A Concise Story

          “Beeep!” The acute sound of the referee’s whistle sounds, and even though I am on the ground, grass 
stains on my white jersey, and cleat marks on my red socks, I’m in the box. Penalty kick, extra time, and the only thing I have to do is put the ball in the corner. But it’s never that easy. As the referee puts the ball on the twelve yard spot, my mind starts racing. Flashbacks on all the two hour practices in the rain, all the shots against the brick wall in negative degree weather, all the hours put into something that happens in a matter of seconds. Then the flashbacks turn into negative thoughts. Thoughts about how if I miss this penalty; there is not a championship, there is not a state cup trophy, there aren’t any bragging rights. These thoughts turn into pressure that sends chills through my body. However, with all this deep thinking and second guessing myself, a quick, confident smile is still able to appear on my face. The chills that I once had are now gone. And finally, when I lock eyes with the goal keeper, I realize that all the long hours put in are going to give me a deserving result. Then the whistle blows, I pick my spot, and go…

Rest my Chemistry by Interpol

When analyzing Rest my Chemistry, I see two main ideas. The first is how drugs are ruining his life in multiple ways. The first is every time he does drugs he feels very regretful, and this feeling of regret is causing him a lot of stress. He also feels that he is losing his friends because he is spending all of his time taking drugs, or that the friends he has are his friends only because of the drugs that they or he has. This idea of regret intensifies when he realizes the opportunities that he is missing. This feeling of regret makes him temporarily stop taking drugs (“rest my chemistry”). You can see these examples in the song on lines 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, and 14.

The second idea is that he is using drugs as a metaphor, and he is really talking a girl or a relationship. This girl obviously the right girl for him, however, he still keeps going back to her, as he would with drugs. While with this girl, he is losing friends, and missing out on opportunities. He feels that the relationship was once a good one, that they used to have great experiences with each other, but now their relationship is preventing him from being a better him. Resting his chemistry would be like taking a break from their relationship.

I haven't slept for two days

I've bathed in nothing but sweat

And I've made hallways

Scenes for things to regret

My friends they come

And the lines they go by

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

I live my life filled with no pain

Just some rage and three kinds of yes

And I've made stairways

Such scenes for things that I regret

Oh, those days in the sun

They bring a tear to my eye

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

But you're so young

You're so young

You look in my eyes

You're so young, so sweet, so surprised

I see a sign, it says �okay�

Gotta take a ride, just recline in the faraway

Got to take some time to realize

That my friends they come

And the lines they go by

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

But you're so young

You're so young

You look in my eyes

You're so young, so sweet, so surprised

You look so young

Like a daisy in my lazy eyes

So tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry

Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry 

Propaganda

            Merriam Webster defines propaganda as the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person. However, this definition changes from blog to blog. What is similar about the blogs though is that propaganda is very bold. It is a lie that someone or some institution has spread and in the 2011 society it most likely has gotten spread through mass media. The sole reason for this propaganda is competition. As long as there is competition there will be propaganda to relegate the opposing party. Whether its politics, legal rights, or where to buy the greasiest burger.

            In 2011 we see many examples of propaganda. There has been propaganda with the issue in Egypt, where Vodafone has promoted pro-government messages. There is propaganda in the mayoral election where every single commercial has to deal with the faults of the other candidate and not with the strong points of the actual contender. Even with cell phone companies like Verizon, who insist that their phone gets better service than AT&T (true). Additionally, the biggest that I have seen this year has been the propaganda between car insurance companies, when one says that you save more money with them and the other says the exact opposite. So, is propaganda just a white lie, or is just a notion that will be with us forever?

Passion in Beat Street

            Beat Street was a very interesting movie and it really opened my eyes to an era that I have not seen before. In this day in age communication between teenagers, and adults for that matter, is an email, a Facebook, a Tweet, or a phone call. However, in Beat Street we see real friends, who enjoy each other’s company. In Beat Street we see kids break dancing in subway stations, people creatively mixing and putting together real hip-hop beats and sounds, and we see the true artist in everyone especially Ramo. We see the passion that is in everyone character in the movie, a passion that is not really seen in our society today. I think that one of the main things that made this movie so cool was that it was filmed in New York City. I think that if it was not filmed in a big city the whole concept of passion, dance, music, and struggle would not be there. So, Beat Street has been a great movie so far and it keeps getting better and better.

Hungry

          In Black Boy, the main character Richard is hungry for many things. In the beginning of the book we see that he is hungry for attention, when he sets the house on fire. We also see that he is hungry for knowledge also. He wants to learn how to read and write, and he seems to want to learn what his piers know. Also, throughout the book we see that Richard is hungry, for food, and most importantly love.

          However, Richard is not the only one hungry. Richard's brother also seems hungry for attention when he tells on Richard all the time, his mother seems hungry for attention, but she doesn't publicly display it like Richard does. I also believe that Richard's dad is hungry for a better lifestyle, which is why he leaves his family for a different one. Also, I believe that everyone, in the book or in reality, is hungry for something, but some express their hunger in different ways

King Still King

I believe that Martin Luther King Jr. is still King. King has yet to be forgotten and his movement still affects are society today. Without Martin Luther King Jr., many of the leaders in the African-American community would not have much inspiration. They look at King as an icon and many of these leaders base their methods and ideas from Martin Luther King’s. Also in recent years, Barack Obama has been compared to Martin Luther King Jr., which shows that he has not elapsed from our memory.  I feel that if the African-American community did not have an icon to look up like Martin Luther King, the things that we stand for would be brought about in a very different, perhaps more violent way. The way Martin Luther King Jr., moralized his message in a very peaceful, and organized matter, which made him a very unique figure and person that will never be forgotten because of that trait. 

Children of the Sea

             For starters, the new section that we are doing has been my favorite so far. Short stories cannot have a boring build up because they are meant to catch the reader’s eye from beginning to end and I felt that Children of the Sea by Edwidge Dannicat did that exact thing. Dannicat really painted a picture in my head about what was happening. The concise, but vivid details- as opposed to long, insignificant details that are sometimes seen in regular novels- makes Children of the Sea a better read. In addition, the unique style she used to write the story in journals helped portray the lives of both people through their thoughts, and ideas, allowed us to understand how they felt from one another, and gave us information about the experiences that they had to undergo. Lastly, one of the main reasons I enjoyed this short story was because it was half non-fiction, which put more emotion into the story and kept the reader interested.

Listen to kamalbilals Playlist

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.