English 12A Blog

Definition Poem: HAPPINESS.

2008-06-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

Happiness is moving on to a new beginning,
A fresh start.
The beginning of my life.
Forget the pain, forget the strife.
Finding myself in new spaces.
Finding myself with old faces.
Across the country, pass the years.
My brothers home, gone the fear.
I saw my face on a snow-covered hill,
The sun, the wind, i'll have my fill;
Of happiness and the california sun
And I will have done it with the help from no one.

Prediction:

2008-05-18T15:56:00.000-07:00

I definitly think now that Winston is aware of Mr. Charrington's part in the thought police, he will do anything to protect Julia and his relationship by becoming very violent and eventually getting killed or killing people. But before Winstons death, I believe that he is going to convince the proles to revolt against the Party and make it a free place. After that has happened i think Julia will find another man to be with in this "free world" that reminds her of Winston. She will live through a feminine woman who wears makeup but will also live through Winston.

Playing the role of God.

2008-03-08T07:02:00.000-08:00

From a religious standpoint playing the role of God would be completely unacceptable, but to me it’s okay up until the capabilities of science reach a certain point. If we could eliminate the risk of deadly diseases why wouldn’t we? If we could eliminate the chance of having a mentally disabled child, why shouldn’t we? But where exactly should the line be drawn? I believe that couples should want to have a child because they want to nurture a life, and be the best parents that they can be, not because they want a blonde haired, blue eyed, bombshell.

Every parent’s worse nightmare is to have a handicapped child, whether it is mentally or physically. The heartache that is brought upon these parents must be unbearable, as well as the physical draining. When a patient is looking for an embryo they can screen them out for cancer risk, the risk of cystic fibrosis, and other diseases. Obviously it is a logical decision to make. Why implant a baby with a chance of developing a deadly disease? These embryos have a great chance of not even surviving inside the mom let alone outside. We might as well try our best to eliminate this risk from the very beginning.

Some people will argue that people donate more embryos then are being used and some believe that when the embryos are not used, they are discarded, which, in some peoples eyes is killing an innocent life, but is it really? At that point in time an embryo consists of nothing but cells, there is no heart beat, no eyes or ears- all of that comes once it is implanted into a woman. People cannot argue the killing of a life because there is not a 100% chance that each embryo will survive once implanted.

When a woman donates an embryo there is a process in which the donor fills out a “consent form.” This form is a written statement of what the donor wants to do with the embryos. Such as, if they were to die, ECT. So, as soon as the form is signed- it is up to no one but the donor to decide how the embryo, if unused, is handled.

Scientifically we are capable of a lot when it comes to “playing the role of God,” and some will tell you that these capabilities are around to stay. So who decides where the line is drawn. Allowing people to genetically create their own babies, according to eye color, hair color, intelligence, and sexual preference will only cause major problems in our society. Imagine if, our world came up with a “perfect child description,” not only would this create extreme competition but it would cause everyone in our world to be exactly the same. The extreme future of this is shown in the novel A Brave New World. Our world would become so structured and perfect and would also be extremely boring.

The line for genetically engineering children needs to be drawn. This world would be dull and dreary without the diversity or you and I. Screening out the risk of disease is acceptable, to prevent the suffering of young children and loving parents. But parents should want to be parents, to nurture a life, and to do it the best that they possibly can. I do not believe that people should even wish for a perfect looking child.

I Believe..

