The Reservation

Living on the reservation was not easy for Junior nor his family because they lived in poverty and it kept them from achieving their dreams. Luckily for Junior, he understood what he had to do in order to create a better life for himself, and that was to go to Rearden. The Native Americans became angry and extremely envious at the fact that Junior now has the opportunity at Reardan to create a better life for himself. I couldn't easily compare my neighborhood to that of Juniors because I live in a very culturally diverse community. However, there is much debate over which  high schools are the "bad" schools and which are the "good." For example my neighborhood high schools would be considered Crane and Benito Juarez. Those schools aren't considered the good schools because hardly any kids graduate and it doesn't have as rigorous of a program that other schools offer their students. I feel like I'm in Juniors shoes. I could've chosen to take the easy route and go to either one of my neighborhood high schools but instead I decided to work hard to get into a prestigious school such as Whitney Young. 

Native Sons

"Native Son," a book written by Richard Wright is a story about a boy named Bigger Thomas who is shrouded with fear, shame, and anger. He faces many serious conflicts involving racism and social status. Bigger is African American living in the 1930's who begins working for the Dalton's, rich white family. His first day on the job he kills their daughter Mary and burns her remains. He acts as though nothing had happened and hints that Jan, Mary's Communist boyfriend, had killed her. He tells his girlfriend Bessie all about it and ends up raping her and kills her to keep her from telling the authorities about his plans and whereabouts. Bigger then gets caught and is sentenced to death. 

There were certain points in the book where I sympathize Bigger for his brave recovery. Bigger wasn't always able to contain himself around whites and always bad-mouthed them. I give him credit for respecting the fact that he's done wrong. He doesn't realize that his uncalled violent and childish acts affected others at the beginning of the book and at the end he sees how it impacts those closest to him and around him. I respect him for that. However, I still think he should be sentenced to death because he could've just told the truth to the Dalton's. Since it was an accident, Bigger's chances at being sentenced to death wouldn't have been so high. There would've been evidence to support his claim of smothering Mary, not raping her. I don't think the jury would've understood his motives behind killing her because Ms. Dalton walked into the room. The fact that he cut her head off and burned her remains made the situation worse. 

Bigger should've been the bigger person and told the truth from the start. He should've never involved Bessie because that only added to his troubles. Bigger got what he deserved and if a white person were to do this, they would've received the same punishment. I do feel like the jury made their decision based upon the racist stereotypes and labels that whites put on blacks at the time but they did make the right decision by sentencing him to death.

A Principle to Keep

A principle is a moral rule or belief that helps you make good and bad decisions. "It's a guiding sense of the requirements and obligations of right conduct." The benefit of being a "person of principles" is that if you are faced with a difficult decision in life, you will refer your guiding set of principles or principle for help. One principle that I would suggest people have is to treat others the way you want to be treated. Having this mindset will help you treat others with respect despite your feeling for that person and in every circumstance. Anyone would want to be treated justly and you wouldn't want to lied to. You'd probably want you're friends, family and companions to be loyal so don't give them a reason to betray you. You would want people to be considerate of your feelings and when you're down you want others to be compassionate. You want people to do these things as you would with them. But above all, you wouldn't want these people to just pretend to do these things, you would want them to be real and honest. It truly is remarkable to be able to be a person of your word, a person that goes beyond the level of kindness and generosity that others don't always have, and someone that remains open others.

Janie

Janie had always been the center of attention wherever she went. As a young girl she would never appear in school better dressed than another girl. Girls were always envious of her second-hand clothing and long- braided hair. She knew this, and with that she thought of herself as better than her schoolmates, and later, better than any other girl. Beginning in Chapter 10, Janie portrays herself as the woman on top. She grew tired of Joe, Nanny, and other such people defining who she was.

Logan Killicks and Joe Starks were men who failed to respect her and recognize Janie's special qualities as a wife. All throughout the story thus far, Janie aspires to find a better life for herself. Within the outwardly attractive woman named Janie Starks, she's a simpler woman living her life as best she can. However, all she wants is to love and to be loved.

Zora Neale Hurston became one of the most successful and significant African American writer of the first half of the 20th century. She was born in Notasulga, Alabama but later moved to Eatonville, Florida. In her writings, she never wrote about Alabama. Eatonville had always been her home.

