Thankful

I think that this post is pretty important because I think sometimes people forget to thank or acknowledge those who are really important within the school community.  Given this prompt, I automatically thought of my best friend/classmate Emily.  Without her I don't know how I would function.  She always makes me focus and stay organized (even though my notebook can become sort of a mess).  And she is always there to answer late night texts about homework or any problem I have.  She is a great editor, thinker, and friend.  Always has tons of ideas and analysis, even though to some she is a little quiet.  She isn't just a classmate but a friend outside of that.  She makes me stay on course and really brings out some of the best qualities in me.  I wouldn't mind listening to her about her talking about her weekend, or obsessing over Harry potter, for hours because I know she would do the same for me.

Emily, thank you so much.  I really hope you know how important and amazing you are not just to me, but to everyone.

And to everyone: Happy Thanksgiving!

Celebrate Myself

I think that the purpose of this blog post is to make you reflect what kind of person you are and how you go about life.  For example, Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman all talk about this idea of going back to nature and reconnecting with all of it.  To be able to live off the land, so to speak. Which I agree with, I have been able to reconnect with nature, but not to the extreme that Christopher McCandless (from Into the Wild) took it to be.  I have taken some long camping trips with friends at places like Isle Royal national park, or the porcupine mountains. And when you go on these trips you loose this connection to the outer world.  You create this new schedule, waking up and sleeping with the rising and setting of the sun.  And in some ways I wish I could stay at these places because you tend to worry less, and there is something rewarding, like these authors say, to interact with the harsh yet beautiful nature that is around us.
But then I also acknowledge how I live when I'm back home, but what I find interesting is that it is not much different then when I'm surrounded by nature.  I think that I am naturally determined and attentive.  Which I guess I can celebrate.  I am always very determined whether it is doing better in my classes, or finally getting to my campsite after hiking twelve miles.  And I have noticed that I'm also pretty observant if it be that a storm is coming in so we better start walking quicker, or that my friend is having a hard time with something in his/her life.
And that last point is something that is really important to me.  I think that while I'm defined by who I want to be, I'm also very aware of the people around me.  Relationships are really important to me, and I try my best to take care of them.

Poe

I think it is interesting looking at an authors past because there are definitely moments and reasons that affect everyones writing.  I don't research authors usually but I think it is important to do so for Edgar Allen Poe.  And while reading his biography, I came to the conclusion that he had a pretty rough life.  He lost his parents, his foster mom, and his wife.  As well as his fiance left him, his foster dad excluded him, and he basically lived in poverty.
But what's cool is that Poe doesn't hide these things in his writing you can easily see the correlation of these events to what he writes about.  For example, there is his work of "Ligeria" which explains loosing someone that you love.  Which was probably based off of his experience with his wife.
And I think it was these losses he faced that maybe transformed him into a Romantic-style author.  I think because he faced so much misery that he didn’t feel guilty questioning his surroundings and what had happened to him.  From what we talked about in class, in The Raven he is questioning what really happens when we die.  If there is a underworld, a Heaven and Hell, or if there is simply nothing.  He definitely uses the 5 I’s in his writing.  And I think it is a combination of this and the somberness of his writing that make it so interesting.

What is an American?

            In some ways I’m not that strict in what I believe qualifies someone as being an American.  I feel that they probably should live/ or have lived here for some time.  But also going back to what we were talking about in class a few days ago, I think being an American means that you can decide where you are from.  Some people like to forget where they came from because it was such a horrible place or for other reasons.  Like how Crevecoeur (Letters from an American Farmer) illustrates how the early emigrants received no care or respect in their previous countries, so were they really their homes?  However, it is interesting that Crevecoeur writes this way since he was actually born into a wealthy French family.  This shows that many people said America was their home, even if they didn’t have a bad experience in their previous country.  But I also believe that it can be the other way as well.  I don’t think it is bad to say “I’m Russian, Polish, Irish etc.”  As an American you can make that decision.  And I feel people say these things because either they have strong connections/traditions with the place they are “from”, or because they are hoping that they will meet others like them.  I think it is no secret that people like to be around people who are like them.  Then you have things in common.  And lets not forget that many times in American history, people grouped (and still group) other people by where they are originally from.  For example during the late 1800s/early 1900s there were always the well known signs in shop windows saying “NO IRISH NEED APPLY”.  For so long people have been grouped by where they were originally from, and maybe that has just stuck.  

