The Tell-Tale Heart

In this short story, the narrator repeatedly states he (or she) is not mad. If someone continuously has to state they are not mad so they can persuade someone else to believe them, then that someone must be mad. The way the story is told, it appears as if the narrator is speaking to someone. It could be a judge, therapist, or just anyone. After reading, it is inferred that the narrator is not trusted into tell the truth of what is happening; maybe the narrator is imagining what happened, or it could have been a dream. It could be the narrator explaining to the judge what had happened, giving the judge a confession. Or telling a therapist, in hope for help and what to do to eliminate the sounds of the heartbeats. Maybe it could be the narrator telling a story about their past. Also, the narrator watched over the old man every night, but how does he have access to the old man’s chamber? When the police arrive the narrator shows them that the old man’s belongings are still there. The narrator can be the old man’s servant. However, I believe the narrator is creating an imaginary story of wanting to kill the man, but he doesn’t actually do it. The “Evil Eye” may be the old man always watching the narrator to make sure the narrator is getting his work done. The narrator may be tired of all this work, and being watched 24/7 so he just wants to get rid of the eye completely. 

I was in the living room, kneeling on the couch, looking out the window. All I could see was everything covered in a blanket of white fluff. I saw little white dots continuously falling from the sky, adding on to the layer of fluff outside my window. It was early in the morning, so no one was outside shoveling the white snow off the sidewalk and cars.

Christmas was coming soon, so many of the houses on my block were also covered with lights and decorations. If you could look through the windows of the other houses, you would see huge Christmas trees decorated with small ornaments  and lights. I envied my neighbors’ Christmas trees; I always wanted one, to decorate and to keep presents under them.

I walked back to my room, and climbed back into bed. During winters, I always sleep with an electric blanket so my bed is always toasty warm. I knew it would take at least an hour for my sister to wake up. She was the person who I hung out with the most; she was always around, after she came home from high school of course. But today was a Saturday; she was sleeping in since she never has the chance to. Once she wakes up, we would both eat breakfast together and of course eat the same thing. It would also take some time to persuade her to get on some warm clothes and go outside to play in the snow with me.

My next door neighbor, Erica, was my very first friend and I saw her almost every day. I met my next door neighbor when I was about three years old. We always did things together, make mud pies in the summer, play with dolls, go to the park, go swimming, and today I would wait for her to play in the snow.

Under me, I heard a door close; then shortly after, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Someone was in the kitchen looking through the cabinets. I jumped out of my warm bed, feeling the coldness slowly surrounding me. I walked to the kitchen and was quickly greeted with a “good morning.” I sat down at the kitchen table and saw a red box with a bottle of syrup accompanying it. --

Our December

This song/poem can possibly be interpreted about a relationship.  “December” usually refers to coldness or darkness. December could be the point of a relationship where things don’t turn out so well, and the two people break up. But he writes that our December will be littered with light, so it won’t be dark and things will be okay. Also, there may have been a breakup before because the writer keeps writing that “I see her walking to me.” The writer is letting her know that things will be okay and “our December will be sure to last.” 
lyrics:
I could see snow covered hills
You were walking
I was standing still
I could feel the cold on my face
And we were talking like always

And Iould touch snow covered leaves
And you were walking closer to me
And I could play you song out loud
We could sing it
Til the year runs out

I remember streets covered white
And I remember long tonight
Saidur December will be littered with lights
And I see her walking to me
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/t/thriving_ivory/our_december.html ]
Oh
We were holding our future in hand
And place to fly and a place to land
Now our December
Will be sure to last
I said there'll be no rush for the year to pass

I remember streets covered white
And I remember a long tonight
Said our December will be littered with lights
And I see her walking to me

I could see snow covered hills
And all at once my heart is still
And I see her walking to me

I remember streets covered white
And I remember a long tonight
Said our December will be littered with lights
And I see her walking to me

I remember streets covered white
And I remember a long tonight
Said our December will be littered with lights
And I see her walking to me
And I see her walking to me

On the Reservation

After watching smoke signals in class, I have a better idea and image of what the reservation is like. If the Indians aren’t happy living in the reservation, why can’t the Indians leave and move elsewhere? If it’s financial issues, can’t the Indians get a job somewhere? Getting a job is ultimately the best idea for Indians because they can save their profit and have a lot of money to make their homes better. However I believe Indians would be happier living in the reservation because they are more familiar with the surroundings and there aren’t people around to judge them and give them a hard time.

The idea of reservation does not seem as bad to me as it is described. Indians have an area where they can follow their own beliefs and keep their culture. It’s better to keep in touch with your roots instead of becoming a new person and forgetting about your past. I also think it’s good that the government gave them land (even though it’s crappy) instead of nothing. They gave Indians land where no one can take away from them (but the government should have given Indians more because they deserve it).

The reservation sort of reminds me of the suburbs. Just not as fancy and rich. 

prop·a·gan·da

  

[prop-uh-gan-duh]  

1. information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation,etc.

This past summer, my sister went to Palestine and Israel. She’s Jewish, and wanted to see for herself what life was like for Palestinians and Israelis. A couple months later, the FBI called her and tells her she is going to be subpoenaed (an order to go before a Grand Jury without a lawyer). The FBI is trying to investigate my sister to collect evidence that she supports terrorism just for going to Palestine. She didn’t go to the Grand Jury when she was supposed to, but if the FBI asks her again to go to the Grand Jury and she denies again, she can face jail time.

The US government says that Palestinians are “terrorists” so when my sister went there, they believe she must be supporting terrorism. Our government gives money to Israel and supports them; our government does not want Americans to speak out against Israel, travel in support of Palestine, and organizing in the US against Israel. If people (such as my sister) see for themselves the truth about Palestine and Israel, then the US cannot pretend that Palestinians are terrorists instead of victims of Israel.

