End of the Year Reflection

The rhetorical analysis essay in my opinion was the most difficult due to how at the time i missed school days for health complications and basketball. So I wouldn't receive full instruction on how to actually write an essay of that type. But overtime i eventually became effective at producing one.

The easiest essay in my opinion was the synthesis essay because I just felt comfortable writing one since I have been writing them for year unknowing of their literary title.

I enjoyed the Devil in White City even though i didn't read it entirely, but the story line was pretty decent.

I literally hated George Orwell's crappy drab, and utterly boring novel 1984. The book was horrible and should be destroyed or at least re-written. Classic case of great idea, but a poor product.
Mr. Thomas you are literally one of the smartest people I have met. You have an intelligence level that is outside the box of the insolent and ignorant people in the world. Honestly many of your stories about you life are extremely intriguing, and have influenced my life and decisions in a positive way. Not many of my teachers in the past have had such a strong effect with their teaching as you have. I believe you have excelled beyond what your job states in which you have to teach your students AP Language, and not only taught that, but taught life lessons that are highly valued. Thank you so much. 

P.S I do plan on studying abroad either my first or second year of college depending on finances  

The Things Crook Carries

My wallet  has been with me through thick and thin. Without it in my person, i would've been screwed in so many different situations. My wallet has been through the struggle for real. It's been on fire, ran over, put in the washer and dryer, left in snow for a week, and stabbed yet it still does its job perfectly. Without it i would be less of a man. All the utilities it carries are crucial to my life! My money, my drivers license my contraceptives, and my credit card are things I need to have.

I always wanted to be a professional basketball player. Starting from my grandfather my family has played the game for what feels to be forever, and i want to be the first to make it on the american professional level. That goal drives me every time i workout or play a game. With that drive and determination, i feel that it can guide me to achieving anything in life

LeBron James is a true rags to riches story, and even though he came from the bottom to the top and people are still attempting to hold him down he gets through the conflict anyway and comes out on top every time. He is the greatest player in the game today! No challenge! He will shoot from the perimeter, dunk on your biggest man, guard your best player, and destroy your defense. LeBron is a new breed of basketball player who I try to model my activity on the court after.

When it comes to myself, I know that I am amicable, full of intellect, and athletic. This makes me a threat in society because while I do not know who i want to be, i know i want to be a success. While others may see me coming and generate whatever bullcrap generalization of my being, i personally don't care who other people think i am i know who i am. While my personality is actually a magnitude of complex emotions, it impacts my life on a daily basis because i tend to make  decisions emotionally.

My dad was very tough on me as a kid and always wanted me to represent the pinnacle of good behavior and intelligence in a child, teen and man. Throughout the entire journey though i have not always been on the right path towards success and he doesn't hesitate to push me back on it.

Cultural Identity

My parents are very modern day African-American people. We don't have African artifacts inside of our house, or any civil rights memorabilia. But yet we still have culture and traditions that we follow. As a child every Christmas I would make my parents their gifts by hand, but every since I got into high school, their gifts have been purchased. This makes them a bit upset because they say the love and care put into hand made gifts mean much more. But they don't complain with a shiny silver watch on their wrist, or a golden choker around their neck.

Another way i try to honor my parents culture is by going to visit my grandmother and listen in on her stories of her civil rights activism in the 60's so i would be able to spread them to the future generations in our family. Yet the way i will tell her story will not be in the angered and hateful tone, but I will deliver my words in a more informal way so that way i won't appear as upset about it as she is and not spread the hate and anger to them.

Both of my parents came from homes in poverty. My dad lived in a house with a single mom and four other kids, him being the middle child, thus being very neglected. He picked up basketball at a young age and went on a full ride at Texas Southern University. I on the other hand live in the suburbs with two parents who have very lavish salaries, and give me plenty of attention and care. My parents are one of the very first and few in both families to go to college and have plenty of money on their own. I plan to break of from their previous generations failure of a tradition as well, and help start a new one.

My parents are married, and their parents before, and their parents before them as well. I for one do not plan on or have any intentions of settling down and getting married to anyone. I don't care if it's Halle Berry, Beyonce, or the Jet Beauty of the Month. Personally i believe majority of marriages these days are rushed and forced, and are lucky to last a year or two. I prefer to have a relationship with someone I care about for a really, really, really, long time.

