Thankful

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my dear pal, Leonardo.  His face is an inspiration sight.  Just when I think that life is too much for me to handle, I see his Hispanic head and realize that I'm not alone in this world. Sometimes I start losing focus during English class, but when he says, "Alex, what page are we on?" I snap back into reality and go full throttle.  As much as I already enjoyed English class, I would never have enjoyed as much without Leonardo and his head.  I am also thankful for my family, because they feed me all the time, and even love me.

Macbeth

In scene I of Macbeth, he has encountered the three witches that tell him he has different titles.  Because one of them calls him the King, it is assumed that he will take that role in the future.  This future, however, contradicts with Macbeth's character, as he is loyal and trustworthy.  Lady Macbeth soon realizes that in order for him to become king, he must overthrow the current one, proving the contradiction that must be made.  Regardless, she realized that doing so would be an evil deed that could change Macbeth's traits entirely, but she was willing to see him succeed.  She would then be responsible for supporting Macbeth's evil deed.  Unfortunately, this shows that Lady Macbeth is much more easily tempted to sin than her husband, showing that mayhem that could unfold.  This could cause problems between the husband, wife, and king.  The story can only get more chaotic as it progresses, considering the thoughts going through their minds, tempting them to commit heinous acts.

Modern Day Greed

Throughout history, human beings have spread knowledge and understanding down through the generations. We have slowly improved our ability to go through our life in an effective way over time.  However, we haven't made as much of a leap as we could go.  Greed is largely the reason for this. Radix Malorium Est Cupiditas. If we weren't so concerned about our self-gain and material value, then we would be much more advanced. Due to greed, thieves steal, envious people murder, and so on.  The slower rate that human generations work together is all due to the self-concerned actions. These actions wouldn't exist if greed wasn't so convincing.

Priorities.

Truth

In the book "Grendel," the alternate perspective can change the way people view the story and it's characters.  Contrary to the classic story, "Beowulf," humans can be considered the wrongdoers rather than the murderous Grendel, in the John Gardner version.  The "truth" of this story is difficult to determine.  If the truth is based off of whether or not Grendel is in the wrong, then I believe he is not.  The simple nature of human beings was responsible for his unfortunate childhood, causing him to become the way he is.  If the truth is based off of what happened in the story, then this is the truth. Human existence is always ridden with things like ignorance and false judgement of others. Because of it, Grendel decided to take a path that he thought was righteous, ridding the world of humans in order to save everyone else.  Beowulf however, came with the notion that Grendel was murdering for simply no reason at all. Therefore he slayed him for a reason he believed was righteous.
In conclusion, I believe neither Grendel, nor Beowulf was in the wrong. Regardless, things can simply happen in the world. Sometimes, bad things happen to good people, and a lot of times, it is no ones fault.

Me

My name is Alex, and people tell me about how handsome and funny I am. But enough of what my mom thinks.  I love cheesy jokes, so don't get mad when I laugh at a knock knock joke for 10 minutes. I like gardening and long walks on the beach, but I just lied so honestly, I'd rather not do either of those things.  My favorite type of music is good music, I have a loving dog named Wrigley, and I LOVE to list things I enjoy.  Ok, sometimes I can get carried away with jokes, but I do have the ability to get serious when something is important, or when I really care about the topic.  If you've read this far, you're either Mr. McCarthy, (who's like, super cool) or someone who actually enjoyed what I wrote. So my mom.
My favorite quote is "It's nice to be important, but it's important to be nice.  Though it's a very simple quote, I feel like it shaped me as a person.  Many people's top priority is self-betterment, but it's always important to remember that everyone is in this life together.  In my perfect world, all of us could respect each other as individuals, and realize that giving everyone else in the world your love is really the top-priority. However, we don't live in a perfect world.  Regardless, peace, tolerance, and unconditional acceptance for one another can fix so many of the things that plague us. This is my opinion, and I consider it a big part of me, so I'm sharing it.

Word Count: 262

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a patient's perspective of life in a New York mental ward. This patient, named Bromden, is perceived to be deaf. However, this is proved false at the very beginning, as he narrates the story while listening to everything that goes on. When Randal McMurphy arrives, he makes his presence known as a insubordinate patient, not afraid to challenge the previously powerful Nurse Ratched's authority.  Over time, the patients in the ward go through a transformation from being completely dependent on the Nurse, to becoming a capable group of self-reliant men.  

So far, I'm enjoying reading this book.  Bromden's first-person perspective really helps me feel like I'm inside the story. At the same time, Bromden acts simply as an observer for much of the story due to the ward believing he's deaf.  This allows for an unbiased description of the events throughout the first half of the book.  I enjoy the unique way that the  book was written, capturing the way Bromden may have spoke.  However, it was easy at times to forget that he was a mental patient that had intermittent hallucinations.  This made it confusing for me to read, as I was never sure what was real and what wasn't. Regardless, Bromden's perspective made the story strange and mysterious, which I found enjoyable.  

