Looking Deeper Into the Story of My Antonia

Willa Cather in her novel My Antonia offers her view of life during the pioneer time.
If My Antonia would have been told by Antonia's perspective many things would have changed.  For instance, when the Burden's and Shimerda's got in a fight we got to see how Jim reacted and felt, but if Antonia would have been telling the story I'm sure it would have been a whole new fight.  We would have also been able to see what Antonia's first impression of Jim was when he and his family drove over to the Shimerda's house that first day they met.  The story would have been more powerful if we could have seen and felt everything from Antonia's point of view.  By seeing the new country for the first time, learning to speak a foreign language, feeling the pain she felt when her father die, and feeling alone and scared when her fiance left her and her child.  If Cather had written the story from a woman's perspective the story would have been more relatable.

In my opinion, Willa Cather did not do an effective job writing as a man.  At the beginning of the story, if I had not already known it was Jim narrating, I would have thought it was a woman from the story.  All throughout the story I did not feel connected with Jim because she did not know exactly how a man would have felt in certain situations. 

I believe Jim changed the title from Antonia to My Antonia because there was a certain connection between them.  They were always just friends, but deep down inside they both felt more for each other.  You would have thought they were two kids who have grown up together their whole lives and were the same age.  Even though Antonia got married to a Bohemian man and Jim went on to law school, you could still feel the love they had for each other.

My Antonia is a story full of life's ups and downs.  Jim and Antonia over come these obstacles together and as they grow older they shape each others lives in ways they did not even see.  I wonder what their lives would have been like if Jim's parents had not of died and he had never had to move to Black Hawk, Nebraska to live with his grandparents?

The Effects of Setting

When Antonia moved to this new land with her family, she lived in the country.  By living in the country she learned to be free and wild.  She did not have to follow town rules to maintain a good reputation for herself and her family.  Antonia was able to be a free spirit, playing under the sun and working in her bare feet.  Whereas, if she had first lived in town she would have been looked down upon for playing out in the streets running without shoes and with her hair down blowing wildly in the wind.  The country shaped Antonia into being an indepent, strong, and wild young lady and taught her to always be herself.

Hilton Head Island is a place that I can be myself and live without a care in the world.  Like reading a really good book, it is an escape for me.  The air allows me to breath a little deeper, the endless number of palm trees make me feel at peace, and the warm ocean breeze makes me close my eyes and smile.  When I ride my bike on the bike trails with my family I feel as if I never want to leave.  This small island is my haven.

Arugment: Allowing Homeschoolers To Play Sports For a Public School

Assertion/Claim:

• Students should be able to be homeschooled and still play sports for a public school.

Evidence/Concrete Detail:

• "Tim Tebow won the Heisman Trophy as the quarterback of the Florida University football team.  He was home-educated in Florida, which is  an equal access law that allowed him to play football for the local highschool."
• If Tim Tebow hadn't been allowed to play football for his local high school he would not be the successful pro quarterback he is today.
• I believe that if "24 other states" are allowed to have the "equal access law" then so should every other state in the United States.
• 325 Homeschooled athletes are currently playing NCAA Division 1-A sports this year.
• Without the opportunity to play for the high school team they would have never been able to play for a "Division 1" school.
• With so many homeschooled athletes on D-1 school teams, I am sure every college coach would want every state to pass the "equal access law" for their benefit.

Opposing Claims/They Say:

• It's not fair to public school students because they have to do more work than homeschooled kids.

My Rebuttal/I Say:

• Although homeschooled kids get the benefit of working on their school work from their own home, they still have to do just as much work.
• "Research shows that homeschooled students score well above average on standardized tests."

