The Reservation

        Personally, I find it difficult to compare my life to Junior's because we come from two completely different places. Junior comes from a home land that constantly holds him back in every way, and I am fortunate enough to live in one of the better neighborhoods in Chicago. On Juniors reservation, there are a lack of opportunities and the hope of almost everyone living there has been depleted. On top of Junior having a lack of opportunities to begin with, he was also born with "water on the brain" which only adds to his unfortunate struggle.
        Even though Junior's background and mine are pretty different, I can still relate to him in a couple ways. I think it's fair to say that every student at whitney young had to go through a lot to get into the school. It took a lot of testing, getting good grades, and hope to get into one of the top high schools in the city. Along the journey of trying to get into a top tier high school, many people lost hope due to the fact that there were so many people competing for so few spots. In a way this is similar to the reservation that Junior was living on. There were so few jobs and so little chances for success on the reservation that people gave up before they even put in the effort. Many people did not even make an effort to get into a selective prep high school because they had no hope they would get into one. Every kid that attends whitney young, just like Junior, was at one point determined to do what was best for them, and with a lot of effort and hope got into the school.
        Finally, living in Chicago there are a lot of aspects that can hold many people back from achieving success. Some of the bad neighborhoods lying on the south side of Chicago are just like the reservation in that they are struck with violence and poverty which can attribute to a loss of hope. Many people living in these neighborhoods give up because there are only so many opportunities for success that sometimes it may seem impossible to achieve. It's a very sad thing to witness and nobody deserves to have any less of a chance at succeeding in life, but with determination, there are always people who can find a way to beat the odds, just like Junior.  

Native Son

      I would like to start off by saying, by the end of book three, I was a fan of Native Non, however, up until that point, I was not. The reason I say this is because personally, I found the plot of both books one and two, fairly predictable. In book one, the main character Bigger is introduced and a majority of the book is dedicated to giving perspective on his life and his fears. When Bigger gets his first job working for the Dalton family, Richard Wright makes it very apparent that Bigger has some pretty negative mixed feelings about working for a white family. This made it very easy to predict something bad would happen. Although what did happen was quite a shock, I was not completely unprepared for it.
      Book two was rather similar to book one in my opinion. Book two is primarily about Bigger being on the run and trying to get away with his crime of murdering Mary Dalton (on accident). Much like book one, in book two things slowly got more and more irrational and chaotic until something bad happened, Bigger got arrested. Just like book one, I was shocked by some of the events that happened, but again, I wasn't unprepared for them. In summary, in book one and two I could sense something bad was going to happen all along, and therefore I was waiting for it through the entire reading, which made the two books rather unenjoyable for me.
      On the bright side, my opinion on Native Son completely changed in book three. Not only was book three completely unpredictable (for me at least), but it was extremely insightful on just how cruel racism was, and still is today. Max, Bigger's lawyer, towards the end of book three gave a speech that really stood out to me. He said that Bigger could not have been sentenced to death because his existence was not even recognized. He also said jail would be a better option for Bigger considering he would at least have an identity there. I found those two points in particular to be extremely heart breaking, and because of that I finally started to get a better perspective on just how much segregation effected African-American people. On top of all, I really enjoyed the ups and downs, the heart breaks and the triumphs, and the ending (although very disappointing, I feel the book would not be the same if it ended differently) of book three.

A Principle to Keep

        One principle I always try to stand behind is words over weapons. I feel that in almost any situation possible, no matter what the extremes, if everyone involved followed this one principle, the situation could be resolved without the use of violence. In my opinion it's always fair, no matter how frustrated you may be with someone, to use your words before you think about violence. 

        The reason why I feel so strongly about this principle is because my parents made it very clear to me when I was growing up to use my words when I was frustrated and not my fists. In my household, from the day my siblings and I were born, we were never allowed to hit each other, and it created a very peaceful environment. It took away a lot of fear, and allowed us to be honest with each other when we were frustrated and upset. 

        The same values were even bestowed onto me at my old school, Near North Montessori. The classrooms were a little untraditional from the usual school desks and chalkboards. We were allowed to walk around to different areas of the classroom to pick what we wanted to work on, where we wanted to sit, and who we wanted to socialize with. With this much freedom, our teachers constantly had an expectation that we would use our words with each other and not violence. It would be near impossible for the teacher to keep track of every kid in the classroom at once. 

        With my home and school environments free of violence on a normal day basis, it took away a lot of fear for me when I was a kid, and allowed me to mature into someone who's last resort is to use violence. This is why I believe so strongly that if everyone could just follow this principle, no matter what extreme, there would be no need for violence after all. 

