"Sweat" Blog (Theme)

        The theme projected in the story “Sweat” Zora Neale Houston is that of an intricate one. What Zora wants the reader to pull from this story is that karma for those who wrong others can be swift and severe. Throughout the story, Delia has to put up with her abusive, unfaithful, and cruel husband for a period of fifteen years. One of the only pleasures she maintains throughout their time together is washing clothes; but to no surprise he torments and ridicules her for the act of cleaning white citizens’ clothing. In the story, it is made very evident that she puts all the work and ‘sweat’ into their relationship; as illustrated by “Mah sweat is done paid for this house and Ah reckon Ah kin keep on sweatin’ in it” (2). Sykes thinks of nothing but to act on her new-found courage and beat her senselessly; showing his so-called dominance. He later decides to attack her psychologically with her biggest fear: snakes, by bringing in a six-foot rattle snake. As the story moved forwards, Delia becomes resentful and develops a hatred for her husband; being accentuated by “Ah hates you tuh same degree dat Ah useter love yuh” (6). Lucky for her, it does, as Sykes’s snake prank goes badly and backfires on him with the snake biting at his throat; inevitably killing him. The fact of the story is that throughout Delia’s life she (a kind person) had dealt with more than her fair share of pain and torment, and due to the mysterious ways of karma, things were balanced in her favor.

Blog 3: This I Believe

• I believe in a strong central government because without it, our nation would implode from the inside out.

• I believe in a loving and supportive family because they are the ones at the end of the day who will comfort you and even talk you down from the ledge, when problems present themselves.

 

• I believe in maintaining a thirst for knowledge because you can never be too smart, and an increase in knowledge to the world you live in can help open your eyes to things you truly never appreciated or cared for.

Topic blog

          Funny to think how far I have come in the past three years. The fact that I have made great progress throughout my high school experience is a feeling that seems to be indescribable. To think that my freshman year I was using drugs instead of my mind gives me cold shakes. How could I have been so naive? Well in my defense I did try my best to fit in with the "cool kids"; but the actions and decisions I made are those I have moved forward from.

          On a lighter note, I have been working to better my future in my DECA class. I seemed to overcome problems that have arisen over the past six months in comprising my project and it all in all has paid off. At the competition in March at the Career Development Conference (states), I- along with my group members- placed first in the state of Ohio out of thirty teams in our Buying and Merchandising category. Our win qualified us to compete at the international competition out in Anaheim, California April 23-29. I am very pleased with the progress I have put into this class along with other courses I have taken this year.

         I feel that my new-found success was all based around me getting in trouble three years prior. Getting suspended from school truly gave me the will and the drive to push through all obstacles placed in my path. Although, I am not proud of the person I was back in 2009-2010; I count my blessings each and every day that I pushed through and am turning into the remarkable person and student I had always thrived to be.

Boston Marathon tragedy

             Low and behold another tragedy has struck America, shaking it to its core. However this time it was not a federal building targeted in an act of terror, instead the innocence and excitement of the Boston Marathon; a very popular and competitive race. The fact that a bomb went off during this event is all in all appalling thing to happen. I honestly feel that the past year throughout America has been in a tailspin, with the theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, and countless other acts of violence displayed in the U.S. The irony of the Boston Marathon bombing was that it was dedicated to the 26 people (teachers and students) who were killed at the Sandy Hook shooting. The event that was honoring and mourning a tragedy in fact turned into its own tragedy. I feel the overall inhumanity and cruelty displayed in our country is at an all time high and does not seem to be slowing down. However, sorting through all the negatives of the bombing, there were some glimmers of hope with Boston residents as well as sympathetic people across the globe. People demonstrating the strong sense of America that founders hoped to be implemented; with citizens offering meals, clothing, shelter, rides and their overall help to comfort those affected by the disaster. Although a great catastrophe has struck Boston, our nation's resiliency as well as its overall courage seems to counteract the acts of terror that have been presented to us.

