So I really wanted to get my feelings out so I decided to write on my blog cause that's what a blog is for (I think).
  I am getting really upset with the Library system here in town. They have cut back hours, raised fines, and doing a lot of absurd things. For instance, a few weeks ago my dad, older sister, and I went to the library to find a good movie to watch that night. The library ladies told us that we could no longer renew movies online or by phone and we could only renew books once and we could do that by phone, online, or coming in. What really ticks me off is that we took our movies back and renewed our books. But we have now been fined for not returning our books. I know we renewed the books but we're getting fined for not returning them. This city needs to do a whole lot more in the money saving department because I will not go to the library anymore as long as the city won't fund them. I'm actually kind of glad my English teacher made us do blogs so I could get my feelings out.

Blog Evaluation

So this is my last blog for school. I'm kind of sad this is the last one because that means I am closer to being a senior. SCARY!!!!! I enjoyed blogging, I liked some assignments over others but it was fun. I think my favorite blog was the 1920s music playlist. I love music from that era so the assignment was easy for me. One of my least favorite blogs was the Voki blog. One reason was because it was difficult to figure out and then it didn't turn out the way I had been hoping it would. I tried to put my best effort into my blogs but when I forgot to do some, I would write a paragraph and then move on to the next, not even really thinking about what I wrote. Doing these blogs helped teach me to be more responsible for my homework. The blogs weren't written on the assignment board because there was one every week. I forgot though that we had a blog to do that week and forget about it the next couple of weeks until I looked at my grades and wondered why I had F's. This was good though because in college I'm told that the teachers don't remind us of homework. I'm not sure if I will shut down my blog or continue blogging after this year. I definitely recommend that the juniors next year have a blogging experience. Thanks so much Mrs. Williams!!

1920s Play list

I found this blog topic very interesting because I love this kind of music. The music of this era was very carefree, happy -go- lucky, and upbeat.

1) "Toot Toot Tootsie" - Al Jolson This song reminds me of how hard it was for Gatsby to say goodbye to Daisy as he left for the Great War. The song tells of a man who gets on his train at least seven times before getting of to kiss his sweetheart. Daisy may not have been at the trainstation to see Gatsby off, but I bet Gatsby sure felt like getting off that train and going back to Daisy.

2) "Rhapsody in Blue" - George Gershwin One of my all time favorite composers in George Gershwin. This song kind of tells the life of Gatsby almost. At the beginning the song is somewhat downtrodden here and there a little bit of excitment. That is when Gatsby was growing up. In the middle of the song, it goes off into this jazz melody and is upbeat and hectic. This reminds me of Gatsby meeting Daisy and going of to war. After that there's a hesitant part where I think Gatsby has realized he has lost Daisy and is very sad and somewhat "Blue". Then Gatsby decides he will get back Daisy. This is told by the music becoming very resolute and somber. Then the music gets crazy and hectic again. This would be Gatsby's great parties and chasing after Daisy. At the end of the song there is a big buildup and then the song ends. The buildup is when Daisy drives the car, kills Myrtle, Tom lying to Mr. Wilson, and then finally at the end, Mr. Wilson kills Gatsby.

3) "When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin' Along" - Al Jolson This song describes the senitments of the younger people in the Roaring Twenties. It says live, love, laugh, and be happy and throw your cares away. This is shown in "The Great Gatsby" in several instances. One would be when Myrtle and Tom bought a dog on the street but then didn't think of how they were going to care for it when they were not at the apartment. Another instance would be the parties at Gatsby's house. The people there didn't care how late they stayed or the consequences of partying all the time like that would be. They lived in the moment and didn't have a care in the world. My favorite word to describe this would "Happy-go-lucky."

4) "Puttin' on the Ritz" - Irving Berlin  This song tells of the mentality of the 1920s. The song tells people to dress up and spend all their money on clothes so they can brush shoulders with the elite. People in the 1920s wanted to become famous and rich. This is what Gatsby, Nick, Myrtle, and Daisy did. They tried to become part of the elite class by varying methods. Gatsby inherited the money, Nick went to work for his money, Myrtle became Tom's lover, and Daisy married into money. But having money won't always mean you're one of the elite. The actual people of the 1920s tried to become elite like the characters in "The Great Gatsby" but they were only playing parts.

