reflection

      This year took me by surprise and I am glad I took this course. I feel as if I was taught things that could help me in my life outside of school, whether it be writing a well developed essay or analyzing a picture. I've had to manage my time and face a change of teachers/ teaching styles, which has prepared me for future situations in school or outside of school. English seems like a redundant class to take for 10+ years, but this year I realized that I become more knowledgeable and skilled in all the areas of the course year after year. this year I feel as if my strength was writing, the synthesis essay was the easiest for me to write however I didn't enjoy the rhetorical analysis essay. I feel as if I was confident in the synthesis essay because there was something there to guide me and I had something to reference and keep me on topic and organized. also while I was in Mrs. Hagan's class, she took the synthesis binder very seriously and I feel as if that helped me become better with this essay as well. the rhetorical analysis on the other hand wasn't my favorite, I was in Mrs. Hagan's class when this was taught and I just felt as if I never had enough to write about or that I was very repetitive. now the part of English class I truly have never been a fan of, reading. I just have a hard time comprehending novels, especially ones that we are told to read. however the one book I seriously think Ive fully read cover to cover was The Things They Carried. for some reason that book struck my interest and I was able to read and finish it completely. I would even read ahead, I had never never never done that before. now on the other hand, I don't think I could list out all the other novels we have read this year because I didn't enjoy them. maybe it wasn't the novels that were so bad, but the lesson that followed (I was in Mrs. Hagan's for all the others). because I have to say you can make a short story or the novel we are reading more interesting and put it into a different perspective or explain it in a way we understand. i would like you to know that i was sad to leave Mrs Hagan's because she was such a sweet teacher and i enjoyed her class (sometimes) but i have really enjoyed your class, your lessons and teaching styles and glad i got to be apart of your class

the things i carry

          In the fiction novel The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien describes 5 things the men carry. carry is a verb with multiple meanings and interpretations. like the men in the novel, I carry 5 things with me at all times as well, a physical item, goals, relationships, personality and memories.

          the physical item I have with me at all times would be my phone. my phone is special and important to me because I look at it as much more than just a phone. I can use it for just about anything, games, communication, research, pictures, math, shopping, etc. I use it everyday and although many say they are ruining our generation, I disagree because I use it as a helpful tool in school, I'm able to communicate with my friends and family here or in other countries, and it captures all my big events. without my phone I think id be fine if I never knew what it was like with one. but in reality if I was without it I would just feel disconnected from the world, I would feel like I had no way to capture the moment nor research important things. my phone is something I carry with me at all times.

         I carry a goal with me at all times and it influences me daily. my goal is to be a successful student, wife and have a happy healthy family. the goal is little short term goals that in the end create my long term goal. at this point in time my goal is to do well in school and make good grades so that I get into a good college. this goal provides me guidance because it keeps me on track and helps remind me and encourage me to continue to do well in school because I know my long term goal is to be successful and have a family.

         I carry a relationship with me everyday that helps me  get through my life. My mom is an inspiration to me and everyday i look up to her and learn from her.  Shes important to me because she is my mom of course, but she works so hard for all that she does for our family and is always there for us and supports me every step of the way. If I'm struggling she is the person to help me out and can ease my pain. Also if i ever am mad with my sister, she makes me realize how grateful i am considering her brother was an alcohol Everyday i learn something new from her and she impacts my life. My relationship with my mom grows everyday and i carry it every day.

        I carry my personality with me everyday. three adjectives to describe myself would be that I'm free-spirited, kind, and adventurous. I want to be a person with a  bubbly personality and to always make people smile and be helpful to anyone in need. I feel as if people that don't know me think I'm shy and studious, but I feel as if people that really know me think I'm funny, caring and independent. my personality has changed so much in the past years and I feel as if now I'm finally confident with it and It impacts my life everyday because it plays a role in how I go about things and what I do daily. I carry my personality with me everyday.

         I carry a memory with me everyday that helps me become less selfish.  to this day this memory  has an impact on me. it was about 10 years ago and around Christmas, my mom felt as if my sister and I were being very selfish and rude about the whole Christmas thing and we were ruining the spirit by being bratty about the gifts we "couldn't live without" my mom decided to take my sister and I on a little trip down to the third ward. We drove down the streets and witnessed all the families and people, they were not like my family and i then realized that there are people that have it way worse than i do and i should've been grateful that i even was getting anything for Christmas. This memory has impacted me since that day and i carry it with me everyday and it helps me to realize that I'm grateful for everything in my life and it helps me be less selfish.  I carry this memory with me everyday.

the "third" option

 

 

                As a child, figuring out if you agree and honor the culture of your parents or if you want to stray away from them and become your own is a hard decision. these two ideas are on both sides of the spectrum and its hard to say "i'm going to be my own identity and this is all wrong, and I don't agree" yet its hard to say "I honor my parents culture and I will live my whole life by it and be just like them." luckily, there is a "third" option, its simple. children can simply honor the culture of their parents, but break away from the parts that they don't agree on.

