Assignment # 17: Lone Ranger and Tonto

The film Smoke Signals depicts the story of two young Native American boys, Victor Joseph and Thomas, and their journey that led them to wisdom. In 1976, Thomas’s parents died in a fire and Arnold Joseph the father of Victor saved Thomas. Victor Joseph’s dad then walked out on his family a couple years later. Now both young men are being raised on their reservation with no father figures in their lives. Thomas and Victor aren’t the best of friends, and they both have very different views about Arnold Joseph. Victor remembers the man who was an alcoholic, the man who was abusive at times, and the man who just got up and left his family one day. Thomas remembers Arnold Joseph as a great man who saved him from the fire as well as a heroic man and exaggerates his past. Victor gets word his father, who he hasn’t seen in ten years, has passed away. Victor not having enough money to travel to Arizona to get his father’s remains is approached by Thomas to pay for the trip only if Victor would bring him along. Their journey then begins. These two boys are very different, Victor the strong and manly type and Thomas the timid and nerdy type but this adventure brings them together more than ever.

In this film there are more than plenty hidden teachings in everything the characters do and in everything they say. A quote that really caught my attention is one from the end of the movie. “How do we forgive our fathers? Maybe in a dream. Do we forgive our fathers for leaving us too often, or forever, when we were little? Maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage, or making us nervous because there never seemed to be any rage there at all? Do we forgive our fathers for marrying, or not marrying, our mothers? Or divorcing, or not divorcing, our mothers? And shall we forgive them for their excesses of warmth or coldness? Shall we forgive them for pushing, or leaning? For shutting doors or speaking through walls? For never speaking, or never being silent? Do we forgive our fathers in our age, or in theirs? Or in their deaths, saying it to them or not saying it. If we forgive our fathers, what is left?” Thomas is saying this quote while white water rafts are raging down a river on the screen. What I believe the significance of Thomas saying this as the river rages is as he states all these things to forgive, and if the answer to the question is yes, to forgive, then it is just like the grudge that you once held washes away with the water of the river. The ending of Smoke Signals contains one of the most poetic and insightful statements about the nature of forgiveness ever put on film. This film also shows how even anger, alcoholism, and hurt cannot defeat love. Smoke Signals forced me to reach deep down into my psyches to explore my own personal experiences of forgiveness. It allowed me to see the two aspects that come along with forgiving someone, which are giving and receiving. After watching this movie allowed me to somewhat see the mistakes I was making in holding some grudges against some important people in my own life. When Thomas states, “If we forgive our fathers, what is left?” it immediately meant to me that if we forgive the people that seem to have hurt us before, only forces us to face the pain and reality of all the actions that took place between you and that person, and as human beings we have a hard time facing things that are hard to understand and that actually cause us to use what we feel in our hearts. It showed me what is left after facing the fear of forgiving, and well, to me I believe only the beginning is left. What I mean by this is if you go around holding up all these grudges on people and on things about something that happened in the past, that you cannot change, then all you are doing is just staying in your same old routine and you are doing it all by yourself. If you stop trying to change what has already happened, try to better what is yet to come, and forgive, then that will only open up so many more opportunities for you to learn what life is really about.

This movie allowed me to look within myself and see that I too was shielding myself from what I was not strong enough to face and forget about. I was not only forcing a great deal of unneeded burdens on myself but I was also causing the people around me to feel the tension of my grudges causing them to have one more thing to live with, in a world full of obstacles already. I even held some anger towards things that people did not have the power to prevent. After watching the film Smoke Signals I allowed myself to forgive my dad for having a disease. I forgave my mom for being strong enough to tell it how it is. I forgave my sister for never being there. I forgave my god for giving me the life he did and for all the struggles he has presented me with. I forgave my parents for forcing me to give up the things kids should do, to do the work of an adult around the house. I forgave my boyfriend for not understanding. I forgave the people in my life that just used me to get something for themselves. I forgave the people in the world for destroying themselves. Though, the one thing I could not forgive is me not doing whatever it takes to better the world and to better the lives of the people I encounter every day. For me being so selfish that I did not notice the pain everyone else is in. After seeing this movie the big things in life that seemed so important suddenly mean nothing compared to all the small irreplaceable things in life, and to hold a grudge because of something that I cannot change seems as one of the most selfish acts that I could ever choose to make. After seeing this movie I have a slightly better understanding on what exactly I should be focusing most of my energy on in life.

Assignment # 16: The Journey

It is 8am and the sun is shining through the windows just enough to turn the whole inside of the house gold. I love this time of the morning it is still chilly though the warmth of the sun makes it feel extremely comforting. I guess I should get up and find something to do, but it just feels so nice right now lying down. Ever since I have moved into this cabin it gets harder and harder to get up and leave every morning. It is the most beautiful cabin of all the cabins in the world, well to me it is. It is made of brownish grey bricks with huge viewing windows. As I get up from my bed I go down a wide hall. The hall isn’t long and spooky though. It has pictures of my family and my friends everywhere. As I pass two other rooms and a bathroom I get to the stair case. Beyond the stair case there is more pictures down a hall that leads to three more rooms. The stair case is made of a thick, deep cherry oak wood, hand carved with floral and swirl designs all along it. It is a double sided stair case and both sides are wide. In between the two stair-wells is a water fountain which has dim lighting behind it and under the water. Hanging above the water fountain is a chandelier. As I come down the staircase immediately to my right is a den and to my left is a magnificent kitchen, and in front of me is huge cherry oak double doors that almost reach the ceiling. On either side of the doors are two huge stained windows. It also has a stained window just above the doors. The den has a surround sound system with a mounted projector and a screen that comes down when you want to watch something. It has a built in book shelf filled with books and knick-knacks and pictures of even more memories. There is a mini bar across from the book shelf with a sink and a counter with some stools. All of the couches face the book shelf and they are also hand carved cherry oak frames with cream colored cushions. To the right of the couches are some French doors that lead to the back yard. As I come out of the den there is a formal living room again to my right which is filled with furniture that you could imagine would be in a queen’s house though they are also cherry oak. Across from the living room is dining room that has wide, long windows with cream colored curtains. The table can sit about ten people comfortably and has carvings down the legs, it is nicely polished and also a cherry oak color with 24k gold trimming all the way around it. The chairs match the table and the cushions are the color of the curtains. The two head chairs have arm rests with 24k gold trimmings down the arm rests, side of the chair and around the bottom of the legs. From the dining room there is an opening that has a counter between the kitchen and the dining room; this also has stools to sit on. There is also an open doorway between the kitchen and the dining room so that you can get between the two easily. As I go into the kitchen the counter tops are marble. There are two sky lights so it is always beautifully lit. It has an island right in the center of it that has shelves and cabinets under it. There is a wide window where the sink is centered between. Cabinets line the walls, framed with cherry oak around frosted glass. There are lights under the cabinets that lightly shine on the counter tops as the even comes. The refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, and sink are all stainless steel. There are also some French doors in the kitchen leading to the back yard.