My Paragraph
Students should be able to be homeschooled and still play sports for a public school.  "Tim Tebow won the Heisman Trophy as the quarterback of the Florida University football team. He was home-educated in Florida, which is an equal access law that allowed him to play football for the local highschool."  If Tim Tebow hadn't been allowed to play football for his local high school he would not be the successful pro quarterback he is today. I believe that if "24 other states" are allowed to have the "equal access law" then so should every other state in the United States.  325 Homeschooled athletes are currently playing NCAA Division 1-A sports this year.  Without the opportunity to play for the high school team they would have never been able to play for a "Division 1" school.  With so many homeschooled athletes on D-1 school teams, I am sure every college coach would want every state to pass the "equal access law" for their benefit.  It's not fair to public school students because they have to do more work than homeschooled kids.  Although homeschooled kids get the benefit of working on their school work from their own home, they still have to do just as much work.  "Research shows that homeschooled students score well above average on standardized tests."

My Thinking:
This paragraph is based mainly on inductive thinking because my claim is an opinion.

My Source:

• "Tim Tebow Bill"
• Tim Tebow Bill Filed at Arkansas Legislature

Ten Line Poem

After we shake hands,
Before the game starts,
As we gather in the middle,
Because we need to pray,
We start to prepare for our volleyball game.

When the whistle blows,
After we have taken our positions,
As the crowd gets quiet,
While we play out the first serve,
We play like we know we can.

Their Eyes Were Watching God-Book Review

                “Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly.”  The book their eyes were watching god is a unique story that tells the life of a black women who has dreams for a wonderful life and desperately wants adventure.

                The author Zora Neale Hurston writes this book in a way I’ve never read before.  Hurston writes the whole book just as the characters would talk at that time. “Aw, dat ain’t much to eat, Janie.” (page 5)  She also lets the characters tell the story instead of describing everything herself.  A whole page will be filled with just dialogue between the characters. (page 3)  In my opinion, I don’t like how Hurston wrote the book because it made it very difficult to read and it took a while to understand what was going on. “Evenin’, Miz Starks. “ “Good evevin’.” “You reckon you gointuh like round here?” “Ah reckon so.” “Anything Ah kin do tuh help out, why you kin call on me.” (page 37)

                Zora Hurston does a great job of making these characters feel like real people.  After I finished reading the book I thought it was a true story.  Janie, the main character, is a strong willed women who if she wants to do something, she does it.  “Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south.  Even if Joe was not there waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good.” This was when Janie left her husband Logan for a new man who promised new and better things. (page 32) The man she left Logan for was named Joe, but Janie called him Jody.  Jody started out at first as a good man who treated her right and gave her everything he promised.  After a little time however he started mentally abusing her by tearing her down with his words and also physically abusing her by slapping her across the face.  “Time came when she fought back with her tongue as best she could, but it didn’t do her any good.  It just made Joe do more.  He wanted her submission and he’d keep on fighting until he felt he had it.” (page 71)  Finally, after Jody dies Janie finds a new man to run off with and marry named Tea Cake.  Tea Cake is the kind of man Janie has always been looking for and with him Janie can finally say she is in love.  “He [Tea Cake] drifted off into sleep and Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love.  So her soul crawled out from its hiding place.” (page 128)

                The setting is important because it shows the contrast of Janie’s independence to the values of that culture and that time. “S’posin’ Ah wuz to run off and leave yuh sometime.”  In this time, divorce was very much looked down upon. (page 30) Also, even though this is after slavery, segregation plays a huge role in the south and in Janie’s culture.  “De first street lamp in uh colored town.” (page 45)  However, when this story was taking place it was after slavery so Janie did have the freedom to do what she wanted.  “S’posin’ Ah wuz to run off and leave yuh sometime... Janie hurried out the front gate and turned south.” (page 30 and 32)

                I would recommend this book for anyone who is willing to take their time reading and learning how to understand this book.  However, if you are looking for an easy read I do not recommend this book.

Henry VS. Forest

In intense situations, a person's instinctual reaction causes him/her to react, whether it means taking flight and running or taking a stand and fighting what is coming.

Henry, in the Red Badge of Courage, runs for his life.  When the battle that his unit is about to fight seems as if there is no way they will win, he abandons the rest of his "brothers" in his unit.  Leaving them to fend for themselves. This tells the reader that Henry is only thinking of ways he can save himself.

