Hello again and Welcome to another week of Sierra's Weekly Sayings! This week, we recently finished our latest novel The Taming Of The Shrew by William Shakespeare. So for this blog, I will imagine what it would be like if I was the marriage counselor for our two main headstrong characters Petruchio and Katherina. Here is what happened........

I walked into the room where the counseling was being held and I already heard shouting. I was already wanting to leave. I honestly hate my job but it pays well so I deal with it. I come into the room to see a man laying face down on the floor, with a woman sitting on top of him holding his arms and legs down. They were both screaming at each other but I could hardly make out any of it. I sat down and started to read my book until they decided to calm down. I sat there, for two hours, not kidding. Good news is I finished my book, of course it was the the poodle groomer who killed them in the end! Ok I am getting side tracked, anyways when they both finally sat down, I looked at them and asked them to describe how they felt at the moment. They both responded with evil glares to one another and silence. I knew nothing I had to think of was going to work, so I picked up a new book and started to read it until they wanted to speak. After another hour, Petruchio finally asked if I was gonna do anything to help them. I told them that if they wanted my help then they would have to stay seated and not speak to one another unless I gave them permission to. They both rolled their eyes at me. I first asked Petruchio how he felt about their problems and relationship. He said that nothing was wrong between them and that she just needed to be kinder and not speak out so much. When I asked her the same she just sat there and said that she wished that he cared about her more and that if he loved her he would show it. Instead she claims he is rude and unkind towards her. I thought long and hard about what they both told me. Clearly they were both the issue in this relationship. I suggested that as a short term goal they should temporarily spend an hour each day and sit down together and talk about how they felt that day. This would help them come together more and learn to sit down and listen. The long term goal I gave them was for them to learn to respect one another and to calmly speak to each other. This will create a better aura around their relationship. Overall the meeting ended well and we are planning another meeting for next month to check on their progress.

To end this weeks blog, a quote for the Shakespeare lovers,

"And kiss me, Kate; we will be married a Sunday!"

—Petruchio, The Taming of the Shrew

Thank you for reading this weeks addition of Sierra's Weekly Sayings!

Hi to whomever is reading and welcome back to another week of Sierra's Weekly Sayings! This week I will be discussing the topic of women keeping their last names. I have heard a lot of debating about whether or not a women should keep her last name from birth. For me personally I do not think it is that important for a women to keep her last name. I think it just depends on the type of person they are. I don't believe women should be forced to keep their last name or be forced to take their husbands name. They should just be given a choice as to if they want to keep their last name or not. Not to sound silly but maybe the wife just likes her last name more than her husbands, or her husbands more than hers. Again it is just the type of person she is. To me it should not really matter at all. It is not a big issue and people should not use time and energy debating about it. If she wants her husbands name she will take it, if she doesn't she won't. It is as simple as that. When I get married I am planning on keeping my last name purely because I love my last and I wouldn't want any other one. I think it is ok for a women to keep her last name and people should respect that.

To end this weeks blog, a quote I just found actually,
"Well the time and day has changed, where the women where the pants without changing the last name."
- Rihanna
Thank you for reading and I hope you read again next time on Sierra's Weekly Sayings!

Hello everybody! I have been gone for such a long time but it is finally time to resume Sierra's Weekly Sayings! This week the term Feminism has been brought to our attention. I have never been sure if I consider myself a feminist. To me I feel like women do not need a term in order for us to show our equality. We should just be equal and that is that. We do not need a term in my opinion. I do not think feminist is a dirty word though. People should be allowed to use feminism as much as they want and no one should ever judge them for it. I think that people who consider themselves as a feminist are brave. They are standing up for what they believe in and that is great. I have recently read a lot of articles about feminism. Unless someone considers them self a feminist, most people seem to not like the term very much at all. I think it is crazy that people think feminism leads women to leaving their husband, killing their children, and becoming killers of capitalism. It makes me really mad that people assume those things. Even though I do not entirely consider myself a feminist, it infuriates me that people are allowed to say this. It is wrong. People do not want to see a change in the world for women and that is sad. We should all be treated equal no matter our gender, race, or who we love. We are all equal.


To end this weeks blog, I found this quote a while ago and thought it was incredibly interesting.
" When men are oppressed, it's a tragedy. When women are oppressed, it's a tradition. " - Letty Pogrebin
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you next week on Sierra's Weekly Sayings!

