Janie

I think Janie is very particular with her desires. But there always comes a point in time where she doesn't follow through with these desires. Many of her decisions don't necessarily agree with all of her decisions. All of the men try to make her happy, for the most part, but she consistently finds something wrong. Her first marriage was with Logan Killicks. Before they were even married, Janie explained how she didn't love him, but she hoped that the marriage would aide her in doing so. She soon learned that she wouldn't love Logan. Logan tried making her happy, but they would only speak of materialistic things, and Janie was uninterested in that. When she ran off with Joe Starks, she never really thought about the future. She was only thinking about how unhappy she was, and she was seeking to change that. Not thinking long-term in this situation was very detrimental to her life. With her narrations, Janie explains how Joe changed drastically from when she first met him. I don't think Janie wanted Joe, specifically, I believe she wanted any one other than Logan. She was so unhappy that she was willing to settle for anything that came her way. Janie even says how she didn't picture herself with Joe under the pear tree, with the flowers blossoming. This setting, for Janie, was her true happiness. Eventually, Joe became so focused on the town, he neglects to remember he has a wife. Janie feels abandoned. But when actually does pay attention to her, he reprimands her. Even though Joe is such a huge figure, Janie is nothing but a trophy wife. The majority of the town hasn't even heard her speak, all because Joe doesn't allow her to speak. Joe had little to no expectations of Janie, besides being a trophy wife. Once he dies, she's relieved and feels free. She finally lets her beautiful long hair down, which was always covered. She soon meets Tea Cake, and automatically becomes interested. She didn't think through this relationship either. She warned and cautioned herself, but never thought about the future. She quickly gets attached to Tea Cake and soon makes plans to marry him and basically run away from the town. I think he's a bad influence and that this relationship can easily take a turn for the worst. Everyones worried about this relationship, and they must be worried for a reason. But Janie's "blinded by love."

Thankful for a Classmate

I am thankful for many people in my English class, however, I am especially thankful for Quincy, Sarah, & Morgan. Quincy seems to always have an answer to every one of Mr. McCarthy's questions. He analyzes literature so well, and he makes readings much easier to comprehend. We usually work together during group works, and there is never a question he doesn't have an answer to. Sarah is also very knowledgeable. Throughout discussions, she seems to always have a very different, but interesting perspective on things. Morgan just makes me laugh. When she is called on, I automatically begin laughing. I know she'll eventually say the right answer but she just has to do a little thinking out loud. Morgan helps take away the seriousness of the class. All together, I'm thankful for the class as a whole for giving me such an interesting start to the day with wonderful discussions. Happy Thanksgiving!

Principles

Throughout life, there are standards that a person keeps no matter the circumstance. These are called principles. Principles help determine the type of person you are in many different types of situations. One principle I think everyone should keep is to treat others how you would like to be treated. This is called "the golden rule" for that same reason, it is extremely important. In a post-apocalyptic scenario, this would be a key principle. For example, if one were to rob a person of all there belongings, they should be expecting someone to come and do the same to them. Karma also plays into this principle. If you treat others well and respect them, you should receive good karma. However, if you do the opposite, you should expect bad karma. In any situation, especially a post-apocalyptic one, i don't think anyone would like to be treated harshly, so they shouldn't treat others in this manner.

Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway is known as one of the most talented authors of the 20th century. Although he's primarily known for his writing, he had quite an interesting life. He was born on July 21st, 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. In high school, Hemingway wrote for the school newspaper, mostly about sports. After graduation, he went and wrote for the Kansas City Star. Here, he gained experience that would later greatly influence his style of writing.
In 1918, he went off to serve in World War 1 as an ambulance driver in the Italian Army. He was awarded the Italian Silver Medal of Bravery, but soon was injured and sent to a hospital in Milan. Here he met a nurse named Agnes von Kurowsky. They were soon engaged, but Agnes found a new man shortly after. Due to this, Hemingway was inspired to write "A Very Short Story" & "A Farewell to Arms." At 20 years old, he went back to Chicago and took a job at the Toronto Star. He then married and had children with Hadley Richardson.
He went to Paris and with the help of Gertrude Stein, was able to establish his position as a professional, well-known, writer. Due to an affair with Pauline Pfeiffer, Hadley divorced Hemingway. Pauline quickly became his wife and mother to more children. They then decided to move back to America. Here, they lived in Key West, Florida.
In Key West, Hemingway's first priority was always writing. When he wasn't writing, he was fishing and out in the water. Much of the 1930's, Hemingway spent traveling. He was big-game hunting in Africa, bullfighting in Spain, or just deep-sea fishing in Florida. While in Spain, he met a war correspondent named Martha Gellhorn. He was inspired to write the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "For Whom the Bell Tolls."
His marriage with Pauline quickly ended and he married Gellhorn. During World War II, Hemingway served as a correspondent. He then met another was correspondent, Mary Welsh. He married her after his divorce from Martha Gellhorn.
Although Hemingway's life seemed wonderful, there were many down falls. He was a survivor of multiple plane crashes, and also was a victim of many life-long war injuries. After retiring to Idaho, Hemingway continued to battle with deterioration mental and physical health. On July 2, 1961 Ernest Hemingway committed suicide.

