tell-tale heart.

Edgar Allan Poe's story is quite a masterpiece. It jumps between reality and fantasy. Some things are unclear, but left for the reader to figure out. One main thing that is never revealed is the relationship of the man and the narrator. They seem to be living in the same house, but it's not stated. I inferred that the narrator was just a worker for the man. Another thing that was left unrevealed was the reason for wanting to kill the man. All that was said was "the eye" bothered the narrator. It bothered him, also scared him, so much that he could not stand looking at it everyday. This reason triggered the death of the man. The last main thing left unsaid was if the heartbeat was real, or just in the narrator's head.
In the story, the narrator tells the reader that he is in fact normal, not "mad". According to the sequence of events, the reader can infer that there is a problem with the narrator. Nobody can hear everything in heaven and hell and still be considered a regular person. He does many crazy things that can lead to the idea that he is a mad man. The first thing is when he tries to plan a way to attack the man in the house. He spends an hour + just trying to open the door without waking the man. After that long time, he finally kills him and shreds him to pieces. Later in the story, the police begin investigating the house because they hear neighbors' complaints. At first, the narrator can reply to the questions asked by the police with ease and no stress. As he begins thinking deeper into the situation, the "heartbeat" grows louder and louder. At last it beats so loudly that he reveals the hiding place of the murdered man without the police pressing him to do so.
In my opinion, the heartbeat was not really there. That is why the police never asked him anything about it. The narrator, being the crazy man that he is, was just hallucinating and imagined the whole thing. If the narrator cut the man to pieces after he captured him, there is no way the man could have still been alive. Maybe the narrator was paranoid, maybe scared? The reader will never know for sure, but he/she can always infer. The story cuts off after the narrator reveals the "hideous heart" and leaves the reader thinking.

this is my bes fran

     The wonderful time of summer finally arrived after a long, hard year of eighth grade. My classmates and I figured we would never see each other again. Therefore, we tried to make a good end to our eight years together. Going to Six Flags Great America, Navy Pier, the Sears Tower, etc. brought us all very close to each other. However, after the summer, we eventually had to split up. After all the hugs and goodbyes, we went our separate ways.

     One girl, living relatively close to me, actually chose the same high school as me. Haley Thompson was her name. Sure enough, we were very excited to be attending school together for another couple years. Although I met her way back in fourth grade, I did not feel as close to her as we should have already been. At the beginning of the summer we promised each other we would hangout. As promised, we did. Almost everyday.

     Waking up during the first week of the summer was quite a difficult task. My dad would leave the house at the crack of dawn, so I never got to see him. My mom left me voicemails every morning, telling me the plan for the day. Sometimes I would have to clean the whole house before I could do anything else. Other times my mom would force me to do chores like clean her car, help my brother mow the lawn, and do everyone’s laundry. Obviously, me being myself, I was always too lazy to do most of my assignments. To get myself out of doing dirty housework, I would call my friend Haley.

     Haley and I did basically everything together during the summer. As soon as I woke up, I would call her. I would put on my shorts and tank, grab what I need for the day, and begin walking towards her house. Because her house is about a three minute walk, I got to see a few kids playing outside, some trees in full bloom here and there. As I would turn into her street, I would call Haley and make sure she is ready to go. Waiting around for Haley was never an issue because we were always super excited to leave and start our day together. She would come out of her house and we would sit down and begin planning.

     On some days it was very easy to figure out what to do. Other times, we would sit around for hours and do absolutely nothing. However, this was not a problem. Haley and I could be doing nothing, but still like being together. We enjoyed each others‘ company. One day we found a volleyball net kit, so we decided to build it. Haley, reading the instructions, let me know what to do. I would listen and follow what she said. Using the directions on the paper turned out to be too confusing. Haley and I decided to wing it and make the net using nothing but the pieces given. During this project, I was standing on the left side of her yard while she took the right side. I was tieing the net on the top to the poles leaning against her fence. Meanwhile, Haley was making sure the poles were supported well enough to withstand stronger winds and such. When the net was complete  and standing, Haley and I went on a hunt for a volleyball. We walked inside her house and searched the whole place for a ball. No luck. I figured my sister might own a volleyball, so we went all the way back to my house in hopes of finding one. Walking back to my house was quite a journey. On our way we saw a group of friends that we have not seen since the previous summer. After a whole year, we had plenty of stories to share and things to talk about. Alec, one of the boys in the group, decided we should all hangout. Haley and I exchanged a quick glance and told the boys to comeover after we found a volleyball. They all agreed, so we knew our plan for the rest of the day. We reached my house, I ran in and got the ball, and I ran back out. Haley and I began walking back to her house and discussing what to do with the boys for the day. Deep in conversation and thoughts, we did not even notice the dark clouds rolling in. As soon as we reached Haley’s house, the boys were already standing by the net we built earlier and requested to play a game against  us. Gladly, we accepted the challenge. We both took our shoes off and ran barefoot into the warm grass. The boys, trying to act intimidating, were arranging themselves on the other side of the net. Since Haley and I had been playing volleyball since fourth grade, we knew a few tricks that would surely make us win.

