My Thanksgiving Break

My Thanksgiving break was a good start. I slept in on Wednesday and got to talk to the one person I love to talk to the most, Nathan. On Thanksgiving day, Thursday, we went to my church to set up the food and decorations for the Thanksgiving feast that we were having. There was so much food and all of us ate a lot, but the good thing is there was still left overs for us to take home. After the Thanksgiving feast we had at church, we went to the Hmong New Year. The Hmong New Year occurs every Thanksgiving break. Thursday-Sunday. Thursday evening we went and just walked around to see what they had in store this year. After the walking around we helped my church set up a booth that was sponsored. Our church booth was there to encourage other Hmong people to come to our church and learn the word of the Bible. After the Hmong New Year, we went to my house to chill and watch movies and eat some leftovers. The next day we went to the Hmong New Year again because we had to help make balloons and pass out flyers about our church and about the word of God. After that we chilled and walked around to explore more of the New Year, we ate really good food and enjoyed the hot weather that we did not think we were going to have. After the New Year I went to work to experience a slow day at work. The next day we went again to the Hmong New Year, this time we dressed in our traditional Hmong clothes and walked around all day and ate really good food. After that I went to work again to experience another slow day. Sunday came along and it was fairly good. I went to church and had dance and then off to work again. It was better at the time but as a memory it was not that great and exciting but to me it was.

My First Job

I recently got a job at Burger King as cashier. It's my first job so I do not know whats a good job and what a bad job is. But the first day I actually worked, I watched several 5-45 minute long videos about greeting people, sanitary directions, and a lot more. I watched for videos for at least 5 days before I actually got to work. The first day I worked, they made a person who just started working a week ago, train me. She was just as new but she told me she had worked several other fast food jobs as well. So that made it easier for her. I did not know what to really do, I just put fries into their cartons and bagged some burgers and nuggets. That is all I did my first day, it was not anything too hard. I later helped clean the diner with my trainer and we got done with things very quickly. It was nice having someone to help, but I felt as if I was so unprepared or my next time at work. The next time I worked, they already put me by myself at the front line. I was so nervous, and I usually never get nervous. They gave me a cash drawer and told me it had to have exactly 125. So once I got my drawer into the cashier, I began taking several orders. It was pretty difficult and I was nervous about everything. I did not know the cashier board very well and it was hard to quickly find the right sandwiches. It went on like this for several days, but I think I have gotten better. It's only been my 3rd week and I think I got the hand of most things. They just recently started training me on drive-thru as I do front line so I hope I can be more useful and do drive-thru and front line soon enough.

The Great Gatsby Chapter 6 (my opinion, review/summary)

In this chapter you learn everything about Jay Gatsby. "James Gatz-that was really, or at least legally, his name." (104) He was playing around the beach when he was around seventeen and because of this he met Dan Cody. "He had changed it at the age of seventeen and at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career-" (104) "who borrowed a row-boat, pulled out to the Tuolomee and informed Cody that a wind might catch him and break him up in half an hour." (104) "The Truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself-his father's business, the service of vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty." Basically, James aka Jay saved Dan Cody and that James aka Jay is not really who he said he was. Dan Cody appreciated Gatsby very much because he employed Jay to many jobs. "He was employed in a vague personal capacity-while he remained with Cody he was in turn steward, mate, skipper, secretary, and even jailor- the arrangement lasted five years." (106) In the beginning Gatsby tells Nick he inherited money from his rich dead family. "My family all died and I came into a good deal of money" (70) but the truth is he inherited it from Dan Cody. "-it was Cody that he inherited money-a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars"(107) But this only informed into the chapter 6 because "but I've put it down here with the idea of exploding those first wild rumors about his antecedents, which weren't even fairly true." (107) next after him explaining all of that, Nick went over to Gatsby's house and there were "They were a party of three on horseback-Tom and a man named Sloane and a pretty woman in a brown riding habit who had been there previously" (107)

The Great Gatsby Chapter 5 (my opinion and review/summary)

In chapter 5 of The Great Gatsby, Nick comes home to a fire. He thinks it is his home burning but it really is just Gatsby's house burning. Nick think's it is just a party but he hears no sound of partying. He gets out of his taxi and Gatsby walks toward him. Gatsby asks' Nick to go to Coney Island with him "Let's go to Coney Island, old sport. In my car."(86) but Nick refuses to go because "It's too late." (86) Gatsby offers "we take a plunge in the swimming pool-" (86) but Nick turns him down again saying "I've got to go to bed" (87) Nick then realizes that Gatsby's really bored and wants to know if Nick has invited Daisy over for tea so he can meet her and impress her with his huge home "He waited, looking at me with suppressed eagerness" (87) They then make sure a certain is good for the both of them. Then Gatsby offers Nick a job. "Well, this would interest you. it wouldn't take up much of your time and you might pick up a nice bit of money" (88) But Nick refuses because he knows whatever business Gatsby is in, is not so good. "I realized now that under different circumstances that conversation might have been one of the crises of my life. But, because the offer was obviously and tactlessly for a service to be rendered, I had no choice to except to cut him off there. 'I've got my hands full,' I said. 'I'm obliged but I couldn't take on any more work." (88) After that day Nick invited Daisy over for tea. He asks' Daisy not to bring Tom. "I called Daisy from the office next morning and invited her to come to tea. 'Don't bring Tom." (88) Nick went to buy several things to get his home ready "-I drove into West Egg Village to search for her among soggy white-washed alleys and to buy some cups and lemons and flowers" (88-89) Gatsby was pretty nervous and he didn't know what to expect. He then started to think Daisy was not going to show up. "Finally he got up and informed me in an uncertain voice that he was going home." (89-90) Basically Daisy came and he was completely embarrassed and so was she. "You're just embarrassed, that's all, and luckily I added: Daisy's embarrassed too." (93) Nick left then alone for about half and hour and went back in to tell them that it stopped raining. He came into the room with Gatsby as he hadn't seen him in years and Daisy's throat full of aching, grieving beauty, told only of her unexpected joy. "Oh, hello, old sport, he said, as if he hadn't seen me for years. I thought for a moment he was going to shake my hands." (94) "Her throat, full of aching, grieving beauty, told only of her expected joy." (94) Gatsby invited Daisy and Nick over to his home. "I want you and Daisy to come over to my house, he said. I'd like to show her around." (95) There Gatsby shows Daisy and Nick his home. Basically Daisy and Nick end up sitting on the couch with Klipspringer playing the piano. Nick leaves them so they can continue being alone. He got tired of being a third wheel.

