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Undercover Artist(s)

          My favorite genre of music ranges from hip-hop to alternative and I really pick a better of the two, so I'm going to do two music reviews. The first is my favorite rapper, J. Cole. Everyone might think that they know who he is because of the few singles that he has recently released, but J. Cole was dropped 3 great mixtapes (The Warm-up, The Come-up, and Friday Night Lights), all of which show the personality of a non-commercial rapper, which I think is the one thing that the hip-hop industry lacks. I think that J. Cole says what he has to say, not only about cars, and clothes, but about the stuff that really matters in life and to him. And I think this trait makes him one of the greatest rappers alive today. My second artist is The Whitest Boy Alive. He is an alternative artist, that a lot of people do not know about. I think that his songs are very unique and creative and bring a new style to the table of alternative music.

Jay & Nick

                   Gatsby, a man with nearly everything, but doesn't feel complete unless he has what he truly desires, a woman. Gatsby, however, is a very wealthy man, so his money would potentially draw the eye of any woman. What Gatsby really needs is authenticity. He needs a woman that is true to him and to herself. Gatsby has to have a woman who is sophisticated but still able to have fun. Gatsby needs Daisy.

           Conversely, Nick is a well suited man. He doesn't have a lot of many, but has an education, and the socially networking to become a man like Gatsby. Even so, it's necessary for Nick to gain knowledge and experience from a man of a high stature (Gatsby), in order to become more successful

          Consequently, we see that there are two people, after two different things, who can get these things from one another. This brings speculation to their friendship. A friendship that isn't entirely authentic. Even though it started as two neighbors, becoming acquaintances, the true reason they became friends was to use one another to get want they want. 

Classmates that I'm thankful for

Every Thanksgiving, before we start to eat, my family and I go around the room and tell everyone what we are thankful for. In the past my answers would always be “I’m thankful for the food we are about to eat” or “I’m thankful for my family and friends.” However, this time around I began to think about the blog that was do the next day and how this year I’m thankful for being at Whitney Young, and more importantly being in our 3^rd period American Literature class. Not only because I have teacher who actually wants to make you learn, but that I have classmates that keep the class pleasurable. All of my classmates bring different personalities to the class, but I’m truly thankful for the whole left side of the classroom, from Ulises, who doesn’t talk that much, but always has something good to say when he does talk, to Gordon, Emmet, Lauren, and Briana all of which bring great entertainment to the class. You can’t forget Nikki, and Brittany who always keep me posted on what’s happening. Overall, I’m am sincerely thankful for everyone in our class, mainly because they make want to go to 3^rd period.

Phoebe and Holgrave's love

Kamal Bilal

Per. 3

Phoebe and Holgrave’s Love

            Hawthorne portrays many different themes and motifs throughout the story. There is the major ones such as “appearance vs. reality”, and “You are what your past generation was.” Also there are the less obvious ones, such as “decay” (such as the plump chickens and the aristocratic Pyncheons). I believe that Phoebe’s love for Holgrave shows two themes, “renewal” and how “opposites attract.”

            Phoebe is an inexperienced, and lived a very simple life. However, she has a lot of wisdom, and even though she has lived a very simple life her personality is unforeseen by both the reader and Holgrave. For example, at first Hepzibah anticipates Phoebe to be a burden, but she actually is a great maid, and shopkeeper. Most importantly, Phoebe is a Pyncheon. On the other hand, Holgrave is older which means he has more experience in the real world. Holgrave has also lived a very diverse life. Furthermore, even though both Holgrave and Phoebe have wisdom, Holgrave’s wisdom shows more. Moreover, Holgrave is a Maule. Despite these differences Phoebe and Holgrave declare their love for one another, hence the theme of opposites attract. The theme of renewal is also shown because of the Maule and Pycheon feud. Maules, and Pycheons, are known for not liking each other, primarily because of the dispute over the land, resulting in the Maule curse over Colonel Pycheon. So, the love between Phoebe and Holgrave renews the peace between the two families. 

Appearance vs. Reality

The Deceptiveness of Appearances

In the House of The Seven Gables there is a reccurring theme of “everything is not what it seems.” Hawthorne uses places, and characters to demonstrate this motif. There were multiple characters used, but I think that you can clearly discern this theme in the characters of Hepzibah and Judge Pycheon. The townspeople and many of Judge Pycheon’s acquaintances would see him as wonderful, kind man, since he has a wonderful smile and displays himself as a man of aristocracy. While Hepzibah is seen as a terrible, grumpy old lady, because of the scowl on her face.