The Blackhawks Emblem

The Blackhawks emblem known all over Chicago is, as you may have guessed, the Blackhawks Indian Head.  Because it supposedly represents Blackhawks Indians, many see it as one of the offensive symbols used in sports teams.  In my opinion, most of the team mascots, if anything, represent a race or culture in a positive light. The team obviously sees the symbol as inspiration or a representation of the teams spirit.  Some examples like the "Cleveland Asians," "Cleveland Africans," and the "Cleveland Hispanics," show how ridiculous representing a race can make people feel (Source), but those pictures used unflattering stereotypical depictions of a race.  The emblems used in many sports teams may use stereotypical depictions of a race, but they're supposed to bring light to the strength that it represents. In particular, the Blackhawks Indian is supposed to provide a face to the teams spirit.

Word Count: 146

The American Dream in The Great Gatsby and A Raisin in the Sun

After the presentations in class, I noticed that the American Dream isn't as much one large idea as it is a general topic for individuals to classify their ambitions.  In my opinion, the American Dream is simply what you call everything you strive for.  Each person has a different image of the American Dream with different goals, different hopes, and different fantasies.  In The Great Gatsby, Nick observed the fact that most of the people he associated with in West Egg strived for material things, were determined to achieve wealth, or already achieved wealth.  Some would consider this the stereotypical American Dream, having a nice home and "a white picket fence".  However, I still believe that the American Dream is a general topic that is different for each person, regardless of the amount of people who strive for "a white picket fence".  There are many people who work toward wealth and stability, but just as many people care about making the world and its inhabitants a better place.  In A Raisin in the Sun, Lena and Ruth only wanted a better life for their family.  Rather than consider wealth a top priority, they see the success of their children as their American Dream.  Aside from these characters, there are people in the world that strive for education, happiness, safety, stability, survival, and improvement.  Because of this, there isn't one large American Dream that everyone relates to, but rather a topic that allows people to assess what they strive for.

Word Count: 249

Proposal

I would like to do the Community Inquiry Project in the Humboldt park community.  The mailman, my neighbor, the gas station owner, and one of the younger kids on my street are all people from my neighborhood that I could potentially interview.

The American Dream

One of the most popular aspects of the American Dream, is equality.  This pertains to equality within race, sex, and class.  However, according to the CBS News  article, "Boy Scouts leaders push back decision on lifting gay ban," an Ohio mother named Jennifer Tyrrell was ousted from her position as a "den leader" for her son's scout pack because she's gay.  The Boy Scouts of America defended their decision to push back the banning of gay members by stating that they are concerned for potential lawsuits due to a member's sexuality.  This is absurd.  It's already unreasonable to oust an average boy scout for his sexual preference, but to get rid of a mother who couldn't  possibly be the cause of a lawsuit concerning sexual orientation, the decision becomes ridiculous.  This is a prime example of preventing an aspect of the American Dream.  Equality is extremely important, and if the Boy Scouts of America continue to delay their decision to ease their policy of excluding gays, more mothers like Jennifer Tyrrell will be prevented from living their share of the American Dream.  If the battle between gay rights activists and the Boy Scouts of America means getting any closer to achieving equality, then the fight is well worth it.  Every day that this change of regulations isn't carried out, more parents and children are being discriminated. A meeting regarding this issue is scheduled to occur in May, but I can only hope that this change will take effect before then.

Word Count: 250

My Favorite Movie Villain

My favorite movie villain is the Joker from the movie "The Dark Knight".  He is an intellegent man that lost his sanity, enjoys sadistic jokes, and simply getting at the hero, Batman, which in my opinion, makes him the perfect villain. In most films, he presents himself with maniacle laughter, creepy clown-like makeup, and a knack for simply messing with the Batman.  Throughout "The Dark Knight," the Joker follows through with an almost fool-proof plot against Batman. His motivation was not to defeat him or take over gothem, but rather to show off his ability to nearly kill the city's hero.  In addition, he likes to make a point, in that although he seems socially unnacceptable and evil, the normal citizen's of Gothem are actually the people who are morally wrong. He does this during the movie by setting up detonators in two steam ships that can be detonated from one or the other.  He makes it seem like it is the passengers' choice for which boat survives.  A key deciding factor was that one boat was full of prisoners, and the other full of average pedestrians.  The fact that the Joker would go through this much trouble to make a morbid point shows how twisted his mind really is, and why he is my favorite villain.  It's almost as if he is a maniacal philosopher, trying to spread his beliefs through fear; an evil Henry David Thoreau.

Word Count: 241