The Great Gatsby (chapter 4 my opinion & review/summary)

In beginning of chapter four, it lists several names of the people who attended the party (pages 65-68). To be honest I skimmed through the names. But the significance of the names listed show the status of how rich they are and who is who and who is related or engaged to who. Which is pretty surprising to hear Nick care about the status of people with his "judge free" ways. But maybe it was put into the book to explain how corrupt the "rich" are. The time changes and it goes back to the summer, Gatsby goes to Nick's home and then invites/tells him to go to lunch with him. "Good morning, old sport. You're having lunch with me today and I thought we'd ride up together" (page 68) and during this trip to lunch, this is where you start to learn a lot more about Gatsby. He opens up to Nick telling him, where he's from, how'd he get money, how his life was, and where he went to school. "I am the son of some wealthy people in the middle-west--all dead now. I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years. It is a family tradition." (page 69) "My family all died and I came into a good deal of money." (page 70) "After that I lived like a young rajah in all the capitals of Europe--Paris, Venice, Rome--collecting jewels, chiefly rubies, hunting big game, painting a little, things for myself only, and trying to forget something very sad that had happened to me long ago." (page 70) "Then came the war, old sport. It was great relief and I tried very hard to die but I seemed to bear an enchanted life. I accepted a commission at first lieutenant when it began." (page 70) "I was promoted to be a major and every Allied government gave me a decoration-- even Montenegro, little Montenegro down on the Adriatic Sea!" (page 70) These are all the things he he did or happened before where he is today. Next in the book, a cop tries to pull over Mr. Gatsby but Mr. Gatsby just shows the cop a "card" and the cops let them go. "I heard the familiar "jug-jug-spat! of a motorcycle, and a frantic policeman rode alongside, 'All right, old sport,' called Gatsby. We slowed down. Take a white card from him wallet he waved it before the man's eyes. 'Right you are,' agreed the policeman, tipping his cap. 'Know you next time, Mr. Gatsby. Excuse me!" After that Nick asked Gatsby what he had shown the officer "What was that?" (page 73) Gatsby tells him "I was able to do the commissioner a favor once, and he sends me a Christmas card every year." because of this you can tell that "rich" people are careless and think money can solve everything. When they go to lunch, Gatsby introduced Wolfsheim to Nick. Gatsby starts to tell Nick about Wolfshiem "he's a gambler" (page78) "He's the man who fixed the World's serious back in 1919" Later on in the chapter Jordan starts to tell Nick about Daisy. And Nick finds out Daisy and Gatsby had a thing for each other in the past and she did not want to marry Tom. "It wasn't until then that I connected this Gatsby with the officer in her white care." (page 83) "Say Daisy's change' her mine!" (page 81) at the end of this chapter, you also find out "Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay" (page 85) and Nick kisses Jordan! "Her wan scornful mouth smiled and so I drew her up again, closer, this time to my face" (page 85)

The Great Gatsby (chapter 3 my opinion, review/summary)

In chapter 3, you begin to learn more about the way "rich" people act during the 1920s. You also get to finally meet the mysterious Jay Gatsby. In chapter three, Nick Carraway is invited to a party at his mysterious neighbors house. As Nick enters the party, he acknowledges every piece of the party. He describes the party as "At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby's enormous garden. On buffet tables, garnished with glistening horsd'oeurves, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold. In the main hall a bar with real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guest were too young to know one from another. (page 44) The significance of this is that during this time, alcohol was banned and because he was so rich, he had enough to set up a bar and stock it up with alcohol. He then tries to find Jay Gatsby by asking several other people at the party, he then realizes none of them or more than half never even met Jay Gatsby "-the two or three people of whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed way and denied so vehemently any knowledge of his movement that I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table-" (page 46) I was one of the few guest that who had actually been invited." (page 45) Later that evening he happens to spot Jordan and she invites him to stay with her party (group of people she came with to the party) They then begin to discuss Jay Gatsby, they quote rumors they have heard because they do not know the truth and are too scared to even find out the truth about Jay Gatsby "Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once" "it's more he was a German spy during the war" "I head that from a man who knew all about him, grew up with him in Germany" "it couldn't be that, he was in the American army during the war" (all on page 48) Jordan and Nick both leave to find this mysterious Jay Gatsby. When they get to a door,  they opened it to find "a stout, middle-aged man with enormous owl-eyed spectacles was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of a great table, staring with unsteady concentration at the shelves of books." (page 49) He was drunk and talked nonsense "Did I tell you about the books? They're real" "I've been dunk for about a week now, and I thought it might sober me up to sit in a library." (page 50)  The significance of this man they found is that he has been drunk for the past week. He is a "rich" fellow who does not have a care in the world. Stating, rich people, like him, are people who do not care about what the consequences and just live their life without worries because "money can solve everything" After Jordan and Nick experience the weird encounter, they go to sit and "We were sitting at a table with a man of about my age and a rowdy little girl...'Your face is familiar" (page 51) This how Nick meets Jay Gatsby. Mr. Gatsby often leaves Nick and Jordan to take business calls and then later on ask to speak to Jordan in private. Because of this discussion in private, Nick is left alone to examine the "rich" people who are so selfish and worry free. As he was leaving he was saying his remarks to Jay Gatsby, until a car accident occurred in the driveway of the Gatsby home. "Surprisingly" it was the man who Jordan and Nick had met in the library that evening. He was still drunk, so drunk he did not even know he was in an accident. The significance of this again shows how careless rich people can be. He did not even apologize to Gatsby and did not care to know if someone else was in the other vehicle or if his car was even okay because he would probably just go buy a new one with all his "valuable" money.