            Hepzibah is nearsighted so it seems that she has a permanent scowl on her face. Because of this many of the townspeople and even her own family are scared to talk to her. However, if they would actually talk to Hepzibah they would see that she is a very nice and caring lady. She manage to treats her customers with the utmost respect and politeness, and those who have the courage to come into the shop are able to see her true personality. Nevertheless, because she seems so unapproachable she is very lonely and sad because of her loneliness.

            Contrarily, Judge Pycheon is seen as a very amicable man because of his beloved smile. In truth the Judge is very unrighteous. If he doesn’t get what he wants his uncharacteristic traits seem to show. From the perception of people who just see his appearance, he seems like a respectable gentleman, but people like Phoebe, Hepzibah, Clifford, and even Holgrave, are easily able to through his deceiving smile. Furthermore, for these reasons among others we are able to see the recurring theme of appearance vs. reality.

I Am Plow

The true definition of a plow is a heavy blade used on farms to break up soil and cut furrows in order to prepare for sowing. From some perspectives I see myself as a plow. A plow cuts soil in order to prepare new soil for sowing. I see myself as learning, practicing and studying in order to create a better life for myself in the future. Studying helps me to understand topics more and will help me learn more in school. Learning in school will help me in the near future when I take classes of that similar subject the next year. A plow will cut through soil for the sowing in the future. Just like we use the prior knowledge we have to learn more, the plow reshapes and restructures the original soil so it can create something new. So, as a human being who wants to learn about and experience life to the fullest, I see myself as a plow.

1st Quarter American Literature

I felt that I learned a lot from the first quarter of Mr. McCarthy’s first quarter class. I felt that we actually got to express ourselves through writing in the class, whether it be the daily morning journals, or the weekly blog entries. I liked this class more than many of my other classes because in this class there is not always only one right answer. There are many different perspectives, from many different people, which gives us gets us deeper into the reading or writing that we are doing. It allows us to understand things better and really gives us a different take on the subject. However, we were only able to see these different ideas in group work, or when we read the journals, and we only worked in groups during the end of the quarter. So I believe that we should do more group work in the future, because it lets us fully understand the area under discussion.

Us vs. Them

             Conflict. Conflict is something that happens every day, to everybody, everywhere. Conflict can happen is small cases, such as a disagreement between friends, or in bigger cases that result in wars. Conflict also happens for many different reasons. Some people use conflict as entertainment, others use conflict to cause detriment to people. We can see both of the reasons in the Crucible. Abigail and her friends are hurting many people, and families, by using their cherubic innocence to call witch on people whom they don’t like in the town. At first the girls are doing this mainly to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor, bus as the story goes on and more people get involved the girls have to call witch on lots of people, even their own friend. Furthermore, it seems that by the end of book the girls are just calling witch for fun, to see how far they can go without being caught. This just shows that conflict was around late in our past, is still here in present day, and will probably never go away in our future.

What is an American?

Kamal Bilal

Per. 3

10/21/2010

What is an American?

            What is an American? In book terms an American is a citizen of the United States. But In my eyes an American is someone who has freedom and civil rights. An American is a person who is able to decide how he/she wants to live his/her life. I think that this is the true definition of America because that is what everyone who doesn’t live in America wants. The only difference between Americans and people who live in other countries is that we have freedom, we can make something out of nothing, and we have the ability to do whatever we want (with slight limitations). A true definition of an American is someone who expresses themselves the way they want, because they can.

            America is place of opportunity and the moment I knew I was an American…was today. October, 21^st of 2010, the day where I actually took a step back and realize that I am in one of the greatest countries in the world. A country with no rules on what you have to be, a country full of possibility. And on October 21^st of 2010, I realized that I am proud to be an American

            

Puritans. October 29, 2010

The practices and rituals of Puritanism aren’t openly practiced in America, but a few of the roots and ideas can be seen in America. Puritans believed that if you were not the same as everyone else you were a witch. If you read too many books you were a devil’s advocate. If you didn’t come to church every single Sunday or didn’t agree with a minister or parson you were seen as somebody who didn’t like god and there for a witch. In America if you’re different you don’t get seen as a witch, but you are restricted from some civil rights that most have. For example, gays are not to marry, but heterosexuals are able to.

            Puritans also believed that everybody who was born was born in sin, so pretty much you were found guilty and had to prove that you were innocent, by going to church every Sunday, and follow the laws of the bible. Even though this isn’t what we do today in America I believe that this made us realize to become more rational.