Janie

When reading the book Their Eyes Were Watching God, and following Janie on her adventure through three marriages there is one underlying theme that sticks out to me. The underlying theme is Janie's exploration of what role she occupies in all of her relationships. In my opinion I believe in each relationship she experiences, in chronological order, she loses more control over her significant other than the previous. I think it's very interesting to study the effects of how the amount of control/power one has in a relationship can effect them, in this case Janie.
Towards the beginning of the story Janie gets married off to a man named Logan Killicks. It is made very apparent that Janie does not love Logan but she continues to be with him with the intentions of developing strong feelings for him. With Janie going into a marriage with a man she knows she doesn't love, she has nothing to loose except wealth, so really, she controls all power in the relationship. With this power she begins talking to a man named Joe Stark, and continually gets more and more frustrated with Logan. Eventually she leaves Logan in the dust for him not feeling bad at all.
Janie's marriage with Jody is an interesting case, because in my opinion I believe they both hold equal power in the relationship. Jody is very wealthy, bold, powerful, political figure that is extremely determined, and Janie is desired by everyone because of her beauty. This situation makes it hard for either of them to leave each other, shown by the fact that they stayed together until well... death did them part. One interesting thing to note about their relationship is, it was very apparent that they were unhappy with one another but regardless of this, I believe, due to the complete balance in power in the relationship, it naturally kept them together.
Finally, after the death of Joe Stark, Janie waited some months only to run off from Eatonville and marry a man named Vergible Woods. In this marriage, it is extremely apparent, at least to me, that Janie is completely head over heels for this man, putting all the power in his hands. What does this imbalance in power create? It creates fear, jealousy, depression, and occasional moments of pure bliss within Janie. She is so constantly worried that he is going to leave her that whenever he leaves she gets jealous of other girls, depressed that she can't see him, and fears the departure of him from her life forever. I think that this is very interesting and really reflects what power in a relationship can do to people.

Thankful For A Classmate

       This Thanksgiving I have many things to be thankful for, as well as much to appreciate and reflect on. One person I can thoroughly say I am thankful for, is my good friend Jonnathan Cuji. Cuji and I first met last year in Ms. Wolfe's english class, and so far this year, Mr. McCarthy's class has been a blast. Cuji has not only been a great person to work with, but is a highly intelligent individual with great insight on the books and stories we read. Whenever we are participating in group work, Cuji always seems to have something wise to say. On top of all, Cuji is always there to lend me a pencil when I need it. For all of this, I can't thank Cuji enough for being the friend, teacher, and great person he is. 

Hemingway

           If you ask me, Ernest Hemingway will to this day remain one of the most talented writers in the category of American literature, which is shown by his work still being extremely valued to this day. Although his work is incredible, not only in the eyes of the public, but in my eyes as well, there still remains a side to Hemingway that I can not find it in me to look past. I
           Most people often focus on the accomplishments of Ernest Hemingway, but don't realize the true person he is, and some of the great flaws in his personality. Although the flaws in his personality may not take away from his gift to write, they should still be noted, because his work is already well known by many. Hemingway's biggest flaws all seemed to string from his lack of masculinity as a child. This lack of masculinity may have lead to his over compensation of it in his later years, as well as creating many insecurities in him. 
            In his earlier years, Hemingway attempted to play football in high school, but he wasn't very athletic and gave it up quickly. Then, he was put in a situation where his parent wanted him to go to college, but instead he began working. As he continued growing up, and WWI began, he found a great desire to join the army. When the army rejected him due to his eyesight, he continued to pursue his passion to fight for his country, and joined the red-cross instead. In my opinion, the beginning of his life appeared to be a struggle for him to prove his masculinity when it wasn't the quality he was set out to have 
            Hemingway grew older, traveled, wrote, and met a lot of different women along the way. Staying with many of the women for long amounts of time, continuously having affairs, and ending up alone again, no woman seemed to be the right woman for him. Another noticeable quality with him was his desire to alway be better than his significant other, which can be connected back to his childhood, where his mother dominated his father in the marriage.  
            In the end, in my eyes, Hemingway was nothing more than a man that constantly battled his desires to be masculine. In my eyes, masculinity was never cut out for him, but it definitely played a huge role in his life and his writing. Without it, I honestly can't say that I think he would be the same famous figure he stands as today, even in his grave. 

Six Word Stories

Bright headlights at night; Approaching fast.

Teddy bear in bed: Children absent.

Oh, the mornings we spent together.

My foolish mistakes were my blessings.

Idea of balance, threw you off.

Dawn of day; Impression of sunset.