Saying Goodbye

I am very fortunate that I have not lost someone close to my heart. I have lost my grandpa, but I did not know him well enough to actually miss him. I only got to see him once in a blue moon. He never really was there for my aunts and uncles. I was still sad and heart broken because he is gone now and that my parents and aunts and uncles were so sadden to have lost their father. I was still not completely sadden because I never got the chance to sincerely meet and get to know each other. I do not think he even knew my name. I am glad that I have not experienced any loss of anyone. I do not like saying goodbye, even when I know I will see them soon or years later. I just know that I will see them again. I should appreciate every person I meet and I should adore all the people dear to my heart. I know I will loose someone eventually but I am so lucky to have not experienced anything so devastating. After so many stories being told to me about how people have lost loved ones it breaks me heart just to hear it. I do not know if I could take the pain of loosing someone I treasured. I've only been to two funerals and I am so lucky that it has only been two. My first was my great grandpa, I also did not know him. He probably did not even know who I am. But I still had to pay my respects. My second was my grandpa, he probably did not know my name as well and I did not know him very well either, but my respects were still payed. Loosing someone and never seeing them again is hard. I know that death is a part of life but death shows you the point of life. Death shows you how precious and how lucky it is. It makes you adore life more. I am so thankful I have not felt the pain of loosing someone I love so dearly.

The Great Gatsby (my opinion so far)

So far in the book The Great Gatsby, I have only read chapters one and two and it has a lot of details. This book contains thorough details of everything. In the first chapters, he describes himself and and he explains why he is the way he is. He describes himself to have "inclined to reserve all judgments" on others, His father taught him these ways when he was younger. That is why he is who he is in the book as he is older. What I love that Fitzgerald did in this book was described everything with an image that you could see for yourself. When you read the book you can catch yourself imagining how each house looks or how each character dressed acted. In the book he describes each character with great value. He also describes the area he lived in with great depth. Fitzgerald describes each home with an imagine you could build it yourself. Here are some main characters that are mentioned so far in only chapters one and two, Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, Myrtle Wilson, and George Wilson. He describes Tom Buchanan as "sturdy, straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shinning, arrogant eyes had established and dominance over his face, and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward ... you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage-a cruel body"with this much description you can imagine this figure and you can build the presence of him in your mind. He described Daisy Buchanan at first when he met her again was "sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes, and a bright passionate mouth" He does not clearly write a descriptive view of her. But when I read of this description, I immediately thought of someone I knew with that description I would describe her with. Not her physical traits but her personality traits made me think of her as a perfect "Daisy". Nick describes Jordan Baker as "a slender, small-breasted girl with an erect carriage" this gives you an image of a very petite girl. Nick describes Myrtle Wilson when he first sees her as "thickish figure of a woman...middle thirties, faintly stout, but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some woman can...contained no facet or glean of beauty" this gave me an idea of the newer version of "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory" the mother of Augustus Gloop. George Wilson was described as "was blonde, spiritless man, anaemic and faintly handsome.. light blue eyes" This kind of reminded me of an average Ken doll, just less smiley. So far the book has been quiet interesting. Im excited to read more of the book and I am planning up update my blog with the chapters I'm required to read. So, until then. 

Being a Girl

Being a girl is hard. Sometimes I wonder how it would be to a boy. Girls go through so many things, I wonder if girls just complain about it and boys just do not complain or we really do go through a lot of things. There are so many differences in a female and male. Being a teenage girl, I never really get to go out. Girls mostly have more responsibility and known to be more fragile. My parents, especially, will not let me go out by myself if it is later than 9. They even admitted to me that they would let my little brother, if he was my age, go out later than this because he is a boy. The chance of me being in danger is more riskier than it is for him to get in danger. Which I guess is true because our world is pretty cruel and nasty. Sometimes I do agree that women should get equal rights as men, but when I think about it... If a man was to hit a women, it is wrong. But we are the ones asking for equal rights. No matter what sex you are if you get hurt you should get consequences but it should still be the same as if a male hit another male or a female hit another female. Also I wonder if you get the option, when you get married, to change your last name to your wives last name instead of wives changing their last name. I understand why men would not change their last name, because they create the babies. But maybe if we got the option to do that women would be treasured more like in China, girls/women are taken for granted and not wanted because they cannot carry a last name. Being a girl can be difficult but I guess the advantage is you are supposedly more fragile.

HTCC Worship Band

I am in the HTCC worship band and we are called LTE. There also another group that performs called, 3Gs. This is an older generation of the worship band. They are more skilled and have had a lot more experience. They also have very strong faith in God. They have been so helpful in training us to lead others towards God's grace and glory. They have helped our LTE worship band become greater at not just our faith but our skills in instruments. They train us every Saturday (when we perform on Sundays) to learn the the songs and music. They take their time and put so much into building us into better followers of Christ and musicians. The band started when we were just 12, 13, and 14 years old. We started off as newbies at everything. No one was an expert at any instrument. Our band started out small, with no drummer and a player for the keyboard, bass, acoustic and electric guitar. Daniel played the electric guitar, Nathan played the bass, Essence played the acoustic guitar, Lily played the keyboard, and I sang. We were not really sure if we could do it because we were missing a drummer and with little faith and hope that we would be good at all at leading. As we practiced more, the back-up drummer for the 3Gs offer to be our drummer and it really seemed that our band was complete. But being the only singer and a female, sometimes songs would not match my voice. Sometimes it would be too high or too low. Thankfully, two other boys, Sunbun and Suchat, offered to sing with our worship band. This really made our band complete.

