I am thankful for...

       In my English class, sixth period, I am thankful for Ashley Cruz. Ashley had English with me last year too and we both went through the hardships of failing vocabulary tests and not understanding the Odyssey. We used to sit close to each other last year too, and walking to class on the first day of school this year I sat down next to her knowing that she  would be nice and supporting to me if any case this English class would be as bad as the last one , which it isn't because we have an awesome English teacher.  I am thankful that she helps me out when I am not understanding something and that she does it with kindness not like other people that will help you but they'll do so in an annoyed manner. I am also grateful for the fact that we share similar thoughts and we don't really have to argue with the answers when working in groups because sometimes always being in a constant fight with your peers over what the answer will be will not get you anywhere and therefore you will not be able to finish the work.

       I am also grateful for the fact that Ashley cares about her work, she's an  inspiring person , she works all day on school work and I've never heard her say anything bad about it, she likes it. I would like to see more of Ashley in myself but that's tough because she is amazingly smart and a really hard worker.

I Celebrate Myself

      Society nowadays has a specific portrayal of the person whom you should aim to be. People are not unique anymore because they are afraid of being judged and not being able to fit in.

     But I celebrate myself, I like myself I feel like I am unique and I do not do strive to please other people. I do what I do for myself, I wear what I wear because I like it and I don't stand in front of the mirror thinking "Am I going to fit in?" There are some people who want to no be seen to be invisible and not stand out. But I don't find a point in that, you exist so you deserve to be seen and you shouldn't live life thinking that it's better to blend in than to stand out.

    People think that' it's a bad thing to be seen because it might define you as weird but that is not the case in fact if you are too quite and don't make yourself seen then people will see you as different and weird. So celebrate yourself because we are all amazing, unique people who deserve to be acknowledged.

Poe

          I really like Poe, he is very gruesome and always gives us an unexpected ending. I like the gory details and the supernatural beings included in his stories.
       
      When I was in eighth grade my teacher made us read a lot of his stories and I really like them. There were two stories which I really liked. One was when a man killed his cat and the cat was "haunting" him and then one where this man had a obsession with a woman's teeth and he took them out and that was amazing.
   
        But I actually do feel bad for Edgar since he was very depressed his wife died and so did many other loved ones and well I really feel like he is expressing himself in his stories and so I feel really bad for him because he is speaking from his heart and if those are the things coming out of him then he must be really hurt on the inside. Hopefully he didn't end up a crazy man because that would be really sad.
   
       Well but if he didnt have those bad thoughts then we wouldn't have the crazy good stories we have today that he left behind, those bad things happened to him form some reason.

What is an American?

           Since no one really is from here, except maybe the Native Americans, we cannot really say that there is an American. But since the U.S has had almost 200 years of existence it has some of its own characteristics that makes the people that follow them "American".
          Many of our ancestors have come here looking for a better life, leaving their homeland behind. They bring with them their culture and hope for their children to continue to live as if they were being raised in their homeland. But what most of the time what happens is that the children become more like what the country they are in is, in this case the U.S. And then after many generations the outcome will be a person who solely believes they are American since many of their ancestors have lived their whole life here, they cannot connect with the place where they are originally from. They act like the other people that consider themselves American and they have the right to say that because what defines what you are is what you grew up doing and believing in.
         This reminds me of a book I just read about how a girl found out she had been adopted and that her biological parents wanted her back and she didn't know what to do. She had grown up in a family and those were the people who cared for her and loved her. But just because now someone is telling her that isn't true it doesn't mean it should stop being that way. The place in which you grow up in shapes you to be who you are. This girl doesn't know what to do because she really isn't from one place nor another, she cannot connect to her biological family but what she thought to be her family really isn't. Most of us cannot classify ourselves because we too are not from one place nor another. But even though  America isn't our native homeland, we grew up with its culture and language making it easier for us to say that we are American because we really cant connect to our native homeland the way we do with the place in which we are living in.
              So overall, I believe that all of us that follow the "American" culture can classify ourselves as American because it is what we can mostly relate to.

The Modern Day Puritan

      Who is the Modern Day Puritan? Is there one? Well, while reading the scarlet letter I couldn't help thinking about my favorite movie "Easy A". That movie just shows how WE are the Modern Day Puritan, we judge people just as harshly as the town judged Hester. We might think as we read the book "How can these people behave this way?" But come on! I bet if one of us walked around with a scarlet A on our chest, people would react the same way they did years ago.

