Analysis of The Tell-Tale Heart

Edgar Allen Poe's short story The Tell-Tale Heart is an example of the main characters unreliability. The first person view of the story only allows the reader to know what the main character is thinking. This is what makes the reader infer that not everything the main character says is true. The character is in a situation where he is either presenting the story. He is also very defensive by saying that he is not mad and that he loves the old man.
The actions and thoughts themselves tell us that there is something wrong with this murderer. The old man's vulturous eye is what he says drove him to kill him. Therefore, as long as one's looks haunt him he has to get rid off them. If there is no other reason for his crime then it proves he is crazy. If he did love the old man as much as he confesses he does then that love would be stronger than the uncomfortableness the eye causes. Also when he tried to kill him he said he could not because at those times the eye remained closed and it was not a big enough reason to kill him.
The other part of the story is the super senses that this man or woman seems to have. He says that he is able to hear the beating of a heart. He is able to keep motionless for an hour or so. He tries to explain how much caution he took in order not to get caught.
The ending of the story is what gives away the fact that this murderer is crazy. He had already chopped the old man into pieces and yet he thought or heard the heart beat. There is also guilt that one feels that may cause one to give the secret away. There is explanations for many things of the story but they al sum up to make the reader believe he is a sick man.

Short Story Draft

Leo uncovered himself from under his Green Packer blankets. He slowly reached over to his phone and rubbed his eyes as soon as he pressed the unlock screen button. He as usual woke up a few minutes before his alarm went off. Deciding to appreciate those next few minutes he hid again.
The alarm went off and his daily routine was about to begin. He woke up got his green towel and went downstairs to shower. Leo knew that today would be like an ordinary day, but he has known to come to appreciate any sort of nature or human capability. It started early and even though he saw basically the same things every morning he always had new things to think about.
This morning his phone caught his attention. As he continued to text some his friends he wondered how it all worked. How the applications existed and how the internet worked crossed his mind, but thoughts that he had had before gave him the answers. He knew enough about science to know the basics of how everything could be possible. He asks few questions to others about his thoughts and usually he just thinks them through.
At school he is always with somebody and is friendly with everyone. He still has some thoughts but only due to the fact that he can not ignore his surroundings. He does think about others, but mostly he compares them to himself and how he can do better or might already be better then them. His goals in life are not to be better just to be happy and he does not believe it is all based on hard work and that is why he encourages himself to try anything he wants to and to forget about things unless they matter to him and his happiness.
Leo comes home right after school every day unless there is something else he can do preferably with friends that makes him happier. He eats a snack and usually dozes off to music on his bed. He then has no plans, yet he always has something to do and or someone invites him to do something. He can take his time in anything he does, usually for the same reason of thoughts.
After the day is done he concludes it with television to wash out all thoughts. There is days like today where he instead stays up thinking. He thinks not about tomorrow or about the days before. He only goes as far back as the morning.

Kid Cudi: All Along Lyrics & My Interpretation

Hey, um um um um mm
Hey, um um um um mm

When the days, change, so does my attitude
I'm messy at home, I eat a lot of junk food
When the nights change, so do my nightmares too
I dream reality, is my dream

All along, all along, I guess I'm meant to be alone
All along, all along, I guess I'm meant to be alone, out there on my own, yea

When the weeks change, the rumors change too
I'm addicted to highs, would you like to know why?
When the months change, so do my love point of views
I don't want what I need, what I need hates me...
What i need hates me

I know all along, all along, i know I'm meant to be alone, its crazy
But all along, all along, i knew i was meant to be alone out there on my own yeah,

Suppose somehow the lion hearted failed to win, who will be the villain?
All the strangers voted for him
suppose somehow the lion hearted failed to smile, who would be the villain?
All the strangers voted for him

All along, all along, I guess I'm meant to be alone
all along, all along, I guess I'm meant to be alone, out there on my own, yea

