The Trojan War

In the Trojan War, the whole war started because of one girl. Everyone coveted this woman, Helen of Troy. Most men would die or fight wars for her, and so it was. When Paris, the prince of Troy, ran off with Helen it caused a war. This goes to show that people are willing to fight a war over one single woman.

In the movie Anger Management, there are two men that meet on a plane. One of them gets mad at the fight attendant and has to attend the other mans anger management therapy. After a while, the therapist sets up a prank so that the other man’s girlfriend breaks up with him, kind of like a Trojan Horse in a way. It kind of resembles the way the Trojan War was. It started over a beautiful girl and the rivals used trickery to defeat the Trojans.

Some stuff is the same about these two stories, but some stuff is completely different.  In Anger Management, the story ends good for the man who lost his girl, and same thing with King Menelaus because Helen came running back to him. The difference is the man came running back to the girl in Anger Management.

Substance Abuse

This is my expository essay on substance abuse about drugs and alcohol effect as humans for Language Arts class.

Why do people do drugs and alcohol? What’s the point of endangering your life over some stupid drink or pill? Maybe there are problems in their life and they use these things to relieve the stress. Maybe they just want to fit in with the rest and be cool and accepted. But beyond all that, there has to be some reason why drugs and alcohol are used so widely and I’m aiming to find that out.

The earliest traces of drugs started around 5000 B.C. Priests and spiritual figures used smoking to drift off into a world of peace and deep thought. According to history, even the highest of people smoked and did drugs. Later the practice of smoking spread across the world. From Asia to Australia to Europe, smoking was becoming popular and more forms of it came about like cannabis, also known as “weed”.

Although spiritual men like the priests in 5000 B.C did it, did they really know the hazardous effects smoking has on the body? In Singapore many people have died at the hand of smoking. Smoking causes many diseases involving the lungs that are usually very fatal like cancer. The worst thing is, once you’re in too deep with smoking you cant get out, because the highly addictive chemical nicotine is in cigarettes. That’s why quitting is one of the hardest challenges in a smokers life.

At the same time that smoking harms the body in many ways, it can also be used for a little bit of good. For example, medicinal marijuana is given to patients who have painful sicknesses but at the same time smoking also can give sickness like cancer. Cigarettes are also a good stress reliever and have saved people from depression many times before.

Along with smoking and marijuana, there are more dangerous things too. For example, alcohol. Alcohol has killed countless people with its harmful effects. People usually just see at as a drink to have fun or to party, but alcohol could end your life in one night as you know it. In 1997, Americans drank an average of 2 gallo­ns (7.57 liters) of alcohol per person. This translates roughly into one six-pack of beer, two glasses of wine and three or four mixed drinks per week. That much in one night could send a person into cardiac arrest and easily kill them. Already 1,057,195 people have died from alcohol alone this year! That’s over a million and the year is not even halfway over yet. This shows the danger drugs and alcohol has on us people. Whether we drink it for fun, or to act cool, or to numb the pain of depression, its not worth it.

In conclusion, drugs and alcohol have been in our past for so long we think of it as human nature to smoke and drink. A lot of people still don’t realize the death toll that substance abuse has on our population. It may relieve the pain or stress you have, or make you fit in with the other people, but in the end you will lose. Would you rather have fun and get drunk for one night and die? In the end its just not worth risking your life on things so dangerous. Your life is worth more than a few beers and a pack of cigarettes. That’s how the whole thing of substance abuse is and that’s how it’ll end too.

Super Rich Kids

Analyze how a text reflected the society, politics, or experiences of a time period.

Have you ever met someone that seems like they couldn’t be sad? Have you ever met someone that just had everything? Have you ever met someone that was so rich and blessed that they seemed like they had no reason to be sad? Well, its not always as it seems. In the song “Super Rich Kids” by Frank Ocean, it shows the real life of a rich kid and how society thinks they are.

