Sunday 21 January 2018

Options! (Reviewed)

I may have changed my mind... As you probably already know I was going to pick Drama, History Andy French for my GCSEs, however I have changed my mind about 2/3 of those. So without further ado let’s get right into it.
Drama. Well I’m just gonna’ be straight about it, I spoke to some students about the course and I decided that it didn’t really tickle my fancy too much. As much as I like Drama I wasn’t too keen on the way it was assessed either; they take you out to see a play [The Caucasian Chalk Circle] and you must write an essay on it and then do a test on it. Now the interesting part, what I’ve swapped it for. It may appeal to you to know that I decided to pick Textiles instead of Drama, mostly because I perform better in Textiles, it’s 60% corsework and 40% examination. The way the exam works is you take your coursework in with you to your [TEN HOUR!!!] practical exam where you will create an item of clothing or an accessory based of of the theme that the exam board has set; which, overall, is far more my liking and seems to be at a much better pace.

Now, History. What can I say, it seemed like a good idea but the students put me off. It is 100% exam and fact that you must remember and I just don’t like that. I have chosen to replace it with art which is exactly the same as textiles but instead of creating an item of clothing or an accessory that the exam board has set a theme around you are creating a piece of artwork (usually drawn), yet again, based around the theme the exam board has set. Now I hear you saying “Grace! But do you really want TWO ten hour exams!” And to be completely  honest, yes.
That’s about it for now but there will be another post coming in a couple of days, so check back in soon!

Sunday 14 January 2018

GCSE Options!

Hello everybody! This week I’m going to be picking my options for my GCSEs (eek!) so I thought I could tell you what I’m thinking of choosing!
Well for starters at my school we have to take either History, French or Geography as one of my options and then we have two other options to pick. So for starters I think I’ll be (hopefully) taking History as not only do I enjoy it, but my grades in it are relatively high; not only this but the teachers like me as a student and enjoy teaching me (probably) so there should be no reason as to why I couldn’t actually take History as an option. Secondly I would like to talk about the other options a can take and then move onto what else I will be choosing; so essentially I could still pick the other two humanity options (French or Geography) any of the Home Economic subjects (Fashion and Textiles, Food and Nutrition, Design Technology or Art and Design) any of the BTEC subjects (Media, Buisiness Studies, I.T., Sport, Future Pathways or Dance) and any of the Performing Arts (Dance, Drama or Music) and without a doubt I have forgotten tons of subjects. So my second option that I was thinking of studying was French as I take quite a large interest in the language and the culture, I’m rather good at it, the teachers seem to like me and it helps with getting into universities. For my third and final option I would really enjoy taking Drama as I love to perform but unless I’m taking on a role and playing a character I freeze up and can’t perform, so Drama really helps me to come out of my shell and express myself in the art of acting. Not only this but my school is a performing arts college (soon to be academy) so we are decked out with the finest and top or the range equipment for us to use, which would make studying Drama even more fun as well as the fact that it’s 60% practical and 40% theory and I exceed in practicals and also it would be a nice enjoyable break after all of my other entirely academic subjects which are mandatory. So other than my options I have to take Chemistry, Physics and Biology which do involve some practical but not a tonne, I also have to take English Language, English Literature and Mathematics which have no practical whatsoever. French has some practical in terms of speaking and History has none so Drama would add a relaxing element to my week.
Thanks for reading and I hope you come back next week for more!

Sunday 7 January 2018

Review: Everything, Everything.

I recently read "Everything, Everything." which is a book that I received as a Christmas present and I enjoyed it so much that I read it in only two days! It was an extremely emotional book and almost brought me to tears (I will admit, my eyes watered more and more the further that I got into the book). I was immensely pleased with the excellent standard to which this book was written and I definitely will be reading this again. I am rather late to the hype train of this book as it was released in the September of 2015. To give a brief about the novel: Madeline is an eighteen year old girl who is housebound due to her illness, Olly is the boy next door. Their love is forbidden, but that doesn't prevent it; a Romeo and Juliet type tale at it's finest. If I hadn't read the (short) Author Biography conveniently placed at the back I wouldn't have ever been able to guess that this was her debut, she [Nicola Yoon] clearly has an amazing talent and is thoroughly experienced, I will be sure to read "The Sun Is Also A Star" her second novel.

SPOILERS DOWN BELOW
I was so glad to find out that this wasn't just another sick teen novel and that, even though the ending is sort of happy, it isn't the ideal ending that everyone would've expected. So the basic run down is that Maddy is "ill" (she supposedly has SCID) and because of her "illness" she hasn't left the house since she was a mere four/five months old. she has been trapped inside her seemingly paradise-ish home which is basically all white. Her bedroom is all white except for a bookshelf adorned with many varieties of different coloured books. I was appreciative of Yoon's choice of character due to her ethnicity (half Japanese half African American) which allows a great deal of diversity into the cast of the film and I was also appreciative of her choice in making her interested in great literature which gave her [Yoon] several opportunities to add Easter eggs into the book, which she took upon herself to do and she did not disappoint! There are many different kinds of Easter eggs hidden in the book including "Spoiler Reviews By Madeline" and "Madeline's Dictionary" beautifully paired alongside dainty and simplistic illustrations by David Yoon which don't take anything away from the grace of the writing but naturally complement it and they can both be enjoyed at the same time. As soon as I finished to book I watched the trailer for the film but I'm not exactly sure how much i am going to like it, obviously I will enjoy it as I loved the story but I guess it isn't quite matching what I had pictured in my head.

I tried not to spoil the ending too much for anyone who did in fact want to read the book,if they haven't already. I will also be doing more book reviews and i am very excited as soon I will be doing a "Book Versus Film" post so stick around!

Sunday 31 December 2017

Welcome!

Welcome To My Blog!
I hope you decide to stick around as I, (Grace), solemnly swear to post every Sunday as long as you, (Y/N), promise to give constructive criticism and help me become a better blogger.
I don't know exactly what I'm going to write about, however I have several ideas about what I could potentially write about; for example, book reviews and how books compare to their movie counter parts, makeup posts (probably what drugstore makeup is worth buying and what not), what music I've been enjoying and what t.v series I'm watching etc.
Next week I will be publishing a book review, so stick around!