The Tell Tale Heart Analysis

My first impression after reading this story the first time, was the obvious and common take on the story that the main character is actually insane. After reading the story a second and third time and after reading the analysis and our in class discussions, I started to have different takes on the story. I think that the main character was likely hallucinating throughout the whole story and never committed any crime. Another take I found particularly interesting was something brought up in class about the bugs having something to do with the "heart beat" the the main character heard. The bugs may have been attracted to the rotting flesh therefore being under the floorboards where the body was buried. Another thing I found interesting was something I read from the analysis. It said that the main character was telling the story while he was in an asylum for the mentally insane. He was telling the story to try and prove to the people that he was not in fact crazy, thus explaining why he repeatedly states the he is sane. He confesses to the crime to show that he felt guilt for what he had done. Also, another conclusion that I've come to was that the man that was "killed" was maybe partially blind, causing his eye to look like a vulture. This would also explain why he was not able to see the character when he had entered the man's room. Even if a room is very dark, your eyes will eventually adjust, giving me reason to believe he is partially blind.

Batter Up

A warm summer's afternoon and the sun was starting to go down, setting the sky on fire. My cousins and I decide to go to the nearby playground by my house. It wasn't that great of a place, just a little parking lot behind a school with a jungle gym and white, worn out lines forming a baseball diamond. We arrive at the park to find that we are the only ones there. Perfect. Nothing to distract us. Nothing to get in our way. There is only four of us, so we split the teams evenly, two versus two. We play rock paper scissors to see who would bat first. 1, 2, 3, shoot. My hand formed a fist, my cousin’s was flat and open. We went to the field. They went up to bat.

The way we play is a bit unusual. You hit the ball. Run to first. You are safe. But then you go back to the batting line. You now have an imaginary player on first who has taken your place. If you hit the ball again and get to first again, you now have a player on first and second base. As you can probably tell, playing this way had a lot of flaws leading to conflicts, but we had to make do with what we had. We would argue if the imaginary player made it to second safe or not. A lot of the time, we would just play rock paper scissor to settle these things.

Well anyways, we play for quite some time. They get some good hits, we get some, but we never really kept score, we just kept on playing. By the time the sun was halfway set, it was our turn to bat. My cousin and I get one good hit each and now we have an imaginary player on first and second base. My cousin is quite an interesting person. He is two years older than I am, but he is shorter than me and also weaker. But despite that, he is the most athletic person I know, very optimistic, and never gives up. To him, losing was not an option. So when he walks up to bat, the other team doesn't expect too much from him, maybe a single or a double, nothing much. He walks up to bat and gets into position. The ball is thrown and it sails through the air. Swing. Whiff. Strike one.

"That's ok," I yell to him, “You’ll get this next one."

You can see his determination. Sweat drips from his face and drenches his t-shirt. He gets into position again. He stares down the pitcher. The ball is pitched once again. Swing. WHAP! CRRRACK! The ball goes flying into the open air, far into the outfield, but that’s not what startles us. My cousin is still standing at home. He stares blankly into his hands. There, he holds the lower half of the bat. We look down into the infield. The other half is somewhere between the pitcher and first base. We are all silent at first just staring dumbfounded at my cousin. Our jaws hang open and we all look like complete idiots. Then, we all burst into a roaring laughter. Sure, my bat is broken, but that was just amazing. We decided that my team had one just because of that beautiful hit. He hang out by the jungle gym for a bit afterwards, we play some catch with the ball. When the sun was barely visible, we all decide to go back to my house. We tell the story to my parents and they laugh so hard that it hurts their stomachs.

To this day, I still have that bat with the handle duct taped together to the barrel of the bat, as a memoir of the glorious and hilarious day.

Song Analysis

So, the song I chose to analyze is "The Catalyst" by Linkin Park.

First of all, a catalyst, by its definition, something, or in this case someone, that "excites" or causes two forces to react without harming itself or either party. I believe that the narrator of this song is a catalyst himself. He preaches to the people on God's behalf and speaks to god on the people's behalf. He tells the people that God is still in control of them and asks God to bless the people even though they are sinners.

This song is full of contradictions. Most of the song talks about God like he is a force to be feared. That he can't ever be beaten and is the all powerful force and can kill you on a whim, but at some other moments, it gives a hint that he is a forgiving, understandable, and loving person. Also, if you listen closely, after the lines explaining why God is unbeatable, they say "no," hinting that they may be able to resist God after all.

