Blog Reflection..

I really enjoyed the Mark Twain quote blog that we had to do this semester. I love quotes so I enjoyed looking quotes up and just seeing the cool quotes. Plus it was really easy because it was just a reflection of what we thought about that quote. Sometimes I really enjoyed doing the blog because it was interesting to find out more information on the subject that we were talking about that week, but sometimes I didnt like the blogs because it was just one more thing I had to remember to do and it was just a hassle. I definately think that the sophomores should do the blog next year, because it really does show you that the things that we learn in english really do have to do with other things going on in the world. My three favorite books this year were: the scarlet letter
great gatsby
having our say
I didnt like All Quiet On The Western Front, i thought it was really boring and just not my style or type of story that I enjoy reading.

Words to live by!

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
— Mark Twain
This quote is a quote I have always liked and have tried to live by. You dont ever want to look back and wish that you had done something that you hadn't. You have to live life to the fullest and do things that you know you want to in your life because you never know when you will be gone. I feel like teenagers have the most oppurtunity to do things because you really do not have a sole responsibilty besides school, mom and dad take care of you. I hope that in my life i strive to do whatever I would like to do, because I never want to look back and say I wish I would have done this or that. "shoot for the moon and land on the stars"

Stephen Crane

"Yes, I have a thousand tongues"

Yes, I have a thousand tongues,
And nine and ninety-nine lie.
Though I strive to use the one,
It will make no melody at my will,
But is dead in my mouth.

I really like this poem because Crane is saying how easy it is now for people to lie, rather than speak the truth. He is saying that once people get caught up in a lie or lies it is hard for them to find the truth and thus their tongue is dead in their mouth. There is still  a little part in everyone that knows the truth and wants to speak it but once we get caught up in lying all the time it is hard for people to go back. The main reason i chose this poem was because I completely agree with it. Humankind hardly tells the truth now and would rather lie than confront the truth.

Civil Rights

http://www.gpc.edu/~heritage/ThomasEricStoryProject.htm
This story is all about how the african americans didnt get treated right and could never truely get ahead no matter what they did. Uncle Holman's dream was to be an Airmen in the Army, he studied and studied for that entrance exam. When they told him that he passed the exam he was ecastic, but there was one small problem, he was African American. They told Uncle Holman that there were no Negro flights, so he could not be an airman no matter how well of a flyer he was. The army would allow him to fight hand to hand combat, but not air combat, if he could not fight his way he would not fight at all. This is the type of story that makes me think about civil rights, and about how all the African Americans wanted to do was provid for their family and attempt to fulfill their dreams. Uncle Holman was in reach of his life long dream, when the dream was torn away from him because of something that he could not change.

Middle Passage

This picture says a lot in very few words. It is a slave in chains and below him says "am i not a man and a brother?" Which are very strong words the slaves on the boats were not treated like men they were treated like animals. They were all packed in with little food and no cleanliness at all. The slaves did not understand why they were treated like this because they knew they were men and brothers and sons and some fathers. The slaves could not ask this question though because they knew that horrible things would be done to them if they did question their owners or masters. I think that this picture says it all how the men on the boats felt on their journey over here.

My Say!

There are a lot of things that i believe could be improved on in this world. I think that everyone here should be treated equally no matter what you look like, how smart you are, or what your skin color is. That will never truly happen in our world but it can always be something that as people we should work on. I absolutely hate when black people are looked down upon or prejudged as bad, or as if they arent going to make it in life, the reason i hate it is because I do have mixed little brothers and if people prejudged them as that I would be mad because thats not how they are. They have goals for their life and are already working towards what they want in life. I just believe that we should not prejudge people, yes if after you know them and think that they are not hardworking then thats your opinion and everyone is entitled to have their opinion, but before you know the person, it is not worth saying something about them that may not be true.

Childhood Memories.

The field-sprouts of Fourth-month and Fifth-month became part of
him,
Winter-grain sprouts and those of the light-yellow corn, and the
esculent roots of the garden,
And the apple-trees cover'd with blossoms and the fruit afterward,
and wood-berries, and the commonest weeds by the road,
This part of the poem i relate to myself in a strange way. I grew up in Nebraska and i was always playing in my grandparents yard surrounded by corn and plants. This part of the poem just makes me think about all those great times at my grandparents house. My grandma had a huge garden and i used to love playing in the garden with my grandma. As ive gotten older ive realized all those times have really become a part of me and the person that i am today. As i would ride my bike down the road surrounded by tress and plants i realized that all that would be what i wanted to surround everyone i love with and hopefully someday my children, because those things in life are really what makes people happy and makes me happy.