Discrimination

In the film, Forest Gump, discrimination is displayed throughout this movie in several ways. We act different from others who we think are less intelligent, handicapped, sick, racially different, have a different skin tone, different religion and different political party. We act towards those who are less intelligent than us to make ourselves feel better. The less intelligent we think know less than we already do know and we feel like they should know just as much and all of us has been put down by several other people who are smarter than us and we think it is okay to finally but someone who is less intelligent than us in the position we once was in. In the movie, Forest Gump was treated differently because of his lack of intelligence. Just because he did not learn as well as other and had a different view of things they did not want him to attend a certain school. Because of the rejection of his acceptance was made, she slept with the principle to to get him into that school. We also act differently towards the handicapped because we also think we think they are "special" as in not on the same page as "regular" people are. We are all categorized into who is different and who is regular. We sometimes also give special treatment to those who are handicapped. We get up from our seats to let them sit or we open doors for them or we treat them with sincerity. Even though those things are not bad, everyone should treat everyone like that. Those who are sick we treat them like they never been treated, we love them and we do not get angry at them as much. We tend to do what they want and we always end up being with them. Because of their sickness, we are scared to loose them and we are scared to never see them again in case of a death. We only want to good memories before a death. But everyone should already treat each other like it is the last day for everyone, because we are not promised another day. We treat those who are racially different and have a different skin tone from us we also treat differently. We treat them differently because of the stereotypes made by others. We are scared or intimidated by them and tend to try to avoid them or we make fun of them not knowing what the outcome will be.

My Best Friend Essence

Essence is the funniest girl I know. Her sense of humor is above anyone I know. Essence is the most beautiful girl I know. Some girls do not feel beautiful without makeup, and she is one of those girls. But I honestly think she looks so beautiful without any makeup on. But when she does wear makeup, her makeup is always on point and she does it so well. Her beauty cannot be described in a sentence. She has so much of it and I wonder when she'll realize how beautiful she really is. Essence dresses casually. She always a unique cute top to go with her jeans or leggings. She wears her combat boots on colder days and her Vans on days she does not wear combat boots. She always carries lotion because she knows that her home girl (me) is always ashy. She always got my back and I love that about her. She plays the guitar and has an amazing voice. Her guitar skills are killer and her voice is so powerful, I feel so moved and touched when she sings. She is such a strong girl, not physically, but mentally. She has been through so many things  that I know would be hard for me to handle. But she has made it and I look up to her strength hoping one day I can become as strong as she is.
Essence and I also met at church. We also did not like each other very much at all. We always fought over the most silliest things and we made each other cry a lot as well. I guess I was not that friendly when I was younger. But as we grew older and got more involved with church, we grew closer to each other. We told each everything, non-important things and important things. Just as kids we were always saying silly things like, our crushes, our dream house, etc. I am so blessed to have her in my life. I frequently moved down to Newton, closer to where she lives, and we go to the same school now. New school means new friends and new rules and new everything. I am so blessed to have her show me around and be a friend to me. I am also blessed that God let us have classes together so it would no be so hard for me to make new friends. Essence is an amazing person and I do not know what I would do without her.

My Best Friend Lily

I have had a total of 3 deep close friends in my life time Lily, Essence, Choua and Lyna. This blog is going to be about my best friend Lily. She is exactly 5'3, has long and thick black hair, wears glasses with black frames like the 3-D glasses at the movie theater. She dresses so adorable, she wears peter pan collared shirts with cute skirts and beige oxfords to match every outfit she has. She plays the piano so beautifully and can harmonize to any voice. The way she plays makes everyone mesmerize with the patent she puts into it. She also dances to all kinds of music. She can make up a dance and learn dances so quick it is amazing. She is truly gifted girl.
Lily and I meant through church. Funny thing is I never really liked her when I was younger. I always  was jealous of her I guess you could say. We did not get along and were not friendly to each other at all, we actually made each other cry all the time. But other than that, as we got older we started to get closer and learn more about each other and to find things to just talk about. We fellowshipped with each other and others children from our Sunday class and we started to bond and become so close. Before we knew it we were calling each other best friends. I remember her staying over at my house all the time. Whenever we got a chance to have sleepovers, we took the advantage. As we grew up, we got closer to Christ and each other. She started playing the piano and I started playing the guitar. Other children from our Sunday class learned how to play other instruments as well. Before we knew it we wanted to start a worship band. That is what brought all of my youth today so close to each other.
Just this summer she told us she was moving away to Minnesota. I was so sadden by this. My best friend who I shared every secret with and shared so many good memories was leaving and I could not stop her. Everyone was going to miss her and her family. She was the kind of person that would light a whole room when it is dark. She helped lead all of us closer to God. She had such amazing roles in the church that she did not know and was never recognized for. She is truly a blessing from God and I know God has a plan for her in Minnesota. The last goodbye I gave her was the saddest goodbye I have ever said to anyone. Tears were unstoppable and emotions were indescribable. She told each one of us to move forward with our worship band and to continue to search for God. She left and is missed so much by everyone. I know it is not goodbye though.

Discuss the extent to which Bradstreet's poetry reflects Puritan thinking. Analyze in particular the way Bradstreet reflects her own spirituality and fears in the process of describing an actual event in “Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House.”

In Anne Bradstreet's poetry she reflects her Puritan way of thinking. In her poem "Upon the Burning of Our House" she tells the readers about all the valuables in her life that were taken away from her after the fire that occurred in her home. She describes her valuables as "That laid my goods now in the dust" (line 15) and "My pleasant things in ashes lie And them behold no more shall I" (lines 28-29) in these lines she is describing her things as they are destroyed and she can not get those valuables back. She is constantly renaming all her things that were lost and continuing to discuss all the things she will not have anymore because of the fire such as "Under they roof no guest shall sit, Nor at thy Table eat a bit. No pleasant talk shall 'ere be told Nor things recounted done of old. No Candle e'er shall shine in Thee, Nor bridegroom's voice e'er heard shall be" (lines 30-35) After her first two stanzas, she then goes to the Puritan way of thinking. "There's wealth enough, I need no more, Farewell, my pelf, farewell, my store. The world no longer let me love, My hope and treasure lies above" (Lines 53-56) She says in these lines that she already has enough and does not need anything more. Anne says her goodbyes to her home, all the things she loved and she hopes all her valuables will be in heaven waiting for her since they did not last on earth. Anne is trying not to worry about the things she has lost because she knows they are only materialistic items and Puritans are not suppose to care about materialistic things.