The backdoors open up to a porch with built in speakers and tall hand carved cherry oak pillars. There are couches surrounding a fire pit and another water fountain under the porch. The view from the porch is amazing. The porch is opened to a wide, long field. I guess you could call the field a naturally made garden. It goes on for miles. It is like a god given path way as I walk down it there are so many different types of flowers. There is so many that if you tried to count them all you would get lost as if you were counting stars. Though the garden looks perfect, you can tell that it is the type of perfection that Mother Nature herself could only create. There are secret paths that will lead you back and forth from one part of the garden to another. There are some that even lead to natural streams and little water falls. This garden is something that most people would only believe if they got to see it with their own eyes. It is so peaceful. There are birds and insects everything that comes with the nature of the outdoors. Though the animals that people often are afraid to encounter also can be seen here, they aren’t as scary as people would hold them to be. If you leave them alone and let them be then they will also leave you alone and let you be, and by doing so you allow yourself to see the true beauty and the secrets of life, nature, and what is pure, that more often than not are just under your nose. This garden is said to be magical. If you stand on the porch and think about what is the most important thing to you, then step out into the garden it will show you everything that makes you the happiest. Though if you can only think about the material and manmade things all the garden will show you is what is right in front of you. It will not show you any of its secrets. As you go through the path it doesn’t end, but meets a base of a mountain.

The mountain is just as beautiful as the path that I walk to get to it. Though there are enormous trees and when you step in it seems as just a forest all by itself. The moment you step up onto the mountain it is as if you lose yourself, but not as if you go crazy, more like it’s so wonderful that you just feel as if you are in an out of body experience that is extremely sensational. I can smell the sweet scent of the rain as I get closer and closer to the top of the mountain. The trails are all kinds of different shades of green. It seems surreal, as if only something you would see in a movie. There are sounds of raindrops lightly falling and of a slow steady stream. There are birds chirping and sounds of running in the distance. With all of these things going on it is still very calming. I guess I could say that for me it is a place of tranquility. I often take walks up the mountain to just get away from everything irrelevant in my life that always seems to be distracting. Just the walk from the porch to the garden and from the garden up the mountain can help take my stress away but at the top of the mountain is what really helps me understand the reason for everything and allows me not to get irritated with the annoying things of life. At the top of the mountain there is a cleared area. It has benches and a swing even a gazebo. It is the perfect place to just come and sit to forget about all your responsibilities. It looks out over the land and just shows everything as if it is a puzzle that fits perfectly together. There is no other place I could imagine that allows me to see all of the beauty and the flawless nature of the earth. To me this is a place that everything is exactly how it is supposed to be, not alterations, no man made nonsense, nothing but the purest beauty of all.

Oh Wow.

I see my streets full of hustlers selling dope, though I also see the rich ones and the “I’m too good” kind of folks, and it seems to me that the only difference between them is that you can expect to be lied to and deceived by the hustlers. None of these people care who they step on or who they hurt just to get one step closer to the top of the ladder of success. Cold blooded will it ever be, they show no love, not even for their families. They don’t care; working together is not a priority for them helping out one another does not even cross their mind. What they want is just to get to the top, because it is assumed that the top is the best. Though what they don’t seem to see that getting to the top does not involve beating down and stepping on anyone. Once that person finally reaches the top there is only one more place to go which is down, and usually the only reason someone stays successful is because of the support of the people that helped them get there. Though if you knock out all of the people that would stay and support you as you attempted to reach success you won’t have nobody’s support and it is only a harder fall when you fall from the top. I believe that now we need to stop the greed and recollect our thoughts because we’re living in the last stage. Living the way we do is only leading us to doom and violently separating each other will bring it upon us faster. Sometimes I wonder if we are all blind because all of the blood that we seem to be spilling is our own kind. Sure reaching the very top of success is great, if it is possible to even reach it, but what is the price you have to pay to get there and what is the price you are willing to pay?

Assignment # 14: Persuasive Essay: Uniforms

In high school everyone wants to look alike and wear exactly the same thing as each other right? Of course not, in high school is where the kids start to get a sense of their own style, where they start to express and define exactly who they are or who they want to be. No one wants to come to high school looking the same, which is exactly why they choose to wear the clothes they do, because for them looking the same was something they did while they were younger. High school is the time that the kids typically start to distinguish themselves from one another. It’s where they not only try to fit in but they try to standout at the same time and frankly to them, uniforms just aren’t cool. Being self-conscious and often lacking the confidence needed to assert themselves, teens are forced to use clothing and outward appearance as the means to evident this individuality. Therefore, students should not be forced to wear uniforms to school, especially high school. Standard uniforms are unproven deterrents to student violence, they are a band-aid to cover up the real problems faced by children and teens, and they violate students' right of self-expression, depriving them of their search for identity.