Pianist Blog

             As me and my family are being boarded onto trains; going to God knows where, I feel a hand thrust at me and pull me aside. I look and it is the Nazi officer; Itzak Heller the same man who had saved me and my family is now the same one pulling me away from them. His words to this very day still sticks with me, with him saying: “I’m saving you!” Saving me? From what? The love and companionship of my loved ones? Little did I know that he indeed was protecting me from the pain and torture of the concentration camps. 

            Now I was on my own, no family or friends to rely on. This battle seemed to be one that I could not win and desperation and hopelessness soon set in. I began asking myself: How long will it be before I meet the same, if not worse fate as my family? Walking around this ghost-town of a ghetto, the torment and pain soon sank in. How am I going to eat?, How am I going to stay warm?, questions that seemed to just be embedded into my mind. All around me I see the dead bodies of those left behind, just as I was. Was I to end up in the same fashion. NO! I will move forward and survive, not just for me, but for my family.

Vocab 4 blog

                Throughout Will’s life, there has always been a fluctuation involving his self-esteem, and his parents never knew how to handle it. Although Will had a face only a mother could love, he had a very kind heart. When it came to the little things, he always showed a nonchalant attitude towards thing, and at times he always seemed to be omniscient towards the world around him. His cocky attitude caused others to resent him; causing him to skulk away his days. Everyone started to ask how someone could be so uncannily cocky. After all of Will’s friends dispersed away from his life, he began to reevaluate his decision-making. He began to expunge his trashed reputation in order to mend fences with his friends. Eventually all of Will’s past affiliated relationships started to turn away in a positive way. The attainment of regaining all of his friends was that which he would never forget. Will then felt proud of his panacea and knew he was becoming a better man overall.

The Pianist- Blog 2

            The theme of man’s inhumanity towards man seemed to be an extremely prevalent one throughout the movie The Pianist. The movie demonstrates how the Nazis throughout the Holocaust, with Jews being isolated and even murdered where they stood. The Jewish people were ostracized by the Nazis and in order to survive, some of the Jews had to hate and even beat other Jews to be fed or be forced to starve. In the movie, a man wrestles a woman for her food, and even though it fell to the ground, he began to eat the food off of the dirty city pavement for the food he had longed for. This cruelty showed how even the prisoners in the ghetto turned on one another in order to stay alive. This cruelty was also used by the Nazi/German police to keep their prisoners in line. The scene where the eight men are told to lay down and then are executed shows the horror of the inhumanity towards man that is exemplified throughout the whole movie. This theme all in all was remarkably similar to that of Elie Weisel’s Night with both showing the cruelty and senseless violence caused by not only Nazis but as well as the other prisoners. This pain and torture from one to another was a very prevalent theme throughout the movie The Pianist.  

The pianist- Blog 1

The experience of the Holocaust was a horrible one, and all the Jews and minorities all seemed to have more than their religion that bonded them together. Both Elie Weisel and Wladyslaw Szpilman seemed to have similar Holocaust experiences with the pain and inhumanity the two faced. Night explained the true pain Elie faced as he and his father were separated from the women in their family. Wladyslaw in The Pianist also was separated from his family as they were transported to a concentration camp; a horrible but common occurrence. However, a major difference between the two is that Elie was a twelve year old child and Wladyslaw was a grown man during the horrors of the Holocaust. Despite their age difference, the two seem to hold the similar traits of stubbornness as well as obedience especially when it came to matters such as standing their ground to Nazi tyranny. Wladyslaw was very persistent when it came to keeping his family safe but when matters became violent he would back down in order to stay alive. Elie was similar as well when it came to matters such as his gold crown, he stayed persistent to keep his ‘wealth’ but in order to stay alive and safe he was obedient to the dentist. The two both seemed to have a similar Holocaust experience, and although they were not the same age at the time and Elie had a more physical and painful labor experience, they had the same pain to match it appeared.