Forest, in the movie Forest Gump, runs because his lieutenant orders him to.  However, as he turns and realizes that the rest of his regiment is in trouble, he turns back and helps out even though he is putting his own life in harms way. In other words, Forest is thinking of ways he can help others, not just himself.

The above character foil further illustrates that people run for varies reasons.

Wounded Warrior Project

Until recently I hadn't thought much about the Wounded Warrior Project.  After reading about Chad Brumpton and Anthony Villarreal I finally realized how important this charity is.
“I became a bilateral below knee amputee on January 24, 2008. It took me a year to make that decision. I met with a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) psychologist during that time to help me deal with my fears. I wanted to know I could go back to my regular life even though part of my body was missing. I was determined to overcome any psychological repercussions.”  The generous people who support this charity are the reason why Chad was able to over come PTSD.  It takes a lot of courage for the men and women of our country to volunteer to serve, so in order to thank them, we should all support the Wounded Warrior Project in any way we can.
Anthony Villarreal, another Wounded Warrior, was injured when a rocket exploded in the back of his vehicle on the battle field.  “I want to help wounded warriors in their recovery process. And I want to give insight to civilians that these warriors are out there. Ask us and we’ll tell you our story. We’re so much more than something to stare at.”  Here Anthony is talking about how much the Wounded Warrior Project helped him and how he now in return wants to help others who have been injured as well.
I believe we should all help the Wounded Warrior Project so men like Chad and Anthony can get back to their families and to their normal day to day life.  Not all of us can serve the country on the battle field, so lets serve our county by helping those in need.

War Is...

War is powerful, changing lives all around the world.
War is documenting, remembering that time in history.
War is selfish, taking the lives of innocent.
War is scary, planning to go in harms way.
War is gory, shedding blood every day.
War is hope, praying for peace.
War is faith, believing in what you are fighting for.
War is tragic, tearing families apart.
War is pain, mourning for a better day.
War is courage, standing in the line of fire for what you believe in.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Many books are struggles between good and evil.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a prime example of two groups of people going against each other to fight for what they believe is right, or in the case of evil, just for power.

I believe the whole theme of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is good always triumphs over evil.  In the end of the book, Voldemort and Quirrell try to kill Harry Potter because he will not give them the sorcerer’s stone.  However, since good (Harry) always over comes evil (Voldemort and Quirrell), they only end up hurting themselves by getting burned every time they touch Harry.  Another example is when Marcus Draco tries to get Harry in trouble during a broom flying lesson.  This only results in Harry impressing the teacher so much he is put on the Quidditch team, something first years are never allowed to do. The final point is at the very end of the book, Harry is the one who ends up with the sorcerer’s stone, not Voldemort or Quirrell, because he was the only one going to use it for good.

In this book, the author does a really good job of actually making me believe the characters are real people.  She describes them so vividly I can see them in my mind.  I especially like the character of Harry because at the beginning of the book he stands up for a kid in his class named Ron who is getting picked on by three kids who think they are better than everyone else.  Another character that I grew to love was, Ron.  He was Harry Potter’s first friend at Hogwarts and stands by him through everything, even the fight against the most feared evil wizard, Voldemort.  Although I love both Harry and Ron, my favorite character in this book was Dumbledore.  He was my favorite character because even when others didn’t believe in Harry, Dumbledore always stood by him and had his back.  Dumbledore also cared for everyone he came in contact with and was gracious when people were rude to him.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone reminds me in ways of another favorite book of mine called Twilight.  Both Twilight and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone are battles against good and evil.  Also, just as in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Twilight also has a major battle at the end of the book where the main sources of good and evil come face to face.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.  It is a book that would capture the attention of many different types of readers.

Remembering 9/11

I believe the builders of the new World Trade Center are trying to make a statement to the world about how even after the 9/11 attack we are not going to live in fear.

"After it's finished it will then be the tallest building in the U.S."

Despite the fact that on 9/11 the terrorists took out two of the tallest buildings in New York City, we are going to now rebuild an even taller building in their place.  The people who will work in the new WTC are going to be a kinda of inspiration for those people who worked there before and now live in fear or for those innocent people who died that day.