Stephen Crane Poetry

Stephen Crane - The ocean said to me once

The ocean said to me once, "Look! Yonder on the shore Is a woman, weeping. I have watched her. Go you and tell her this -- Her lover I have laid In cool green hall. There is wealth of golden sand And pillars, coral-red; Two white fish stand guard at his bier. "Tell her this And more -- That the king of the seas Weeps too, old, helpless man. The bustling fates Heap his hands with corpses Until he stands like a child With a surplus of toys." I liked how Stephen Crane personifies the ocean in this poem. I like how the ocean tells him totell this woman that the sea has "buried" her lover. The picture of the lover's final resting place at the bottom of the ocean sounds so beautiful. Then in the second stanza he goes to say that the corpses are the toys of the "king of the seas". The last stanza sort of ruins the beautiful picture of the lover's grave saying that he is just a toy.

Mark Twain Quotes

I found many Mark Twain quotes that I really liked. Here are two that I really liked.

   "A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read." I like this quote because I was brought up in a family that loved to read and cherished books. I love to read and cannot understand why some people never read books but just watch the movies based off of the books or just read magazine articles and nothing else. Reading opens one's mind to new adventures and ways of thinking. I someone can't read he can always learn if he has the resources, the person who won't read will never learn anything new unlike the person who can't read.
    "Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand." I like this quote because using a quote from Mary Poppins, "I love to laugh!" And from the movie of Pride and Prejudice "A family trait..." My family also loves to laugh. My dad's dad was a great storyteller and comedian. My grandpa used to say that laughing was medicine. He had an entire filing cabinet dedicated to jokes. When my whole family gets together, laughter can always be heard about a mile away. (I read the book of Pride and Prejudice before watching the movie :))

Civil Rights Movement

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/25/us/politics/25race.html?pagewanted=1&ref=civilrights

I found this article about how some people from the black community think that Obama's presidency could be a great risk to the Civil Rights Movement. They say that electing Obama as president could mean to some black people that the civil rights movement has been won. By just having a black president does not mean the civil rights movement has been won for all people. There is still injustice and electing Obama as president is just one of the numerous steps to truly winning the civil rights movement. They have to keep working hard to win this battle for civil rights. James Baldwin told his nephew to never give and to not believe what white people or anybody said. Bessie and Sadie foretold of a black president, true they said it would be a woman but they were close. Black people like Obama help to win the civil rights movement because they have succeeded beyond what some white people thought they could do.

A Walk Through Harlem

Bessie and Hap's dentist office was at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 135th Street. This is very near to James Weldon Johnson's home. James Weldon Johnson grew up in Florida and became a lawyer. He moved to Harlem to practice law. While in Harlem, he became the executive director of the NAACP for 11 years. He became a famous author of many books as well as writing over 200 songs. James Weldon Johnson was a patient of Bessie's and gave her an autographed copy of one of his newly published books of poetry. Bessie and Sadie's apartment in 1926 was at 219 West 121st Street. This is near to the Mount Olivet Baptist Church. Bessie and Sadie probably walked past this church  but most likely never went in because they were Episcopalian. In 1919, Bessie and Sadie were living at 2505 Seventh Avenue at the corner of 145th Street with their siblings. This apartment was about six blocks away from Striver's Row which, in 1919, became home to many wealthy African Americans. Madam C.J. Walker's Beauty Salon was located at 108 West 136th Street, about a block away from Bessie's dental office. The Delany sisters probably never bought any of Madam Walker's hair products for African American women because they liked their hair. They most likely heard of it often after Madam Walker died in 1919 and the salon became a safe place for artists and writers.

