our everyday life. Mental retardation creates problem for anyone who has this disability.

             Mental retardation is usually when a person have late reactions to most things.  According to WebMD, “ one of the most common signs of intellectual disability are rolling over, sitting up, crawling, or walking late, talking late or having trouble with talking, slow to master things like potty training, dressing, and feeding himself or herself, and difficulty remembering things.” Having this disability makes it hard for someone to take of their selves on their own. Most people with this disability needs a person their whole life to watch them. According to Psychology Today, “decreased learning ability, inability to meet educational demands of school.” This is a struggle for the person diagnosed with this inability and it demands for them to think more and try harder in their studies, even when it’s already hard for them. People with mental retardation get extra help and guidance but luckily, some of them can be independent with a little attention called for.

         

Of Mice and Men - Madison and Elizabeth

“ ‘Awright,’ she said contemptuously.” (Page 78)

Contemptuously - expressing extreme hatred or disapproval; contempt

The girl contemptuously gave her parents attitude because they wouldn't let her go to a unsupervised high school party.

"... "Curley gon'ta want get 'im lynched. Curley'll get 'im killed."" (Page 94)

Lynched - an illegal fatal consequence of a crime

The man was lynched after murdering someone in a dark alley. 

Mystery Graphic Card

Poem Representation

The Mystery We All Face Final

A cover
A hard plain cover
With a broad title
Nothing really special
Or interesting

Kind of like me
I come off as tough and boring
And in a high school like ours,
You can consider me unimportant
At least that's what most people may see me as

An undefined mystery
With unknown answers
Unexplained events
Twists and turns
Ups and Downs,
Leading to new places
New stories
And new chapters

Different things occurred
Some that I don't understand
Some that I'm still searching answers for
But like anything else in life,
You have to go through the worst
To get the best

As the chapters change
So do the characters
A best friend
Or perphaps a distant friend
The changes teach new lessons
and morals
To help with today's worry
Or
Tomorrows journey

Losing my best friend
More like sister and other half
Was like starting a whole new chapter alone
But as I met new people
I realized
There's a season and time
For everything
And everyone in your life

Those who comes in and out of your life teach you some kind of lesson
And whether you intend for them to stay
Or not,
It's never your choice

No one seems to understand
And all the opinions and predictions
Only lead
To more contradictions

As you flip through each page
You admire every word
And slightest detail
The not-so-special,
uninteresting
and non-amusing cover that was seen before
Is in the most surprising way;
Different and unique

It's tough always trying to build walls
And boundaries between you
And everyone you meet
Only because vulnerability seems to be
My middle name

For those who are able to break down
My walls
Are the very few who realize
That I'm easy to break
Hard to figure out
And full of secrets,
Which lead to who I really am

Though you think the stories over
Though you feel
Like you got it all figured out;
Got me figured out,
You realize that
There's more than just the little things
Everyone sees from the outside

You can't fathom all that has happened
Its a mystery
I'm a mystery

And the mystery continues

Coney Island (individual essay)

“A Coney Island Life” by James L. Weil is a representation of how life goes on from beginning to end. With context clues and figurative language, it helps us find the meaning of the poem. Weil had many life lessons that were hidden inside of the poem and it was our job to figure out. This poem was really unique and different because he used the carnival in Coney Island; a happy place, to talk about something fragile that everyone knows as death.

Many of the lines of the poem have a hidden meaning that guides us to the actual big idea of the poem. The line, “on roller coaster ups and downs” is compared to roller coasters and how on a ride, you go up and down. From the highest point to the lowest; the good and bad in life. That metaphor is also comparing the physical feelings you get in a roller coaster to the emotional feelings you get from life in general. The other line that stood out in the poem was, “now arms filled with dolls, I threw so much for” This part is talking about the achievements that he had accomplished in his life and all that he did to get to that point. It also seems like he's talking about the sacrifices he made to be where he is and all he's earned as a person. These metaphors interpret an idea of how life, and how we face mountains but through those struggles we gain so much more than we ever think we will. In the end, we are successful because do so much to pull through it all.

In the second half of the poem, it talks and speaks more of the ending in life. For example, the line, “I take perhaps my last ride on this planet-carousel” means that the author was coming towards the ending of his life and perhaps his last days. Because our group had come to the conclusion that this poem was about life from beginning to end, when they said ‘last ride’, there was such a great emotional effect. The final lines of the poem were, “How many more times round I have to catch that brass-ring-sun before the game is up.” To us, this was the most emotional part of the poem that really hit us in the gut. The author really emphasized the fact that life was coming to an end. The brass ring was a really big prize that riders would strive to pick up as the carousel went around in circles and passed it each and every time. When the author said ‘before the game is up’, it was more clear and obvious that the author was talking about death. It made it clear and distinctive to us readers who interpreted the poem. With dreams, hopes and goals, he tries to accomplish and achieve the very last moments he has left of the precious thing we know as life.

This poem was roughly about the different stages in life. Although it wasn't detailed or in depth, it was very broad. It was was also about the good and bad in life and how we always strive to become something better or make something better of ourselves.