Time to be Thankful For Once *Gobble gobble*

Today in this post, I would like to thank a few of my fellow classmates *pulls out list*

I am thankful for my dear loving friend in Tikal. She's actually a very bubbly and cheerful person. Whenever she's around, she knows how to bring a smile to your face. Not only that, I met her during Freshman Connection and she was the first person to talk to. She loves anime and her drawings are just so magnificent too! Thank you Tikal for being the best!!

Isabel have I ever told you are just amazing? No? Well you are! I'm thankful for Isabel because I could sit down with her and have the most random conversations ever. We will end up talking about something normal to who would last the longest in a zombie apocalypse. I'm very thankful for her since she always keep me company during division and lunch and has good acting skills. 

I'm thankful for Alex since she's just so cool. She always has something interesting to say and she has cool pins on her book bag. She's so interesting and I'm just in love with her fashion sense. She's very perky and just so stunning.

I just met Jefri this year in English class and I'm really thankful for her. She always shares her opinion during group discussion and makes her more outspoken. She's really just a great person to talk to on the side and loves video games like I do.

I'm thankful for Alejandro who helped me sing in the informal presentation, it was just so magnificent. Not only that, although we had major bumps in the road before you still try to be my friend, and I appreciate that deeply. 

Last but not least, I am thankful for the huge glass windows in the classroom for keeping freezing in the classroom.

I'm just joking, I'm thankful for Mr.McCarthy. For the first time, English class is interesting and I really adore that. In a way I feel like we can share opinions in the classroom and it won't be criticized at all. I'm having a good time in English and I always look forward to it...unless if it's during tests. Thank you Mr.McCarthy for allowing me to be creative and giving me the wonderful nickname of "starving artist."

I'm also thankful to whoever is taking the time to read this! You right there, reading this post is amazing and fabulous! Keep being yourself and have a wonderful Thanks Giving!

*BATMAN OUT*

The Main Principle

As people, we hold many principles both individually and as a whole. Over the years, many of the principles have been forgotten or left behind. One thing that we should keep in mind is time changes, and so do people. In my opinion one principle that we should keep is to remember who we are and grasp our personality. What I mean by this is remember the stuff that makes you who you are as a person. In The Road, the main principle there is to not become the "bad guys," often referring to the people who are murderers and cannibalists. Yet the father has killed a man to save his son, but in a way he sort off broke his principle. If we looked at it from a different perspective and not add the circumstance, he practically abandoned his principle there. As a living human being, the last thing I want to do is kill somebody yet, we all have the capability to kill of a person. To be honest, I would kill a person if I had a reason to, but that's not the point here. Some principles aren't meant to be kept, but my principle is different. My principle is to remember what I am as a person. I feel like if I remember my hobbies, the amount of creativity I have a person it probably would help me survive better. Technically when we think about, this is an apocalypse now, just few realize it. People lack in opinion, people lack in train of thought, people lack their own personality because they're always following the crowd. If worst comes to worse, just remember who you are. If I were in the apocalypse, I'd be scared out of my mind but I'd make the best out of it. Based on my video games skills, I'd think of it as a video game and I'm on my final life. It's an adventure and I'd be a mess. If I die in the apocalypse for this foolish way of thinking, hey, at least I died smiling (like a hero), and not a hopeless person (live long enough to see yourself become the villain).