Imagine that a reality show has offered you the chance to win a million dollars. The catch is that you will have to give up an object, a person, or a belief that you truly value. Assume that you are not willing to make the sacrifice. Write a brief letter to explain why you must turn down the money.

If I had a chance to have a million dollars for giving up my belief, I would not take it. My religion is way more meaningful then a million dollars. I know that if I did give up my religion for one million dollars, it would not be worth it. One million dollars can only last a moment in time and can only be used on earth. No one knows what we can take or cannot take when we are not on earth anymore. Like Anne Bradstreet, she knew that even when her house did burn down and all her items were destroyed, she knew God had it all handled. I know that God has it all handled as well. He knows what I need and that one million dollars would be helpful to live on but it really is just a test from God. He wants to know if you are willing to deny him for the temptation of money. I will not accept the money because my religion is more important than money. All of the things that were sacrificed for me and all the things that were given to me by the Lord and by Jesus Christ means so much more then just one million dollars. With one million dollars you can buy several things but once all the money is gone what are you suppose to do? God and Jesus Christ will never run out and they will always be there. I would be tempted to take that one million dollars and just pretend like I did give up my religion but that still would not be right. Although money is nice, you should never put it in front of anything and anyone because there are more important things in life that are better then just the joy of money. Such as having family and friends who care for you. Love is also something so precious that is irreplaceable. Money can buy you fake friends and fake love but if money does buy you those things it is ridiculous because you can have all of the things you paid for, for free.

4. Preserving one’s reputation is a prevalent theme in The Crucible. Examine three characters in detail who are concerned with their reputations. How does this affect how they act? How are their situations similar or different? Is a good name more important than the truth?

One of the characters that cared so much about their reputation was Reverend Parris. Reverend Parris was only worried about him. He was very clear in the book claiming it took him forever to earn everyone's respect in the church. Since he was the Reverend, people looked up to him, or so he thought they did. When Betty was first "sick" in the beginning he cared for her but he cared about what others would think if witchcraft was involved in her sickness. He thought that if she was conjured by a witch in his "holy" house that it would look bad upon him because he is a Reverend and reverends are suppose to be holy. Another character that was concerned about their reputation was Deputy Governor Danforth. He was proud of who he was and bragged about himself. But once he knew that witchcraft was only a lie made by Abigail, he knew it was wrong but he continued to hang people. Danforth did not want to look bad in front of Salem because they had already hung several innocent people and he could not let his reputation be ruined with a lie made by a girl. He then let those who confessed that they were into witchcraft or they were with the devil. This made him have proof that he did not just let them be free but they admit to being the devil or doing witchcraft things. Even though he knew that they were innocent and they did not sign the confession then he would hang them anyways, which is murder. The other character who cared about their reputation is Abigial Williams. Abigail cares about her reputation as well and wants others to care for her. Reverend Parris spoke with Abigail about his reputation and she claims her name is being blackened by Elizabeth Proctor because of her "rumors" that were made. She did not want everyone to think of her as a whore because of he affair with John Proctor. She was still Reverend Parris' niece and should keep a good reputation to look up too.

7. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller suggests that sacrifices may be necessary to restore the social order. Discuss the necessary sacrifices made by at least two of the play’s characters, analyzing why they were necessary. Be sure to choose sacrifices that are similar in nature

With Arthur Miller's suggestion of the thought that sacrifices may be necessary to restore the social order is quite expressed in his play, The Crucible. Chaos struck in Salem and it all started with a little white lie. Because of this lie made, many people were killed for no apparent reason and were accused by girls who had no proof of what was done. These accusations were made and several innocent people were killed. Everyone thought the accusations that were made were true. They wanted to get rid of all the witches in Salem. But once a respected women, Rebecca Nurse, was accused for murdering Ann Putnam's unbaptized babies. Rebecca Nurse was well respected and had many children of her own, along with many grandchildren. It was hard to believe she would have been accused. Since she was accused, she was asked to confess to witchcraft. But she refuses to tell any lies. Rebecca knows that she does not believe in any sort of murdering or witchcraft. After Reverend Hale repeatedly asked her to confess she still refused sticking to her belief, while everyone else strayed from their beliefs. Another character that had to sacrifice his life to restore social order is John Proctor. John Proctor was just a regular farmer but his wife was accused by his ex lover, Abigail. Because of Abigail's accusation of Elizabeth Proctor, John's wife, John tried to get Elizabeth out of jail and tried to win her back. Because he tried and got accused of forcing Mary Warren to signing the devil's book he was sent to jail as well. John was guilty of his sins and he knew he committed them. John Proctor was also a good man. He may have created sins and such but he was still a father to his son and a husband to his wife. He did his part at home, to farm and etc. Proctor wanted to admit that he was using witchcraft so he could live for his children. He was going to sign his name but he decided not to because if he did, it would look bad on his children. He knew it would disgrace them knowing their father was into witchcraft compared to being hanged by what he believed in. As it got closer to their hanging date, many citizens of Salem started to scold Abigail and Reverend Parris. Because of the scolding, Abigail left Salem and did not tell anyone she was leaving.

6. How much is Abigail to blame for the events that took place? Is she a victim of her society in The Crucible? What events in her past and present influence her behavior? Can she excused or pardoned because outside forces “made” her the way she is? Why or why not?

