12/21/11

Mythology is the study of myths.  It's important because these narratives are known as the basis for how humankind is how it is today.  In society today, mythologists will study ancient myths and relate/connect them to cultures and occurrences in today's society. 

12/15/11

In An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge there are example of foreshadowing.  One example is that once he was hanged, it said he had lost consciousness as if he was already dead.  The author would not have put that information in there if it was not important or a hint as to what is going to happen.  Another example is that after he had "fallen" from the rope into the water, he kept mentioning a bright shining light.  He thought it was the sun shining down, but it was him dying.  He most have had the sensation of drowning, which I imagine is close to suffocation.  He was hallucinating about how he survived.  And then, at the very end he mentions a very white bright light, which obviously points to him dying.

12/9/11

I think installing the floating wind turbines is a fantastic idea.  They will be about 12 miles out to sea, so they should not be much of a disturbance.  The wind speeds are better on the ocean than on land, so it will generate a great amount of power, like the article said, 12 megawatts.  This seems like a very efficient way to generate power that we need, without a huge disturbance.  As long as the undersea cable do not interfere with fishermen or boats, then I think it's a wonderful idea in the making.

12/7/11

I think that they will find Dith Pran was killed.  I feel like this movie will have a tragic ending because it wouldn't really make sense if they find him, and everything was happy.  I feel like it would add more of an effect to the people that watch the movie.

12/5/11

The article is is titled "Noble Cause or Eyesore?" because it started off with people trying to have a cause and prove a point.  But, it has turned into a disgusting party place.  Home less people are starting to go in and live there, and trashing the place.  I think it's disgusting and that the people should kicked out of the park.  It's gotten out of hand because now they are disrespecting the police, Lincoln Park and the city of Portland.  Therefore, I consider this as an eyesore. 

12/1/11

My favorite winter activity is Christmas shopping!  I love going to the busy mall and shop for my friends and family.  I like this activity because 1)I love shopping and 2)I like buying people thing that I know they will like and be excited about.  I really like making over people happy and also it's so exciting because that means Christmas is coming up!

11/29/11

I would describe my life as organized.  I am a very organized person and like to get things done.  Organizing is super fun for me, because I like the look of organized things.  If I could change my life to a different word it would be carefree.  Not totally care free though, but some.  I get extremely stressed out at the simplest things, and I would like to change that.

11/18/11

Would you give students any different advice or do you think what the article contains is good?  Why?

I think these suggestions and advice and fantastic.  They really explain how Americans interact and what they do.  I think that if I were in culture shock and I saw this advice, I would try them out and they would probably work.  It seems like whoever wrote this article really knows what they are talking about and wants to help others.

11/14/11

This law states that, "when the person is required to report "as a member of the staff of a medical or other public or private institution, school, facility or agency, that person shall immediately notify the person in charge." The person in charge ultimately has the responsibility to report the alleged incident to government authorities".  I think this law should be changed because the person and charge shouldn't have a choice to report the offense to the authorities, but they should be obligated to do so.  Because, if the person in charge has a strong bond or need for the person committing the crime, they will most likely not report them.  That has to change.

11/7/11

In the book I'm reading, Children of the River, Sundara and her family have a hard time adapting to America's culture with relationships.  Her family does not want her to interact flirtatiously with boys but Sundara is starting to realize that she wants to.  But her family would not approve, they are used to picking out who she talks to.  Also, they are adjusting to America's food industry.  We have lots of greasy fast food, while they were used to east healthy, fresh produce.

11/3/11

Genocide is the mass murder of the populations of a certain gene pool.  When I think of genocide, I immediately think of the Holocaust.  The Holocaust is a perfect example of genocide because the Nazi's murdered Jews simply because of their race.  They murdered them in mass groups all, in one time span.

11/1/11

One lovely day, children were out playing in a large, beautiful field.  Then, suddenly a big, unfriendly giant came up to them and yelled at them, which scared off the children.  He was so angry, he put up a huge wall around his garden and put up a sign that said, "TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED".  Spring came for the entire area, but not the Giant's garden.  It was Winter all year long, snow was always covering the ground and wind was always blowing.  The Giant did not understand where Spring was.  So, Summer never cam either, and neither did Autumn, he is too selfish, she said.  One morning the Giant woke up in bed and heard a beautiful noise, he did not realize that it was a bird, it had been so long.  Then a wonderful smelling perfume came through his window, the Giant popped up out of bed and looked out the window.  What he saw surprised him, on every tree branch there was a small child, nature was so happy.  Birds were out, the trees were blossoming and snow was gone!  The Giant realized how selfish he had been!  He crept out to the children, but they were all so scared, they ran away again.  Winter came...but one little boy stayed.  The Giant picked him up, placed him in a tree and it blossomed, they other children realized how the Giant was not evil anymore, so they came back and played in the garden.  The wall and sign were taken down.  The other children and Giant never saw that little boy again, but after years and years, once the Giant was old, he saw that little boy again.  He saw that the boy was wounded, he said they were the wounds of love, and that since the Giant let him play in his garden once, he would take him to his, in paradise.  The Giant died that day, with love and joy in his heart.