Too many bottles of this wine we can't pronounce
Too many bowls of that green, no lucky charms
The maids come around too much
Parents ain't around enough
Too many joy rides in daddy's jaguar
Too many white lies and white lines
Super rich kids with nothing but loose ends
Super rich kids with nothing but fake friends

The real life of a rich kid isn’t as pleasant as it seems. Sure, you have money…but your parents are never home; they’re always working. These rich kids don’t know what to do with all the money and power. Kids these days always use their money and power on drugs. The drugs ruin their life even more but they think there’s no other way to make them feel better. In fact, drugs and alchohol drive them deeper into depression. For example, on Wall Street in New York there have been many entrepueners that have turned into drinkers and drug abusers. A man named Michel says that after working with so much money and power, it drives him a little insane. He went from successful businessman to compulsive drinker. Not only does he suffer from heavy drinking, he also

While these kids are already dealing with drug addiction and missing parents, they also have no real friends. Everyone is just friends with them for their money so they hope that person buys them things or something. People only like them because they have money or a nice house. Girls only like him so they hope he buys her gifts or something. They’re all alone. Nobody likes him for who he really is.

Start my day up on the roof
There's nothing like this type of view
Point the clicker at the tube
I prefer expensive news
New car, new girl
New ice, new glass
New watch, good times babe
It's good times, yeah
She wash my back three times a day
This shower head feels so amazing
We'll both be high, the help don't stare
They just walk by, they must don't care
A million one, a million two
A hundred more will never do

On the other hand, the rest of society mostly thinks that money is everything and they have enough friends and the key to happiness is money. And that’s why they torture the wealthier. Society thinks they have everything they need. I myself, understand what rich people go through because I’m friends with some of them. Everyone else tends to think they have all the friends they need, they’re super popular, and don’t have to worry about not having food or anything.  What the lower classes don’t understand is no matter how much money anyone has, everyone has their own problems. They treat the rich like they have no reason to be sad.

Close your eyes for what you can't imagine; we are the xany gnashing
Caddy smashing, bratty class; he mad, he snatched his daddy's Jag
And used the thing for batting practice, adamant and he thrashing
Purchasing crappy grams with half the hand of cash you handed
Panicking, patch me up; Pappy done latch keyed us
Toying with Raggy Anns and mammy done had enough
Brash as luck, breaching all these aqueducts; don't believe us
Treat us like we can't erupt, yup

[Verse 3: Frank Ocean]
We end our day up on the roof
I say I'll jump, I never do
But when I'm drunk I act a fool
Talking 'bout, do they sew wings on tailored suits
I'm on that ledge, she grabs my arm
She slaps my head
It's good times, yeah
Sleeve rips off, I slip, I fall
The market's down like 60 stories
And some don't end the way they should
My silver spoon has fed me good
A million one, a million cash
Close my eyes and feel the crash

In conclusion, the meaning and impact of this song on society can be heard and seen through the lyrics so easily. All through music and text, the super rich kids can show and reflect on society how their perfect lives really are.

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place In  Film

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway is much different than the short film made afterwards. The book by far is better than the movie. I felt like the actors had no emotion and they were just reading lines. Also, the characters didn’t look as how they were described in the story.  The older waiter actually looked pretty young.

Along with the characters appearances, the music was also kind of…not fitting. It was eerie with sharp and high notes. The music sounded like something that would be in a horror movie. There was also barely any music, just the waiters talking in a silent café.

The screen shots were actually pretty right on. It gave it that sad kind of feel which Hemingay portrayed in his story. They were long shots that would not really moved at all as the characters either walked into the distance and talked.

A Clean, Well Lighted Place Response

Write a brief analysis of the two waiters.  What do they represent about life? What does the café symbolize?

The waiters kind of represent the old and young generations and how they don't get along and the cafe is kind of like life or where people will meet. The young waiter represents the disrespectful teenagers that are kind of selfish and dont understand the more elderly.  The old man has a story behind being there but the young one dosent give him a chance.