There is something comforting about school children and teenagers dressed in pleats and plaid. Maybe it is a reminder of past times, or conjures up thoughts of order and safety. Whatever the reason, school uniforms are getting a lot of wear these days, yet remain an unproven deterrent to school violence. Many educators and sociology experts believe that requiring children to wear standardized uniforms stifles their self-expression. Self-expression is an important part of child development and some experts believe that curbing it with uniforms can be detrimental to a child. Experts also believe that students who are forced to wear uniforms will only find other, less appropriate ways to express themselves, possibly through inappropriate use of makeup and jewelry.

Some experts believe that public education attempts to strip children of their individuality. They believe that public education does not meet the needs of children who do not fall in the norm, and that uniforms attempt to force every student into one mold. They see standard dress as another way for public educators to remove student individuality where they should be embracing and celebrating diversity. Some experts believe it is not in the best interest of the child to try to control socialization which is a part of human nature. They believe that such use of school uniforms does not prepare children for the real world, in which they will continue to be judged by appearances.

There are just as many experts who believe that the cost of school uniforms is a negative factor as those who see it as a positive factor. Some experts believe that it increases the amount of clothing parents will have to buy for their children because the children will still want and need clothing for the hours they are not in school. Uniforms can be more expensive for a family who buys from second-hand stores or who relies on hand-me-down clothing from friends and family. Some experts believe cost is a negative aspect of school uniforms because there is no use for them outside of school. The kids will grow out of them so fast which means more money their parents have to give out to get new ones. Personally my family can’t afford to be buying me uniforms and clothes to wear for nonschool occasions at the same time and guaranteed there are more children that are in the same situation.

Many educators and experts believe that, although in theory uniforms should improve academic, behavioral, and social outcomes, in reality they do not. These experts argue that the studies of schools who initiate uniforms do not report improvement in any of these areas. Therefore, if the desired outcomes are not reached, there is no valid reason to standardize student dress.

So if there are no signs of improvement in the academic area because of a change in uniform, and the fights at school and disagreements do not see an improvement when uniforms are involved then what is the real need for them? I believe that the administration is just trying to make it convenient to them. If they get uniforms in their school then they do not have to worry about gang associated clothing or any of that, but what they do not seem to understand that teenagers will be teenagers and they are very creative. Therefore they will just figure out some other way to express what is really important to them. I believe the only thing they are deterring from their schools is the students themselves. Of course you’ll find troublemakers at any high school you go to, and forcing them to wear uniforms will not do anything to prevent that. Uniforms will just turn everything into a hassle and eventually, after a few years I am sure that the uniforms will be no longer enforced. So I say leave the uniforms for the elementary kids and allow the high school children find and express themselves before they have to go out into the real world.

Book Report: Eclipse

Eclipse is the third novel in Stephenie Meyer’s popular Twilight series. Meyer wasted little time giving previous details and jumped right into this third book. Just as the other two previous books of the saga this book is also very easy to get lost in. Eclipse carries on not long after New Moon left off. Bella’s high school graduation is approaching and she will soon be leaving Forks forever, she is supposedly to go to college, but in reality she is planning to join her boyfriend in his vampire existence and will be unable to return home, due to being dead and possessed by a terrible blood lust for the first few years.The book goes through graduation but then the dangerous vampires from Seattle come to Forks and dealing with them dominates the rest of the book. This is only one part of the story though. Eclipse is primarily a romantic saga, so Bella and Edward’s relationship is the primary focus of the book. Though there is this weird love triangle going on between Eward, Bella, and Jacob. Bella and Jacob have always been friends, at least they were - right up until Jacob became a werewolf. Then the enmity between vampires and werewolves put a huge strain on their friendship. Besides which, Jacob is in love with Bella, who is in love with Edward so this is going to make things awkward between them. At this point, Bella has found her soul mate in Edward but Jacob is the soul mate she should have, could have, would have had if Edward didn’t exist. She loves him too but not as much as Edward. I don't exactly know why she loves Jacob though. He knows that she loves Edward but Jacob still tries to make her feel guilty that she can’t love him like he wants her too. This only shows that he is the younger one with such a immature approach towards trying to get Bella's heart. Though this book is over six hundred pages it sure didn't seem like it. I still read through the book in a couple of days because I couldn't put it down. It is interesting to think about where the next book will take me in this story.

Assignment # 13: Halloween Haiku

Haunted houses, scary masks, trick or treating, lots of candy eating.

Costumes representing secretive inner feelings of each person.

Time for laughter and superstition for everyone on Halloween. 

Assignment # 12: The Black Cat

The symbolism of the story The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe is something that we all can relate highly too. For example in this story the man is very kind hearted and caring at first, then things take a turn and the man shows a more violent and dreadful side, which everyone can relate to because though we mostly choose to show our kind, loving sides, we still have this capability to be violent and deceiving. In this story the man goes from kind and loving towards his favorite cat, Pluto, to hateful towards everyone, even his wife. He especially showed the most awful actions towards the cat. He gouged out one of his eyes out and then ended hanging it. Though, after all those things that black cat seemed to haunt him. Everywhere he went seemed to remind him of Pluto. The symbolism of the first cat in this story, the second cat, and the white spot on the second cat shows and expanding capability evil can have in people.

Though the entire story is filled with things illustrating symbolism, the most important symbol of this story is illustrated by the first cat Pluto. This is because Pluto, which also is the name of the god of the underworld, was first to show the evil in the man. Though, as the man started out loving the cat dearly, as his attitude changed his love for the cat started to change rapidly. The cat changed from following the man’s every step to avoiding his every encounter with him. This frustrated the man, to see that his cat even noticed his evil becoming when he avoided him, so the man gouged out his eye so it couldn’t see the clear indication of the man’s evil heart. This only made the cat avoid him more and then one day the man couldn’t take it anymore so he hung it with a noose to a tree showing the man wasn’t proud of showing his evil side and he couldn’t take that the cat he had once adored and loved was now the isolated victim of his unruly actions.