10/28/11

One instance where I had to change my behavior would be when my Papa had me do some yard work for him.  He has very huge yard and we wanted me to pick up every twig and pull every weed from the mulch surrounding his entire yard.  I detest yard work, but he said he would pay me $20 for it, and I was desperate.  Well, it was horrible, I was sweating, my back hurt and it was so boring.  But, after a while and when I wanted to give up and quit, I remembered that I made a commitment and I was working towards a goal that I set for myself.  So, I kept pushing and I finally finished what I had set out to do.

10/26/11

After reading the first article, I felt like we should absolutely not have the Civic Center renovated.  After reading this second article I feel the exact same way.  I don't feel as if I have less or more information, because the man/woman who wrote this does not seems like a very reliable source.  The first article got a lot of information from the man who created the bond, but I do not know where the person who wrote this article is getting his or her information from.  So all in all, I feel like the city of Cumberland shouldn't renovate the Civic Center, but not because of reading this article.

10/24/11

I absolutely do not think children should be able to go out hunting with firearms.  I think at the age of 14/15 it would be okay, but personally I think 12 is way too young.  In the article it said it went off while he was "playing with the safety", which shows that he does not know how to correctly use a gun, much less be in full control of it.

10/20/11

My favorite season is Spring.  This is because it's the perfect temperature and it tends to be kind of rainy, which I like.  Also, I was born on March 28, which is the Springtime.  I love flowers, which is when they usually start blooming and I start to get the feeling that the school year is almost over.

10/18/11

The Lottery was about a village quite a long time ago.  It started off as a small community, but eventually became larger, as the years went by.  Every year, on June 27th, they would have a "lottery".  Whoever won the lottery would be sacrificed for the crops/harvest.  It's was an annual ritual, every year.  Every man of every household in this town would pick a piece of paper from a black box, Mr. Hutchinson won.  Then, his whole family was put into the box and whoever pulled out the paper with a black dot on it, was stoned to death, for a sacrifice.  His wife pulled out the dotted card.  This was a very eerie story, because I, as a reader, thought the lottery was something you would want to win, but it was quite the contrary.

10/14/11

Do you think culture in Grover's Corners influences personal belief and behavior similar to the way it does in South Portland?  Why or why not?
I do not think that culture influences South Portland the same way Grover's Corners does because in Grover's Corners, everyone is practically the same, it is absolutely not that way in South Portland.  If someone is different in South Portland, then people are mostly accepting.  Religion is a huge deal in Grover's Corners, but not in South Portland.  Of course, there are some religious people in So Po, but not everyone is.  We are much more diverse than people of Grover's Corners.

10/12/11

"I think that once you've found a person you are very fond of...I mean a person who is fond of you, too, and likes you enough to be interested in your character...Well I think that's just as important as college is, and even more so.  That's what I think."  I do agree with this because I think that being happy with your life is more important than your career.  If you aren't happy with who you're life partner is, then you will always be lonely.  Your mental health is more important than your career.

10/7/2011

I think that Obama's job bill would be a great one to pass.  I agree with President Obama saying that there are laid off construction workers that could be doing this job, so why are we stopping them?  It is a lot of money, but it would be going towards something good, and the money going to the construction workers would start to go around to the community.  There is possibly a better way to improve our economy, but I really don't know much about ways to do so. 

10/5/11

On question 2 and 3, I would vote yes.  I believe that this would be a good thing for people looking or in need of a job.  It may be bad for those who lose money to the casino, but I think that that would be their own fault.  I do not see anything bad in having a casino in Maine.  I do not personally like the idea of gambling, but if it gets people well-paying jobs, then I think it's worth it.