The witch trials in Salem occurred because of Abigail an it is her fault. She started something she could not finish and by starting it killed many innocent people and ruined many reputations. Abigail is at blame because she was the one who is basically the "psycho girlfriend" who is obsessed with her ex. But because she is desperately in love with John Proctor, she is willing to do anything to have him all to herself. Just like how she drank a chicken blood charm to kill Elizabeth, which is against her religion. She is willing to go against her religion to satisfy her desperation for John. But obviously John does not want this because he knows his affair with her was a mistake. She is not the victim in the crucible. She is the person who caused all the chaos to occur. She should be put to blame because although she did have a rough past she should have asked for help. But during this time period asking for help would only be asked from the Lord. But Abigail is clearly not the victim in this play. She is the culprit in the play. The most likely thing to have influenced her from the past is her parents' murders. By having her parents murdered so violently and right in front of her must have seriously scarred her for life. She must have been really affected by this. Also when she had no one to take her in Elizabeth and John took her in as their slave. After being kicked out of their home because of the affair she must have been more hurt because she did not have anywhere to really go. Although she has been through a lot she is still at fault. She cannot be not at fault or pardoned because she should have gotten help and she should have been a good Puritan and prayed about the struggle she was going through.

2. As the action heats up, some of the characters in The Crucible stay the same, but a few of them change. Write a detailed character study on one of the play’s dynamic characters who undergoes some sort of change from the beginning of the play to the end.

In The Crucible, Mary Warren is a very well known character in the book. She starts off as a follower of Abigail. She is told by Abigail to lie and accuse innocent people of witchcraft. She knows it is wrong but she still does it any ways because Abigail has threatened her. She is scared of Abigail and feels intimidated by her. She does not want to get on Abigail's bad side, no one does. Mary tries to please Abigail as much as possible. She lies in court that Sarah Good, mumbled words under her breathe and she got sick that day because of her. Because of her assumption, Sarah Good was sent to jail for being a witch and confessing it. She knows that she has done wrong and she knows that even though she does confess they other girls will go against her. John helped encourage Mary to tell the truth in the court. She was nervous about confessing because Abigail was going to be there. When she admitted that she had lied about the accusations, the court did not believe her. They thought something conjured her to make these lies. After the court pressuring her to tell the truth and asking her why she made these lies, Abigail and the other girls came into the court room. When she sees Abigail she gets scared and starts to second guess what her decision was. She then continues telling the truth, but Abigail and the other girls tell the court that she is lying. They then start to act as if Mary is a witch or is possessed by the devil. They scream of nonsense such as Mary is a bird, on the ceiling. They then act as if Mary is possessing them and they repeat every word Mary says. Mary starts to get scared and she then realizes that she does not want to be on the opposite team as Abigail is. She then turns her back on the truth and John Proctor. She then tells the court that John conjured her to tell these lies. Mary also apologizes to Abigail and tells everyone she is with the Lord now. But really if she was, she would have told the truth not matter what circumstances took place. In this novel, Mary Warren in a coward and has weak faith in the Lord. She could have been the one who saved many innocent people from being accused but she was to scared of one person to do this. She changed throughout the story by being a follower, to being wise and doing what is right, to a coward.

My Trip to Disney World

My trip to Disney World was back in 2012. This was going to be my first time going to Disney! A lot of my family members were going to go there together. We rented a 14 passenger van just so we could have a fun road trip the way on the way down. Usually when we do go on trips that consisted with a lot of driving, we drive at night to pass the time because we get to sleep. The bad thing about the night driving is the driver does not get to sleep. It took awhile to get to Florida but renting a 14 passenger van has a lot of room so you can do a lot of things. We originally wanted to go to Disney World for 3 days and then go to Clearwater Beach, but thinks got a little hectic. When we first arrived at Disney World, I could not believe how beautiful it was. It was just like the commercials and pictures. Everything about it seemed so magically. We got out of our car and walked up to these golf cart looking carts. We rode in it as the drivers drive other passengers too. When we got to the entrance, we gave them our tickets and we had to decide if we wanted to ride the train or ferry to the Magic Kingdom. We decided to ride the ferry because we thought we'd see some cool water animals, but sadly it was just a longer ride and it was way more crowded then the train. When we finally got there they checked our tickets again we went off to explore! There were so many ride we rode I do not remember all of them. Because my aunts boyfriend is in the Navy, we got fast passes to skip ahead in line to make the time for waiting faster, lucky us. After the whole day of walking, eating, riding and meeting Disney Characters we went to our hotel. We rested for a pretty long time but when it was 10 o'clock PM we went back to Disney World to see the firework show. It was beautiful and when people say Disney World is magical it really is. We were planning to go the Animal Kingdom the next morning but everyone was so exhausted. We relaxed and went swimming at the pool hotel. We decided to leave the Disney hotels early to go to our other hotel and go see Clearwater beach. When we got there we put our things away and went on the beach and say so many jumping dolphins and so many seashells that were not broken. Later that night we went on the boardwalk. They had music, artist, games, movies, and food. It was an amazing time and I hope to go again some time soon.

Act 3 of The Crucible

Act three of the Crucible was quite a climax. The husbands of Rebecca Nurse, Martha Corey, and Elizabeth Proctor try to reason with Danforth, the judge, into letting their wives go. Although Rebecca, Martha, and Elizabeth are innocent, they are still going to be hung because the young girls accusations. In this act, you find out that Elizabeth is again pregnant with John Proctors baby. This is the reason why she does not get hung as soon as possible. Also Mary has agreed to tell the court that she had lied about the accusations. Even though Mary was scared of what the outcome was she decided to do what was right. After Mary's testimony, they do not know what to believe because either she had lied before or is lying now. They question her why she lied and ask her if she's lying now because of the Devil. She answers truthfully but is crying hysterically because all of the pressure put against her. As she tells her testimony, Abigail sits in the room denying everything Mary says. Abigail calls Mary a witch and gets the other young girls to attack her with words. They start to mock every word that Mary says. Danforth asks Mary if she is conjuring them to repeat as she says and John Proctor sticks up for her saying they are only copying her and they think it is a game. John Proctor then admits that he had an affair with Abigail Williams. Danforth, Hathorne, Hale, and Parris are shocked by what he is admitting and they know that what John is saying is serious because, no one would take adultery as a joke during this time. They then start to believe him so Danforth calls in Elizabeth to tell him why she really fired Abigail. She tries to save Johns reputation and does not tell Danforth they had an affair. She only admits that she was scared he "fancied" Abigail. Because of this Danforth then did not believe John Proctors testimony. After all of this chaos, Mary Warren knew that  if she was on John Proctors side that she would get hung with his. So as childish as she is, she turned on him and told the court that the devil is with him and he forced her to make these accusations. She knew if she did not get hung, Abigail was going to hurt her.