In Eatonville, Zora was always surrounded by black achievement. Her father, John Hurston governed Eatonville. Everywhere she went she was surrounded by black townspeople. She would look to the porch of the village and see the black men and woman having deep conversations of "colorful, engaging stories." For the most part, Zora had a happy childhood, but she kept recalling of her frequent clashes with her preacher father and how he kills her spirit. However, Zora's mother always urged Zora and her seven siblings to "jump at de sun." Zora's mother died when she was only 13 years old. Since then she was forced to live her fathers dream. Her father remarried and she highly disliked her. SHe described him as "bare and bony of comfort and love." When she was 26, she still needed to finish school. She needed to pass as a teenager to qualify for free public schooling. She gave her age as 16 and her birth in 1901. Ever since then, she presented herself as 10 years younger than she was and she had the looks to pull it off.

Zora used Janie as her model to help walk the reader through her life experiences. Janie described her father with Joe and her mother as Nanny in "Their Eyes Were Watching God." Zora was a very beautiful woman even in her old age and was well known throughout Eatonville and her career.  

Thankful for...

Thankgiving- n. the act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors

I'm thankful for having the best seat in Mr. McCarthy's class. I get to sit amongst the 3 brightest girls in the class. I'm especially grateful for Gloria Oladipo. Although she can be a distraction at times, she's very insightful and one of the smartest girls I know. She inspires me to want to become a better writer and critical thinker. Gloria always has something to debate about, whether it be Mr. McCarthy's humorous remarks or book we're reading in class. During every group work and pair work, she guides the group and mentions some important details about the book. Even though half the time, she doesn't read. (Sorry Gloria. I love you Gloria). I'm thankful to have a friend like her.

P.S. You're dead to me, Gloria.

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway is a man who is truly considered one of the best if not the best American writers to have ever lived. His macho and aggressive attitude towards love, life and death substantially opened the eyes of people all around the world. He was a man consumed in literature since birth, a man who lived through many deaths, and a man that was born with a natural talent for writing. With that said, he was an honorary man who had been acknowledged for his legendary writing but he had a troubled life. 

Although today this would seem odd, Ernests' mother dressed him as a Victorian little girl as a young boy. The only time he had to dig into his masculinity was during camping trips he had with his father Ed Hemingway in Michigan. Unfortunately this affected his masculinity later in life and may be why there was some level of masculinity expressed in almost every one of his stories. His short story, " In Another Country" was inspired by his first encounter with war. In 1917, World War 1 called upon America's youth and Ernest was upon the first to enlist to fight the war in Europe. However he was rejected by the army for his defective vision so instead he chose to volunteer as a Red Cross ambulance driver in Italy. He later was injured while he was delivering chocolate to Italian soldiers on the frontline. He was taken to a hospital in Milan where he met his first love, Agnes. 

Throughout many events in Ernest's life he slowly discovered his true masculinity. One that stands out to many is his constant need to have a wife or mistresses in his back pocket. He had always been smitten by a women by her looks. He had a total of  4 wives but there were endless accounts of women he cared to be with. Also he had a constant attraction towards bullfighting in Pamplona. The first time he had travelled to Spain was with his wife Hadley. Despite her inability to watch the brutality of it all,  Ernest watched all the action in complete awe. The second time he travelled with a few of his colleagues. This obviously inspired his short story, "The Undefeated." His passion for big-game hunting on safari's in Africa, his devotion towards deep sea fishing in Cuba and Key West Florida and his alcoholism later in life also proved his masculinity. Although his alcoholism affected his mental and physical health. He drank a quart of whiskey per day and he had lost his ability to write a true paragraph. 

Ernest Hemingway inspired many writers and people all around the world by sharing his ideas and thoughts based on his experiences. But only his true influence led him to constant misery, loss, and depression. "A favorite expression of Hemingway's was to endure, one must last. Despite the controversy surrounding his attacks on his image Ernest Hemingway endures." He taught people "less is more." What was so extraordinary to me while watching the documentary was that he "found a way to incorporate enduring themes as a subject matter for his writing. Themes such as courage, grace under pressure and characters transformed by a challenge" are all unique themes that people will always cherish in Hemingway's writing.  

6 Words, 6 Stories

Once a child, always a child 

Sorry Helen; there's no light switch

Lucy size 2; gown Size 10

"6 million dead; R.I.Pain"

Lipstick stains; so does cheating  

"Fear not" -unknown; Written: 9/11