Thanks Pete

Happy Thanksgiving!  During Thanksgiving I'm often reminded to be thankful for the food I have, the house I have, my clothes, my parents, my school, and of course my friends. There are several people I am thankful for in our English class, however because the assignment is only requesting one person the person I am thankful for in this blog is Peter.  This is the first year that we've had classes together and although we were friends last year I feel like we've become much better friends this year.  I don't think that there is much to say except that I'm very thankful to have him as a friend. We both have a similar sense of humor and whenever we are together we always have a good time.  I'm thankful that I really got to know you better this year Peter and I don't think English or P.E. would have been nearly as fun as they are if I didn't have them with you.

Song of Myself

In today's world there aren't enough people who think like Walt Whitman does, people that truly celebrate themselves.  People today can't celebrate themselves because society and the people that we as a society see as role models have taught us that we always need to reach for something more.  That there is no way to stay content with oneself as is.  Through this poem Whitman is going against these societal norms and this want for more.  He is being his own individual and deciding that what he has done with himself and with his life is really something to be celebrated.  I wish that I had the same mentality as Walt Whitman, but unfortunately I don't.  Of course there are parts of my life that I am happy with and are worth celebrating, but I couldn't go as far as saying that I could celebrate my entire being as a whole.  Whitman was content with his place in the world and he was fine leading a simple life in nature, but as time passed and society in the world and especially society in America changed we began to always more.  More money, more power, more fame, more political status, whatever it was, society has made it so that you can't be satisfied until you become the best there is at that thing.  Even then, however, after you've got money and power or whatever it was you wanted it isn't good enough to just stop and enjoy yourself.  People will just begin to turn to you to find out what your doing next in order to see what they should strive to be.  It becomes a cycle as new "role models" rise to the top and create standards for the next set of "aspiring role models." In a way, because of our need for more, the people of our society have lost their individualism and are moving farther and farther away from the transcendentalist ideas that enabled Whitman to celebrate himself the way he says he does.  Our society has just become a huge cycle of conformity.  I wish that I could celebrate myself and only myself, but unfortunately I consider myself a part of the conformity in our society and I just don't think that it is possible.

Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts.  His parents died when he was a child and he was brought up through several foster homes and boarding schools.  After his schooling Poe was enlisted in the U.S. Army (1827) and it was during that same year that he wrote his first collection of poems.  From there he began to sell short stories, became the editor of the "Southern Literary Messenger", and got married.  After all of this Poe really matured as a poet and created some of his best known works such as "The Fall of the House of Usher" among other stories.  The cause of his death is shrouded in mystery and there are various theories as to how he died. Nevertheless he was a leader in the romantic movement and has heavily influenced American literature.

I personally find Poe's works very interesting, his gothic/horror style is so clearly depicted in each of his works that one could read the same poem/story over and over again and get something different from it every time.  To me some of his stories were very confusing and I didn't always understand them the first time I read them through, however after class discussions and/or group works I really think I have multiple understandings any given piece.  Today I really enjoy his works because they are mysterious and they make you think, however I think that during his time Poe must have been, and maybe still is very controversial.  Still I find that reading his pieces are very enjoyable and I prefer them over a lot of the other materials we have been reading in class.  I also think that it is very intriguing and maybe even a little ironic that Poe's cause of death is unknown because it seems like Poe's death could be a part of one of his short stories.  A man dies young from a mysterious cause of death with no clear ending that someone else can interpret on his own. Poe could have written the story of his death himself.  

What is an American?

In my opinion I don't think that there is a definitive group of people that can all identify themselves together as Americans.  There is such a huge clash between cultures and a mix of backgrounds in the United States that it is impossible to pick out one of them as the image for an American.   I suppose one could say that an American is anyone that is a citizen of the United States, but that really doesn't tell us who that person is.  However I do think there is a specific image or rather two specific images that come to my mind and a lot of other people's mind when they hear the word America.  The first image that I think people see is a bunch of obese people, indulging in fast food and a lazy lifestyle.  The other image I think people see is one of hope.  A place where anything is possible, anyone can make a name for themselves, and a place where life is better.  I prefer to think about the second image that comes to mind, and I like to believe that an American is someone who makes all of those good things possible.  That an American is an innovator and a bright thinker and a good person.  I hope that in the future that, that is the image that will stay in people's minds when they think of an American.  Not of the selfish, wasteful, and just overall bad American, but the generous, smart, and kind American.  In addition to all of this I hope that people will see Americans a mind that is open to all possibilities as to who an American can be.  That anyone, no matter how they identify themselves through their race, sexual orientation, or any other part of them, can be an American.

