Who I am Thankful for in 5th Period English II

I am thankful for being in the class with all my wonderful peers. I love listening to class discussions and having respectful debates over disagreements. Every student in 5th period English is a great ethic with a lot of potential and it makes me happy knowing everyone has a different, open minded perspective on any topic we are presented with. I am thankful that we can all speak our minds and share thoughts and stuff whenever we interpret a piece while still being attentive and taking others opinions under consideration. I dont know, I think its pretty cool. Happy Thanksgiving.

I Celebrate Myself

To celebrate yourself, you must accept the way you are. You must accept that you are you and no one else can change that but you. In today's society, I rarely see people celebrate themselves and it honestly makes me sad. Nowadays, everyone is a subject to conformity and people forget who they really are. Everyone is different, but people don't seem to understand that. They do things to be like others, and end up losing themselves in the process. Everyone is unique and they should be grateful for what they have.
 I celebrate myself because I am different. I do what I choose to do. I do what makes me a better person. I don't see the point in trying to be like someone else or imitating what others do. I appreciate what I have in life, although sometimes things aren't that bright. They could be worse, but they're not. An individual should make decisions that make benefits to themselves as well as others. That's what makes each and every one of us special. We have the ability to make choose between what is right and what is wrong. We have our own opinions that make us even more special. We have the freedom to think for ourselves, too. So why do people celebrate the same people? Why do people like being the same? I honestly do not know but what I would to see in this society is people being more appreciative for what they have as well as what they can acquire. I want to see more people make their own decisions in their own life instead of being controlled by others.

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe's life was pretty odd to me. I haven't read any of his literature that wasn't in the textbook, but I like his writing. It is very different than other writers because his writing was very suspenseful and mysterious. I did a quick google search to learn more about him, and I learned that before his early death at 40 years old, he was very poor, yet he still published short stories and wrote for magazines. What was really odd to me was the fact that at the age of 27, he married his 13 year-old cousin and also outlived her. Two years before her death, Poe wrote The Raven, a poem that went viral in newspapers. This poem was Poe's most famous work, and it became a bigger success after Poe's acquaintance, Rufus Griswald, wrote an obituary, attacking and accusing Edgar Allan Poe of being a bad person. He wanted revenge on Poe after he wrote negative things about his work and thought that his obituary would make the public forget about Poe, but it only drove sales of Poe's work higher than ever. I would like to read more of his work because I like his gothic-themed writing and how he makes the setting very spooky.

What is an American?

A·mer·i·can

  [uh-mer-i-kuhn]  Show IPA

adjective

1.

of or pertaining to the United States of America or its inhabitants: an American citizen.

2.

of or pertaining to North or South America; of the Western Hemisphere: the American continents.

3.

of or pertaining to the aboriginal Indians of North and South America, usually excluding the Eskimos,regarded as being of Asian ancestry and marked generally by reddish to brownish skin, black hair,dark eyes, and prominent cheekbones.

noun

4.

a citizen of the United States of America.

5.

a native or inhabitant of the Western Hemisphere.

6.

an Indian of North or South America.

7.

American English.

8.

a steam locomotive having a four-wheeled front truck, four driving wheels, and no rear 

truck.

This definition came from dictionary.com, and it formally defines American. I agree with the second definition. I think American can mean a variety of things, but to me, it means someone that inhabits the land of America. That includes North and South America. I think everyone in these continents can be considered American, technically. Within that name, there are more cultures and societies that name themselves different, depending where they live. For example, someone from Canada is Canadian. But in a more broad perspective, they are American too. No matter where someone lives, as long as its North or South America, they are considered American because they share the land that was named "America".

But if you really narrow it down, the inhabitants of the United States of America are called Americans because United Statesan sounds odd. But I could be wrong. So I guess American is our "name tag" to others, since our country is the United States of America and we live in North America. 

"American | Define American at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com - Free Online English Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2013. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/american?s=t>.