Soon after that the man’s house burnt down and only one wall remained standing. When they viewed what was left of the house the wall that remained standing had a shadow figure of a cat with a noose around its neck on it, and this was the beginning of the first cat, symbolism of evil, haunting the man. One night after his house burnt down he noticed another black cat and the only thing to really show that it wasn’t Pluto was this white patch on its chest. This new black cat followed him home and wouldn’t leave him alone. This black cat symbolized the guilt the man carried with him because of the killing of his first cat. His wife fell in love with the cat and so she decided to keep it. Every night this cat would sit on the man’s chest as if to physically show the guilt of the man sitting on his chest constantly.

The second black cat resembled the first one in every way and the man seemed to think about it all the time. The only way the man knew that this in fact was definitely not the first cat was by the white spot on its breast. Though, as everything else in this story, it too seemed to symbolize something as well. This white spot was ironically, also in the shape as a noose. All of these things only reminded the man even more of the innocence of his first cat, his evil actions of his when he killed it, and the guilt the man carried on his chest everyday of his life.

Those are the three most important symbols of this entire story because they are repeatedly expressed throughout the entire story. Pluto is the first symbolizing of the man’s evil heart and dreadful deeds. The second cat shows just how much the guilt took over the man’s life from the day he met it to the moment the cat exposed the man to the cops when he killed his wife. Then finally the white spot on the second cat’s chest to remind and also punish the man of the evil he had did previously to the first white cat. All of these slowly helped the man pursue into madness as his evil tasks took over everything and every action the man made, and this story illustrated his path into insanity in detail.

Basically in every aspect of this story by Edgar Allan Poe, it illustrated that if you feed or enable your darker side of you to grow stronger than your better side, the resultant – more often than not, being inexcusable - will come back to haunt you. Which will only then, force you to see that, though it might be harder to do well, one would rather not experience the tiresome and revolving consequences of choosing the worse, more easier routes.

Assignment # 11: The Concrete Rose

Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete?

Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet.

Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air.

Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared.

That is right you poor little unfortunate child. You will never amount to anything. Your future is already set, and it is set to fail. You could never and will never amount to as much as those rich kids will, you don’t know what they know, and you can’t do the things they can. You are from the wrong side of town so how could it be that you dream to attend college, don’t you know that’s not for you. Don’t you know that where you belong is in the streets or the penitentiary? Don’t make me laugh talking the nonsense of changing your life, saying that you can actually succeed. Success shouldn’t even be in your vocabulary you should just stick to what you know and stop trying to go against the path of nature.

This all might be what the “top – notch” big shots might say to the person having to fight for every piece of bread they get to eat. To the people going through the extremes just to get that associates degree. Living on the west side, does that mean all that hatred also applies to me? Guaranteed not, no matter what anybody says your future is not set at the time of conception. Where you live or who your parents are don’t etch your life in stone. They may be the building blocks for which you look back upon and thank but what makes you, you is every action that you make. Whether you choose to go that extra mile or sit back and just take things as they come every outcome of your life depends on you.

I believe this is what Tupac Shakur was saying in his poem the concrete rose. He talks about how the rose that grew from the concrete defied the law of nature, relating it to a person doing something great even though the whole world is set to bring them down and hold them back. This also relates to all the things in his life that he sings about. He was thought to be a failure and to end up without anything to be proud of but he took his opportunities wisely and went into one of the hardest professions to get into and he not only did his job well but he was so good at it that people are still singing his songs years after he died. He had the ability to see through all the hatred and misleading accusations and teach people with his music. He turned around every negative thing in his way and made it into a determination to prove that what society believes today about success and wealth only has to be true if you choose to make it true.

If I was to go around every day and believe what other people had to say then I don’t believe I would have even made it this far. People can’t let anybody tell them how their future is going to end up. The future of one individual relies only on that specific individual. Though, people are so egger to keep you down because nobody wants to be a failure by themselves. Also society has no hope in our youth, which is kind of ironic because, though, our youth only makes up twenty six percent of our population, they are one hundred percent our future. Basically, then, if we can’t have any hope for the youth then we don’t have any hope for our future. Which brings me back to what I stated earlier, nothing in life depends on where you come from or who you come from, but rather how you take all of those things and set it to be how you become whether they be negative or positive. Nothing in life is impossible unless you make it impossible. You are what you believe, and if you believe in the worse then that is the only outcome you will mostly see in life. Though, if your beliefs are only those of good like Tupac Shakur’s then you can have anything you want no matter what it is. The feeling to show off what you have even though so many people have doubted you is a feeling like no one can imagine. I’m not saying to through it back at everybody rudely, but to show that you weren’t that screw up and you got through so much that person probably has never even came close to, is like heaven with all your dreams come true.

So if Tupac Shakur can make it to the top, whatever that might mean, when society held him down means that no body, not a single person can use the excuse of not being good enough, because the things worth having are the things that we have to work extremely hard for. Nothing in life is free until you have reached your highest potential, and there can’t be a set potential because success, learning, and achieving things will never end, those things will never have a limit in life.