Reflection of The Crucible Act 2

In act 2 of The Crucible, the scene is at John Proctor and Elizabeth Proctor's home. Elizabeth is hesitant in trusting John because she knows of his affair with Abigail Williams. But she acts in a mature manner and does not fight or make a big deal out of it. John is obviously mad at himself more then Elizabeth is mad at him. She is mostly hurt and feels like his decision was selfish and it is a against one of the 10 Amendments. She feels as if she is not to judge, only God and himself are to judge his own mistakes. But further on the act, Mary comes in and John is furious because she was told not to go to Salem but she went anyways. She told them about how many women were going to die because of the witch accusations. Mary told them she told the court that Goody Osburn was a witch and because she denied it she will be hung. She also implied that she saved Elizabeth from being accused. She handed Elizabeth a poppet which is now what we call a doll. She told Elizabeth and John she made it in the court. At first I thought it was sweet of Mary to have saved Elizabeth from being accused and making her a poppet. But moments later Giles and Francis come in telling John that they're wives have been taken to jail because of the witch accusations. As they are having this conversation, Ezekiel appears and tries to take Elizabeth to jail. Claiming that she but the needle in the puppet and it stabbed Abigail. Abigail wants to get Elizabeth hung because she wants to be John Proctors wife. I think that Mary did not expect Abigail to do those things to get Elizabeth into jail and hung. Mary told everyone that was at the Proctor's house, that it was her poppet and she gave it to Elizabeth. They asked her to say it to the judge but she won't go to court. The reason she doesn't want to go is because she knows Abigail will be there and she does not want Abigail to hurt her like she said she would. Elizabeth is truly a God women because she does not let jealousy get in the way of her belief in God. She still loves John, she had to kill a rabbit for his meal and she felt bad because she killed it. She does not judge him after his adultery he has committed. Elizabeth could not possible be witch or have any witch intentions.

My First Boyfriend

My first boyfriend was when I was in the 4th grade. His name was Nathan and he went to my church and was the sweetest boy. I felt as if we had many differences and had nothing in common. But we had one thing in common, we liked each other. We were really just friends with crushes on each other. As a 4th grader, you don't know how you're suppose to interact together as a "real" couple. All I knew was we were suppose to go on dates and say "I Love You" and give hugs. Whe he confessed that he liked me it was over the phone. His older brother, Abe, asked my older sister, Branda, if he could talk to me. And as I was waiting to hear what they had to say, Abe told me that Nathan liked me. I was so shocked but so happy because I liked him too and I've always had a crush on him. He always made me laugh whenever we were together just as friends. I remember calling him over the phone and talking about nothing and listening to each other breathe, it was so awkward. I enjoyed every moment of awkwardness now though because when I think back about it, it's hilarious. My aunt would take me to Chuck E. Cheese and Nathan would meet me there. We always played games together and take pictures together in the booths, I wish I still had a picture of us. After collecting all the tickets we would buy each other little prizes from the counter. We wanted to be so alike that we got matching high-top "Converse" to twin. I was best friends with his cousin, so in the summertime we would plan to hangout at her house and just ride bikes and chill. I always looked forward to seeing him and he was truly one of my best friends. But as little kids are, girls thought boys had cooties and boys thought girls had cooties. So our friends that were our age didn't like each other and we always had to choose between our friends and each other. This made us grow distant and we didn't get to talk as often anymore. We grew distant not as just a "couple" but also as friends a month or so later, Nathan broke up with me. I didn't know how to feel but I knew our friendship was going to change. Days later I got a phone call from him, he told me he made a terrible mistake breaking up with me. I told him that it was okay but I was still upset. So we got back together and we stayed together for awhile. But I didn't share the "couple" feelings that I had for him anymore. I honestly started to crush on someone else and it did not feel right to date someone and like someone else. So I broke up with him, and after I did break up with him we never really spoke at all anymore. We still went to church together, so we saw each other quiet often. As years passed we still were very distant. We spoke here and there but never like we were best friends. We hung out with each other only around youth members. But one day his older brother, Abe, and I discussed TOP SECRET stuff. Basically who Abe liked and I happened to be best friends with her. So as I was trying to help a brother out, Nathan and I both worked together to try to get Abe and my best friend together. But in the end it didn't quite workout... but Nathan and I just happen to be closer and became friends again. Before we knew it we were texting everyday and looked forward to seeing each other. We grew more feelings towards each other and we confessed to each other that we had those feelings we did when we were younger. We talked for awhile as just crushes and a couple months later, he asked me out again and of course I said "yes" Luckily I moved to Newton, so now I go to Newton-Conover High School and he goes there too! So we see each other quite often. I am super glad that after all those years we managed to be together again.