The Modern Puritan

     When I asked myself who would be the modern puritan, the first thing that popped into my head was the Westboro Baptist Church. They exaggerate some parts of The Bible and are sometimes considered a hate group. Compared to puritans, they are also closed minded and are against difference and diversity. They are a group of people who are devoted to cause offence by saying hateful things based on a few things from The Bible. Puritans also follow things straight from The Bible and would probably be best friends with these guys if they were still around today. 

     The Westboro Baptist Church is run by a family of Christian lawyers that believe that God hates our society's sin and will bring punishment because of it. What this group of people does is considered a hate crime to some because they picket at the funerals of militants and protest against homosexuals. Most Christians agree that they are a group of very, very cruel people for virtually no reason. They negate some lines of The Bible while taking some lines and making them into extreme motives to do hateful things to others. All in all, The Westboro Baptist Church is a group of spiteful people that are now forbidden to protest within 300 feet of military funerals and are banned from entering Canada and the United Kingdom.

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, there is a character named John Proctor. He is part of the community in Salem, Massachusetts, but lives outside the town. He isn't fond of the towns reverend, Parris, and because of this, he doesn't go to church often. He has an affair with Parris's niece, Abigail Williams. After Abigail sparks controversy in the town, John is the one that must expose the truth. I think John Proctor was a hero because although he committed adultery, he did the right thing in the end by exposing Abigail Williams about her lies. Before admitting his adultery and paying the consequence of being hung, John Proctor did things his own way. He was different and didn't agree with Parris's views of damnation and his way of other things. Because of this, he didn't become indulged in the conflict until necessary. This makes him a hero because in the end, he did what was right when he had the chance.

  

"Arrivals... There Goes the Neighborhood"

If there were a new neighbor or a new group of people who I've never met, I would most likely be welcoming to them. If they started to take over and maybe change the environment, I would very much intervene. When the explorers came to the New World, they were hostile and not friendly as the natives were to them. Columbus came and planned to conquer and "govern them as I please". In my honest opinion, that was not the right thing to do. I think the explorers should have been grateful that they were being welcomed to the foreign land. Instead, Columbus enslaved some and was only on the quest for gold. 

Anyways, if I were an explorer searching for new land, I would not be greedy. I don't see myself as a greedy person. I do, however, see Columbus as one. I would treat the natives how they treat me. If they gave us gifts of some sort, I would return the favor. I want them to trust me, as well as me trusting them. There was an enormous culture difference between the natives and explorers, and if I were leading them, I would respect such differences. They live their own lives the way they want to and we live ours. If an argument of some sort were to arise, i would make it as peaceful as possible. We can all be friendly neighbors if we put greed aside and listen to our differences to make a compromise. Since Columbus was sent to look for gold and spices, I would humbly ask the natives if they can trade or even give us what we search. If not, we can maybe find a substitution for these material things. He also went to convert them. I wouldn't have done that. They have their own cultural differences and I think people should respect that. To each their own.

Me

Hello reader, my name is Alejandro M. Lopez-Reyes. Most people call me Alex for short. I was born on July 9th, 1998 in San Antonio, Texas. I lived there for the first three months of my life until my family and I moved to Chicago. I have never had a blog before, so this is very new to me, especially since it is a school assignment. It is currently 11:34 pm and I am working on this as an assignment I forgot to do. If I can describe myself in one word, it would probably be determined. I think I am determined because I set standards for myself and I put all my effort to exceed those standards. Anyways, I aspire to graduate university and potentially become a psychologist because I like helping others and finding solutions to problems. I have three brothers, two being a set of twins, almost three months old, and the other, a current senior in high school. My parents set high expectations of me and I believe that with the right amount of effort, I can achieve such expectations. I have no idea what else to write about, since my life is not as exciting as I wish it were. I have a tortoise as a roommate. I listen to music while I do homework. I like movies. My favorite color is green. I like fruits. I have a fear of roaches. I play volleyball and soccer. I hope to learn more about blogging so I wont feel like I'm giving a bored vibe. Good night, reader.