Book Report: New Moon

New Moon is the sequel to Stephenie Meyer’s novel Twilight. This novel is a good enough book to read on it's own but I think that you will get a better understanding of the story and what is exactly going on if you have read the first book also. New Moon is always going to be compared to Twilight and people who are expecting this book to be essentially the same as Twilight may be disappointed. Twilight had an almost dreamy, fairytale quality to the writing, which this story lacks. The Cullen family of vampires are also absent from this book for a while as well. Though this book is boring compared to Twilight I still really enjoyed reading it. New Moon is narrated in first person by Bella and has an obvious parallel with Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and I mean obvious because even Bella recognises that she is in danger of playing out history’s greatest romantic tragedy. I think keeping Romeo and Juliet in the forefront of the readers mind actually helps the author build the tension for the climax of the story because we can all see the tragedy that is waiting to happen. The pain that Bella feels when Edward leaves her is extremely well written and is really what this story is about. Most of the things that happen to Bella in New Moon are as a result of the overwhelming loss that she is trying to bear. Her friendship with Jacob has a doomed quality to it not only because he obviously loves her while she is in love with Edward but because he is a werewolf and he naturally hates all vampires. The rogue vampires Laurent and Victoria return to Forks. They are looking for revenge against Edward but they only find Bella. The Quileute werewolves are an exciting addition to the story and it will be interesting to see how this plot line is developed in the next novel in this series.
I stayed up reading this book because once I was caught up in the story I couldn’t stop reading. I’m sure I’m not the first person, and won’t be the last person either, to say that about this book. I would recomend New Moon as well as Twilight to anybody. It is very interesting how both books can pull you into them so quick.

Book Report: Twilight

Twilight is the story of Edward and Bella’s romance. Twilight is so unique it is almost like it’s in its own genre. The book is aimed more towards the younger readers but it has the ability to cross age barriers and will satisfy both teenagers and adults alike. The story is told in first person from the perspective of Bella, so the reader only ever knows what Bella knows, making Edward and his family a mystery that is slowly unravelled through out the book. Even by the end of the book I was still wanting more, more detail of the Cullen family back story. Bella herself is a well written and realistic character, shy and lacking in confidence, her sarcastic inner voice narrates the story for the reader. Twilight is simply and yet beautifully written. The descriptions of Forks leave you feeling like you can almost smell the damp air and hear the rain falling on the roof. The romance between Edward and Bella is both touching and compelling. There is a melancholic feel to their impossible love, yet at the same time they both are unwilling to give up hope that their relationship is not doomed. The book reaches a fever pitch of excitement as the romance between Bella and Edward turns into a frantic race to stay alive. Twilight is a vampire story for people who don’t like vampire stories and I think I would agree with that. This book really has something for everyone. Young adult readers, vampire fans or romance readers will all find Twilight to be an appealing story. For a Young Adult reader I thought that I wouldn't be able to finish the book since it was so long, but eventually I couldn't even put the book down. This was one of the better books that I have read and I cannot wait until I finish reading the last page of the last book to this Twilight Saga.

Book Report: The Lost Boy

Imagine a young boy who has never had a loving home. The only things he has are the old, torn clothes he carries in a paper bag. The only world he knows is one of isolation and fear. Although others had rescued this boy from his abusive alcoholic mother, his real hurt is just beginning there, all alone since he has no actual place to call home. This is Dave Pelzer's sequel to A Child Called "It". In The Lost Boy, he answers questions and reveals new adventures through the compelling story of his life as an adolescent. Now considered an F-Child  or in other words a Foster Child, Dave is moved in and out of five different homes. He suffers shame and experiences resentment from those who feel that all foster kids are trouble and unworthy of being loved just because they are not part of a actual family. Tears, laughter, devastation and hope create the journey of this teenager who searches desperately for just one thing. Which is the love of a real family. Here he tells his story from the time he left his abusive mother and alcoholic father, through his experiences in five foster homes and juvenile detention, and how he eventually made it into the Air Force. He was a defiant, rebellious boy who, despite his background and personality, managed to endear himself to many guardians, social workers, and teachers. Pelzer writes in an honest, sometimes rambling, style; he is never bitter, and his story will find many sympathetic readers. However, he leaves many questions unanswered which may appear in the third book, hopfully, dealing with his adult life.

Assignment # 10: Bullying

Thirty percent of U.S. students in grades six through ten are involved in moderate or frequent bullying, as bullies, as victims, or as both according to the results of the first national survey on this subject. Bullying is increasingly viewed as an important contributor to youth violence, including homicide and suicide. One out of four kids is bullied. The American Justice Department says that this month one out of every four kids will be abused by another youth. Surveys show that seventy seven percent of students are bullied mentally, verbally, & physically, and fourteen percent of those who were bullied said they experienced severe reactions to the abuse. One out of five kids admits to being a bully, or doing some "Bullying."

You hear about all these situations where kids have been bullied so bad that it has resulted with suicide. Some cases don’t always result with such devastating circumstances, thank god, but any case of bullying is unacceptable. Barely being seventeen I witness plenty of bullying in school. Since I have always been tall I haven’t really experienced any bullying towards me, probably because being taller than everyone else wouldn’t result necessarily with being the victim. Though in elementary school I do remembering not being “socially accepted” with the kids when I would do well in any of the curriculum. So sometimes I would hide what I knew when a teacher asked a question.

Once I got to middle school I went from kind of getting bullied to being the one that occasionally bullied. I guess what I am trying to say without looking bad; though being a bully looks bad in general, is I wasn’t the usual do what I say or I’ll beat you up bully but I just went along with what my friends did and said to the other children at school. I didn’t stop to think about how I used to feel when I was in elementary and just thought how great it was now to fit in with the “cool” crowd. Then again I didn’t really realize I was being a bully since I thought at the time that a bully beat up kids, but now I noticed being a bully can range anywhere from verbally, mentally, or physically.

When I got to high school I thought that the bullying would end there. Since everyone would be more mature and everything. Little did I know it hasn’t changed at all. Sometimes I think it might have even got worse since the bullying went from more verbally to physically. I don’t know why but some kids just enjoy picking on other people. They even seem to enjoy it more to see someone cry or run off feeling like crap. I get along with a lot of people at school and when I see someone picking on someone else I am definitely not afraid to tell them to knock it off. Sometimes that just causes more problems for me but usually I can handle it more than the poor kid getting picked on can. Plus if I can get the kid to feel a little safer at school or to even just feel like they have a friend then maybe I can prevent something worse from happening.