     The game began with a serve from one of the boys, Chris. Lucky for him, the ball made it over the net and Haley bumped it back. The boys on the other side all jumped for the ball at the same time, which did not benefit their team considering nobody ended up getting it. The next serve was mine. I took my time, bounced the ball a few times, and served it. After it reached the other side of the net, again, the boys started calling the ball and jumping for it at the same time. The whole first game went on in this manner. When Haley and I won, she suggested we go inside and grab some drinks for all of us. While we were inside making a fresh pitcher of kool-aid, the boys were outside yelling and teasing each other about not being able to beat us girls. Laughing to ourselves inside, Haley and I finished making the drinks. We came outside and handed the kool-aid out to everyone. The boys decided to play another game of volleyball to make the score even. They started out the game again, but this time Alec served the ball across the net. Haley handed it back to the other side. The second game lasted longer and was more exciting because everyone was pumped up. To make the boys feel better, Haley and I let them score points that could have easily been ours. Out of nowhere, Haley’s mom came outside and greeted us all. She asked us if we were hungry or needed anything, and then decided she would start up a barbeque in the backyard. After about ten minutes, she came back into the yard, rolling the grill out in back of the net. Haley, the boys, and I played the rest of our game until Haley’s mom finished making barbeque dinner. Before we could take out the lawn chairs so we could eat outside, Alec felt a raindrop from the sky. That is when we noticed the dark clouds and everyone began running into Haley’s house. Her mom collected all the food off the grill and put it on the kitchen table inside. We all sat around the kitchen, eating our dinners, and talking about big events from the past year. Catching up took hours of our time, while the rain poured outside. It was almost eleven o’clock at night when the rain came to a complete stop. That is when the boys all left and I got picked up by my mom. We said our goodbyes and thanks to Haley and her mom, and we filed out of the house. This was just one of our many fun summer days.

the man and his wife

How do you put on my coat every morning
When I don’t know your name
You rake the leaves while I am sleeping
When I don’t know your name

I don’t know who you are but

Please don’t leave me alone here
‘Cause I’m coming undone
Oh, tell me you’ll stay
When I don’t even know your name

I know you tried to be quiet
But I heard you weeping for me
You wear a smile, act like it’s nothing
But I know there’s more

You, I don’t know who you are but

There’s a picture
In the middle of the living room table in black and white
The scene looks familiar
but I just don’t remember this man and his wife

So will you play your guitar
And sing me a love song
When I don’t know your name
When I don’t know your name 

The song Man and His Wife tells a story of someone not being able to remember their significant other. The reason being old age, sickness, disease. [Alzheimer’s disease] In my point of view, it is a woman speaking to her husband, but not being able to recognize who he really is. She understands that they have a connection, but she doesn't know his name. The woman and man were a happily married couple. Obviously, the disease caused a lack of communication between the two and put the marriage at risk. The most meaningful line in the song is "Please don't leave me alone here, 'cause I'm coming undone." The woman is telling her husband that she cannot continue living without him by her side. The whole image of the text is a sad, despairing view. The message, however, is that no matter what comes in between to destroy something, love is more powerful and can overcome the problem. Jason Min is the artist and author of the song, but he is not speaking in the text. Jason personifies himself to be the woman diseased with Alzheimer's, and he portrays her feelings very well. The paradox of the whole song is the stranger part. When you don't know someone's name, they are most likely a stranger to you. People stay away from strangers rather than feel close to them. The exact text of this song says "you are a stranger, but don't ever leave me". The reason this song speaks to me is that it's very realistic, and many people struggle because of the same situation. Jason Min dedicates this song to all the marriages and families in the world that do not remember their close ones, not because they want them to go away, but because they simply aren't able to. 