Text Analysis

 This is a piece for language arts analyzing how a text or song in this case reflected the society, politics, or experiences of a time period.

Every group has that one person who thinks they rule everything but they really don’t, and in that every group theres everyone else. Everyone else is the reason why the group stays together even though the leader treats them like the minority and the punks. The Punk and The Godfather by The Who is the perfect song to describe situations like this, and these situations aren’t just examples or fakes, they exist in all of society all around our world.

The Punk and The Godfather really reminds me of most countries societies. There is one person who controls everyone, kind of like the relationship in the song. A mean and controlling godfather is always controlling and manipulating the minor and smaller teenage punk. The godfather knows he is the leader but he also knows he is wrong.

I have to be careful not to preach
I can't pretend that I can teach,
And yet I've lived your future out
By pounding stages like a clown.
And on the dance floor broken glass,
And bloody faces slowly pass,
The numbered seats in empty rows,
It all belongs to me you know.

In those lyrics the godfather, or leader knows his teachings are wrong and that he has ruined his own nation. He knows that it belongs all to him, that it is his fault. Just like a country with a government that treated their countries the wrong way, the leaders know what they did. Though they might not admit it because they fear they will come off as weak, they do know they are wrong. They know they are just like a mean godfather.

Just like Libya or other nations, protesting against their leader Khadafi, they have destroyed their own nation and the lower people know it. The people know that the leader has nothing to say so he only sees what the people have showed him, so he knows he knows nothing.

We tried to speak between lines of oration
You could only repeat what we told you.
Your axe belongs to a dying nation,
They don't know that we own you.
You're watching movies trying to find the feelers,
You only see what we show you.
We're the slaves of the phony leaders
Breathe the air we have blown you

The Punk and the Godfather makes a connection to almost everywhere. The Godfather is the government and the punk is the citizen. If you look anywhere in your city, a nearby place, even a neighborhood; you could find a place that has a relation to the meaning of this song. Everywhere you look, there’s always those lower people controlled by the one that should be equal to them.

Is Skateboarding A Crime?

This is an essay responding to the issue of if skateboarding should be illegal for Language Arts.

It’s been a hot topic for a while now. The main reason is because all the adults think these young teenage skateboarders are just trying to be rebels and cause trouble. Truth is though, these kids are just trying to have fun. Skateboarding is more than a sport, it’s a lifestyle. There’s no reason why the law should take that away from millions of skateboarders, and today I’m going to show you all why it shouldn’t be taken away.

Skating is more than just a sport. Its more than just grinding rails and “ruining your property”. It’s a life. There’s so much more to it. There’s just a feeling you get when you land a trick that makes you feel better than anything else. Skateboarding accepts every culture. The many friendships that people have made through skating is amazing. There’s no reason to take all that away from these kids. They’re not destroying property at all. We leave scuff marks on rails at most. Maybe the person that freaks out about a black mark on their shiny precious rail should be the one changing their lifestyle. People need to lighten up a bit and let us teenagers be teenagers.

The cruelty towards skaters should be the real crime. The law is harsh on skaters only because the other teenagers set bad examples for us. They see us as rebels and smokers and stupid kids, but really skaters don’t do that kind of stuff.  One of my friends was once fined $200 because he sat on a bench eating a sandwich with his skateboard right next to him. I’ve seen videos on YouTube of skaters being threatened by people when the skaters didn’t even do anything besides try to have a little fun. There’s videos of skaters being attacked by uncivilized people. The funny thing is, most of them are elderly. If the elders want some respect, skaters should be treated the same.

Skateboarding also shouldn’t be a crime because there are thousands out there making money off of it. There are multiple millionaires in the skate industry. Why would you want to make some kids future illegal? Even pro skateboarders get chased by the law for leaving a tiny scuff on a rail. The owners will also say it’s for insurance reasons, but we skaters know what we’re getting ourselves into. If I get hurt on someone’s property, I will pay for my own injuries. People think we are disrespectful teens but we can actually be nicer than most people.

