Leaving the Reservation

     In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Junior decides to leave his native reservation and go to school at Reardan, an all white school in Spokane. Junior escapes from the poverty and depression of the reservation in an effort to find hope. While I am not a Native American held back by the suffering of my people, I too have had to break free of a reservation in my life.
     From pre-kindergarden to eight grade I went to school at Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School. I spent eleven years at BZAEDS, and I received an amazing education, built strong friendships, and had a safe and controlled learning environment. Despite all that I got from BZAEDS, there are many things that I was unexposed to. For example, at a school where every single student was white and Jewish, I had no experience with diversity. Most students shared similar views and opinions, and I had no preparation surrounding someone who would challenge the ideals that I lived eleven years of my life around. Also, everybody at BZAEDS wants the students to succeed. Teachers go out of their way to help students before students ask for help, taking away from their self advocacy. Not only did I get less experience advocating for myself, but I was sheltered from facing true academic difficulty and hardship. My years at BZAEDS were an incredible experience that provided me with countless important lessons. However, it also kept me in a bubble that blocked crucial experiences from getting to me. 
     Luckily for me, BZAEDS is not a high school, and after getting into Whitney Young I had my eyes opened to the things I was missing out on. However a few of my friends from BZAEDS went to other private schools instead of CPS schools. Seven out of the forty-two kids in my grade returned to a life of shelter and bubbles, blocked from real world experiences. I was fortunate enough to be able to escape from my reservation with help from the citizens themselves, but some of my peers just wondered on to the next one. 

Native Son

     Toward the middle of book three in Richard Wright's Native Son, Bigger Thomas is sent to trial for murdering Mary Dalton. During the trial, Bigger's lawyer, Max, a worker for the labor defenders and in support of the Communists, gives a speech about the situation at hand. Max argues that Bigger did indeed murder Mary Dalton, however there is a larger picture, and the trial is bigger than Bigger.
     In his speech, Max presents information surrounding the reason as to why Bigger committed the crime. He says that Bigger was forced into this situation by the white people who control society. Max states that the African Americans have no freedom, they are forced onto the same miserable path of poverty and or crime. Bigger is a victim of this system, Max argues, and Bigger had no other options in Mary's room that terrible evening, he was either to be tried then, or weeks later. In fact Bigger had already committed murder before he actually killed anybody, due to the assumptions and stereotypes of the white people. Max concludes his argument by saying that the reason white people are mad at Bigger is because they are mad at themselves for making it happen.
     Max's testimony brings many themes up to the spotlight. While everybody can certainly agree that African Americans have and always had been restricted by the white people in America and elsewhere, Max takes this one step further, arguing that it wasn't the whites restriction that caused the murder, it was the whites themselves. Regardless if the validity of Max's argument, Bigger was convicted and sentenced to death. But had his trial been real, maybe it would've brought some of these topics to light.

Green Lights, Yellow Cars, and Church Steeples

        On the surface, the Great Gatsby is an entertaining novel demonstrating the luxurious and interesting lives of five connected people spending the summer on Long Island, NY. If this were the real Great Gatsby, the green light would be a simple port side market, the yellow car would be Gatsby's expensive way of transportation, and Nick's comparison to Kant would be a way of demonstrating the fact that nick was thinking about something. This was not F. Scott Fitzgerald's intentions with the Great Gatsby, however, and the book is more than an simple pleasure read.
        F. Scott Fitzgerald's unique writing style supplies the reader with innuendos instead of statements. This innuendos are only clues to the larger picture as a way for the reader to greater interprete the story. Subtle things such as the image of Gatsby reaching for the green light represent much larger things and in this case it shows Gatsby's reach for Daisy, his long lost love, the only connection to her being the light. Some readers may not understand these hints, but Fitgerald still gives the reader an entertaining story to follow. But for those who can connect the larger meaning, the book becomes an incredible representation and comment on the society of the 1920's.
         Fitzgerald's use of individual words in particular can supply the reader with a completely different idea of the story. Had Fitzgerald used the word privileges instead of advantages, the reader wouldn't have been able to understand the higher class nature of Nick's childhood. The Great Gatsby is not only a brilliant work of the early 20th century, but a large connection of smaller hints in order to both intrigue and compel the reader.