2008-02-14T07:58:00.000-08:00

I believe in love. I believe in life and death. I believe there’s a place above where our lost loved ones sit and watch over us. I also believe in missing someone forever.
Christmas is just a word and another date on the calendar to some people, but to me it’s a lot more than that. Christmas is family and quality time. This past Christmas will always stand out in my mind. Little did I know that it would be the last Christmas I'd ever get to spend with my Pop Pop, one of the most important men in my life.
To be quite honest, I was dreading going to my aunt and uncle’s that Christmas morning. My dad’s side of the family was so normal, and that was always a bore for me. My twin cousins were glued to the TV as usual; my aunt and uncle cooked and talked war with my brother. My grandma and her husband were always talking about World War II or Cessna Airplanes and how they missed theirs. But my Pop Pop was sitting at the dining room table soaking it all up. He was always so humble, yet the most stubborn man you’d ever meet. I walked over to him and leaned down to give him a kiss. He gently placed his hand on my face and gave me a loving kiss on the cheek. His hands always shook terribly, but that day they were worse than I’d ever seen or felt. I spent that whole Christmas morning with my Pop Pop at the dining room table talking about nothing of importance.
The next day was the hardest morning of my life. I woke up to a text message from my father that read: “Pop Pop went into surgery this morning; he has an aneurism near his kidney. Been in surgery for 8 hours already, I’ll let you know.” The gut feeling in my stomach instantly took over my whole entire body. I immediately knew the next couple of days were going to be far from enjoyable. And I was right, my Pop Pop passed away that afternoon. There was nothing the doctors could do to save him.
The wake and funeral were two of the toughest days for me, saying goodbye was not something I was looking forward to doing. After shedding many tears, I began to see my Pop Pops death in a whole new light. I knew he would be looking down on me. And that idea in itself brought comfort to my heart. Even after he is gone, I have faith in my Pop Pop that he looks over my brother and me day in, and day out and keeps us safe. I believe that one day, I’ll be by his side, looking down on the people that I love. I believe in love, I believe in life and death, I believe my Pop Pop looks down on me from a place up above.

How to learn to snowboard with enduring the least amount of pain!

2008-01-18T18:27:00.000-08:00

For any of you that have tried snowboarding you know that it is one of the most frustrating sports. When you were sliding on your butt down half the mountain I know you regreted your desire to learn . Im going to take you back to that first day and teach you things you wished you knew before hitting the slopes. These steps will help you to have a good time and to be able to get out of bed the next morning, if you made it that far.

GOOD CONDITIONS/ SMALL CROWDS:
First off, the most vital part of this day is going to have to be good conditions. If youre learning to ride at Mountain Creek, the nearest mountain to Sussex, you might want to found out if its a solid sheet of ice (which it usually is); if so, re think your desire or go and immediatly buy a bottle of asprin. Which you might need later anyway. Make sure you dont go in the middle of the afternoon on a saturday. That is the worst time to try and learn to snowboard. By that time there will be a ton of inner city kids thinking they can bomb the hill without hitting anything. And your likely to be the one getting hit. Try and avoid crowded areas and popular trails, if you do not avoid these areas, your chances of killing or being killed are very very great.

PROTECTION AND OUTERWEAR:
You might be called a Tourist or a goon ( even though your not) but I would suggest showing up in full protection gear. I mean, helmet, butt pads, knee pads, elbow pads, anything that you can find to prevent less pain for the next day. Also you need to wear the basics. You will want to wear a couple layers of shirts and thermals underneath a heavy winter jacket. (Try not to bundle up so much that you look like the boy in "A Christmas Story", your going to need to move.) Youre also going to need gloves and a hat. And goggles or a pair of sunglasses to protect your eyes if you just so happen to go off the trail into the woods where there are many branches ready to impail your eyes. And obviously your going to need a snowboard. You need it to be the right size, if its too big your going to have a hard time steering yourself away from large objects. Your snowboard when up against you should reach just below your chin.

GETTING ON AND OFF THE LIFT:
Most people have no prior knowledge to how a chairlift works. A chair lift is an uncomfortable chair that lifts you mechanically to the top of the mountain. And might just be one of the most dangerous areas that cannot be avoided. Getting on will seem like a peice of cake if you have any common sense but unloading is the tricky part. You will most likely be on the chairlift with atleast 3 other people who also are not very fond of the lift. Your main objective here is to fall. You can try and stay balanced while riding with one foot strapped in, but chances are its more graceful when you are expecting impact. Falling will cause extreme inconvience to others on the lift waiting to unload because now you have caused a traffic jam as the lift stops and allows you time to struggle to your feet and get to a safe place where you can sit and complain to your friend all the reasons the chair and the other people on the chairlift made you fall. You will get better with this as time goes on.