Overall, I think it's a good song. I think there are many other takes you can have on this song. Here's the lyrics if your interested.


The Catalyst
By Linkin Park

God bless us everyone
We're a broken people living under loaded gun
And it can't be outfoght
It can't be outdone
It can't out matched
It can't be outrun
No

God bless us everyone
We're a broken people living under loaded gun
And it can't be outfoght
It can't be outdone
It can't out matched
It can't be outrun
No

And when I close my eyes tonight
To symphonies of blinding light
(God bless us everyone
We're a broken people living under loaded gun
Oh)
Like memories in cold decay
Transmissions echoing away
Far from the world of you and I
Where oceans bleed into the sky

God save us everyone,
Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns?
For the sins of our hand
The sins of our tongue
The sins of our father
The sins of our young
No

God save us everyone,
Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns?
For the sins of our hand

The sins of our tongue
The sins of our father
The sins of our young
No

And when I close my eyes tonight
To symphonies of blinding light
(God save us everyone,
Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns?
Oh)
Like memories in cold decay
Transmissions echoing away
Far from the world of you and I
Where oceans bleed into the sky

Like memories in cold decay
Transmissions echoing away
Far from the world of you and I
Where oceans bleed into the sky


Lift me up
Let me go (x10)

God bless us everyone
We're a broken people living under loaded gun
And it can't be outfoght
Can't be outdone
It can't out matched
It can't be outrun
No

God bless us everyone
We're a broken people living under loaded gun
And it can't be outfoght
Can't be outdone
It can't out matched
It can't be outrun

Propaganda 2011

Propaganda- information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause; a form of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience

Uuuummmm........ yeeeaa........ So, I don't really know what I'm really supposed to say, cause I really don't know and propagandas..... sooo..... yea...... I just gonna end this here. Sorry to anyone who wasted 30 seconds of their life reading this pointless post.

Beat Street

Honestly, my first impression of the movie was,"This looks like it's gonna suck." But after going on further into the plot of the movie, I gotta say, I like it a lot. It had a really good plot. Although they didn't really do much characterization, you can basically assume how these people would react because these were just the lives of normal people. Some of the thing I REALLY, REALLY liked in the movie was the graffiti art, the break dancing, and the music.I especially like the ending scene, where they have the wake/ dance party thing. That was really cool. Overall, I'd give the movie 4- 4.5 stars.

Hungary for Attention

I think Richard is not alone in his struggle for attention. Sure, he does some extreme things to get it, like killing a cat to get attention from his father, but he still trying to reach the common goal everyone shares of getting attention.

Whether you admit it or not, almost everything you do is to get some kind of attention. No one in this world wants to be ignored or forgotten, I know I don't. Getting good grades, causing trouble, etc. are all ways we try to get attention. It's human nature. Sure, some of us are "hungrier" than others for attention. I would say Richard is starving for attention. He craves it so much, that he is willing to go to the extreme to get it.

So yeah. Basically what I'm saying is that we all want attention and that we will do whatever we can to get it.

King still King?

I honestly think that most people in this country to appreciate what Matin Luther King Jr. did for the American people as much as when he first gave the speech. I think that his birthday is just another excuse to have the day off from work and school. I think that's pretty sad. What would happen if he had never given that speech or went against the government? What would happen if he just became another abused African American citizen?
I think people should do something to honor him on his day, even if its just like a small thank you to him in prayer or something. But sadly, many of us don't do that. Many of us don't even think about him on that day.

Music Review: Linkin Park: A Thousand Suns

So, this is probably the latest album I've been listening to, and I have to say, its pretty awesome. Even though I like this album a lot, I can't guarantee that everyone will like this album. If you liked their other songs, and not just the popular ones, you'll most likely like this.

One thing you'll definitely notice when you look at the CD is that there are a couple of 20-40 second long songs with no words and sometimes not even instruments playing. Yea...... kinda weird, but it actually is nice because if you listen to the track in order, it kinda tells a story and then you'll get why the random "songs" are there.

Also, another thing about this CD is that some of the songs are kind of "preachy". They mention God and salvation in their songs a lot. That necessarily isn't a bad thing, actually, it isn't bad at all. It's pretty interesting what their view is on our modern day society and the importance of a God today.