Eight percent of students miss one day of class per month because they are afraid of the bullies at their school. Forty three percent fear harassment in the bathroom at school. A hundred thousand students carry a gun to school. Twenty eight percent of youths who carry weapons have witnessed violence at home. A poll of teens ages twelve through seventeen proved that they think violence increased at their schools. Two hundred eighty two thousand students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month. More youth violence occurs on school grounds as opposed to on the way to school. Eighty five percent of these cases do not look for any type of intervention.

I feel really strongly about this topic and I believe this is very unacceptable. How could someone go to sleep at night knowing that they are the reason that a kid killed themselves or that they are the reason that a kid is very antisocial and hates the world. School should be a place to have fun, a place to get away from all the bullshit that every day brings, and to not even be able to feel comfortable at school, hell I don’t even know what I would do.

This is a major topic that can’t be handled lightly. People have turned their back on these types of things for too long already, and we can’t be allowing kids to be going through this and killing themselves over the hateful and selfish people that bully them. People can help because one voice won’t make anything but a murmur, but if a million voices spoke up maybe we could end this once and for all. There are plenty of websites to help people just have to open their eyes and look.

 





Assignment # 9: Alien Contact

I am sitting outside drinking my evening glass of vodka and orange juice with my wife, and it is just late enough that the sky is a mixture of violets, oranges, and yellows. This is my favorite time of the evening. It is fresh and still light enough to see every detail of the earth. We usually stay out here until it gets too cold for our bones to handle.

This evening seemed a little different though. It seemed as if the night was getting dark pretty fast. We didn’t think anything of it though and continued with our conversation, laughing and reminiscing. Before we knew it, it was already pitch black outside and the only sounds we heard were the songs from the crickets. We decided to go in now that the midnight chill was finally getting to us when suddenly our backyard seemed to light up again as if it was already morning. My wife and I looked at each other then at the sky. We could see a bright light to the west of us. It was very odd looking and my wife suggested to just go inside, but I wanted to know what it was. The next thing I see is it ZOOM across the sky and stop over the field just behind our house.

My wife is now pretty freaked out so I tell her to go inside so I can go to check out just what this weird thing is. Never in my eight five years of being on this planet have I seen anything like this. It seemed to be something not from this world, and this only encouraged my curiosity even more. I have to admit as I get closer and closer to this thing my nerves seem to be pulsing even faster through my body. For a moment I thought it might just be the vodka but then I remembered that my wife had reacted to the site of this thing also. I am now just about ten feet away from it when I see something or someone coming out of it. I stop dead in my tracks; eyes wide open as I can’t believe how odd this, this creature looks.

At this very moment the fight or flight response kicks through my veins as I think of turning to run back to my house, but before I can even turn around this thing is right in front of me. This seems like a scene from one of those science-fictional shows and I cannot seem to think of something to say. We just look at each other for a while then I slowly turn around. Which turned out to be a bad idea, because now I have this creatures fingers wrapped around my arm. My thoughts are scrambling as I try to figure out what it is, because there is no way this can be an alien since everyone knows they don’t exist.

I say hello hoping that I can get a response from it other than just this creepy silence. Though it only seems to get quieter. So I just look down feeling as a prisoner since I can’t undo this tight, though not suffocating grip. When suddenly my heart felt like it was going to come out of my throat when I heard my new “friend” respond with a Hi. That’s it I know for sure now that this is only the vodka kicking in. So playing along with my drunken illusion I ask what it was. The thing simply responded that it wasn’t from this planet and it is only here for a short period to help out.

Thinking I could escape my illusion by going back inside my home I ask if it wants to come in. When we get to my back door my wife is peaking through the curtains. That is when I realized it probably wasn’t the vodka because my wife’s eyes are as big as a baseball. I kind of regret going to check out things since I now have no explanation to what everything is, though I keep my offer and allow this thing into my home. Not knowing exactly how to greet this thing my wife offers it with a cup of coffee. It politely declines the offer and starts explaining just what it is doing here, and since I’ve been around for so long everything it is saying makes total sense. Over the years I have noticed the simple and somewhat colossal changes our earth has taken, and it seems that creatures outside of our planet have too.

It explains that over the years they have noticed the drastic changes we have done to our planet and they can’t sit back and watch us destroy it anymore. I get a feeling of disgust as I slowly start to understand that we have forced the earth to be something it isn’t, therefore slowing we are being the cause of its death. I think of how sad it is that we have done so much wrong that even life from other planets are here now to fix it.

To think that we stress over things to only help make us happy when we are slowly killing the only place we have to live only show signs of immaturity and selfishness. I can’t believe that I haven’t thought of this before. It seems to me now that I have just walked through my whole life blindly as I sit here and listen to every mistake we, as life on this planet, have made. How ironic it is that the things we seemed to fear to interact with before are the only ones to help us now. The only thing that I can say now to this creature is how or what we can do to help reverse our damages. He simply replies by saying “Before you are no longer who you claim to be, you need to change the way you see, because that is the only way you may continue being who you want to be.”

Assignment 8: The Necklace

As in many stories, The Necklace has many, many morals you can acquire from it. The most abundant moral I got from it was that material things aren’t everything, and being greedy gets you nowhere.

The woman was given a beautiful dress as a gift and it's not enough, she soon needs more. Later on her greedy actions come back to haunt her when she must replace a borrowed necklace and ruins her and her husbands life in the process.

This story is a perfect example of how karma might just work out for you when you are a greedy person. It’s obvious from birth that it isn’t good to be greedy especially because people don’t like greedy people. Trying to empress people with illusions of you with marvelous things only digs you deeper and deeper in a hole of lies until, finally you can’t get out. I believe that the marvels of the world are only what you make of them; therefore depending on perception, a million dollar gift could have the same value of a gift that cost only a penny. It just depends on how close to the heart the item is to someone.

