Native Sons

Bigger was a character that I never liked. He was very selfish and only cared about himself. I understand that racism was what drove his anger and hatred, but that also does not excuse the murders he had committed. 

Also, in the beginning of the book, we learn that Bigger's family is very poor. They live in terrible living conditions mostly due to segregation and racism, but, Bigger for a long time had turned down so many jobs. He was the second oldest person in his family, his mother being the oldest. He should've taken the responsibility to get a job and try to provide more for his family. This had given me a bad impression of Bigger since the beginning.

Bigger had let his feelings bottle up so much for so long, that all the emotions finally exploded and caused these horrible chain of events. I agree that he should've gone to prison, but I don't agree with giving him the death penalty.

The Rez

A reservation is a area of land that is reserved for Native Americans to live and work on. As we've seen in the documentaries we've watched, these reservations are plaqued with poverty, unemployment, and alcoholism. But that's also not all a reservation is. A Rez also is full of love, unity, and culture.

My community is not very similar to the Rez. The community I live in is not the richest, but poverty isn't a very big problem where I live. I am lucky enough and blessed to have a house with air conditioning and heat, and to be able to go into the kitchen, open the fridge, and have food. Also, I'm lucky enough to go to a school where the books aren't 30+ years old, and if they are, it's by choice and not because that's all my school can afford.  

The thing that the Rez has that I don't have in my community is the unity and love everyone feels for each other. In a Rez, most people know each other's names and they help each other out; they care for each other. But I think that  in my community, I don't feel that unity. I truely admire the beautiful culture and love that exists on a reservation.

I think the conditions of Native American reservations is terrible and is a slap in the face to all of them. Improving these conditions should be a top priority of the government. There should be more jobs, and better living conditions for everyone living on a Rez.

A Principle to Live By

Everyone has principles and values that they try to stick to no matter what. They define who you are and they can vary from person to person. If I had to choose one principle that everyone would live by, it would be to treat others like you would want to be treated. Everyone wants to be respected, treated fairly, and talked to nicely. If that's how you expect to be treated, you have to treat others that way. If I go around insulting others and just being a terrible person to everyone around me, I can't expect to still be treated with respect. This is why I try to be nice to everyone. I try not to say things to offend or insult others, because I wouldn't want someone to do that to me. 

Of course, there are instances when it could be difficult to stick to this principle. Sometimes people can be rude and mean to you for no reason. You might want to lash out and be rude right back to them, but that won't solve anything. Continue to stick to the principle and just be nice. 

If everyone stuck to this principle, I think the world would be a better place. There would be more peace and love in the world, instead of all the hatred. People would be kind. We would be able to put aside differences and let go of negativity in order to create a better world where everyone is treated nicely.

Thankful for my Classmates

Although we should all be grateful everyday for all the good things in our life, Thanksgiving is a special day where we think more in depth about what we value in our lives. There are a few classmates in particular that I am grateful for and that I would like to thank.

First of all, I am grateful to have Genevieve (also known as "Jellybean") as a friend. I met in her last year in Biology. She is such a sweet and fun person to talk to. I'm thankful to have lunch with her this year, so we can discuss all of our boy troubles. She's always been there to give me advice and to make me laugh.

Next, I'm grateful for Yareli.  I've known her since last year, but we weren't as close until this year, since we have more classes together. She's been part of my "Train Squad" since last year. She always makes me laugh. She's a very caring person. 

Also, I would like to thank Maday the dinosaur. I'm grateful to have become friends with her this year. She offered to have lunch with me because I had no one else to sit with. I'm thankful that she's trustworthy, and puts up with me even when I go on and on about my favorite band. 

But most of all, I do want to thank all of my classmates. As someone who's TERRIFIED of speaking in front of the class or just people in general, I'm glad to have such great and nice classmates. This is probably the only class I feel comfortable in, because everyone is nice and doesn't judge anyone for what they say or who they are. This is the only class in all my time of high school that I've raised my hand in and voluntarily talked. So, I would like to thank all of you, and I look forward to a wonderful rest of the year.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving/five day break! :)

Hemingway

Hemingway was a phenomenal writer. He had a similar writing style to Mark Twain. Both were able to take "snap shots" of certain events or of a setting, and could write really detailed pieces of writing. Both Hemingway and Twain would use very long, run on sentences or many sentences put together with semicolons instead of periods. I really like this style of writing because you can really visualize the scene they are writing about. This can help understand the story better. 

My favorite short story that we read from Hemingway's first 49 stories was "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place". I really like this story because if you use Hemingway's "Iceberg Theory," there was so much more to the story than just some sad old man sitting in a cafe. When you realize how much the cafe really meant to the old man. Perspective and age played a big role in the story. The young and old waiter both had different opinions about the old man. Because the young waiter was young, he had different opinions on life and older people. He thought his time was more valuable because he had a life to live, and the old deaf man was alone. The older waiter had similar problems with sleeping just like the deaf man. Time also played a big role in this story. The older waiter asked the young waiter, "What is an hour?" It may at first seem like a stupid question with an obvious answer. An hour is 60 minutes. But in reality, a hour is so much more. An hour to the young waiter is an hour he gets to spend with his wife and kids, an hour of love. To the older waiter, an hour meant more sleepless minutes filled with drinking. To the old, deaf man, an hour could mean another suicide attempt. Everyone's time is valuable. Anything can happen in an hour.  

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Ernest Hemingway's writing. I really enjoyed his writing style and will continue to read his work.

6 six-word stories

-He went to the funeral alone.



-But it was already too late.



-Her smile disappeared slowly over time.



-His story ended much too quickly.



-A loud scream, a fallen body.



-And in that moment, everything changed.

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

My first impression of John Proctor in the beginning of the Crucible was not a good one. I would have definitely called him a "stooge." I guess I'll start with the most obvious reason why, he committed adultery. What makes it even worse is that it was with a young girl, Abigail. There is so many things wrong with this. Elizabeth had trusted him and remained faithful to him, while we was having an affair with Abigail. Then, in Act II, it really bothered me the way he treated Elizabeth. There was the part when he told her the rabbit was good after he seasoned it himself, which may not seem like a big deal, but he could've given her constructive criticism and could've been honest. Also, he kept calling Elizabeth cold and said she judges him too much, but as she said, "The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you." Basically, he felt horrible and guilty about what he did to her, yet he was taking it out on her. Not only that, but he originally did not tell her that he had been alone with Abigail earlier, which is something very important to say. It just made her more angry and suspicious that he didn't tell her.
But, John Proctor was definitely not a static character. Towards the end of Act II when Elizabeth is being arrested, you see the nicer, more caring side of Proctor. As she is being taken away, he promises to help her and that he will get her out of jail. You can tell how much he cares about her and doesn't want her to be taken away. In Act III in the courthouse, he confesses to the affair. I feel like he was finally taking responsibility and owning up to his mistake. He confessed even though it would ruin his reputation forever. One of the main reasons that I think Proctor is a "hero" at the end is that he could have easily accused someone else and save himself, but he decided to not accuse anyone and accept the fact that he will be hung. 
I believe that John Proctor was both a stooge and a hero. He was a dynamic character who changed throughout the story.