Haunted House Blog

Mr. Poe's giving of life to the house in the story is something i would love to copy and make into my own within my personal haunted house story. The way that the house is given personification by Poe is literally ingenious and miraculous. By copying Poe's literary innovation, my story should be just as good, if not better than his.

The dark and dreary ambiance that Poe establishes from the very start of the book is something apart of Poe's authorial arsenal. I would utilize this by setting up my story in a dark and desolate setting that would possibly make my readers bodies cringe at every word as they read.

Mr. Poe's use of incest however is something that i find extremely vile and revolting. This is an abomination in my opinion should have been not only left out his reading, but any other authors' readings in history. Incest is disgusting and horrific. I would never use that in my haunted house story, let alone any other story I would make. Instead i would have a love octagon, (yes not triangle)because as a society people are entertained naturally by mess.

The destruction of the house a t the end of his story is something i wouldn't copy as well, due to the fact that if the house is destroyed, the reader will think that there is something that could stop the evil. I want my readers to be forever terrified with my story. So instead of the house falling apart i would much rather have the house kill off the narrator at the end.

However, Poe's vagueness in his story is what also adds to the creepiness. Thus i would definitely snatch that as well and add that into my story. The absence of the main character's name adds to the suspense as well, because the reader will think that the name would have something to do with the story while to their dismay it really does not.

The multiple mind games that Poe sets up for the reader to puzzle with throughout his story is something I found to be entertaining, therefore i must have that be apart of my story as well. This would leave the reader confused and wanting to read more and more to find the answer.

Lastly i would copy the ingenious simplicity that Poe used to create his haunted house story. The "ghosts" of the putrid family of incest. While my characters would not be related to each other, I would have their ghosts within the house such as Madeline's. My ghosts would however be more active throughout my story.

USA's Obsession With Finding Faults Within Leaders

Malcolm X was a dynamic Afro-American leader during his time, but despite his outstanding leadership, positive goals, and hard work many Americans were mislead by the media who created obstacles for him to overcome to achieve his goals. But due to the misleading of the Americans by the media, it lead to Malcolm's assassination.

Malcolm's goal was to help grant more civil right to the African-Americans in the United States at the time. But the media portrayed Malcolm at times as a violent crazed man, when in fact he was a revolutionary, a visionary, and a realist.The wrongful vilification of  Malcolm X resulted in not only his assassination, but in the prolonging of the advancement of the African-American people in America.

Malcolm X was apart of the religious group The Nation of Islam, and as I said before he was a realist. So he would open speak out what is on him mind on certain issues. The media would take the words of Malcolm and twist them up and present them in a wretched way for their audience. This resulted in the his rejection from a part of his religion. Which made him speak out against the religious leader Elijah Mohammed, who would then punish Malcolm by condemning him to death. 

With his death and the struggle of even sending out his vision properly while he was alive, Malcolm X's imagine was tainted in the mind of many due to the American media. These unreasonable trials and tribulations that Malcolm had to go through had a negative effect on America as a nation. The prolonging of the advancement of black people, results in ignorance among them, which results in poverty for their residence, which would lead to all races around them to be apart of the disease known as poverty.

Anti Hero- Ice King

 The anti-hero of the television show Adventure time, The Ice King, is quite possibly the best match in the comparison between any anti-hero Ichabod Crane.

The Ice King and Crane are not completely "as bad" with how Crane aids children with his profession as a school teacher, and Ice King aids the vampire child Marcelene. Showing that they both have some level of compassion. Especially towards children.

But however Ice King and Ichabod are both very manipulative when it comes to getting what they want. Ice King turns to trickery against Finn and Jake for his own entertainment and for his personal gain. Just as Ichabod uses his charm on the towns people to gain what he wants as well.

Both Ichabod and Ice King have major similarities with their body types. But Ice King lost his figure as he begins to perform more and more evil acts, representing the consequences of his bad behavior. While Ichabod pays his misbehavior with the ultimate price, his life