Hi everybody! Sorry I have been gone for so long. Anyways welcome back to another week of Sierra's Weekly Sayings! This week we have started a new book in my class. It is called The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Adichie. This is a collection of short stories told from her own point of view. The first short story I have read is called " The Headstrong Historian." This is the story of a woman in the late 19th century located in Nigeria where Europeans are colonizing their land. Her name is Ayaju and she is a very powerful and brave woman who is willing to do anything for what is right. At one point she decides that she wants to send her only son to school to learn English. She says she wants her son to "learn the ways of these foreigners, since people ruled over others not because they were better people but because they had better guns...." I believe that she thinks this because in a way it is true. People do not rule over others cause they are better or stronger, they rule because of man made weapons and fighting. I agree with her very much. If we look back into history, this can be seen everywhere. So far this year I have learned a lot about power and privilege. I learned that people don't have power and privilege because of what they have physically, they have power and privilege mentally because they are smarter and stronger and brave. Only these people have the power to be privileged. I have also learned a lot about story telling. I learned that the greatest story tellers are the ones who feel the story within them and tell the story as if it were their own lives. Overall this first short story has been a great start to this new collection I have begun.

To end this post, a new quote I found,

" Words can inspire. and words can destroy. Choose yours well." -Robin Sharma

Thank you for reading this weeks edition of Sierra's Weekly Sayings! Hope to see you back next week!

Hello world and welcome back to another week of Sierra's Weekly Sayings! For the past couple of weeks in my English class, we have been reading the novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. This book is by far one of my favorites that I have ever read in any of my English classes. I have learned so much from this novel, such as what it is like to grow up during Mao's Cultural Revolution. The author has given me such a vivid idea of re-education that it is almost like I have lived through it. The two main characters of the book, known as the unnamed narrator and his friend Luo, have been living through it for months. Just reading about their day to day adventures and experiences gives me such a large idea of what re-education is like. I think that learning about a historical time in a fictional novel is more intimate than reading it straight from facts because when there are characters and someone for you to relate to and be apart of is something that draws people into the novel and becomes more intrigued by it. It also lets people experience this time as if they were in the book themselves, which is something really special. I overall love this book so very much and I will be sad when it comes to an end.

To end this post, one of my favorite quotes from the book itself,
" P.S. I just remembered something funny I wanted to tell you: since your visit I've come across several people whose second toes are longer than their big toes, just like ours. I'm disappointed, but that's life."
- Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress 
Thank you for reading and I hope to see you next time!

Hello everybody and welcome back to another week of Sierra's Weekly Sayings! This past week was the last week of my first quarter into my sophomore year, to say the least I was surprised at how fast this year is already going by. English is of course my favorite class as it has always been and it will probably always be. I believe that so far into the year I am doing very good in my class thus far. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. It was just something that I was good at I guess. I have noticed that I am very good at adding notes here and there in the conversations that can add a new idea to what we were discussing. I feel like I participate a lot but I definitely could participate more than I do now. I could benefit from myself by practicing my vocab much more than I do. I do really good on the quizzes the week with the new words but I struggle a little with remembering the old ones. Overall I feel that this first quarter of the year has been very successful and I am excited to continue the year with this good feeling! I also cannot wait to get to know my classmates more and learn new things everyday that will help me better understand literature!

My quote of the week is in the image above! 

"Be true to your work, your word, and your friend" -Henry David Thoreau 

Thank you for reading this weeks addition of Sierra's Weekly Sayings! Hope you will read again next week!

Hello world and welcome back to another week of, you guessed it, Sierra's Weekly Sayings! So this week an event has been brought to my attention, National Banned Book Week. In all honesty I had no idea this week even existed. I knew that some books were banned in the past but I never knew that it had a whole week dedicated to them. I took a look at the most recently challenged book list of 2015, and I am a little surprised about the novels that have been listed there. Out of all  the books on the list I have read three of them. Perks of Being a Wallflower, House on Mango Street, and The Complete Persepolis. I kinda agree with these three books being on the list. I have only read each of these books only once but the first time I did, I will admit it was a bit confusing, especially The Complete Persepolis. All three of these books each had different themes to them but they were all complex in their own ways. They all had a lot of ideas that might be difficult for people to understand because no one can fully understand what message the Author is trying to get across. I believe others might view these books as dangerous because it is showing people that it is ok to be different and that we are not all the same. Everyone is unique and in some cultures being different or standing out is considered dangerous. I am willing to risk everything in order to be able to read a book deemed illegal by my community. I would only stop if it ever put anyone I care about in harms way. I think the main reason I would still read it would be that I do not care what other people think and I would do it to be different. I love being unique and I would not trade who I am for the world.

Never forget to be unique and that it is ok to break the rules every once in a while, but for good reasons only. To end this post, a quote that I think is perfect for this weekly blog.
"A reader lives a thousand lives before they die, the ones who never read, live only one" -George RR Martin
Thanks for reading this weeks addition of Sierra's Weekly Sayings! Hope you read again next week!