It’s funny how some cities worry about skaters more than actual crime like drugs or stealing. In Philadelphia, the law enforcement actually just looks for the skaters. It’s almost like discrimination. Theres no reason the skateboarder should have to deal with that. They get called potheads and rebellious teens when in reality they can’t do drugs because it would mess up their skating and they are actually probably some of the most respectful of the teens if they’re actually treated with respect too.

Skateboarding isn’t really a crime. It’s really just discrimination and misunderstanding. Some few skaters may set a bad example but that doesn’t mean you should make the whole sport illegal. It ruins it for everyone. Skateboarding is not a crime, it’s a way of life, a way to meet people we’ll never forget, a career, maybe just a hobby, but skateboarding is truly the best thing that’s probably happened to me and it’s just irrational to take that away from all of us.

This is a parody of This Is Just To Say by William Carlos Williams. Its supposed to be kind of based off of “Who Stole The Cookies From The Cookie Jar”. The tone of the piece is kind of sarcastic and the mood is trying to make the reader feel jealous.

The Cookie

I have stolen

the cookies

that were in

the jar

and which

you were probably

hiding

from little children

Forgive me

they were so crunchy

so chocolaty

and so yummy in my tummy 

Compare & Contrast

This is my Compare & Contrast piece for Language Arts.

There are so many weird things us peoples believe in. From phobias to religions and even superstitions, there’s crazy stuff people will buy. It’s almost like a person’s mind is a wacky book, like The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams. The stuff in that book shouldn’t compare to some things in our own world, but today we’ll find out how weird our world is compared to a book that has a cheese god.

In this book there’s some pretty crazy religions. On a planet named Nano, a supposed recreation of  Earth, there was a cult. This cult believed in the God of Cheese. The form of their god was basically a fifty foot block of cheese. The religion banned eating any other things other than cheese in their village. There are other weird religions in books like The Lord of the Rings. They see dead people with weird names as their gods, and pray to them when they are about to die in battle. Now, in the real world, there is a religion called Jediism. It worships the practice of the fictional “Jedi” from the movie Star Wars by George Lucas. They carry around light up swords, representing light sabers. They believe that they can use the “Force”, the Force is the energy that holds the Universe together and flows through every material thing. These Jedis can control the force. So yeah, the religions are just as weird in real life.

In The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy there is also a character that has a fear of bodybuilders. Odd, right? Well, this book is just as weird as our world. There are tons of phobias that are just as wacky as that. Here are some of the weird phobias that actually exist. Anatidaephobia  is is the fear of being watched by a duck. Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter clinging to the top your mouth. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words. There’s fear of wet wood, fear of chins, and fear of bald people. There’s just tons. What can I say?

Just because The Hitchhikers’ Guide and our world are so similar doesn’t mean that everything is alike. Some stuff is just too weird in that book we couldn’t even think of it existing. For example, there is a planet inhabited by mattresses that flop around in a swamp and the only word in their vocabulary is “flurp”.  I’m pretty sure there’s nothing like that on our planet.

So, in conclusion there is so much similar things between a fictional book and our world but there is some things that are just too weird in The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. From weird phobias to very odd religions, I guess our world isn’t that different than an odd book.

Ghost Kittens
This is my creative piece for Langauge Arts Class.

It is past midnight in my house when I am jerked away from deep sleep by the shock of someone touching me. I shoot straight up and examine the room. There is nothing there but my usual things. But an opened door screams suspicion as I just gaze at it. Its beckoning me with curiosity but at the same it is telling me KEEP AWAY. But I couldn’t take it anymore, so I stumbled towards the door and into the darkness.

