Janie

Janie is the main character in the book "The Eyes Were Watching God", and the story revolves around her and her desire to make her dreams come true. Among those dreams is the hope to find true love and be respected but many factors play against Janie and her dreams. The fact that she is African America and lives in the 1920's a time period where women were no more than trophies that men showcased and marriages were arranged so that the people getting married would have some sort of financial or social boost.

Janie does follow this stereotype in the beginning of her life thanks to the persuasion of her grandmother and married Logan Killicks. Janie did not love Logan but she assumed she would in time. After her impatience ran out, Janie ran off with Joe Starks who help fund an all African American community. Joe was very sexist and treated Janie like someone who is just a tool for him. For 20 years Janie was married to Joe and was subject to his discrimination and lack of love or interest for her. After an incident where Joe tried to make fun of her because of little mistake he made, she snapped at him. Shortly after Janie found out that Joe was going to die because of a kidney disease and decided to speak her mind to him before he died.

I believe that Janie is a woman who is blinded by her dreams, and while she may be determined her faith in thing that she hopes come true is what her weakness is. Janie still believes that she will find true love, shown by the way she acts head-over-heals for Tea Cake, whom she meets months after Joe's death. The fact that she hid her feeling of frustration and anger from the way that Joe ignored her shows that she hoped that something might change for the better, the assumption that she would fall in love with Logan after she married him are all examples of her blidspot.

Thanks To A Classmate

Thank you Erick Thonpson for your intelligence, for your open kindness, your ability to speak you mind, your interpretations and stories. Also you are a good friend and an awesome classmate. I hope to work more with you and that you do not lose your individuality.

Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway is considered one of the greatest authors of the 20th century. He has won a Novel Prize for Literature and has written many critically acclaimed novels and a collection of short stories.
Hemingway was born in what today is Oak Park Illinois, and had a rough childhood, from being dressed as a girl by his mother and a strict father. Hemingway served in World War I and was a correspondent during World War II. His stories are filled with deeper meanings that makes the reader think about what he is reading to clearly get the ideas behind Hemingway's writings, he also writes without sugar coding and is more often than not he has a very strong masculine voice in his stories.

Many people criticize Hemingway in the basis that he makes up stories and is very dereogative towards women, but I believe that Hemingway is clearly on the position to use stereotypes. Many of us believe that stereotypes are too much broad and can describe everyone, which is true, but Hemingway is known for writing nothing but the truth so if he describes a woman character as: weak, annoying, controlling, or even girlish is because that was his perception of that specific character. I believe that after all Hemingway went through his life, his writings were the things that helped him get away from his problems and sort of enter his own mini-universe, which seem to have worked as he has written some of the greatest novels.

Six-word Novels

-Born a twin; graduated only child.

-Strangers. Friends. Best friends. Lovers. Strangers.

-Doctor finished his text: "...love you."

-Home run. Catch. eBay auction. Rich.

-Best friends. Some beers. New lovers.

-Fungus from the forest. Visions. Journeys.

John Proctor Hero Or Stooge?

During the Salem witch trials of 1692 many innocent people were accused of witchcraft and some were even hanged. Among one of these innocent people was John Proctor, a respected man of Salem. He was arrested on the sudden exclamation of his name as a servant of the devil by Mary Warren. His wife, Elizabeth Proctor, was also accused by Abigail but unlike her husband she was given pardon because she had two boys and was expecting another baby.

The only way that Proctor could save his life was to confess to practicing witchcraft. If he did not he would be hanged. Although confessing seems the like the sensible thing to do, admitting to witchcraft on Salem on 1692 is not the wisest thing to do. Even though John Proctor would not be hanged his reputation and his family name would be destroyed, his family and himself would not be able to go anywhere without being judged or mobbed.

All of this is on Proctor's mind as he is given a last chance to confess, and with his wife's words, he admits to witchery and signs a confession. As he is about to return it to the minister, he begs that they would not tarnish his name by posting that confession on the church's door. When the minister tells him that its not possible to let him live without announcing that he practiced witchcraft, John Proctor rips the confession and is next hanged.

By choosing death, John Proctor actually gave his family a chance to live. Also this reveals much about the character of Proctor, he would not lie just to save his skin, he would rather die for the truth than live by the lie, so to say that John Proctor is a stooge, a person who serves merely to support or assist others by doing unpleasant work is simply unreasonable. John Proctor was a hero who died for his family, and for what he  believed in.

There Goes The Neighborhood

I had just returned from the hunting session, today had been a good day, we had shot down a deer and caught three rabbits. But we were only one group of hunters, and the rest of the tribe had caught some good prizes too, we would all be eating good tonight.

I come into the settlement, I notice some strange men talking to the tribe leader. They are wearing strange things, one thing covers their feet all the way from their hips to their ankles. They also don't have toes, instead there is a type of leather covering their feet. They have something on their heads, so it seems that they have a long head. They had pale, white skin, and they spoke in a weird language, but it seemed that our chief understood them and talked back in a strange language too.

These men came everyday, and we traded cotton for some things we had never seen, a thing that covered their heads also covered ours too. We were also wearing what they call "pants". They are warm and I don't get scratches all over my legs. My feet are also protected by the leather material they call "shoes". I can now walk for so much longer, and run without the bottom of my feet hurting. They also give us strange objects that cut people, also they have devices that create fire. We wondered if they were gods.

These white men start to stay in our village, and they teach us their language, bring us "clothes" to put on our backs, and magic artifacts that create light, fire, and that make things seem closer. They are vicious, all they want to eat is meat, they have no consideration for any other living creature, but they keep telling us that there are enough animals to go around.

They speak of a god different from ours, they only have one. I refuse to believe in their beliefs. Our sun and earth gods have given us everything, I refuse to leave them behind, others believe them and join them, bunch of unfaithful weaklings. They also carry "guns" and we have witnessed how easily they can kill, so we are also frightened. 

"Me"

9.4.14
        My name is Jonnathan Cuji, I was born in Equador on the 15 of march, 1999. I lived there for about a year then moved to Mexico, where I spent about eight more years before coming to the United States on late August, 2009. I started on fifth grade at Hibbard Elementary school, then moved to Beaubien for the rest of my elementary studies.
        I got invited to go to Whitney Young, Taft, Lincoln Park, and Rickover for high-school. I chose Whitney because it was easier for me to get to the school and I believed I would really be challenged by the school, which hasn't disappointed me. Apart from my academic goals, I like sports. I recently joined the football team, and plan on running Track during spring. My goals are to get a scholarship to college, and get into a good college so that I could continue my studies.
        My personal heroes or idols are Michael Jordan, because even tough he got kicked out of his basketball team, he still found the determination to become on of the greatest basketball players. Martin Luther King Jr., because he fought for something he believed in and never gave up; and Derrick Rose because even though he faced a lot of bumps on his road, he ignored the critics and just practiced and got better.