All in all, I give it two thumbs up plus five stars, because thats just how much I love this music. :)

Nick an Jay

I think the relationship between these two isn't a very close one. I don't think that their relationship can really be anything more than just next door neighbors because their personalities are waaaaay too different. Nick is more of an easy  going guy, while Jay wants everything to go his way, or nothing. Also, I think Jay is just using Nick, and once Nick comes to this realization, he will probably feel bad about this and will not want anything to do with Jay.

Snowflake Battle Poem (Haiku)

Days become shorter,

School days feel like they're longer,

Man, I miss summer.

Thankful for a Classmate

Well, this is pretty hard to chose who to write about. I'm pretty much thankful for all of my classmates. It give the class that relaxed atmosphere. I can't really single out one person, so I'll choose three people instead.


So, the first two, I am thankful for the for the same reason, and coincidentally, they are directly on my left and right sides. So, I am thankful for Rose and Jose. I am thankful for them because they make me laugh. Its nice to have them in an early class before division, because then, it lightens up my mood for the rest of the day. After the class is over, I feel more awake walking out of that class then when I was walking in. THANKS GUYS!!! :D


So, the third person I would like to thank is Sam. I am forever in debt to this guy, because he is also in my Chinese class and without him, I am 100% positive that that I would have failed that class by now. He helps me with all kinds of stuff in that class, but I won't go into detail because I might just get In trouble if I told you. So yeah, basically, Sam, your a life saver. THANKS SAM!!
:D

I am (not) a Plow

Well first, let me define what a plow is. It means to break and turn over earth especially with a plow. It also means to cover: act on verbally or in some form of artistic expression. 
Artistic? I don't really think I'm a very artistic thinker, so I'm going to say that I am NOT a plow, unlike everyone else who said that they are a plow. 
Other ways I'm not a plow is that I am not a machine, I don not turn over dirt, I am not a farm tool, basically, I don't see how anyone could relate themselves to a plow.

A Change for the Class

I think the class is pretty fun enough the way it is. If anything, I would just suggest that the books we read should be not as hard to read. After the first couple of chapters of the book, I'm just about hopelessly lost. Oh, and another thing, I don't like building off the first lines of books for our journals, I can never think of anything to write and when I do, it sounds extra stupid. But besides that, the class is really nice. I like how the class flows, how the homework isn't collected until the end of every month, group work is fun, projects are easy, blogging is giving me a new experience in writing, and all the kids in the class are cool. So, I don't think this class really needs to change, it's going by nicely, I'm learning a lot, and best of all, it's one of my few classes that doesn't ddddrrrrraaaaaaaaggggg on for the whole period and doesn't makes it feel ten times longer than it really is.
So yeah, I don't think there is anything wrong with the class.

Modern Day Slavery

So, I did a little research on this topic, and I have to say, I'm a little surprised. I thought that slavery had been banned across the world. But apparently so countries still allow slavery to take place in their society and it is perfectly normal for them. For example, the countries  of Sudan (even though their government denies practicing it) and Niger still practice slavery today. Even in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates have programs that are very similar to slavery, such as child trafficking and forced labor.
I thought that mankind was  more sophisticated than that. I thought it was a shared belief that everyone on this earth was thought as equal. But sadly, I was wrong. Apparently the human race isn't quite yet ready to give up this demeaning tradition and to move on. 
I don't just pity the slaves, I pity the slave owners as well. You know what owning a slave tells me? It tells me that the owner it too lazy to do any of the manual work himself/herself and not only that, it also tells me that they they are too cheap and immoral to give just payment to these workers.
Bottom line. Slavery= BAD

Salem, Puritans, the actual House of the Seven Gables and Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorn was born in Salem, Massachusetts. Coincidentally, Salem is also the setting of "The House of the Seven Gables"  Actually, quite a few of his stories take place in Salem, Massachusetts, such as "The Scarlet Letter" and "Young Goodman Brown".
Puritans were a strict peoples. For example, they expected their children to act as young adults. They were not allowed to show any emotions or be severely punished. Toys and games were strictly prohibited and their days were filled with tireless work. They saw these materialistic things as sinful distractions. At a young age, the boys started to work under masters as apprentices to later carry on the trade. They learned skills such as carpentry, hunting, fishing, and other crafts. While on the other hand, the girls were expected to stay home with their mother and help tend to the house by cooking, cleaning, sewing, et-cetera. 
The Puritans affected our lives today in many way. One for example is that it made sure that there was morality in our government. They made religion an important part of our society. They introduced the concept and trade economy. So even though the Puritans are probably not the people you probably wanted to live with, they still greatly impacted our society in many ways. 