Just kidding, its not really that dark. In my living the TV was already on, which was really strange. Whoever did it, they have horrid taste in entertainment because when I walked in there Jersey Shore was on. I continued past the TV, not really frightened that there might be a ghost. The only frightening thing about that is that people watch Jersey Shore. I lazily stalked into my kitchen, mindlessly opening the fridge. I hoped there was something to drink but instead I was greeted by my cat, Squeebles. I literally freaked out so much I flew back and hit my dinner table. I guess it’s okay because cats.

I got back up on my feet and started to explore more. I had just heard the upstairs floorboards whine in pain as weight pressed down on them. All of a sudden the ceiling snapped like a twig and wood clattered to the floor through the now gaping hole in the ceiling. Nothing else fell though. For some odd reason I could feel the presence of some sort of a cat. Speaking of cats, an invisible claw or blade ripped my new “swag” pants. Out of fear, I jumped back and rushed to my pant’s side like a paramedic. I started talking to myself asking if the pants were okay. I was suddenly interrupted by a cat appearing out of nowhere, and it wasn’t my cat either. I closed my eyes and prayed I lived as the cat sprang towards me, its sleek black fur engulfing my face until I was in complete darkness.  

I woke up but I wasnt really awake. It was like hovering between dreaming and reality. My brain was broadcasting me what was going on but yet I couldn't move. I tried to wiggle and to my suprise I moved! My  face showed an expression of utter joy.....until my eyes fell down upon the ropes around my ankles. How did that happen? All I remember was a cat attacking me, then black. Maybe it was like some kind of evil cat wizard thing! That would be so cool! My excitment died though when I remembered my feet were tied up by this evil cat thing. Just as I was thinking about the ......thing, a cat's little paws trotted across the hardwood floor and by the time the sleek kitten as black as a void it suddenly shifted into human form leaving a cloud of      black mist. In front of me stood . . . Barack Obama.

I don't know why but as soon as I saw him, I said "Untie me and I'll vote for you." To my surprise, he took a sharp blade out that shined like bright like a diamond. The knife screamed as he brought it down on the rope, barely missing my ankle. After that, he just . . . left.
And I lived happily ever after.

Songs About Scarecrows

You know how there’s always that one person that disagrees on you with everything? Imagine you wrote a book from your point of view, and guess what he does? He writes a whole other book about the same thing  except from how he sees it. Think about how Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriend feels about all those songs about him. How do you think you would interpret Taylor Swift’s boyfriend’s version of her song? Instead of a Taylor Swift song, I’ll take a trip into the song “Tin Man” by Future Islands from Scarecrow’s point of view.

“Tin Man” by Future Islands

You couldn't possibly know how much you mean to me
You couldn't always view inside my tarot
You couldn't possibly find it in your heart to forgive
me
You are the savage sun and scarecrow

And time goes by and you've got a lot to learn in your
life
And our hearts, locked inside(?), and Ive got to find
the one that's just right
You offer all our amends In hopes of saving me
You'd never imagine life could be straw without you
You often leave the branch out the piece that peeks
through
As long as it welcomes me, it must be truth
And time goes by and you've got a lot to learn in your
life
And our hearts, large inside/large in size(?), and Ive
got to find the one that's just right
And time goes by and you've got a lot to learn in your
life
And our hearts, locked inside(?), and Ive got to find
the one that's just right

I am the Tin Man
I am the Tin Man
I am the Tin Man
I am the Tin Man
I am the Tin Man
I am the Tin Man

It seems like this song is about a love story or a very good friendship between two people, but then one of them did something wrong. The song clearly is based off of The Wizard of Oz because of two character names in the song; Tin Man and Scarecrow. It appears that Tin Man did something that hurt Scarecrow but Scarecrow dosen’t know how much Tin Man loves him. Scarecrow wants to forgive him but finds it unbearably challenging. This song could also ccould be a real life story but put into Wizard of Oz form.