Ernest Hemingway's Special

To be honest, I'm not quite too sure of what I think about this topic. Ernest Hemingway seems to be a respected writer because of his work, and I admire that. However, although the world, back when he was alive, praise him for his work, I just can't do the same thing. When I hear about Hemingway, I see a man who's had a rough life and was in for full-blown emotions that made his work stand out. I enjoy the way that he's able to write all of these stories based on his life. Still, Hemingway had too many wives, and although most people nowadays would think of that as someone as a player, that's not the case. Based on the documentary, Hemingway has lacked the love that he's possibly needed from his parents and he tried to get that from many woman yet it prove to be worthless. He could've thought that if I had this girl, then maybe she will give me enough love to fill the void inside me. Then again, who knows what Hemingway was thinking? He was probably misunderstood and possibly needed help from a counselor to get him through. He's been to war, his father die of suicide, one of his wife died from a disease, that's enough to tip a man to his limits an have him commit suicide as well. Yet, Hemingway proved to be a strong man who had a passion to getting up early and writing. I'm sure he enjoyed his job, because people wouldn't try to please the audience and get up at 5 A.M just to start writing novels. I believe Hemingway is his own unique and special person who could have been suffering from depression, yet he was able to make his life the fullest.  Whether it was seeing bull fighting, going to the safari expedition, or even fishing everything is recreated as a vivid picture in his stories.

6 Word Titles Like A Pro

1) Adventure is best when fighting monsters.

2) Afternoon tea tastes rich in England.

3) Zombie apocalypse starts with uncured virus.

4) Collectible figures sold at high price.

5) Batman's parents died in the alley.

6) Chinatown sells green tea pocky snacks.

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge

To be honest, John Proctor has been depicted in many different ways through out The Crucible. In my opinion, I would not categorize John Proctor as a hero or stooge, but more in between those. He is one of the main characters in the play whose role instantly changes. What makes John Proctor a stooge is for him not being as honest to himself or to others. As they say, honest is the best policy. However, it seems like people in Salem have a hard time determining what is the actual truth in the witch trials. This all started in the beginning of Act II as it shows the poor relationship the Proctor has towards his wife Elizabeth. If Proctor was more honest towards his wife, then she wouldn't have as much trust issues  as it does. The main reason for why John Proctor is going to court is to save his own wife and not anybody else. If Elizabeth was not being accused as a witch, then perhaps he wouldn't have bother to go to Salem or would input as little opinion as possible to the people who are being claimed to be witches. Then again, this whole problem revolves about him having an affair with Abigail. If he went right away and told the truth about why Abigail was being a complete liar and pointing a finger at innocent people then perhaps not as many people would have been hung for being witches.

Now, the only time I saw John Proctor as a hero was after he came into the court to save his wife. He did end up revealing his affair to the court to only then to be dismissed aimlessly by the judge. Yet he was quite persistent and reasonable person when it came to the truth. He tries to help Giles in proving that Putnam is accusing people of being witches for him to be able to get more land. Proctor also makes Mary Warren declare her deposition in not seeing satan at all. That all the antics the girls created was just for them not to get in trouble. Even when Abigail starts screaming about Mary Warren sending her spirit, Proctor keeps repeating that Mary is doing no such thing and are only acting. The scene that captivates the proctor as being a major hero is towards the end of the play. Proctor has been given a chance to testify that he is with God and that he has seen the devil. In doing so, he will not be hung for being a witch, that is until he is forced to sign a paper to prove of what he testified. Proctor of course refused to let this paper be seen by everybody and blacken more of his name then it already is. In a way Proctor died with dignity and did not betray the other people who are convicted of being witches and refuse to confess.

Arrivals... There Goes The Neighborhood"

Point of View: Native American
As I looked onward, I see more strange men come onto the land. We greet them with the same manners as if a relative came to visit, meaning we show them hospitality but on the inside we will be groaning.  They come in large structure that roam across the seas. Could these people possibly be from the skies and come in to bring us support? I was wrong, these people were not the heavenly spirits that we know of. They come in and take the land that was mean to be used for enjoyment and tradition into a pice of property. I find it quite disgraceful of these so called "explorers" come in and can simply take land as if it were something to take ownership of. I look on and disapprove of this actions as they are slowly making us break from our kinship and clans that took years to form.