Many people can see right through lies so trying to show off ones false riches to be popular only helps you to be unaccepted with others. Also material things and approval of others are always going to be there, even if it is a day from now to a million years later, you will always get a chance to empress. Therefore, focusing on the materials just allows the irreplaceable things to slip through your fingers.

In my everyday life I use the common morals from The Necklace often. I see the consequences of being greedy and I would much rather avoid them in every way. I also take time to appreciate all the little things; the things that I’m not promised will be there tomorrow. Sure I like to have the wonders of the material life too but I would never sacrifice any of my prized possessions for it.

Material things are just that, they are only material which can be found at anytime. If you are greedy of the things you want much rather than the things you need them soon you will find yourself lonely and struggling. As for me of the few things I am greedy of, not wanting to struggle and be lonely is one of them, I would much rather have nothing and have everything that I need than have everything and nothing that I absolutely need.

Assignment 7: My Self-Value

“Jealousy is simply and clearly the fear that you do not have value.” The beginning of Jennifer James’ quote states exactly what she wanted said. She jumps right into the point. She states that jealousy is only to prove a point, and the only alternative is self-worth. This quote that she stated has a high morality. I believe though there are many different morals people can get from this quote the main one is be yourself, and to empower the best not only in you but in your peers as well, and you will be the one that everyone else will envy. When I read this quote this is exactly what I extract from it:

Jealousy is only what one has when they don’t have the potential to do what someone else can do. There is no need for jealousy, the only reason it exists is to make the lazier, less of a worker person feel better when they notice the excellence and extensive achievements of another.

Now maybe that person does their best to show off but most often than not they are simply doing it just because they can. So why surround them with musty envy? You should be the first person to congratulate them on everything they have done. Though before, you must be able to look at yourself with the utmost worth as well. If you cannot love and appreciate yourself how would you expect others too? If, for you, it is always just a coincidence and you doubt yourself then that leaves only that much more room for others to doubt you also. This in return will probably have you result back to jealousy.

So stop noticing everyone else, which is not going to help you reach anything. Find what exactly it is that causes you to be jealous and achieve those wants. As soon as you figure out how to turn that jealousy into something positive for you to push from, than people will start looking up to you. But don’t just do things for the approval of others. They aren’t the ones benefiting or getting set back from it, you are. You do things for yourself, because achieving your goals will only allow you to be able to help others with theirs.

Though success is everything that everyone is looking for it isn’t as great when it is only you experiencing it. I believe that in any relationship your job is not only to push yourself to do the best but to encourage the other person, because only then is when you can truly celebrate together.

If you are stuck on what everyone else is thinking than that’s just going to be three steps back for every step you take. Who in their right mind is going to want to work that hard when work is already hard enough? Do exactly what it is that YOU want to do and finally you will get the right attention from the right kind of people in the end, and you can realize how unpleasant jealousy is.

I Dream a World

I dream a world where man

No other man will scorn,

Where love will bless the earth

And peace its paths adorn.

I dream a world where all

Will know sweet freedom's way,

Where greed no longer saps the soul

Nor avarice blights our day.

A world I dream where black or white,

Whatever race you be,

Will share the bounties of the earth

And every man is free,

Where wretchedness will hang its head

And joy, like a pearl,

Attends the needs of all mankind--

Of such I dream, my world!

From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, edited by Arnold Rampersad (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994), p. 311.

The powerful poet Langston Hughes has written many wonderful and inspiring poems. Though some might ask who is Langston Hughes? He was an American poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best-known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the Harlem Renaissance, saying that "Harlem was in vogue". He often wrote about the struggles that were happening in that time and how he felt about them.

As I read this poem by him above, I instantly could tell exactly where his point of view was. He also worded this poem in a way that was so spine chilling I couldn’t ignore what the poem is about. In this poem he speaks of a world where everyone is equal and “man No other man will scorn”. He states he dreams of a world where there is peace; people no longer have greed, “And joy, like a pearl, Attends the needs of all mankind”.

It is amazing how even now, forty-three years later, people are still dreaming of that same world. As I go day by day I notice more hatred people have towards each other than I would have ever imagined. Instead of being proud of a peers success people would rather talk in envy, killing people slowly with words and actions one would only think the devil could do.

I dream a world of kindness, forgiveness, and the ability to be swollen with pride of not only ones own success but the success of others as well. I dream a world where difference is embraced rather than shunned, and helping towards others is as involuntary as the beating of ones heart. A dream of which the smoggy clouds of despair will clear and people will then experience the beauty of the sky. As these entire things sound wonderful, and even though Langston Hughes and many other previous inspirational people couldn’t change the path of the world today, I believe maybe, just maybe a common dream such as this can come true in the years to come.

Race

September 11, 2001 the Twin Towers and World Trade Center were violently destroyed when a plane flew into each of them. Now, September 11, 2010, nine years later a huge controversy on whether or not there should be a building of the Islamic mosque in New York City just a few blocks from ground zero. Some don’t mind the building of a mosque in a diverse country while others revolt at the thought of one so close to ground zero.

Some people of the United States abide by the foundations of which our country was built, and don’t see any problem with the building of the Islamic mosque. On the other hand we have people that cannot stand the thought of the building of something representing “the people” that caused this devastating event to happen. When in reality it wasn’t the group of people that decided to destroy three of our important buildings, but were just some Islamic extremists. To go and blame the whole Islamic society is like accusing the entire population of the United States for a killing that a single man committed. Not only is this irrational but is also an assumption that only shows signs of stupidity and a lack of understanding. This controversy has widely divided the country in two, those who approve of it and those who deny it. This has resulted in many unbelievable actions.

