On The Rez

In "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian", Junior spends his entire life on a rez, or an Indian reservation. On the rez, Junior is belittled, bullied but very intelligent. He lives a poor life on the rez, and dreams of getting away to become something bigger, but his mindset on the rez is that it's really hard to grow out of poverty, and he's right. His only consolation on the res is his best friend, Rowdy, and his drawing. Once Junior enters high school, he begins to realize how he can't get out of his current situation if he continues to stay on the rez. With the guidance of his geometry teacher, Junior transfers to a school outside of the rez, which is predominantly white. Junior is discriminated against at first, bullied, but he is still not intellectually challenged. If anything, Junior is at the top of his level in this school and it's helping him gain hope. In the end, junior becomes their basketball star and is popular in his school. He's one step closer to growing out of the hopelessness he was born into,

Fortunately for me, I don't really have a place that I would consider my "rez". The only place I can think of that comes close to the rez is my old middle school (6th, 7th, and 8th grade). My school was entirely Mexican, with little spots of Black and white here and there. I was never challenged in that school, and I didn't consider myself socially active. The main thing about this school and it's occupants that remind of the rez is the lack of hope. Most of my classmates and friends didn't think they could get into good high schools, they didn't think they could amount to something more than they were. In fact, most of them never tried. Most chose the easier route of joining gangs, doing drugs and going to the neighborhood high school. This high school was the go to place for everyone who didn't want to try. My parents went to this high school, and they both decided that I would not go there. They didn't want me to become limited in knowledge and opportunities. From the seventh grade, I knew I didn't want to follow my friends to this high school, even though it would've been an easy four years. Middle school can't  really compare to life on the rez, but the students who attended my middle school had the same mindset as those on the rez. Only some found their way out of this system.

Native sons

Richard Wright's Native Son is a story about a young man, Bigger Thomas, who faces the death penalty under the charges of the rape and murder of Mary Dalton. Looking at Bigger Thomas and his actions, I see a selfish, idiotic and irresponsible man who has no care for what his actions before he performs them.  After looking at his situation more thouroughly, I see that there is something larger to blame for Bigger's actions. Like Max, Bigger's lawyer, I see the society in which Bigger was conceived played a huge part in his actions. Bigger was born in a world in which he will be restricted and oppressed because of the color of his skin. He is born to be subject to the hate of others who see him as an animal. "Everytime he comes into contact with us, he kills! It is a physiological and psychological reaction, embedded in his being."(pg. 400) How can a human become something more than he is if everything he learns tells him he cannot and he should not? Bigger was not a human in the eyes of his society, he was black. Now, on to the matter of his crime, I believe he deserved the hghest punishment, in this case it was the death penalty. He committed the crime, and he tried to make money off of it. He is not innocent,and deserves to be punishment but this situation should serve as an example of what the views of society can cause. Bigger is the product of his society, but still acted on his own accord.

“Our first impressions are generated by our experiences and our environment, which means that we can change our first impressions . . . by changing the experiences that comprise those impressions.” 
-Malcolm Gladwell 

Principles

Every human being, however bad, has principles. They can be small principles or big principles. Some common principles include never to kill, steal and never to lie. Once someone starts to read Cormac McCarthy's The Road, they begin to question whether or not they would keep their principles, or what principles they would be able to keep. Personally, I would make sure to hold on to the principle to never harm another human being unless absolutely necessary. I believe a human being's life is the most valuable thing in the universe because it is impossible and therefore a miracle. Taking the life of another person is destroying potential in the universe. Holding this principle would be my main goal during an event like the one in the novel, and I wouldn't break it unless there was danger upon my friends or family.

Janie...

             "Their Eyes were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston features a black woman by the name of Janie Crawford. Like everyone else on this world, Janie has dreams and aspirations for her life that she will fight to achieve, like true love. These dreams were Janie's, but they didn't just pop into her head all of a sudden, they were given to her by the people who surrounded her during her life. Dreams are described as more of an inheritance then original in this story. As the story progresses, something is revealed to Janie, something that people never want revealed to them. She stops believing in these dreams and starts to see the truth of the world described by Hurston. "...his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men. Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget. The dream is the truth.Then they act and do things accordingly." (Their Eyes were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston) Janie begins to see things for what they are, never hoping for more, never dreaming for something different, staying comfortable. These are Janie's beliefs. 

            These beliefs seem to disappear once a nice guy rolls in promising intimacy and equality. These events with the men in her life can either be seen as contradictions to her beliefs, or the cause of them. Either way, I disagree with her beliefs. Hopes and dreams are tricksters, always seeming to allow us to catch up with them and then taking off, leaving only the presence of what was, and yet this is enough to motivate us to keep chasing them. Some of us may catch up, some of us will never come close. This is the truth, and it's not bad. If we did not dream, if we had no hopes for something greater in life, then life would not be worth living. Aspirations are not a weakness, they are the most beautiful things humanity has ever given to this world. 

           Janie has lost this sense, and she has reason to. I haven't finished the book yet, but my opinion at this time about Janie, if it had to be one word, would be Hypocrite. 

Thankful for Classmates

So it's Thanksgiving and since it is a day for thanks, I would like to say I'm thankful for having people I can call friends. Thankful that everyday I can see them and have conversations with them. I always find it awkward to be found in a situation where I'm not with a friend, which is why I'm thankful to have them in my English class. 

I'm thankful to have Juan and Jake as people I can communicate with in the classroom. It's always good to have people you know and I'm very thankful to have these two as friends because I know that whenever we discuss something in the classroom, it makes sense. They are both very intelligent people and it always brings me joy to talk them. Juan, thank you for always reminding me about needing to read a chapter the period before and Jake, thank you for helping me in algebra all last year. I'm very thankful for all my friends and I consider most of them my family.  

Ernest Hemingway...

      Ernest Hemingway was, and still is, one of the most influential American Writers in history. His writings revolutionized literature from the Victorian era, to what we now know to be the normal, but like every legendary writer, Hemingway had a complex and strange life. Hemingway, in his older years, was the face of what a man should be, which may have been compensating for his younger years, as his mother dressed him up like a girl for a while.

    Many view Hemingway as, to put it into lightest terms possible, a pig. He moved from woman to woman, typically seeing one while married with the other. I am not defending Hemingway when I say this, but he had a different mentality than others. Hemingway was a man who could not fathom the idea of being alone his entire life, so he was constantly married, but he also had other thirsts he needed quenched (honestly weirdest phrase I have ever written, forgive me).
 
    Like other writers, Hemingway's writings reflected his life, but the way Hemingway depicted these experiences was unlike any other. He wrote in a way that the common person could understand, and freed our minds to imagine any back story possible for different situations. "A Clean Well Lighted Place" shared Hemingway's thoughts on loneliness, which is mankind's greatest fear, to be alone in a place where it is impossible to live alone. Despite Hemingway's real life "monstrosities", it is important to remember only his writings and his influences, not the man. The greatest disappointment in life is to meet your hero...   

6 Six Word Stories

1. There's nothing here, so why bother?

2. They married, she died, he died.

3. Final Notice: Either pay, or leave

4. Move in ready apartment for rent

5. Sometimes bad things must be done. 

6. We were together, now I'm alone.