Expressions in Art by Tom Feelings

This painting by Tom Feeling shows how horribly slaves were treated on the trip across the Atlantic Ocean. The slaves were beaten and as it portrays in the painting, some were even hung. This reminded me of when Bessie was almost lynched at the train station for speaking to a white man in a "disrespectful" manner. It hurts to look at pictures and and read about how horrible some people could treat others who are just like them in such a way. It makes me almost as mad as when someone says they don't believe in God. Something that is so commendable is how the slaves and then after the war the free African Americans kept their faith even when all these bad things were happening to them. Just like Sadie and Bessie kept their faith even when they were put in bad situations.

Having My Say

I was watching the news a while ago and saw that the Illinois Senate is trying to pass a bill that forces all non-public school students to register with the state. This bill would exclude students in private schools so the only people this bill would affect  would be homeschooled students. The reasoning behind this bill is that the state would be able to keep tabs on all students, especially students of families who are having trouble. Thing is, this bill would cost the state a lot more money than it has. I can tell that this bill was proposed by people who have never been in contact with a homeschooled child. For families to homeschool their children, they need to have the money to do so. The bill is set up to help children whose families are "falling through the cracks" because the senators think those kids are being homeschooled. Those children are already being sent to public schools to get free education and a free meal. Being a former homeschooler, I am a big advocate of parents teaching their children at home. Not everyone is capable to teach their kids at home and it's only parents who want to have an integral part in their children's education that take the initiative to homeschool their kids.

There Was a Child Went Forth

This poem reminds me of how we are all created by God and everyone and everything will turn to dust when we die. Before we die though, we need to look at the world, the plants, animals, and people as precious beings that are connected to each other by the life God has given us. God has chosen people to look after the vegetation and animals on this earth and suddenly that connects me to God's creation. I have to really become the plant or animal or person to understand more fully how I am able to help them. Sometimes the connection lasts for only a few seconds, like with insects or spiders, but relationships with people last forever so we can help them. That is what this poem said to me.

THE GRASS  by Emily Dickinson
The grass so little has to do, --
A sphere of simple green,
With only butterflies to brood,
And bees to entertain,

And stir all day to pretty tunes
The breezes fetch along,
And hold the sunshine in its lap
And bow to everything;

And thread the dews all night, like pearls,
And make itself so fine, --
A duchess were too common
For such a noticing.

And even when it dies, to pass
In odors so divine,
As lowly spices gone to sleep,
Or amulets of pine.

And then to dwell in sovereign barns,
And dream the days away, --
The grass so little has to do,
I wish I were the hay!

 

   The first stanza talks about how the grass doesn't do much except for entertain the bees and the butterflies.
   Stanza two talks about how as the breezes ripple the grass it creates a musical melody.
   Stanza three talks bout how beautiful the grass looks when it is heavy laden with dew. Royalty is not imaginative enough to realize the beauty of the grass bedecked with pearls of dew.
   Stanza four talks about the grass dying. When grass dies it gives of a heavenly perfume.
   Stanza five talks about how when the grass dies, it goes into a "sovereign barn" (grass heaven) where the grass gets to dream all the time and not work, Dickinson wishes she could be grass or hay so she could write poems all day and not do any work.

Transcendental and Antitranscendental

I personally like to read transcendental literature. I think I like reading this set of writing because I love nature and I prefer happy endings to ones where people die or something bizarre happens to them. One of my favorite transcendental authors is Ralph Waldo Emerson. Almost everything he writes hits home with me. In "Nature", I like how Emerson says that "Nature always wears the colors of the spirit". I come from an outdoors type of family and we all love being outside and I have found that quote is very true. When I am sad I run outside and sit in my backyard feeling the sun on me and it makes me happy. I can read antitranscendental literature but it takes me forever to get through it because it brings me down. I also enjoyed the excerpt of "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau. His observation skills are excellent which makes reading descriptions more fun. Thoreau also said many things that again hit home with me. Although I do not think I would be able to get through the entire book of "Walden" because he is a very deep thinker, a few excerpts here and there are very enjoyable.