Interpretation
All Along is a song that Kid Cudi made to express his feelings and behavior. This song is all about him and his independence. However, he does mention some others that are unknown like the lion hearted, the strangers, and the villain. He believes to have been sent to the world to survive on his own. He explains how change in the outside world changes him as well.
The song starts off with repetition that occurs along the verses. He is saying how everyday makes him feel even sadder and lonelier. Something happened to make him feel bad and everyday alone it gets worse. He is also saying that nights affect his hopes and dreams because in reality they do not exist. They are then known to him as nightmares.
The chorus has a literal meaning about that all the time he has been alone and he is therefore saying that is what he was meant to be. In one of them he mentions it being a crazy thing, but it is true to him.
He begins again with the repetition but expands it from days to weeks. "The rumors change too," is a phrase of what different information people hear about him as more and more days change. He likes the fact that he can consider some of them real to feel less lonely. I think months are like seasons and his love for the world is different every season because of the different holidays he spends alone.
After that he says a very powerful phrase about his needs and how they hate him. However, he says he does not want those needs, due to the fact that his needs hate him, which could be a girl.
The lion hearted is just a person/or a girl with a heart of a lion that will do anything to get what she wants, the villain is a good person but he is weaker because he does not have as many supporters as the lion hearted person. Represents himself as the villain and his loneliness reminds him of his loss.

On The Reservation

Reservations are known to be a region of land given to Native Americans. Land that is not desirable by anyone. The land is not good for farming or even to live on. Resources like oil were found on some of these reservations, however, Native Americans could not get to them due to the lack of technology.
Indian culture has affected the way others treat them. Heritage is something many Indians are proud of but many others neglect it. It affects the ability to fit in to modern society.
The stereotypical Native American is known to be lazy, a drunk, and a bad temper. Both Natives and outsiders view the reservation as if it were a separate state. Separate state meaning as if there was a border line to cross.
The reservation as described in the movie, Smoke Signals is home to many Indians but still holds a small population of people. Technology in the reservations is also not as modern as the rest of the U.S. People do view Indians as less educated and with a stereotypes of them being mean or as strangers. In the book Montana 1948 it shows clear evidence of how they were mistreated back then. People viewed their ridiculous ways as a sort of demonic worship.
Native Americans are the real owners of the Americas and they should have been given fair amounts of the land and instead helped to make sure their old ways remain.
Just as all races have their stereotypes Native Americans have some too. Today, however, stereotypes are used more for jokes rather than racism. I believe stereotypes should only be used among friends or kept to oneself.

Propaganda in 2011: Teachers' assign Project About Teachers' Salaries

A school assignment at Penn Valley Elementary School Pennsbury School District asks to write about teachers' salaries. School Board Director Simon Campbell totally disagrees with this situation. This 5th grade assignment is written in form of a letter titled, "It's time to pay the price." It shows statistics about their salaries and states that "we" don not pay teachers enough. Many will agree, however why are teachers bringing this up with kids? This is just between the Board and the teachers. Some parents are really worked up about this. Others say its does not bother them. The school used the excuse that this assignment had come from an old booklet. That is why some parents are okay with it.
I think that this assignment is totally inappropriate especially for a group of 5th graders. Yes it is true that they are less unaware about these things, but teachers should at least encourage students to want to become teachers because that is what we will need in the future. Why let them be aware of the fact that teachers are not payed enough? This is I think more of a college research project of some sort. This kind of propaganda makes me think of how many people use others with the power they have to take advantage of them to make themselves rise. How does that assignment help the kids?
The average Pennsbury teacher currently makes more than $81,000 a year.
Check it out!!http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=7955295