FRIENDS WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR:
When I was first learning to ride I was absoulty terrible. I didnt even know the difference between the front and back of my snowboard, resulting in riding in multiple directions. That is not good. Make sure you are being taught by a friend with a sense of humor and extreme amounts of patience and one who really does know how to snowboard. After many many attempts of getting up and trying to ride down the hill your going to need someone to laugh because you certaintly wont be.

IMPORTANT STEPS OF MAKING IT DOWN THE MOUNTAIN ALIVE:
Well make sure your friend is close by you at all times because if you need direction as your spinning wildly down the hill you know you can always look at them as they are laughing at you. Also you know their close by so that when your fall finally comes they will be there to help you up and continue to laugh at you. Before hitting the mountain make sure you urge them that you want to learn how to stop FIRST; before learning anything about your toe edge and heel edge. Believe me, you wont get that far by the first day.

SURVIVAL:
If you made it this far you should be extremely proud of yourself and thankful if your friend is still by your side, and still laughing. Be sure to take your bruises and ice burn with pride and show it off the next day in school and tell everyone how good you are at snowboarding, clearly lieing. Most importantly, remember that asprin you bought at the begging of the day? Well I suggest taking atleast three, going straight home and going to bed. Try not to cry when you wake up in the morning, and your not able to get up out of bed. Use all your strength to get up, put on all those layers and protection gear and go do it all over again until you get better and better. Have love and passion for the sport and most importantly have fun.

response to "The Importance of the Work"

2007-12-31T08:39:00.000-08:00

You know, i find it extremely funny that they can compare a book like The Catcher In The Rye to The American Heritage Dictionary. Yes Holden curses, but doesnt everyone? Poeple are too caught up in the terrible meaning behind the word then the actually context in which Holden uses the word. They add emphisis and make the statement bolder. Holden does just say "F you" for the hell of it. It shows loss innocence on the school walls and this dissapoints him.

"Salinger's novel, of course, was important for much more than the certain words that the self appointed guardians of the public morality fuss over." page 12

On page 13 the author describes how Salinger cannot be held responsible for the misreadings of his novel. This statement is so true. Who are we to say that Holden is the character that Salinger really wanted to portray to us and that we dont have the completly wrong idea of him?

OBJECT ASSINGMENT

2007-12-06T06:18:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered about what goes on behind closed doors with people that you are surrounded by everyday? There is so much more to every person besides the way that they present themselves. By looking at me you probably wouldn’t be able to tell that I’m extremely adventurous and spontaneous. I am daring and passionate. Snowboarding for me is all of these things. It absolutely consumes my life in the winter and it is my escape from everyday troubles. When I am snowboarding, I feel free and sincerely content. I’m not exactly sure what it is about snowboarding that makes me so attracted to it. It might be the second family that I ride with, or the freezing cold breeze hitting me in the face making me feel alive, or the feeling of flying down a hill with no intentions of ever stopping or maybe it’s the way the snow makes everything in the world shine so much brighter, putting a permanent smile on my face. Nothing can infuriate me when I am snowboarding; I am numb to every negative aspect of my life.
Snowboarding is not an easy sport, and most people easily give up on it. I haven’t though and I don’t plan on giving it up until my legs can no longer swiftly carve my board down the mountain. I am determined to be the best I can be at snowboarding but I would like to have the most fun getting to that point. You can count on snowboarding to not be an average sport; it is overflowing with adventure and spontaneity which keeps me hanging on.
Just by taking a look at my snowboard, it immediately screams bold. It is bright and fun, vibrant and obnoxious. It has rainbows and skulls which represent the extreme moods that I can be in. It will jump out at you when in a crowd of others, just like me. The white bindings of my snowboard keep me stable. They represent all the constancy in my life, like my friends and family. The underside of my snowboard is covered in scrapes and gouges which stand for all the hard times I’ve gone through that have impacted me and caused me to be the person I am today.

this assignment is late..