Modern Puritan

Although Puritans are no longer a part of modern society, many of their ideas still exist and many do not.  I don't think that society today is as strict as it was back then, but there are still certain rules you must follow.  For example there are social rules such as things you can't say or do so as not to offend someone.  These types of rules aren't punishable by the law however there are things that are.  In today's society many of the same rules must be followed such as do not murder, steal, etc. that if we don't follow we will be punished for. One big difference is that the idea of forgiveness is widely accepted today instead of rejected as it was in Puritan society.  Our courts will punish people for their crimes, however if you are convicted their are ways to shorten your sentence and in a way be forgiven.  In The Scarlet Letter for example, adultery is punishable by the courts, but today while it is still looked down upon, there is no punishment for it and some people can be forgiven for it.  You aren't publicly shamed and humiliated for the rest of your life and it is easier to move past it.  Also in today's society religion doesn't play as large of a role as it used to.  Reverends and Priests, while still respected, don't have as much power or influence in society as they used to.  If there were a Puritan living in our society today they would be appalled by some of the things they saw and heard.  In fact they probably wouldn't be able to live in our society at all, which is probably why the Amish and other groups like them live in seclusion with their own society.

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

I think that throughout The Crucible John Proctor changes multiple times, but ultimately ends up as a Hero.  He is one of the only characters with the audacity to stand up for himself and the rest of Salem and try to put an end to the madness that Abigail and the other girls have caused.  I think that he grew throughout the play because in the beginning he was neither a hero nor a stooge, he just kept to himself didn't really meddle with other peoples business.  Then in act II when Proctor is informed that Goody Corey and Rebecca Nurse were accused as witches he starts to see just how bad the situation with Abigail and the girls really are.  When Cheever takes Elizabeth from John it really just sends him over the edge and he decides to take matters into his own hands.  I think this is when we start to see him become the hero of this play.  Once we finally see John confess to the court that he committed adultery with Abigail we see him become the bigger man and worsen his name for the sake of his wife and the other innocent prisoners.  However later when he decides to give in and confess my vision of John fell and he became the stooge.  Everything he worked for he was going to throw away and all for self-preservation.  Luckily this moment of doubt is short-lived because John decides to rip up the confession and face the consequences.  He stands up to the court, pushing them to their limit, making them knowingly send an innocent man to his death because they already chose to trust a little girl's word over his and are to worried about their own image to stop the hangings.  This defiance against the wrong doing of the court is ultimately what makes him a hero.

Arrivals... There Goes the Neighborhood

This quote makes me think a lot out the segregation in the neighborhoods of Chicago.  Now I don't think that anybody was necessarily forced off of their land like the native americans were by the settlers, but I think that because of the arrival of different people into different neighborhoods during a different time changed the neighborhoods of this city to became segregated.  In our city the majority of each of our specific neighborhoods are mainly one race.  I think that this is due to the fact that prior-to and during the civil rights movement, whenever a person of a different race moved to a neighborhood where the majority of residents were white, the white people living around that person would begin to move out of that neighborhood to another primarily white neighborhood.  Since other white people didn't want to move into the houses that were just vacated other people, other races moved into them.  During that time most white people didn't want to move to a neighborhood that was primarily black or hispanic or any other race.  However I also think it goes the other way.  Most African-Americans weren't exactly eager to move into a a primarily white neighborhood where they would be discriminated against.  I think that this cycle of moving in and out of neighborhoods and the refusal to move to certain neighborhoods eventually led up to our entire city being split into sections of different neighborhoods with their own races.

Me

Hi my name is Dillon Jacobson and I'm a sophomore at Whitney M. Young Magnet Highschool.  During my free time I like to hang out with friends, watch TV, and play lacrosse.  I also like going to the beach, riding my bike, listening to music and going to the movies.  I love comedy and humor and I like to think that I'm pretty funny myself although I think I have a very specific kind of humor. I have one older brother and a 6 year old golden retriever. I really enjoy math because it's very straight forward and it's very easy to know what to do and when to do it.  I sometimes struggle with creative writing because it takes a while for me to think about what i want tot right about, but once i get my idea I start to get very into it and get very focused on what I'm writing about. Overall if I had to describe myself in a couple words I would say I'm smart, funny, and quite frankly just tall.  I'm always receiving comments on how tall I am and I think it really has become a large part of who I am.