Response to Beat Street

Beat Street is a movie about Art and Music. Music as in dancing it and making it. I personally like the movie because of all the awesome moves and some funny things that happen in the movie. There is also sad parts and weird parts. Movies with a little bit of everything are more interesting. Even if the action is so unreal. You have to admit that part where they chase Spit was hilarious, like a messed up slow motion chase.
This movie made me think of how much technology has advanced but how we have very similar ideas from back then. It also portrays what the average teen use to do. Some of them poor, but they still have the same likes as the rest. The movie seems to try to show some racism. Dancing and fighting are not the same thing. :)
Beat Street made me realize how important family is and to lead my friends into nothing, but good. The people in this movie tried to make themselves better in many ways some of them have done bad or dumb things, but they do their best make it better. I liked the fact that this movie is not over and it already feels like it accomplished something. Anyways this is a movie I would recommend especially to those not into music, dancing, etc..

Hungry For Attention!

Richard is a young black boy that has a family which is never in peace. The family always has a new problem to deal with. The house setting on fire, Richard's dad abandoning them, the rent, food, etc. Richard causes lots of trouble due to many different reasons. He feels as if the world revolved around him, yet no one pays attention to him. He does many things to pay attention, but he does them without thinking.
He sets the house on fire out of curiosity, but he already knows if one thing burns it is useless. He killed the cat because he was ordered to do it, even though he knew his father meant to just shut the cat up. He started to drink because he thought he liked it, but he really liked all the attention the people were giving him. Running away and writing those words on the windows are also examples. He comes up with different ways to receive attention. However, when he is given lots of attention he has this way of freezing up not knowing what to do like at the police officer and Miss Simons.
He has some reason for the things he does, but he does most of these out of hunger for attention. He is sometimes hungry for food or hungry for fighting, but these just help his figurative hunger.

Resonse to "On Being A Mexican American"

Joe I. Mendoza is a Mexican American and he feels as if he has drifted away from his Mexican Culture since he started living among more European American people. He was not just removed from his culture, but he was forced to do it in order to try to become someone in life. He mentions lots of stories of how he used to be part of a group of Mexicans and how he had to move and change his ways. He also mentions one of the most segregated things I have hear, where as there was an actual line on the ground that he could not cross. Then he realized he was treated differently, but did not seem to bother him much.
He seemed to be very close to his grandmother and he tells us a story of him standing up for himself because of what he thought he was forced to do was unfair. He stood up to his grandmother and he was not able to win the arguments even if it meant running away. He was "beaten" by his grandma for not wanting to do the work. He had decided that he needed to do that in order to be a man.
He was involved in many other things in his life that made him change like the Army and going to school was the biggest part. He omce went back to a get together and when he tried to shake hands with an old friend he was not able to get the hand shake right. Usually that hand shake was natural but to him it was no more. I guess he had forgotten the small things that helped him in being a Mexican and was more of an American after.

King Still King?

Martin Luther King Jr. was a great man with an intelligence that far exceeded others. He knew exactly what moves to do that were always legal. The laws said things about what colored people could not do, but even the greatest American leaders throughout time have said it themselves; All men are equal.
King is still King today because he is alive in lots of colored people and without him many of them would have been to afraid to do anything. Obama shows us a great accomplishment of what MLK did in order to change the ways of the government. In less than three centuries slavery was abolished and in less than one century was a colored man elected as leader of the white men.
MLK is here because we still remind of ourselves us his birthday, his death, his great movements, and he is a very big part of African American History Month. I am no only thankful for him making us have one less day of school, but that I am allowed to be at school with colored people.
There is no difference between people just because of the way they look. All humans go through similar things in life(in America). MLK made a difference that is as big as anything any other person in America has ever done.