               My family is Greek, my parents and my grandparents are real involved in the Greek church and all of its parts, including the Greek festival, the retreats, the classes, the services, and the people. a couple years ago it just sempt weird that they seemed all into the religion and culture while around others but around the house it sempt as if they didn't even know what a Greek church was. I was into and liked everything about the church, except for the classes because of the seriousness and the way they questioned my faith. once a got into highschool I was introduced to YoungLife, a nondenominational organization that welcomes highschoolers wanting to start or continue their relationship with the lord. my parents looked at this as an awesome thing for me to be apart of, yet my grandparents thought it was "wrong" as well as my church. what my grandparents didn't realize is that this was just going to help me and my intentions weren't to just leave my Greek culture in the dust.
               To this day, i'm still involved with Greek activities as well as YoungLife activities. every year I am a part of the largest Greek festival in the U.S. which is at my church. I am still friends with all the people of the church, and I attend the services from time to time. since i've been involved with YoungLife I have a whole new look at life, I attended YL club every week, campaigners, weekend retreats, camps and this summer i'm going to a camp for 4 weeks to be a worker. i've grown so much and its been such an awesome experience, this is how I feel that I have been able to honor my families culture, yet break away and become my own as well.

My own haunted story

      Edgar Allen Poe has a crazy imagination and his stories keep readers interested and confused. If I were to create my own story I would definitely look at his stories to get ideas of some things he incorporates  to create  the extreme sense of horror.
        Five things that caught my eye in "the house of usher" that I would copy for my own would be an abundant use of imagery, having some sort of perverted situation, use of suspense, having a psychopath of course , and  symbolism. These five things are crucial when creating a horror story and that's why  I'd choose them.
        First of all  I'd use imagery to go deeper into events and characters and create a mood that keeps readers interested. I also would use some sort of perverted incident that  is  unusual so that it freaks out the readers and  makes them want to continue reading because of its unholiness. I'd use suspense to provoke intense feelings and use it when the most important events are about to happen. Id definitely have a psychopath to be causing ruckus and doing all the messed up things. Lastly id use symbolism to show a web of cause and effect and id use it because everything would be done for reasons and it would all connect and also creating more suspense.  Incorporating these into my story wouldn't make it as great as Poe's but they are needed to create a story like his.
        Although this is what Poe is know for,  I would do some things in my story differently. One thing would be to make the deaths more clear and go into depth on what happens to the people for them to die and  more in depth about what happens after. Id do this because in "the house of usher" it was confusing to me about what happened with Madeline when she died. The second thing id do would make a person do all the haunting.  Yes having the house do it is original and creates a more spooky mood there's nothing the people can do to keep themselves safe. Therefore it will end in disaster since one person could not destroy the hauntedness of the house. Those are the two things I would want to do differently when creating my story.

USA's obsession with finding faults in leaders

  

        

    From the 16th president to the president now, one thing has remained the same and that is the USA’s obsession with finding faults. In Lincoln's presidency the people of the US were obsessed with finding faults and eventually that led to him being assassinated. And still today, the people of the US are obsessed with finding faults in Obama. Who knows what the faults of Obama will lead to, but it’s evident that its hurting our nation. Damage can be seen through major division in the country, people revolting, and assassination threats.

         Lincoln was the 16th president of the USA and he was president in 1861, he was a republican. Back then the political parties had an abundance of opposition. The people of the USA were obsessed with finding faults, even in the 1800’s. Popular faults were aimed toward how he only cared about needs of the north, the succession of several states, and his plans for slavery. There was already evident and major division in the US at this time, but this only made it worse. People obviously revolted and planned many attacks on Lincoln. And because of the USA’s obsession with finding faults, it led him to get assassinated. This proves that the obsession the USA has harms the nation.

        

       Obama is currently the president of the USA and he also is the first African American president, who is a democrat. To this day the people of the USA are still obsessed with finding faults in our nations leaders. Popular faults are aimed towards his race, the way he handles issues, and his health care plan. This has caused harm to the nation by creating division, although that's inevitable because of our two-party system. The obsession with finding faults in Obama don't seem as if they will end in death but people have revolted and its evident that its hurt our nation. This issue seems as if it’ll never be solved.

        In conclusion, the USA’s obsession with finding faults in our leaders has hurt the nation, by causing divisions, riots, and deaths. This has been an issue since 1861, and to this day the same issue is occurring with same results following. It’s evident that this issue wont change, especially since we have a two-party system, their is always going to be people that disagree and that leads them to attack the character and find faults

Ichabod Crane and Blair Waldorf

                

       After reading “sleepy hollow” it was evident that Ichabod Crane was an anti-hero. His actions and characteristics resemble the ones of Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl. They are both anti-heros because of their extreme greed, envy, and pride.

       Ichabod Crane and Blair Waldorf are both greedy because they both focus on the things to help them and make them better, and they wont stop until they get what they want. they always want more. Ichabod is mad with the desire for wealth, power, and status. All he wants to be is rich, same as Blair. The way they both go about gaining wealth, power, and status is wrong and they both don't realize the damage they cause by acting like this. Their greed also gets them into troubles along the way when trying to get what they want.

        Envy is also a characteristic they share. Ichabod shows envy when trying to be as wealthy as Baltus. Although he could find other ways to get rich all he wants is to marry Baltus’ daughter. All because he envy's their wealth. Blair becomes the same way when a designer starts to become more popular than her company and she try's to destroy that company. That's the wrong thing to do because she could just improve her company but instead she wants to destroy someone else's because she envy's theirs.

         Ichabod and Blair are also very prideful. They both think and know that they are powerful and they take advantage of that when it comes to what they want. Although they have done bad things and people realize that, it doesn't go un noticed and that makes people talk about it more and all that does is increase their pride. Pride is always a good thing to have because it only makes you more confident, but these two people are very prideful of the wrong things and bad things they've done.