2007-11-24T15:57:00.001-08:00

Ishmael Beah the author of a Long Way Gone, was born in Sierra Leone in 1980. He moved to the U.S. in 1998 where in NYC he finished his last two years of high school at the United Nations International School. He then moved to become a 2004 graduate of Oberlin College. Before all these positive things came to him Ishmael had to struggle to survive everyday during the Sierra Leone War. This is a story of loss and redemption. He went from an orphan boy solider to an interactive difference to this world; going so far as to speak for the UN on many occasions. This is a story of rehabilitation. These children were drug addicted killing machines, but were able to re enter the world of civil society.
The themes of this story include the effects of war. Ishmael was forced to kill or be killed for a large portion of his life, living everyday in fear. When he was transferred to a rehabilitation home, all the boys from opposite sides of the war were forced to live in the same room. The boys even said they think they can’t put us in the same room and expect us not to still have our killing habits. They couldn’t change in one day; this is all they were used to.
Loss was something that came everyday to the children of the Sierra Leone War. There was not one person involved didn’t feel the loss at some point in their childhoods. They were forced to live by themselves and abandoned their homes after the enemy killed their families when their villages were invaded.
Every person at some point in his or her lives has over come an obstacle. These children have overcome so many obstacles during this war that is unimaginable to those of us who haven’t been through it. Amazingly most of these children have been able to move on with their lives and become normal citizens, some even of the U.S. Lucky enough there was help provided to them to provide safe havens and a person to talk to in order to recover.
This uplifting memoir includes excitement to a deep disappointment in a matter of paragraphs, constantly keeping the reader on their toes in order to get the point of the memoir across. This memoir will make you cry and laugh at the same time. It is moving novel in which you learn true appreciation for the roof above your head and the parents that tuck you in at night.
The voice in this memoir includes child as well as adult voices, occasionally flashing back to NYC to Ishmaels present life. The style of riding keeps you on your toes wondering constantly what the outcome will be and how he saw the war from an adults view. This book made me appreciative. I didn’t even know about the Sierra Leone War until I read this memoir. And it truly made me feel sorry for all these children and what they were forced to survive through. I am proud of every single one of them that got their lives back on track and continue to live their lives as better people in a new world.

A Long Way Gone

2007-10-31T06:15:00.000-07:00

"Through our sunless lanes creeps poverty with her hungry eyes, and sin with his soddent face follows close behind her. Misery wakes us in the morning and shame sits with us at night"
--Oscar Wilde

A long Way Gone is a memoir of a young boy soilder, Ishmael, who exhibites all types of characteristics that of which include misery, shame, bravery, and fear. This quote applys to the life of a boy soldier in every aspect. There is no end to the negative feelings that flow through their bodies daily. They are with them when they lay their heads down to rest and the second their eyes open. Throughout this novel it is an ongoing struggle for his friends, family and himself especially to survive day to day tasks. To him everything is dim and depressing which is understandable during a time of war when he is very lonely. Now that he has been seperated from his brother and other friends, he no longer has the occasional smile from his older brother that kept his spirits up. His path seems never ending and there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for him. they are extremly hungry, they even goes so far as to steal ears of corn from a little boy walking through a village. They are desperate, and shameful of their actions but realize that it is survival of the fittest and its what needs to be done. Poverty of these young boys have forced them to become numb to what is right and wrong. They have learned that what they belive is right is right, and what is wrong to them is wrong. There is no one to tell them that their opinions are wrong except the rebels. Ishmael is awakened every single morning by the memories of horrific war stories that haunt him. He is miserable, it never ends. I can only imagine what living in constant fear can do to oneself. Misery is by his side, day in and day out, and at night he surrounded by shame. Shame of leaving his family, Shame for stealing, Shame for not returning to their hometown to look for their family. This is a burden on his shoulders, along with the fact that he has seen many innocent lives taken and has not been able to do anything about it but run and be somewhat of a coward, afraid for his own life.