Six Word Stories

Waited all day, it never came.

I may never see him again.

Engulfed by her thoughts, she left.

Unseen and hidden to the world.

Sun's down, and it starts again.

She screeched, "What have we done?"

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

At the beginning of The Crucible, I immediately thought that John Proctor was a stooge. Learning about his affair with Abigail justified my thoughts. As the story progressed, I began changing my mind. It became evident that Proctor really cared about his image and what others thought. Although he made many mistakes, he always tried coming back from them. Proctor would always try to make up for what he would do wrong. After the affair, John felt guilty about the whole situation, he had an extreme internal conflict. He wants to be known as an honest man, but by keeping this secret to himself, Elizabeth, and Abigail, he is being everything but honest. If he were to tell the truth, he would be tried for adultery. There is no win-win situation for Proctor.

Later on in the story, while John Proctor is trying to finally be honest and confess, things go completely wrong. As John is telling of his affair, he says that his wife is an honest woman. When they bring in Elizabeth, she says that the affair never happened. She tells Danforth that she jumped to conclusions and assumed things were going on between Proctor and Elizabeth, but she never had actual proof. This being said, Danforth and Hathorne believe Elizabeth and John is accused of lying. Proctor tried coming clean, but it just turned around and stabbed him in the back. This did, however, save Abigail and Elizabeth's name in the town. In the end, Proctor dies but he stuck to his word, he didn't confess to witch craft and he's told of the affair, so he decides to be hung. Thus, explaining why he was a tragic hero.

There Goes the Neighborhood

It had been a normal day, up until we came in contact with people that would change the rest of our lives. I had been cooking fish that had been caught by the men earlier that day. As I was cooking, I realized that everyone began panicking. I looked up to find the women quivering behind their husbands. Everyone was looking in the same direction. I followed their gaze to find a swarm of strangers. They weren't natives, they looked very mysterious. I looked behind them to find a massive boat. It was made out of wood, and very well crafted. No member of the tribe had the abililty to create anything of that nature. That was the moment I had become interested in these men. The chief of our tribe stepped up towards the men, and one of their own did the same. The two exchanged words and our chief slowly walked back. The men had apparently been interested in our culture. They "wanted to learn about us." We taught them how to grow crops, how to prepare traditional meals, we even told them of our culture and traditions. In return, they provided us with more advanced tools for growing crops. Weeks would pass and it seemed as if more and more of them would just keep coming. The more of them, the less of us. Many of my people had been dying because of diseases brought by these settlers. One day, while I was out picking herbs, I smelled smoke. Alarmed, I ran back to find the entire village up in flames. As I turned, trying to run away, a settler grabbed me. He tied me up along with many others, including the chief. They made us slaves. They tortured us. They used us.

Today, we have problems like Native Americans did, but we react in a completely different manner. The Native Americans were very welcoming and were open to the idea of helping the settlers, even though they were strangers and very different. Today, I believe that we are very close minded. Many are accustomed to one way, and one way only. They believe that if a group doesn't have the same beliefs, then they are wrong. People aren't open to the idea of change, or differences. When it comes to religion, I believe that there should've even be a debate. Anyone should be allowed to believe what they want to believe in without being judged.

Me

My name is Francesca. I am currently a sophomore at Whitney Young. Here at Whitney I'm on the Cheer Squad, and the softball team. I've been cheering and playing softball since 4th grade. Both cheer and softball are very time-consuming.  I have an older brother, Marc, who attends Iowa State. He's 21 and is studying Political Agriculture. I also have a younger brother, Aidan, he' s only 7, but sure doesn't act like it. He's very mature for his age in both good and bad ways. Although there's a huge age difference between my brothers and I, I'm very close to both of them. I'm really looking forward to getting my license and being able to drive on my own. I took drivers ed over the summer and already have my permit, so if all goes well, I'll have my licence by the end of May. Most of my time would be spent driving to food places. I love food. I could live off of chicken salad and buttered toast. I also love movies. Some of my favorites include Hard Ball, Courageous, and the Blind Side.