These rumors about my sister supporting terrorism has caused some of her friends and family members to stop talking to her because they believe she is associated with people involved in terrorism. One of my sister’s “best friends” from high school did not even support my sister despite their long friendship they had shared. 

Since my sister has been subpoenaed, along with 22 others, there is still no evidence of material support of terrorism. Instead, my sister has had to defend herself publicly to educate Americans that her and the 22 others are not involved in this support of terrorism.

http://www.stopfbi.net/profile/sarah-smith

http://chtodelat.wordpress.com/2010/12/11/sarah-smith-i-am-being-subpoenaed-by-the-fbi/

Beat Street

Open Response:
The music is good, the dancing is good, the rapping is good, the movie is good.
This movie may not be modern, and catch people's attention compared to Step Up 3, but it was the base, or foundation of our dancing, rapping, and graffiti nowadays.
The scene at the train station, where the actors have a dance battle, the famous Michael Jackson took that idea and made it into something huge. The rapping is really amazing, it focuses on the problems they had, what was going on in their lives. Now its about women or sex and it has been changed for the mainstream. However, some graffiti that I see around the city is ugly, but the idea from the movie, to make something beautiful, to express meaning, has been developed. There are now murals around the city and paintings on the building walls. To see a  graffiti piece like in the movie would be amazing. The movie is filled with talent, but the people also loved to do what they did, which I think has been changed nowadays. Someone would stop doing their graffiti pieces because there is no profit for it, and find a job they do not like. People change their music style to become more popular and to make more money. In the movie, the actors didn't care about the money, it was what they loved to do, so they did it.

Hungry?

In the novel, Black Boy, Richard is constantly hungry. He's hungry for not only food, but attention, love, and knowledge. 
However, he is not the only one who is hungry. There are many kids who are literally hungry for food. Everyday, more than 16,000 children die from hunger related problems. When I went to India on vacation, there were many little kids in the street begging for some change to feed themselves, like what Richard did. There are also a lot of people hungry for attention. Some people are so hungry for attention, they want a spotlight on them at all times, and there are people who just want to be noticed, to have some appreciation. There are people who are hungry for knowledge, people who are curious. For instance, I feel like my dad is hungry for knowledge because he loves to read books about the world, history, books in Spanish, the boring stuff. He watches so many educational videos like dinosaurs, the universe, history of science, nature, Malcom X, etcc. Richard wanted to learn, hungry for the books to read, counting to a hundred endlessly. 
Richard isn't alone when it comes to hunger. Many kids are just like him, and every child should be (not hungry for food). I know I was. 

Reading Response (numero dos.)

The author describes how he grew up to be Mexican American, but then later became “Anglocized.” He says “As much as we may try to become part of the main stream, there will always be someone or some event that will remind us of who we are and where we came from; it is usually just enough to cause most of us to stop and remember our heritage.”

I grew up to be Asian American, even though I’m half white/Anglo Saxon. I ate Chinese food, celebrated Chinese traditions; my first language was even Chinese. I’ve been with my other white family, but it doesn’t make me whiter or become “anglocized.” It actually makes me feel more Chinese than I already am. I’m not embarrassed for who I am, so I don’t plan on trying to lose my past, my language, or traditions. I’m American, Asian American, whichever, I’m perfectly fine with it.

I think this author sees Mexican American and American as two different things. Main stream was just Americans. But to me, Americans are American citizens or people born in America. Not the different ways we look, or act. I think for people to be just called Americans is for them to be a descendent from Europe (so white people).

This brings me to a quote from American Dreamer. “Why is it that hyphenation is imposed only on nonwhite Americans?”  Whenever I go on vacation, people always ask my dad “what are you?” My dad of course says “American.” However, when they talk to my mother, they always say “are you Chinese…where from Asia are you from?” She is Chinese, but she’s also an American citizen. So what exactly is an American? I was never really sure. 

King Still King?

There’s one day a year where people take off one day of work or school for the birth of Martin Luther King. Kids look forward to it because they get a day off of school, but is King’s hard work relevant to our present day society?

I say yes; King is still king.

Without him, Obama certainly wouldn’t be the president, schools wouldn’t be mixed with different ethnicities, people couldn’t sit where ever they wanted on a bus, and we would still have different water fountains. King proved that huge changes can be made without the use of a gun. However, I think we should view this day with more value, to realize how much has changed since he lived. In the far future, I believe this day will simply just be a day off, not to recognize someone for their hard work, or even to realize that King changed America. Maybe Americans will be so caught up in the new technology to even look at the small print on their calendars that says “Martin Luther King Jr. Day.” But King is still inspirational to many people and should always be. 

Reading Response

Children of the Sea

This short story was one of the best things I've read in class so far, and I wish it could've been longer than it was.  I liked it for a couple reasons, and one was that it was so real. People do not usually read about things that happened in the short story, like having to throw yourself overboard, or a group of soldiers raping a young teenager. People do not talk about the awful things that happen to people, and it was interesting when we did for class. I also liked the short story because it was like letters for the other person so the reader could understand both sides of what’s going on. 

There was a Child went Forth

I’m not saying this poem/story wasn’t good, but I didn’t like reading it. I don’t like many poems, like the poems that you have to focus on extremely hard on, or the poems that are filled with complicated words that you’re just too lazy to look up for every one of them. I know that’s what you’re supposed to do in school, that’s the point of reading the poem, but I don’t enjoy it. It took me forever to focus and actually pay attention to actually read it. But after I read it, it was pretty good. I liked how the poet went in detail about the child’s childhood and what the child grew up with, and how it became a part of the child as it grew up.

If I were to chose between the two stories, I would choose to read Children of the Sea.