I am Thankful For...

One person in the class who I am thankful for is Sam Chu, because he wrote about me on his blog. But there are real reasons too. Like he said, we've known each other since freshman connection and we're in the same division, so I probably know him the best of anyone in the class. He's a smart guy, so he usually has ideas when we work in groups on questions and things like that. It's also just good to have a good friend around.

Someone else I'm thankul for is Jaleel (I don't know his last name). Jaleel is usually doing or saying something... intersesting. Like the time Mr. McCarthy asked him a question and Jaleel had his arms in his shirt and he said something about hot pockets. He also has good blogs which can be funny usually pretty random. But he's also smart when he wants to be, and his blogs reflect that too. There are so many more people and things who I am thankful for, but friends like these make school days better all the time.

I Am a Plow

So apparently I am a plow. Don't ask me how it happened, but here I am with my steel parts, peeling grass-green paint, and covered in dirt. During the summer the farmer used to take me out every day, starting at sunrise and working tirelessly for six or seven hours. By the end of the day I would be filthy and I could barely roll back to my shed. Now though, it's November and I have every day off until April. It's nice to take time off, but this shed is drafty and cold. I wish I would get more appreciation from the farmer for all the hard work I've done. Without me he would be nothing. Does he have seven metal arms that can dig through the soil at the perfect depth and impeccable spacing? I didn't think so. So now I'm just laying here all winter, taking a peek out of the far away window when I can, and waiting. Maybe the farmer will come and visit me sometime, or even bring me inside his house. We're friends right? Or maybe not. Now that I think about it it wouldn't be too bad to go back to work. So bored...

The (almost) Perfect Class

     English is usually one of my least favorite subjects, mostly the writing part, but so far this year I like my American Lit class. The journal entries that Mr. McCarthy starts every class with are always interesting and they make you think. Even though I usually don't write as much as people around me, because I'm a slow writer, it's still good practice. I think I've also learned to appreciate literature more; or at least try to. The blog topics are like the journals: they're interesting and make you think. By writing my blog and reading other peoples' blogs I learn interesting and useful things. For example in the modern slavery blog someone wrote about how some companies, like Nike, use cheap sweatshop labor. Because of this blog I can be aware of what I would really be supporting if I bought Nike products. Last, I really like independent reading days. I know that every thursday when I come into class I can just relax and read a book I'm interested in.
     One change for the class would be to make notes on the reading optional. Taking notes while reading makes it seem like more of a chore than it should be. It doesn't help me very much because I'm good at remembering what I read. Also, if I could just sit down and read, no notes, I think I could enjoy the book more.

Modern Slavery

   There are 27 million slaves in modern day, forced to work long hours, in bad conditions, receiving little food, and for no pay. Many are threatened and beaten. Most of them are found in India and Africa, but slaves exist all over the world, even though it is not legal anywhere. There are more slaves in the world now than there have been in any other time in human history. This is due to a few things: first of all, population has exploded recently, with most growth in developing countries. Second, due to rapid social and economic change, people have been displaced to urban areas, where they have no job security. Also, many corrupt governments allow illegal slavery to continue. Slaves today are cheap and available, costing about $90. On average, a slave in the American South in 1850 cost the equivalent of $40,000 in today’s money. Since they are so cheap, a slave who is sick, injured, or causes problems for the slave owner, they might be dumped or killed.
    Slavery is closer to home than you think. Cases of slavery and human trafficking have been found in more than 90 cities across the United States. Roseline Odine, who grew up in Cameroon, was 14 years old when she was offered to chance to go to school in the U.S. As you might guess, she didn't go to school at all, but was tricked into slavery. For 2 1/2 years she worked for 15 hours a day, in a suburban Washington DC home, for no pay. She was beaten and finally ran away. Rose is now free and has a family, but slavery is still a huge problem. It goes unnoticed or ignored too often, and nobody deserves to belong to someone else.

The House of the Seven Gables

     The House of the Seven Gables was not actually owned by the Pyncheon family, but it was built by Captain John Turner in 1668. When John Turner III lost the family fortune, the Ingersoll family bought the house. It's also known as the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion. Nathaniel Hawthorne used to visit his cousin, Susannah Ingersoll, who lived in the house. By Hawthorne's time, the house only had three gables. He was told stories of the old house, which originally did have seven gables, so those stories are what inspired his novels. Hawthorne's relatives were some of the first Puritan settlers in New England, and his great grandfather, John Hathorne, was a judge in the infamous witch trials. He had a sense of guilt for this, which gave a theme for many of his stories, like The House of the Seven Gables.
     The town of Salem itself was founded in 1629 on the site of an ancient Native American village by Puritan settlers, who had separated from the Church of England and seeked religious freedom. Most of the people involved in the Witch Trials lived in nearby Salem Village, which is now called Danvers, not in present day Salem. The Puritans followed a strict Christian lifestyle, but they still valued education. They founded the first college in America, and offered free education for kids for the first time in history. Certain Puritan qualities, like self-reliance, frugality, industry, and energy, gave them economic success and influenced modern social and economic life.

The Moment I Knew I Was An American

     I can't say there was a specific moment I realized I was an American. I was born here, so it's always been a part of my identity in some way. I don't think of myself as a stereotypical American though, which would be eating fast food, driving everywhere, going to malls, and things like that. I'm an American in that I have American ideas (equality, free speech, separation of church and state), and basically the only customs I know are American ones (whatever those are).
    I've always thought that it would be really cool to live in a foreign country, because I love to travel. I'm not sure where I would live, maybe a Spanish-speaking country because I'm learning it and I like it. But after thinking about it I realized that I would probably end up here anyway. That's not a bad thing, there are a lot of good places to live in the U.S., but this is just the place I know best. I guess that would be a moment when I realized I'm an American. If I lived in a foreign country it would be hard to adjust to their customs, but that would be part of what makes it interesting, and I would learn eventually. I could live there for a few years, but not to raise a family there. They would barely know any of their relatives. Basically, I'm an American because America is the place that has almost everything I know.

Us v. Them... Us and Them

      The main conflict in The Crucible stems from peoples' personal grudges towards another person or group. Some of the main ones are Abigail against Elizabeth Proctor and the Putnams against Rebecca Nurse and other landowners. It's hard to believe that anybody would go to such extremes like killing somebody just for personal gain. Some of them were planning on it from the start, like Abigail, and others realized they too could use the state of hysteria to their advantage, like the Putnams. The only reason people were able to get away with this was because everyone believed whatever the girls said. The judges thought that since witchcraft is only between the witch and the victim, they are the only two who can really testify. The accused witch, of course, will deny it, and the victim can say anything they want.
      Many conflicts, like a grudge, start on the personal level whether it's something between groups of friends or between countries. Conflicts on a smaller scale (hopefully) won't involve killing, but wars do. Some countries or groups of people might have ancient rivalries, the reasons forgotten, but those can escalate until both sides are fighting and making the other side, and themselves, suffer. I personally believe that there must be a better way to solve these problems.