Response to "The Sacred Soil" by Chief Seattle

In this narrative the author is telling how he feels about the White Men and his people. He also mentions plenty about God and that our God hates and does not protect his people. I guess it is because all these bad things that have happened to his people throughout history and because they are treated differently among us.
Seattle says that our beliefs and what we do in life about death and of those dead is wrong. That we forget our ancestry and that we do not prepare for the transition of worlds. In our lives we do lots of bad and offending things that would not allow us to change worlds. I think he is for the most part right, but he seems to put all of us as one, but we are not all bad.
God is loving and loves all, but he does not seem to believe that. Seattle also makes a big deal of the Big Chief of Washington, pretty sure it is the president, and how he controls us and them by putting them in a reservation. His tribes are much less than before and for that reason he thinks that God and the Big Chief of Washington do not care of his people because we are more.
Seattle speaks of Death as if it did not exist. He says that there is just a change in worlds and that his people respect and remember their past more than us(true). He also mentions that the dead are not powerless and I agree with him because one's life can cause great change after he is dead. I thought Seattle was an interesting author and he seems to know what he is talking about when he speaks of afterlife and death, but he is wrong about God and all Americans.

Music Review "Kid Cudi"

Kid Cudi is one of my favorite artist of the year. I did not know much about him except because of the song "Day N Night." My friends introduced him into me again about a month ago. I liked him from the start, my cousin is also very into him.
He has very motivating songs and they are usually slow, but he sometimes speaks quick. His genre is progressive rap which is a new thing. His album "Man on the Moon 2: Journey of Mr. Rager." is my favorite album right now. It used to be "Man on the Moon: The End of the Day" but he made a second album. And in this album his music is still the same style but, it is more fresh. His music inspires me in many ways.
He is a goofy fella. He really shows it in his videos. He is like a Bob Marley is to other people. I also like Bob Marley, but Kid Cudi is just newer. I know many people know about him, but not everyone knows all his songs. Knowing what he does and how he acts paints different pictures of his songs. I don't really care about an artist's life as long as their music is good. I'd hate it if he'd stop making new stuff. Of course there will be new ones later, but not the same.
Some Songs
The Prayer
Pursuit of Happiness
Mojo So Dope
Mr. Solo Dolo
Soundtrack to my Life

Jay & Nick

Jay and Nick are basically the two main characters of the Great Gatsby. (Duhh Jay Gatsby-The Great Gatsby) Anyways, these two characters are neighbors in the story. Nick to me is just being used by Gatsby. Gatsby never called for Nick or even knew Nick until Jordan Baker told Gatsby that Nick was related to Daisy. After that he sent someone over to invite him to one of his parties.
Nick ended up in the party not knowing what to do, he was interested in this Gatsby that not everyone knew. Gatsby never told any of his plans to Nick he used Jordan Baker to tell him that he wants him to set up a Date? between the two. It would have been a little better if Gatsby at least told him face to face what his plans were.
Nick seems to become Jay's friend overnight. Inviting him for lunch and introducing him to his other friends. Also fakes. In the end of Chapter 5, Nick realizes that he is left out and decides to abandoned the two lovers. He knew at that moment that Gatsby had gotten what he wanted (one again) and he doesn't care about anybody else other than Daisy.
No one seems to know much about Gatsby except for his past with Daisy and were he went to school. What does Gatsby do other than throw parties? This is one of the reasons why I think Gatsby is just using Nick.

Winter Poem

The Season Winter
The Time of Jesus Christ's birth.
Santa is not real.

Christmas isn't about the present,
but of the past, that one event.
There is more to life than money,
It might be dark but soon to be sunny.
The world is covered in a blanket,
A huge white jacket.
The world shifts for a reason,
Different weather every season.
Winter has its holidays,
but everyone has their own ways.
Whatever religion one is,
from Jesus to Adonis.
Making the world a better place,
Once you die meet 'em face to face.
No one knows tomorrow,
Doesn't mean live in sorrow.
Christmas has its gets and gives,
Hoping for the life of relatives.
Use that brand new iPhone,
call that one that is alone.
Remember not to forget,
A dog is more than a pet.
Cherish those moments,
when you put the ornaments.
The end is near,
Don't worry have no fear.
We all come and go,
Just do it,
like Nike's logo.
...................

