Thankful

I am thankful for everyone in my 7th period English class, but since I have to be more specific, there is one person I have in mind. Ivy Ip. I met her this year in English for the first time. She has a loud personality - but in the good way, not the obnoxious way. She always seems happy when she walks into the class, and it kinda rubs off on everyone else. English class is more bearable because of some of the funny things she says. Ivy is an easy person to get along with, and she has a really cool wardrobe too. She is one of the people I am thankful for in my English class.

Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was a poet/writer born in 1809 in Boston. He has many famous poems like The Raven and The Fall of Ligea. He is known for writing spooky stories and he is credited with starting horror stories. The Raven, which he published in 1845, was probably his most famous poem. He died in Virginia in 1847, and the cause of his death was said to have been congestion of the brain, but people still argue that it could have been something else.
I have read poems and stories by Poe in the past and although I like the Raven, the Tell-Tale Heart is my favorite (if you haven't read it you should). It's about a man who kills an old man because his eye creeps him out, and then he chops up his body and hides it under the floor boards. The police come because they heard a scream, and the narrator tells them that it was him while he was sleeping, and that the old man is out of town. The narrator thinks he got away with it until he starts hearing the old man's heartbeat, which drives him crazy. He ends up testing up the floor and exposing his crime. The story is eerie and keeps you guessing what's going to happen next. I think that Poe its a great American figure, because he revolutionized literature. I like reading mysteries and horror stories, so I like a lot of Poe's stories.

I Celebrate Myself

When I think about celebrating myself, I think of celebrating who I am and what I have become. I know that it's totally cliche to say "I am proud of myself because I am my own person, and because I am confident in who I am" but it's true. In Song of Myself Whitman talks about how everyone is the same, or as he says it "For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you." This is true, we should think of everyone as equal but there should be something about you that makes you different.

"In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different." ~ Coco Channel

In the poem Song of Myself, Whitman talked about how when you die, life isn't over for you, which I also think is true. When I die I want to be remembered for something. Above is one of my favorite quotes about being different. It's basically saying that if you want to be known for something when you're gone,  then you have to make yourself known for something now. That is one of my philosophy's for life.

What is an American?

To me the definition of an American is anyone who is born in America or who is an American citizen. It doesn't matter where your parents came from or what race you are, you're still an American. Some people in this country seem to think that just because you may not have been born in this county, you aren't an American. I think that people categorize "American" because they want to either feel unique or make someone else feel different. Not necessarily different in a bad way, but like there is something that separates them from the rest of the American population. People label themselves as African-American or Irish-American because they want people to know where they or their ancestors came from. Although categorizing Americans is a way to represent us, it is also a way to divide us. Labeling people with their race or culture leads to stereotypes. It also depends on what people want to be seen as. In America you might want to label yourself as an African-American because we're all Americans and you want to be seen differently. In. Country other than America, you might want to be classified as just an American because that's what you want to be seen as. Basically the question is "What do you want people to view you as?" when deciding what you want to be labeled as.

Modern Day Puritan

A modern day Puritan group are the Amish. Members of the Amish must listen to the rules of the church, and live their daily lives by those rules too. Like Puritans, the Amish focus their lives on church and religion. The Amish and the Puritans have the same feelings towards those of the community who don't follow the rules. They shun them and then the person is excommunicated. While reading The Scarlet Letter, we saw how they shunned Hester for going against the church and committing adultery. 
There are also similarities in the technology and clothing of the Amish and Puritan communities. As transportation the Amish use horse and buggies instead of cars. Both the Amish and Puritans have dress plainly and uniformly.

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

After finishing reading The Crucible, I have made up my mind about the character John Proctor. I think that John Proctor was the hero of the story. He knew that something was wrong in that town as soon as everyone was turning on each other, crying witchery. John tried to stick to the truth when he was being interrogated, unlike most all of the others who lied from the start. Although he ended up lying in the end, he didn't run away from his problems, like Abigail did. When John "confessed", he didn't lie about anyone else in the town being associated with the devil like some of the others who were accused. It's understandable that he didn't want to sign the confession that was going to be hung on the church door fro everyone in the town to see. He already knew that he was being hanged for something that he didn't even do, so the only thing he had left as his own was his name. By signing the paper he felt as if he was giving away his name, along with his life.

To me, Abigail was the villain in this story. She started lying just to cover up her tracks, and that one lie spiraled into many more lies. Due her lies, many people unnecessarily died. Basically she is a murderer. If John had told Hale about his affair with Abigail earlier, then maybe  there would have been a different turnout. Also if Elizabeth would have told the truth about John's affair with Abigail then the play would have ended differently. Either way, I think that John Proctor would be the hero in this play. 

Arrivals...There Goes the Neighborhood

Many times throughout history, and even not that long ago (about 50+ years ago), people have been uninviting of newcomers in their neighborhoods. This disapproval may be because of religion, race, or due to having different cultures. People may not want these new arrivals in the neighborhood, because they feel that they don't belong. An example of this happening was in America in the 60's and 70's. When Blacks tried to move into certain neighborhoods or cities, they were either forced out, or Whites would flee to somewhere else. In The Crucible, which we are reading in class, we sort of see this happening. At this time in Salem, Massachusetts basically everyone in the town was a Puritan, and anyone who didn't follow that religion was looked down on or probably kicked out.

Me

My name is Reyna Lee and I am 15 years old. I am a sophomore here at Whitney Young. I am the oldest of three - I have a younger brother and sister. I live in the Jackson Park Highlands - just south of Hyde Park - with my parents and my dog Lola. For grammar school I went to FXW, or the Frances Xavier Warde School. It has two campuses, one on Chicago and State, and the other one not far from Whitney Young on Des Plains and Adams. Having gone to Catholic school for most of my life, coming to Whitney Young was a major change, but I'm happy with it. I play volleyball on the school JV team, and have been playing since 6th grade. Outside of school I also play club volleyball at Powerhouse. I am also in the Intermediate choir at Whitney, and if it fits in with my schedule, I want to do choir all four years. I have always had an interest in science, and I'm mostly interested in forensic science. I like watching shows like CSI, Criminal Minds, and Law and Order even though they are a bit unrealistic compared to how solving a crime is in real life. My favorite jobs in the field of forensics are ballistics and crime scene preservation. I'm not so crazy about dissecting dead bodies, so I'll leave the autopsies to someone else. That's a little bit about me and what I like.