John Procter

I believe John Procter is not a puppet and to be used by other people. He is a man of high honor and respect, a hero. Although he has done some sinful deeds, such as cheating on his wife with Abigail, I still believe that he is a good man because he is truly sorry and tries to make thing right with his family and above all else, he saves lives. By not confessing that he is a witch, he keeps his title as known by the people and his family at the price that he must hang. I also think that he is a hero because he loves his family above all else and begs for her wife to be spared until she delivers their baby. He certainly is not a puppet because he makes  his own decisions and corrects his own mistakes.

When I Knew I Was In America

I guess I sorta knew I was American when I was still young and my parents told me that I was born in Chicago, Illinois in America. So, from then on, I guess I just always considered myself to be an American without really having a full understanding on what being "American" truly meant.


I developed a better understanding of what it meant to be an American around the time I was in first or second grade. I probably realized it when I looked into my social studies book and learned about how other people live outside of my community. I saw that there was more people out there than just my neighbors an friends down the block. I read about people who lived all over the world, in Africa, Asia, South America, and many more.


I realized what it truly meant to be American probably around fifth grade when I went on vacation to the Philippines to visit family. While I was there, I noticed how differently people lived there compared to how we live here in the United States. I realized cultural diversities and that I wasn't really American (besides the fact that I'm a citizen). I was really filipino because those are the customs and traditions that I follow.

A Reason to KILL

Honestly, I think killing others to solve conflicts is just stupid. Killing others just causes more problems. Even in war, killing an opposing country is no different than murder. But, because of some twisted logic, soldiers are praised and awarded for this. So basically, the reasoning of our country is "Its ok to destroy the lives of families somewhere else, as long as its not here." That's horrible.
Why can't problems be solved through civil nagotiation? Why must we be so barbaric and kill others to get what others have and what we want. That's just selfish, and if you learned anything in preschool and kindergarten, its that sharing is caring.
Why not play a nice friendly game of chess to decide the winner of an argument? Checkmate, now surrender to me. Can't it be that simple? But no, people have to be stubborn and risk their own people to fight for their country, kill a ton of people, and come home heroes, if they come home at all.
So basically, I think killing is stupid. The only way a person should die is from either sickness or age and nothing else. Dieing in any other way is just stupid.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

So after reading that passage, I realized that there are many different ways to look at God than by the usual way taught to us by the Catholic church. Jonathan Edwards sees God, as if he were some cruel 
puppet-master. He talks as if God is controlling your life with strings attached to his fingers and only keeps you there for his own amusement. He says If God wishes so, he can cut you off at any moment and send you straight to hell. According to him, you have no choice or any chance of persuading God and that he will drop you whenever he pleases (maybe even when you least expect it).
Now this is very disturbing for me to imagine. I prefer to picture God as a loving person who welcomes anyone and anything into his arms and into heaven. If this interpretation of God were true, I would much sooner switch religions than pray to that guy.

There Goes The Neighborhood!

So here is a story from back when i was in 7th grade. Basically, I went to a small Catholic School, where most of the kids were oblivious to what really happens in the world. So, sometime around the middle of the school year, the teacher tells us that we have a new kid coming to the school and will be in our class. I won't use his real name for his sake, I'll just call him Bob. So for the next couple of months, Bob becomes all of our friends. He was cool, funny, and pretty athletic. He seemed like a normal guy.
So, one day, during lunch, he says he's not really hungary, and gives his lunch to my other friend. This seemed weird, because he usually is always hungary. Then all of a sudden, out of no where, he pulls a pocket knife out of his pocket and starts cutting his wrists! As you can imagine, this is a lot to take in for us. So anyways, he asks us to not tell anyone. Out of panic, we agreed to this. After probably another week of this, I guess one kid had had enough and said something to the teacher (to this day, I still don't know who told the teacher about this). So, the teacher talked to him and he got some help. After he seemed to be "cured", he just left the school (weeeeiiirrd). And from then on, until the end of the school year, we had a school assembly probably every week or so about how we should discuss our problems with our teacher and not to cut ourselves. Each one was longer and more boring than the last. That kid really changed our school.