Thankful for a Classmate

I am thankful for many people in the class. There are those I talk to those I know and those where I don't know their last names. I also thank the freshman for being as talkative as they are so that we the people on the side closest to the door can just chill.
I am thankful for one main person in that class and it is Jaleel. I have probably asked him what the homework was like 50 times. Even though that's way too exaggerated, but he has also helped me in the work we have done in that class. I sometimes don't understand the chapter, questions, etc. that we did or were doing at that time. He explains what it means or is happening. I guess it is mainly because I understand his way of explaining things. I have that effect on others as well. The teacher has said something and classmates ask what do we do? and I simply explain. Most of the time I don't understand either, but there is always someone I know that can help with that.
I have a person like Jaleel almost in every class. Even if I don't need help or anything that person exist. Jaleel is also pretty cool and we kind of like and dislike many of the same things. I don't really hang around with him, but I can tell that it wouldn't be boring. For some reason or the other, the people that help me are usually the ones I talk to in the beginning of the year. I guess it is my way to spot those that can help me through out the year.

I Am a Plow

I am a plow. I don't know the exact meaning of plow other than the noun one so I'm going to go find it. Wait here I'll be right back.
Plow- verb: to tear up, cut into, or make a furrow, groove, etc. in (a surface) with or as if with a plow (often fol. by up ): The tractor plowed up an acre of trees.
Alright, now that that is straightened out. I do think I am a plow. I TEAR most things I do. I grab my homework and tear it up. Not really. I can plow through many things especially if that's my goal. I might be small, but I can make a difference. I am great at almost 100% of everything I do. I usually do good in sports. I am a beast at video games. I haven't been anywhere close to failing in school. I also don't lose at much, however, I know how to lose and I can accept it without shame. I usually do well in many of my goals. If I don't accomplish one of my goals it is because even I knew that it was kind of impossible to do it. I think what helps me a lot in many things is my organization. I am organized in every part of my life. My time, schoolwork, house chores, etc. all of these and others have organization. I still know that I'm not perfect and not even close, but hey no one is.

A Direction The Class Needs...?

Our 3rd period American Literature class seems to have no big problems with anything. I like this class because of the humor and what we do in there isn't really just busy work, except for the journal, but journals, for some reason I like doing. The only problem when the class starts is that there's always a conversation between like 3 or 4 people that make everyone want to talk among themselves. I think the only reason that problem exist is because it is the beginning of the day and everyone wants to ask or tell what happened this other day.
I wouldn't recommend Mr. McCarthy to make a change in the class because I wouldn't know what to recommend to him. I think he rules over the class easily and we haven't even seen his bad side. I think.:) He can easily just say our names and that's the end of it. I also don't think anybody is scared of him, however, they still respect him for being like that.
The class needs to maintain it's sense of humor. There is another problem with the doing of blogs and some homework. I think many people forget what it is. There should be like a little whiteboard with that night's homework on it. That would help lots of us, other than that I think the class couldn't be any better. Also the amount of work we do out of the textbook and in the textbook is a swell amount. Like it isn't so much out of the textbook, which is heavy, and it gets annoying to have to take home. I don't get how we fell behind in the House of the Seven Gables questions, but it doesn't matter.
P.S who, from the people that know me well, can picture me saying swell?... Right?

Modern Slavery

Slavery is owning another human that does some form of labor. There is many smaller interpretations of slavery. People joke around when someone asks them to do something and reply with, "What do I look like, your Slave?" Modern slavery is thought not to exist, that's what people think. There is modern slavery, kids are forced to work in Africa, women are used as prostitutes in Europe, men are forced to work on Brazilian farms. All around the world there is slavery.
There is slavery in many homes, where kids are forced to do a lot more than a kid should do. Also between the kids themselves, the bigger one usually makes other younger ones do something for them. Slavery is against the law, but the slavery spoken of is that one can not own another human being.
There is still many places with Child trafficking, as in kidnapping a kid and selling him or her to someone in some other place far away. They are usually forced to do labor in the house, but sometimes the cases are worse. There is a big problem like this in the United Arab Emirates. In Africa this also occurs, but even men and women are sold.
We Americans think it doesn't exist because we don't have a problem like this. However, that is just in the U.S. Immigrants are usually taken advantage of. Since all they are trying to do is get to the U.S, the people that get them here can help them by getting them here, but they can betray them as well. Those people are usually not smart enough or brave enough to stand up to them and they live that way. Slavery is still a problem. It might not be as big as in Ancient times, but it's still here..