10/3/11

One aspect of Grover's Corners culture is how close knit their community is.  You are most likely going to marry someone that you've known your entire life.  For example, Emily married George and they have always been next door neighbors.  Only 10% of the teenagers/young adults leave Grover's Corners.  Most teenagers get married right out of high school.  So your reputation is very important in a small town community.  In South Portland, it is not so true.  It is not nearly as small as Grover's Corners and more people leave and go to college, start a career and then get married and start a family.  You can somewhat leave your reputation behind you, if you wish, and start a new.  We know that there can be bigger and better things out in the world and we strive to reach them.  Not so much, in Grover's Corners.

9/29/11 Grover's Corners

The culture of Grover's Corners is a very small town culture.  A very small town community where everyone is in each others business and everyone knows what is going on in each others lives.  They dress very conservativly and talk modestly.  School work is important to most people and they usually stay there.  A very close knit community, and they are all involved in making it better.  They go to town meetings.  They've very religious, most of the population is Protestant.   

9/27/11 Fireworks

I do think that individual cities should have the right to make their own ban on certain things, but I do think that it should be reasonable, of course.  Personally, I think that South Portland should make a ban on fireworks because they are too loud and people do them on normal, weeknights at midnight sometimes.  I do not think it was smart to pass a bill on legalizing fireworks.

9/23/11 My culture

One aspect of my culture that influences my behavior and actions is how we dress.  Which also affects how I feel that day, and can express my feelings.  Having a wide array of what we can wear everyday is a big thing.  People, especially girls didn't have much of a choice back in the day.

9/21/2011 Time Capsule

If I were to make a time capsule to place in the cornerstone of our school, I would include pictures of what places look liked (in case they changed in the future) like the old school, etc.  I would put in clothing that is very popular.  I would put in information about most popular movie and songs, I'd include famous, popular books.  I would probably write a letter about what everyday life was like, kind of like what Thornton Wilder did.  I would put in old cell phones or computers.  I would want to show them what life was like, because I know that I would be really interested in the items that were from 50, 60, 70+ years ago.

9/19/11

I think that single-sex classrooms are a good idea, for some kids.  I do not think it's really necessary in high school, though, because I personally feel that boys pick on girls much more in elementary school and middle school.  I feel as though, if you want single-sex classes that you should go to a single-gender school.  If you are feeling bullied by boys, or vice versa, I think you should be able to have the choice.  So, overall single-sex classes don't appeal to me, but if you really want to have the choice then I think it's great for schools to let you choose.

9/15/11 Civic Center Renovation

I do not think that this renovation is good idea at all, because $33 million is way too much money.  Our country as a whole has too much debt already, we don't need a civic center to contribute to it anymore.  I think the center is perfectly fine as it is, and they had nothing to back up why they needed a renovation so badly in the article.  We already are spending millions of dollars renovating things that are way more important.  I truly do no think that this will get passed because the residents of Maine are smart enough to realize that this is way out of budget and they don't need to get even more money pulled out of their paychecks for a civic center.

9/13/11 Kwintessential

What did you find surprising about American culture and etiquette? Why was it surprising?  If nothing was surprising, what parts ring true?

I am surprised that to people coming to America that we seem rude.  By standing next to someone we don't know and not introducing ourselves, or talking to them without knowing them.  I would have never thought that that would be considered rude to outsiders.  I am also surprised that this website said it would be acceptable to arrive up to 30 minutes late to a large gathering.  I had never heard of leaving a small amount of food left on your plate, once you had finished eating.  

My Culture 9/9/11

     In my culture we celebrate Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, Easter, St Patrick's Day, and the New Year.  We eat all different kinds of food. But during celebrations like Christmas or Thanksgiving, we eat traditional foods, like turkey and ham, potatoes and corn.  The family of my mother's side is Christian, so am I.  We go to church a lot especially on Christmas Eve.  I don't play sports, but I do marching band and I used to dance.  I focus on my school work, because it is very important to me and my family. 

Summer Reading 9/7/11

       I read, "Viola in Reel Life".  The book was about a girl named Viola who went to a Boarding school in Indiana.  Both of her parents film documentaries and movies, Viola is a fantastic film maker herself. She films a documentary of her life at boarding school and keeps catching a mysterious woman in red in her film. 

      By the end of her year she finds out who the woman is...or was.  She helps the lady in ways she doesn't even know herself.  She learns about her family life and how badly she's been treating them.  She also learns how to treat the people around her and to put her selfishness aside. 

      I liked this book because it was realistic fiction, which is my favorite genre of novels.  I really liked the plot of this story because it involved so many things, like the paranormal, family, and friends.  I would recommend this book to people who like to read "girly" books, I do not think most guys would enjoy this one.  But I do think that a lot of girls in my age group would like this book.