On the Reservation

Montana 1948 tells us a whole lot about the life of the Native-American people. Separated from the world, so different. However, people are not the only ones that get cut off from the rest of the planet. There are other types of reservations, like ones for plants, but they all relate.

res·er·va·tion

  [rez-er-vey-shuhn] –nounThe act of keeping back, withholding, or setting apart.A plant reservation is meant for dedicating a piece of public land to save the green life. There are more than enough kinds of plants on this planet that are scarce and need to be specially preserved to last a while longer. If the area was not saved for them, people around could care less about what happens to the plants. Therefore, the plants have their separate place, keeping back from the rest of civilization. How do plants and people relate? Only because of these types of reservations. The Native-Americans were not so populated as well, which is why they were held apart from the rest of the people of the world. Being different from others made them unique, and wanting to stick together. If they did not live together on a reservation, the Native-American race was bound to plunge. By withholding from others, the Native-American people can survive and hopefully increase in population rather than decrease.

-PROPAGANDA everywhere

what is propaganda?

chiefly derogatory information, esp. of a biased or misleading nature

used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view

Anywhere you look in today's society, there's propaganda. Some people are naive enough to believe it, but the more intelligent choose to stay out. A big chunk has to do with politics. How many times do voting commercials play in an hour? The worst part is that the media exposes the propaganda everywhere and to everyone. Children, young adults, seniors, they all have to deal with it. When it comes time to elect a new president, mayor, alderman, etc. the radio and TV are practically bursting with false advertisements. The point of commercializing a person's position is to tell the people how great of a leader they will be and all. If the watcher really pays attention, however, it is very obvious that no message is being put out there. The only thing being said is how horrible other people are and why they shouldn't be elected. Is that making the people want to vote for them any more? In my opinion, not so much.
Another major product of propaganda is paparazzi and the media. Since we have so many new additions to technology, anything is possible for reporters and news people. A bad story about a celebrity can be turned a whole 180 degrees and make it look good in a magazine. Photoshop programs, cameras, and other devices are what make all the propaganda possible. Although it is very convincing most of the time, media cannot be trusted with important issues. They are falsely advertising and leading people to be biased, so they have no opinion for themselves.

BlackBoy.

Little Richard does not really seem so little. Reading Black Boy it seems as if he is at least 13 and able to take care of himself. He starts out very immature, but his ways change majorly throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, Richard burns his house down on accident. Was it really an accident? Whatever it was, he got "attention" for it, mostly bad. Not exactly what Richard was looking for, but it satisfied him for the time being. If burning a house down is just another little event in his life, you know Richard has it rougher than anyone can imagine.
The main thing that strikes the reader is Richard's sense of self. He seems to grow up and learn every single thing on his own. For a boy of 4 years, this is no easy task. "Living it up" in the saloons, bars, and roaming streets is all Richard can say about his childhood. Is this how he wanted to grow up? Probably not. But having a sick mother, family living far away, and no paternal support, what could he expect. Richard's strength is put to the test with every obstacle in his life.

lil' kids.

Richard? Cravings? Alone? Not in my opinion. All little children crave attention once in a while, some more than others. Richard is a not-so-fortunate young boy who lives in a dangerous area. He lived in the time of beatings and such. Growing up for Richard was more of a task he had to accomplish, rather than just something given to him.
Since Richard's dad had left him, he felt abandoned and a sort of hate towards him. Richard's mother, on the other hand, did everything to keep Richard and his brother alive. He craved that parental love, which seemed hard to express for his mother. Other than mental cravings, he had physical cravings. Richard was always hungry, to the point of pain and sickness. 
Physical hunger is not what I am getting at. Richard's bigger cravings were those for attention. An example is when he burned down his entire house. Curiosity definitely killed the cat. Speaking of, Richard also killed a kitten. Getting back at his father was the overall idea, but it did not come off like that at all. Since Richard thought his father paid no attention to him, he took his words and found a loophole. Killing the kitten seemed like a good idea at first, and it is what lead to fights and anger. 
When Richard burned his house down, it seemed as if everyone was against him. Even his own brother was there through it all, and the first to run to the parents and tattle-tale. Richard's curiosity lead him to trouble, but he knew what he was getting into. However, the attention (even if bad) satisfied Richard's needs at the time.