The Actual House of the Seven Gables...

The Actual House of the Seven Gables is a mansion located in Salem, Massachusetts. It is said to be haunted. The tale behind the house's is an accusation of witchcraft. The first owner of the house accused a man of witchcraft and that man put a curse on him. Later at the house the accuser died of sudden death, it is a mystery how he died.
The people that owned the house were the Pyncheons. Once Colonel Pyncheon died, Mrs. Hepzibah Pyncheon,his wife, was the owner. They were first known because of the ranks they held in the town. After Maule was hanged, or whatever way he was sentenced to death, for witchcraft that he never committed, the Pyncheons were known for an evil accusation.
Colonel Pyncheon had accused Maule of witchcraft just so that the land would of had to be put up of for sale. Then he would buy it, it was a greedy and really inhumane thing to do. I would never kill anyone even for like a million dollars..Maybe a million and one dollars, but still noo. Maule was well known and very respected so it was a strange thing once he died. So of course people noticed why Colonel Pyncheon accused him for it. The towns people lost respect for him and for the rest of the Pyncheons.
The family was however cursed so there was some type of revenge. It was said to be haunted for 200 hundred years. The people who bought the house also were disliked and frowned upon for not returning the property. They never did the right thing. The house is a huge mansion that still stands today. It is now some kind of museum. I'd like to go as a field trip..:) However it's kind of far and probably "costy" so never mind. Still it would be fun!!

The Moment I Knew I Was An American

I think I first realized I was an American in 3rd grade. That was my first year taking the ISAT and I had to fill out all of these questions. It asked me for my ethnicity. My teacher told me to bubble in Latino. She said even though i was filling in Latino, I was still an American since I was born in the U.S. I guessed that it depended on our parents and where they came from.
Many people think that to be an American you need to have citizenship. I think this isn't true. If someone has lived here for their whole lives except for when they were born they should be considered an American. If someone was born somewhere else and lived in America for his or her whole life and went back to their homeland people will doubt that they are from there because of how Americanized they look and act.
I also never thought of myself as a true American because the definition to what an American is varies in many different ways. I don't believe that where you were born matters, you were raised in America and it makes no difference whatsoever. The only difference is how you look, but those are just your genes so I don't get that whole, legal-illegal stuff. I guess I never really cared about where people were born.

Us vs. Them...Us and Them

Us vs. Them. Or is it us and them? This to me means us the people and them the law. We are the ones with the less power, but together we are stronger then them. They think they can do whatever they want, but time isn't like it was back then and in ancient times. All we have to do is get enough people on our side and we win any battle and argument.
In the Crucible, things didn't work out because there wasn't enough people helping because many were afraid. The bad thing is that it would have been hard to do anything because they had limited time. If the "people with the power" gave them more time then maybe something different would be the result.
The killing in this book is so quickly decided. It is like,"You did what?" "You shall be hanged!" There is almost nothing that can stop it. If there is no proof you die. They say God says to do good and you will not be killed, however, I say God gave us a mouth to talk about what really happened and is it right for that person to be hanged or not. If I lived in Salem I would smack someone for being so dumb. They don't think right, yet again they weren't taught any better.
Without talking things through people do not solve anything. This is one of the reasons why most marriages don't last. Communication is very important and it has been for thousands of years. Also it makes life fun.If not you decide.............................................fun?..........I think not.