Janie

      Janie Crawford is an African-American woman living in the early 1900's in southern Florida. Janie's story is told in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Janie's struggle for love, happiness, and personal satisfaction drive Janie through a crazy life, full of different men, different towns, and different states of mind,
       The book opens with Janie walking into Eatonville, Florida and Janie, now past forty years old, has been away for some time. Janie begins to talk to Pheoby Watson, a close friend, about her story. Janie grew up with her grandmother, after her mother was raped and became a drunk. Janie lived in a white household, and while teased for it, enjoyed her childhood very much. As a teenager, Janie was forced to marry Logan Killicks, a older man who owned a farm, because of her Grandmother's uncertainty about Janie's future. Janie quickly grew tired of Logan, and ran off with a rich man named Joe Starks, who went with her to build a new life in the all black town of Eatonville. In Eatonville Joe lived his dream, however Janie grew apart from Joe as well. After a few months alone, Janie then met a man named Tea Cake who she quickly grew fond of. Tea Cake treated her differently, and it led to Janie to think about running off with him.
       Throughout all of this, despite all the craziness, Janie has stayed true to one thing. Her pursuit of happiness. Janie spends the first half of her life unhappy, searching for love in places where all she would get are things. So she gave up on that dream and moved on, because she would never quit believed that she could do something to better her own situation. The end of Janie's story is currently unknown, however it is safe to assume she will be doing something to get happy.

Thankful for Jefri

        This Thanksgiving I am thankful for many things, and one of them is Jefri. Jefri not only is a consistent add to our conversations but also a very helpful friend. Whenever we are doing group work I can hear her taking charge of her group and steering them in the right direction.  Besides her contribution to the class, Jefri also helps me personally. Whether I don't understand part of the text, I don't know how to answer a group work question, or I simply need to confirm homework, Jefri is always there to help out.
         As group work begins I immediately look over the questions. I begin to answer them, taking not of the trickier ones. Once we get to those harder questions I do the same thing every time. "Jefri." I wisper. Knowing that no matter if she knows the answer or not she will be able to help me.
         So thank you, Jefri for always helping me and the class out in furthering our understanding of the text.

Princliples

      A great man once said, “Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.” This man is Martin Luther King Jr, not only one of the greatest civil rights activists in American history, but he is also contributed with being an overall amazing intellectual thinker. Forgiveness is not a principle, however, giving people a second chance is. 
      Nobody is perfect, so why judge someone on his or her initial action. When we as humans jump to conclusions about people, we are not only constricting them of doing what they wanted, but we are disabling our selves from a great opportunity. The very popular expression don't judge a book by its cover is not only about first impressions. While it may go unsaid, there's no point in being open about the cover if you give up after the first page. Luckily, and sometimes unfortunately for us, humans aren't books, and a lot of times you can know someone very well before you see them do something wrong. The important part about this is to forgive them, and give them a second chance.
      I'm not saying that if someone murder's your children you should immediately forgive them, I'm just saying you have to look at the big picture. Even in a post-apocalyptic society as in The Road, second chances are an important principle. Whether it's losing the gun or running after a boy, the dad continues to support the son through all of his mistakes. Even though the dad led them into a room full of human food and has almost gotten them killed, the son continues to trust the father around every corner. 
      Personally, I am extremely grateful to those who gave me second chances, and as my thanks to them, I try to be open minded when giving second chances to others. Everybody makes mistakes, what separates the the strong from the weak is how they respond to these mistakes.  

Hemingway

           Ernest Hemingway was and will always remain one of the most gifted authors in American literary history and will be accounted for writing some of the best literary works ever written. Hemingway lived an amazing life, filled with adventure, excitement, and success. He was a loving father, a husband, and an artist.
           While there is no denying that Hemingway is an extremely accomplished writer, the world is often ignorant of the true Hemingway. While we often focus on his accomplishments, we must look upon his misdoings and overall personality. Hemingway lived a life full of competition, adultery, and masculinity.
            Even in his early life Hemingway did as he pleased. Even though his parent told him to go to university, he went straight to work instead. When the army told him he couldn't go to war, he joined the red-cross instead. Hemingway had little respect for orders, and did whatever he wanted. This gave a sort of self-identified power that not only set himself above others, but gave him the drive to break laws in WWII.
            As Hemingway matured he met many women. But, as apparent through his four wives and countless mistresses, no women was good enough for Hemingway. Not only did he cycle through wives, but he had little respect for them and competed with them both in the bedroom and in their professional lives.
           Finally, Hemingway was in a constant wrestle with himself. He was always wanting to improve and to be this manly idol that he believed he could be. Whether it was deep sea fishing, big game hunting, or bull fighting hemingway did anything he could to be as much of a man as he could. This made him a depressed, self-conscious man always searching for something he could never achieve; perfection.
          These aspects of his life are vital to the understanding of Hemingway's life. Hemingway was brilliant, but he is only a man, and at the end of the day that is what killed him.