        I actually hoped I could find someone else to portray as the Modern Day Puritan, but everyone around the world, will behave the way the townspeople behaved when they found out about Hester. I know it is bad but even when I get the news about someone being pregnant without being married, deep down I have that feeling of disappointment. We all judge people harshly, maybe not always for the same reasons the Puritans judged back then but we do form our little cliques and whoever steps a little out of line are looked down upon, "bullied" as we call it today.

       For those of you thinking "Oh no! We are not like that!", if you say that you are being hypocritical- we have all felt that way although maybe we fake liking the person and offer our support but deep down we are all the same judgmental, malevolent people.

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

         As I began reading The Crucible I thought John Proctor was just an adulterous old man but later when I saw how he defended Elizabeth and how he yelled at Abigail I started liking him, so I thought he was a hero.
     But right before starting this blog I googled the word "stooge" and got this: "A person who serves mainly to support and assist others"(dictionary.com)

     So I got to thinking and I came up with the conclusion that John Proctor was indeed a stooge. He had the opportunity of having his wife back with him and being able to see his children grow up, HE HAD A BABY ON THE WAY FOR GOD'S SAKE! But this man decided to stay and continue fighting he knew that this would only end badly, and it did, and who did he help by staying and fighting? No one! Giles Corey was tortured and killed and so were all those innocent people that he was trying to help when he decided to continue fighting.

     Another part in which John Proctor presents himself as a stooge is when he had the opportunity to sign the paper and confess to being a witch but he decided not to when he saw Rebecca Nurse, he was set to being able to stay with his family and live his life but when he saw her he immediately said "NO!" and he went to the hanging tree. He didn't do anything to help himself, these people were insane, the killings would've continued and the people whom he loved (his family) stayed behind having to deal with the hardships of not having someone to sustain the family.

    John Proctor was a stooge, he served mainly to support others, never thinking about his family and what they would have to deal with if he was condemned.

Arrivals... There Goes The Neighborhood

           
          Columbus' arrival to North America is a huge controversy, for one it gave us the life we have today but on the other hand, it ruined the Native American's lives.

         I'm surprised that I feel anger towards Columbus and what he did to the Native Americans, taking everything from them and forcing them to believe in things that didn't make sense to them. On the contrary, I know that if it weren't for this happening I wouldn't be here because my race is the mixture of the Native Americans with the Spanish men. I don't really know what to think about the fact that I'm here because my ancestor was probably raped by a Spanish man, it sounds kind of harsh but its true.

      It angers me that these people were just going through their day normally when all of a sudden these men on horses came and started killing and taking everything from them. How would it be if one day aliens come and take our natural resources, started raping the women and create a new creature! That is exactly the craziness those people were going through and we don't even think about that we celebrate Columbus and honor him for doing these horrid things.

      In very little time, the Native American's lives were altered and their "neighborhood" had been destroyed with no trace of their old lives. The arrival of Columbus awakened new beginnings but destroyed old dreams.

Me

 Hi! My name is Noemi,     

  I have never blogged before and I'm not sure how this works exactly so please bear with me.I am a person that may seem shy from the outside but once you get to know me you come to realize that I am actually very loud and very dramatic. I am a very studious person, I try really hard in all my subjects but sometimes the stress gets the best out of me which is something that worries me because if I'm crazy at such a young age how will I be when I have to worry about much bigger things like bills,and keeping a job.
    I love my family dearly, they do their best to help me when I need it and I love them for that. We are religious people we are not all out there but we do go to church every Sunday and try to pray every night. I do believe there is a mightier being out there.Why wouldn't there be? I mean there are things in this world that can’t be explained and I think that is because there is a mightier being out there and we aren't able to understand his ways. I live in the South Side, have lived there my whole life and I have to say I really like it, the people are friendly (that is since I live next to a bunch of old people) although they don't really talk which is okay because I like to keep to myself. 
    Another thing about me is that I think I might be psychic, that is since I have had very strange dreams that end up becoming reality just a few days later. Which I think is no coincidence because this hasn't only happened once or twice but four times! Although, I wish this really didn't happen because all the dreams I have are bad they are about death and illness and I really don't like knowing these things. Hopefully this actually is coincidence and I am actually a normal person ;) 
One last thing is that...I LOVE FOOD! That may be the reason why I can't lose weight but it’s okay because the taste of donuts is AMAZING and I know they say that nothing tastes as good as skinny feels but that is just a BIG lie.
  So there you have it... a little bit of me.