My 16th Birthday

I am turning 17 in October but I want to talk about how much fun my 16th birthday really was. I had so much fun that day. My theme was safari animals VS vouchers, of course it was easy to find a costume because it is close to Halloween. So all my friends came over and we played  many party games. There was a game where we had to put split into groups and have a dance battle, and I cant dance but it was fun because no one could really dance either. Everyone tried so hard to win the dance battle but of course being the worst dancer I won because I cant really count the beats, or so they say. But after that game we enjoyed a snack which was nachos and cheese and you would think it's complicated to serve but it's actually really easy. And it's really cheap to buy because you can buy a large quantity of food for a cheaper amount at Sam's Club. The other games we played was a peanut and spoon game. One person had one peanut in a spoon and the others had a spoon and you had to pass the peanut and as it went one round you added another peanut. Whoever dropped the peanut, you had to take do 10 jumping jacks and 5 push-ups. Whoever won would get a prize. The other game we played consisted of balloons tied to our ankles and we tried to pop everyone elses balloons if all your balloons popped then you had to get out of the game and the one who survived would get a prize. After all the party games we had cake and opened presents. My mom is a cake baker so she made me this BEAUTIFUL cake. But since she makes cake all the time I've kinda grown tired of it. But I know everyone loves her cakes. I'm so thankful to have lived up to atleast 16 years and hopefully longer.

"Does every human life have the same worth? For example, does a criminal's life have the same worth as someone who has never committed a crime? Why or why not? Explain"

My opinion is on both sides of this argument. I think that all lives matter, even if they did do the worst thing possible. Many innocent people loose their lives all the time and many people who have committed crimes still live through out their lives. There is a reason for each life lost and there is a reason that each life is still on earth. I think that each innocent life that got taken, because their purpose God gave them was accomplished or God needed them in heaven to do greater things. The criminals that still have their lives today have been given a chance to repent and to find God. But if I lost someone meaningful from a criminal or if a criminal did something to someone i loved I think that i would be angry and mad. I would want them to be punished but i know it would be wrong for me to wish horrible things. God loves everyone equally and even if they have done the worst things you're deciding for yourself if you're going to heaven or hell. If you do not care about where you go, then that is one you. If you do not want to repent and give yourself to God then that is on you.

Bus Confusion?!

Not being able to drive yet, I ride the bus. Being new to school I had no clue what bus to ride. I asked the office the first day of school to make sure I was even on the bus route. After asking I was told the bus i road was 359 and my bus stop was a street i didn't recall knowing, but i was trusting the school would know exactly know the distance it was from that street to my house. Or was trusting the school would research where my house was at to the street. But when i got on the bus and we drove to our first stop, I realized it was the address written on the piece of paper given to me by the school. I had no clue where we were, so obviously I didn't get off. Why would I get off at a place I don't know how to get home from? So i didn't get off the bus, but as we drove up the street to the highway, I realized where we were but it was way to far for me to even walk home. Even if i did walk home I'd have to walk on the highway and it'd take me forever. So hoping she turned towards my street down the road, she turned the opposite way. I knew then I'd probably have to wait until the end of the bus route before she could take me. So after telling her my situation, she told me that either way I had to walk. At the end of her high school route we returned to my bus stop, but as I showed her my street from the bus stop given to me she told me that i couldn't walk from there and that I should be on a different bus. But she said she couldn't drop me off exactly yet because she had a middle school route. So waiting another hour to get off the bus and sitting with noisy middle schoolers, she finally dropped me off at the driveway of me house. She told me that she'd ask the school about my bus situation. But once she dropped me it started raining cats and dogs. My gravel driveway is quite long and my shoes were white. Running towards my house, I knocked on the door and walked in soaked. It was 4:30 when i got home. After telling my parents what had happened they told me to go talk to the school. But on Tuesday I was quite busy trying to get my classes on the right schedule and I always have trouble opening my locker so it took awhile each class period. That day I got a ride from one of my friends, so I was thankful for that. On Wednesday, I was called into the office to fix my bus situation. The vice principal made me fill out a bus form asking for my address and etc. She told me to go ahead and ride the bus I was riding and they'd drop me off at my street, not my driveway. So I got on the bus thinking she'd drop me off but she didn't! She told me she couldn't let me off at my street because it wasn't her route. Which is understandable but you would think the vice principal would have told the bus driver. So sadly I had to walk on the highway. I had asked my sister to pick me up but sadly she was at work and my mom doesn't get home until 4:30. I thought my dad was already at work and so i didn't ask him. But as i was walking on the highway I saw a truck that looked similar to my dad's. It flashed it's lights at me and I was so happy because i knew then it was dad. He looked at me with confusion and asked why I hadn't asked him to pick me up but I seriously thought he left to work today. He told me he was picking up my little sister from her school so luckily he was off and he was coming in my direction. But today is four days later and today I got picked up by my aunt at school because I have no clue if I'm riding the right bus or not. But i hope by tomorrow they get my bus route fixed soon. It's been almost a week, you would think they fixed the situation already. But maybe the Admin is just so busy since it's still the first week of school. Hopefully I can plan a way to get home everyday.

New to Newton-Conover High School

School just started on Monday and I admit I was really anxious. I wasn't sure what to expect from a new school. I only had three friends from Newton-Conover that I already knew. Hoping that I would have classes with them, I walked into my 2nd and 4th period seeing one of them and lunch with the other two. I'm so thankful that I have them to help me around Newton-Conover. I'm also glad I had them to help show me to my classes and where almost everything is. But, so far I've only made one new friend. But making friends takes awhile sometimes so I am in no rush. 

Newton-Conover is pretty different from my old school, Hickory High. Over here at Newton-Conover you're not aloud to carry your book bag, lunches are 25 minutes, dress code isn't as strict and school starts 5 mins later. At Hickory you can use your book bag, I never used my locker at Hickory but at Newton I do. Lunches are a 30 mins and they have only two lunches. Hickory also has a strict dress code policy, which I don't like. You have to wear a solid colored collared shirt, black, navy, or khaki pants, it's not very cute at all. School also starts at 7:35AM and ends at 2:25PM.  So far this week has seemed as if it's already the middle of the semester. It's going by really slow, but only this year and next year of school left and I'll graduate. Overall, the academic is completely the same, so far. Not any easier or more difficult than Hickory.