The lack of knowledge of some of the US people results in immature behaviors such as the treat of the burning of the Koran, at a church in Florida. This is attracting global attention as it organizes a "Burn the Koran" day to commemorate the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Pastor Terry Jones, leader of Dove World Outreach Center and author of a book called Islam is the Devil, says Islam is a "violent and oppressive" faith, and that the only way to stop Muslim terrorists is to expose their religion "for what it is."

Actions like this only result from the ignorance and hatred of those that are against change and anything that is not what they are used to, putting our troops in more danger as they fight in Afghanistan. They gather the support of the uneducated by saying things that they know people are afraid of. They didn’t state that the Islamic community is “the devil” based off of fact, but stated it knowing that they can easily convince those who are scared or have no knowledge of the truth to join them in bashing another religion.

I believe that in the United States we have so much diversity that in the end we are all somehow related. This is because we all came to this country to escape the hatred and lack of freedom. So as I notice people bashing each other we might as well be showing that same hatred toward our families.

The term race or racial group usually refers to the categorization of humans into populations or ancestral groups on the basis of various sets of heritable characteristics. What I also believe is that race can also group people with the things they have in common. We all came to this country for change and what I see now is not any different from the cruelty so many of our ancestors escaped before. As quoted on the statue of liberty “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” I have noticed over the years that our nation has slowly taken action of just the opposite. Building a two thousand mile long fence to keep our southern neighbors out, having so much paperwork to fill out to become a citizen that it takes years to even get close, and making laws that only allow people to show racism towards each other. This isn’t what our ancestors fought for; they didn’t go through all that trouble just to see us undo everything they have done. If we keep acting like this, we will eventually cause people to flee our nation as they did before when they came here for a new beginning.

Cultural Underpinnings of Literature

The United States today would not be what it is without taking bits and pieces from every culture ever imagined. That is one of the reasons why the United States started, so that people wouldn’t have to hide what they are or how they feel. As our country has evolved there are plenty of things that people may or may not agree upon, but as we can date back a lot of our “habits” today are from the many different religious beliefs of our ancestors. One of the most influential religious beliefs that helped mold our perception of things is the Judeo–Christian paradigm.

Though, before I can even get started explaining how this mixture of two cultures helped shape our thoughts, what does Judeo-Christian mean? Christianity emerged from Judaism in the first century of the Common Era. Christians brought , from Judaism, the belief in one god, including a priesthood, concepts of sacred space and sacred time, the idea that worship here on Earth is patterned after worship in Heaven, and the use of the Psalms in community prayer. The term was used in the United States of America in an attempt to create a civil religion, which by embracing Judaism avoids the appearance of anti-Semitism.

I believe that a big part of our countries founding and actions is from the paradigm of the Judeo-Christian tradition, even though we are free to practice any religion or no religion at all. However, the debate still rages between those who seek to eradicate all traces of Judeo-Christian philosophy from our government and those who seek to preserve those principles.

Everything we know is some form of Judeo-Christian tradition, and to separate the idea of civil rights from the Judeo-Christian principle of moral obligation and the idea of a higher power is to devalue our liberty as United Citizens. As Alexander Hamilton argued, to separate the two concepts is "the most manifest violation of justice." Espoused by Enlightenment philosophers such as John Locke and as stated in the Declaration of Independence, the rights to life and liberty are ordained from no less a power than God.

Judeo-Christian traditions are in everything that we do, from going to the mall to buy new clothes or to the doctors to get a checkup. Our activities of our daily lives are many modifications of how the monasteries ran things in the Common Era.

So even though there might be a lot of controversy of the Government forcing a religion onto its people, this is not all that true. As evidence by even the little things we do as a society relating to the Judeo-Christian tradition. A 2007 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life study found that about 75 percent of Americans are either religious or take no offense to public mentions of God on currency or monuments. However, we still find our legal system in cases to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance and to ban Bible study clubs from public high schools.

Yes, the classic separation-of-church-and-state argument has to come into play somewhere. Let's break down this argument. The exact term "separation of church and state" is found nowhere within America's founding documents. This does not mean, however, our government cannot adhere to the Judeo-Christian philosophy in its operation. The wording of the First Amendment supports such an idea, as well. The establishment and freedom of exercise clauses prevent specification on the part of the government.

Every action we participate in shows some background of Judeo-Christian paradigm. This is because education derived greatly from it, healthcare, anything, even wearing makeup. So to have someone sit there and tell me religion shouldn’t be taught anywhere else but at a church is like saying the teaching of our history should only be taught by the president. This is religion is a great part of our country it is what makes us who we are today.

Therefore even trying to expel Judeo-Christian tradition from being one of our most important “stepping stones” for our country, wouldn’t be correct because you would see it in our everyday actions and in the fuss of deciding whether it is justifiable to be in our government or not.

Book Report: A Child Called It

A Child Called It was so incredible that I couldn’t set it down. I believe Pelzer’s story of his great determination would inspire anyone that took the time to read it. Dave Pelzer’s story shows that as long as you believe in yourself to survive, and choose not to give up because of anything that everyone has the power of bettering themselves in any circumstance. This book is about one of the most severe child abuse cases in California. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother. Dave had a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she didn’t consider him her son, but her slave, and no longer a boy, but an "It." Dave's bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and dirty. When his mother let him eat, it was nothing more than spoiled scraps. Nobody knew anything of his living nightmare. He had nothing or no one to turn to. Pelzer’s dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son was the only thing that kept him pushing to survive his mother’s irrational games. After reading this book makes me think twice about complaining about the little problems that I face in my life. It makes me realize how much I take everything that I have for granted without even thinking twice of how lucky I am. This book inspires me to better myself in every way possible.

Wisdom Haiku

Struggles

I know we all wish that we could get away from life's institution.

Since life can be the one causing all of the difficult confusions.

Though, running away isn't the solution, because then, you'll never win.