If this song was from Scarecrow’s point of view, the readers would interpret it as a person who was betrayed by someone very close to them. They want to forgive them but they don’t want to also. In the second verse, it talk about how Scarecrow offers to fix everything up and welcomes him. Scarecrow has had a hard time forgiving Tin Man but eventually just realizes that two wrongs won’t make a right.

If Scarecrow wrote this song, it would go something like this.

“Scarecrow” by Scarecrow

You couldn’t possibly know how much you hurt me

You couldn’t have ever known my feelings

I couldn’t possibly find it in my heart to forgive you

You are the savage night and Tin Man

And as time

goes by

 I’ve got a lot to learn throughout my life

And our hearts, unlocked inside

When I stand

By your side

I offer all my amends in hopes of saving you

You’d never imagine how dark life would be without me

I’d often leave a branch in my hand that peeks through

And hoping that it welcomes you

And as time

goes by

 I’ve got a lot to learn throughout my life

And our hearts, unlocked inside

When I stand

By your side

I am the Scarecrow

I am the Scarecrow

I am the Scarecrow

I am the Scarecrow

I am the Scarecrow

I am the Scarecrow

                In conclusion, it is important that the readers know Scarecrow’s point of view, or else they would not the whole story of how Scarecrow forgave Tin Man for the bad things he did, even though he didn’t want to.

The Perks of Being a Hitchhiker

This is my Compare and Contrast piece for Language Arts.

Comparing two completely books can be difficult, but truthfully, in books you can find any similarity even if one book has talking robot birds and the other is just a story of a troubled teenage boy, and that just happens to be just like the two books I just read. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and the perks of being a wallflower sound completely different. In reality though, they’re actually somewhat alike. For example, they both have extremely long titles. These two book are actually very opposite though.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower is similar to The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy because in both books there are two characters that fall in love, but when they think everything is working out, something breaks them apart. For example, in The Perks of Being A Wallflower, the main character Charlie falls in love with Sam, but he doesn’t share his feelings until she leaves for college. In Hitchhikers Guide, Trillian and Wowbagger fall in love but Wowbagger wants to die so he gets himself killed.

A second similarity is that these books both have extremely long titles. They are both at least six words long. They also have hidden nuggets of humor throughout the books, but the humor is less subtle is The Hitchhikers Guide.

These two books seem so different, but in actuality there are very similar. From failed love, to extremely long titles, to hidden humor these are both amazing books.

 Theme

Your plane just crashed. Flames flicker as you drag yourself to a ripped piece clothing to stop the bleeding on one of your injuries. You’re stuck on the top of a mountain capped with snow. Good thing you brought your survival guide…Survival is everything. Its what keeps you alive. When  there is a threat to your life or anything, the only way to get through it is to survive.

In the book My Side of the Mountain, Sam Gribley feels crowded in his New York City apartment with his family so he decides to run away to the Catskill Mountains. Sam can’t just walk into a wilderness and live there though. He is going to need to know how to survive using hunting skills, hiding, building, awareness, etc.

Even towards the end, the theme is always survival. He’s always talking about how to skin animals and build houses and fires out of trees, etc. Some of it is almost like a survival guide sometimes.

Island of the Blue Dolphins is another book about survival. Karana, the main character, is part of an native tribe on an island that looks like a dolphin. One day a ship of Aleuts from Russia come to hunt sea otter but the natives want to be payed back. One day the Aleuts try to leave without paying though, so a battle breaks out. The tribe leaves the island after most of their people die, hoping to find new land. But they leave Karana behind, making her face the wilderness alone. There is a pack of vicious wild dogs after her, and she has no house yet. By collecting whale bones and other things, Karana builds a house. Later, her brother swims back to the island to live with her. They tough out the rest of the book by using whatever they can find to survive. Island of the Blue Dolphins is a perfect example of survival.

Throughout these two books, the theme of survival stays strong. In My Side of the Mountain Sam realizes that if he wants to live in the wilderness it comes with the risk of having to get everything on your own and live independently without starving or dying or anything, and I think that’s what survival is all about.