A man named Columbus came off from the large structure and spoke a strange language. He was dressed in strange thin clothing that was far different from what I was wearing. The fur from the buffalo covered me and helped me survive the harsh cold winters, but with the clothing that he was wearing he would not be able to withstand the winter. The others in my clan were amazed by all of the new technology that these travelers from the seas brought. I would be lying if I said I wasn't amazed by it too. These people seem very advance, rather than spirits of nature, could they possibly be from the future? Is this what is waiting for us in the future? If it is so, then I am not anticipating for it. Columbus continued on, speaking his weird gibberish when suddenly another person stepped in and spoke our tribal language. A sense of relief settled in me, but that does not mean my guard was let down. As I looked at others in my tribe, they hurriedly gave these strange people gifts such as fur and various foods to them. I offered them some of the beads that the tribe makes and they took it hungrily, as if wanting more gifts. One man stepped towards me taking one of my ears into their hand and touched my golden earring. I suddenly froze at the sudden contact when my mother stepped in front of me and offered the man some herbs and spices. I sighed in relief. These aliens show weird manners and it disgusts me on the inside. I can not rebel against these people that have encountered the land because the rest of my clan seem to find them fascinating. I shall remain silent in the meantime and handle these people calmly until they leave.

I was soon bedazzled by a strange object called the compass. It is so new to me that I have no idea how to describe it. It was round and had sticks on the inside. Whenever I moved to a certain direction, the sticks in the compass would also move towards a drawing. This must possibly be a way of the spirits saying in which direction the nature spirits show great strength and happiness. I decided to barter this for the buffalo fur that I own to the aliens. They gladly took it. My point of view of them made me change my view of them positively, that is until they started claiming land and taking control. We were forced to tell them where other clans can be found and give them most of the items that we owned for them as gifts. Few men would stay while Columbus and his other followers left on the waters, taking some of the member from my kinship. I wept as I saw them go, surely I would never see them again. Despair swept my home as no more music or oral stories were being told. Festive celebrations and hunting would soon cease as labor and "farming" took over. I wonder what the future holds now. I wish they didn't decide to come and stay in our land an disrespected the nature spirits...



There goes the land now.

Me

Alexis Gonzalez
English- 1st

Well, as you already know, I am a thriving "starving" artist. Whenever I have free time I tend to sketch
a lot and I cover most of my stuff with my artwork. I tend to think creatively and have everything look colorful. Knowing the passion I have towards artwork and for the people who support me on Deviantart (a website where anybody can display their artwork), I want to strive to become an animator. On the side from my drawings, I also enjoy reading as a side hobby. I have a small library in my room filled with books, most of them written by James Patterson. Another side career I would like to have in the future is becoming a writer and have readers crave for my stories. I already have a few stories written out, the only challenge is to being able to end the story. There are times when I get writers block a lot to the point where I just can't continue my stories.

I'm also a huge fan of Batman. I have been for quite a few years, collecting comic books whenever I get the chance to go to Barnes and Nobles or a comic book shop. I would also collect figures if I could, but I'm quite low and horrible at saving money that I could never be able to buy a Batman collectible. It makes me cry deep in the inside. However, for my huge fandom on Batman, I had took under a username of AlexisBatman because why not? It has a really nice ring to it, and most people that I'm close to call me AlexisBatman. I hope it won't bother you in any way if I draw the Batman logo by my name because I will be constantly doing that.

To be honest, I have been quite scared of entering a new year in Whitney Young because of my previous freshman year that has discourages me a lot. I am not trying to get deep and personal here, but let's just say I was depressed for quiet a while and I thought, "Wow, I think my artwork isn't good enough for the world to see." Thanks to being your class, I have a new view of myself and I feel like this is going to be a good year. This might not be my weekend, but it will be my year (song reference...I  like to listen to a lot of inspiring songs). When I heard you tell me that "Please say that the world needs art," I was quite a bit shocked to hear that. I was a bit nervous at first when I entered your classroom because I am the shy and quiet student but I'm striving to break out of my shyness this year. You have tremendously helped me when you told me that because for once I feel like I can express myself in class and my opinions would not be invalid. I hope that this English class will be as fun as I think it will be with a bit of a challenge.