Modern Puritan

            When I think about comparing the Puritans to a modern day society today, I think about the characteristics of the puritan society.  Form literature like the Crucible and the Scarlet Letter, I understand that the people that made up those communities could be harsh and judgmental.  And when I think of a community that has these same characteristics, I can’t help but thinking about High School. Schools can be somewhat unforgiving if you make a mistake.  There are definitely zero-tolerance rules that they have.  And depending on the mistake you make it could affect your future.  You could be expelled and have to go to a different school, and already have a bad reputation.  And from there it can really affect what happens later on.  And just because of one stupid mistake. 

            And it is not just the administrators, but sometimes (most times) the worst part can be the other students.  And I’m fortunate that this hasn’t happened to me, but some kids can be very mean to others.  Even if they never even talk to the other person.  There can always be gossip and rumors, leading to student feeling like an outcast.  Which is basically what happened to Hester in the Scarlet Letter.  And it is not just the gossip but also how long your mistake can last.  Sometimes it seems as if it never leaves, it always follows where you go.  People start to judge you on the mistake that you made and look at you as if you are a different person. 

            I don’t like that this is the case today, and hopefully schools will make an effort so this doesn’t continue. 

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

            John Proctor is a very interesting character.  And I don’t like to categorize him as either a hero or a stooge, since I believe he is in the story to somewhat represent an ordinary man.  A normal man can have heroic moments as well as ones that he is ashamed of.   Obviously John is embarrassed about what happened with Abigail.  And also maybe a little uneasy about questioning his religion.  He is at a time of his life where he is trying to make up for that.  He becomes more faithful to his wife and also becomes sort of a representative for some of the people in the town.  I think this helps paint him as a hero.  And I think if I had to say if he was a hero or stooge that he would be more of a hero.  And I think the biggest reason is because he was honest until he died.  I think part of what makes a hero is that even if they make mistakes they learn from them.  And I think that Proctor realized that lying always messed things up, and not just for him but also for the people around him.  So when he was faced with either lying and staying alive or being honest and dying for it, he chose what was right.  I think at the end of the play it is clear that John wants to be judged not by his religion but by his character. 

Arrivals...There Goes the Neighborhood

            I find the clash between the Native Americans and Explorers interesting since it is a pattern that keeps on occurring in our history.  I believe that it shows some of the worst attributes of the human race: arrogance, ignorance, and stubbornness.  These traits are what prevent progress, especially between groups of people.  Right from the beginning, the explorers that came had this idea that they would be able to convert the Natives and rule over them.  They thought that they were “saving” them.  From Columbus’ journals we see that he was expecting to easily control the land and the people.  He didn’t even consider that they might disagree.  Then once they got there they realized these people weren’t willing to change their beliefs.  They also don’t respect the Natives’ religions.  They are ignorant, and not willing to cooperate with them.  In the memoir of John Smith, it is obvious that he thinks that he is better than, what he calls, the “savages”.  I also noticed how in his story he gives a lot of detail of the customs he goes through when he is captured, and I believe this is because he’s never heard/seen them before.  He didn’t know any part of the culture of his neighbors.  Besides the arrogance, and ignorance of the explorers, I believe it was their stubbornness that prevented them from actually trying to work with the Native Americans.  It wasn’t until Bradford’s memoir that we hear about this agreement with the Indians.  I believe this is because it was a long time between when Smith got here and when Bradford did.  And in that time, the Europeans and Native Americans started to cooperate more.
            There isn’t really any primary evidence on how the Natives felt or reacted, but I believe that they felt like they were being invaded and forced to change.  This is the biggest part of the disagreement.  It was about land, and resources but it was about beliefs, and who was “right”.  And even though the Indians were being taken over, they probably were also at fault.  They probably were also ignorant and stubborn.  To have a conflict, two parties must resist each other. 

Me

     Hi my name is Isabel and I am a student at Whitney Young High School taking American Literature (English II) this year.  To know me, I guess we must start from the beginning. 

     I was born on July 2^nd 20 minutes before my twin brother Aaron (and I never let him forget it).  From then on we have been best friends.  Also I have a great role model for an older sister whose name is Clara.  Along with our parents and Portuguese water dog, we live on the north side of Chicago 6 blocks away from Wrigley Field.  We can even hear the crowd roar if we have the back door open.

     This year I am a sophomore, which means I survived freshman year.  I came from a small public elementary school, and I was really excited for a big change.  I loved last year, and hope this year will be the same. After school, I am also involved with Math Team, and take some occasional dance classes.  I don’t really play sports, but I love to watch them.  My dad is always taking my brother and I to Cubs, Bulls, or sometimes if were lucky Blackhawk games.

     I am excited for what I will learn this year in all of my classes, and I look forward to writing more.