"The Fall of the House of Usher"

          "The Fall of the House of Usher" was written by Edgar Allen Poe, it is a very interesting short story. It is about a old man that has been isolated from society, living in a huge and old house surrounded in a decaying, dark forest. Usher and his wife come from a long line of intermarried generations and there mutated family gene's had caught up to them. Usher's wife had died, and Usher was very sick and called his old friend over to help look after himself, the house was very alike Usher, almost as if what Usher was feeling the house would feel the same, which would make sense as when Usher died, the house collapsed.
          As mentioned, this short story was written by Edgar Allen Poe, during the rise of the Gothic era in American literature. The imagery used was the dark, dead forest surrounding the house, the atmosphere was very gloomy and it wasn't very pleasant. It was a isolated house with the people in it had mental issue's, they would never go outside in the sun and were very pale. This was the setting throughout the whole short story, it falls perfectly under the Gothic category.

"Final U.S. troops roll out of Iraq"

          Hello, this week I found a very interesting article in the Los Angeles Times. I found an article that really caught my attention, it was about the U.S troops finally exiting Iraq! On December 18th, the last of the U.S troops finally exited Iraq, which was composed of 28 vehicles. This is a very relevant topic because the Iraq war has been affecting America and its people for the past seven years, it has greatly affected the lives of Americans today and also the depressing economy. Now that the troops are out of Iraq they can all come home to there beloved families. "Each man had survived multiple tours in Iraq. The war that had consumed their military careers was now over in an instant. They felt an enormous sense of completion and closure. But instead of honking the horn and hollering, they played it cool and waved." This war was a very big deal for both the people in it, and the people back home, I'm glad the troops are finally out of there, something that should have been done a very long time ago, perhaps it shouldn't even happened.

"Occupy L.A. targets shipping terminal at Port of Long Beach"

          Hello, this week I found a very interesting article in the Los Angeles Times published by Kate Linthicum. The article is about protestors going and stopping the shipping terminal to stop the economic flow. These protestor's are angry because of the bailouts that only seemed to help big company's instead of the lower and middle class. They targeted the SSA Marine because its been around during many tough economic time's such as Iraq war and its connection to Goldman Sachs, which is a investor of it. "Occupy L.A. demonstrator Michael Novick said protesters chose SSA Marine because "they embody all the ills of this economic regime we live under", this quote shows they are angry at the economy and want to stop the corruption in the government, and they will continue. I found this article important because it has to do with the economy we live in today, which has a great affect on our life.

"The Raven"

          Hello, this week in class we read a poem by Edgar Allen Poe, its called "The Raven". "The Raven" is about a man whose wife had died, he was reading over some books when he heard the door ring. When he answered it, no one was there but a raven flew in. The narrator would ask it questions but it would only respond by saying "nevermore". Eventually he asks if Lenore is in heaven and the raven still answers with "nevermore". This just means that the narrator can never forget about her and the raven showed up to show him that. This poem is a example of a Gothic poem because of the gloomy and dark atmosphere, also because of love and death and tragedy.            

My Favorite Scene

          My favorite scene in the Scarlet Letter would have to be when Dimmsdale was going to die, and he reveals his scarlet letter to Pearl, and Pearl kisses his father's lips. This was my favorite scene, because not only does it bring closure to Chillingworth, but it brings closure to Pearl and Dimmsdale himself, he had a fair good bye with his daughter and everyone knew the truth, even though it cost his life. This was a great ending to a great book, although there was death, there was more importantly, closure.

"Mysterious blasts, slayings suggest covert efforts in Iran"

          Hello everyone, this week I found a very interesting article about the Middle East, particularly Iran and its nuclear projects. As everyone knows Iran is working on nuclear bombs, during this week there was a mysterious blast at one of the nuclear projects site. Observers believe it was a attack from the United States and Israel trying to stop Iran from accomplishing a nuclear bomb to use on either one of them, or if not, both. Iranian officials say the blast was only a accident, which killed 17 people including a founder of Iran;s ballistic missile program, Gen. Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam. "It looks like the 21st century form of war," said Patrick Clawson, who directs the Iran Security Initiative at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Washington think tank. "It does appear that there is a campaign of assassinations and cyber war, as well as the semi-acknowledged campaign of sabotage." As this was said in the article, can this mean we are getting closer and closer to a World War, but this time, on a nuclear scale which can easily destroy the world? I chose this article because it made me think about what are the possibilities of another World War, which effects everyone.

 

Dimmsdale or Chillingworth?

          Hello, this week in our blogs i will be discussing which character is more worth sympathizing for, Dimmsdale or Chillingworth. As I have been reading along, I have had mixed views on both of these characters, but there character that i would sympathize the most for would be Chillingworth. Chillingworth has traveled a long distance to meet his wife he hasn't seen in a very long time, but he comes back to see his wife is being punished for adultery and has a child of her own. You can imagine how shocked Chillingworth would be after witnessing this all, and because of this would be affected more then Dimmsdale, as he doesn't care. Dimmsdale doesn't care for them, and for that he deserves no sympathy, an example of that is, "In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and, with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbours".

The Seven Deadly Sins

          Out of all the seven deadly sins, the one that i would have committed would be sloth. I have committed this sin because I procrastinate with my homework a lot and leave it to the last second, because I am to lazy to sit down and do it when I have nothing better to do. Also if i get told to do things around the house I won't do it right away, because of laziness taking over. If I were branded like the main character i would feel shameful as laziness is a very bad thing and not a good habit to keep. If I were to be branded with it i think it would help me stop being lazy, as I wouldn't want people to look at me and think I am lazy without really knowing me and getting a different perspective of me.

To my Dear and Loving Husband

          This week in class we have been discussing a couple of interesting poems. One that I enjoyed the most was "To my Dear and Loving Husband". This poem was written by Anne Bradstreet, during Puritan times. She was writing a letter to her husband, and i enjoyed this poem more then the other's because it goes against the traditional rules of puritan writing, such as using emotions. The purpose of this poem was to inform and explain to her husband, and it has a romantic tone, because it talks about her emotions toward her husband. The main subject of the letter was the love of her husband, all of this goes against the Puritan writing style but she did it anyways because of the pursuit of love and expressing herself.

My favorite speech presentation

          Hello, this week in class, we had our presentations on famous speeches. My favorite speech presentation would be Armen Safarian and Andre Dzhambazian for many reasons. Their speech presentation on the Oklahoma bombing was a very interesting choice, and would catch the attention of everyone as the speech is for a important tragic event. Their PowerPoint presentation was also very nicely done and different from the rest, which is another attention grabber. They had analyzed the speech perfectly and showed the importance of the speech. The pictures were also very emotional and graphic, which added the emphasis on the seriousness of the speech and situation.
          The language used in the speech showed how serious the topic is, and that it was no joke. This was a very tragic time in America, and they had used the right words to show the importance. The speech was a very heartwarming speech, but it said how they were going to move on and that it wasn't the end, as the energetic tone used during the presentation showed that it was only a minor setback for America, lives were lost that day, but none forgotten, the speech really made sure to remind us that. Lastly, the pictures used was enough to put us all in that same situation of the bombing, it was like we had experienced it ourselfs and was very touching for the whole class.

"Kadafi is another notch on Obama's lethal-force belt"

          Hello, this week i read a very interesting article found in the Los Angeles Times, it is called "Kadafi is another notch on Obama's lethal-force belt". This article is talking about how Obama has taken down two terrorist leaders during his presidency, Osama Bin Laden, and Moummar Kadaffi. Moummar Kadaffi was captured and killed by Libyan rebels, and it is a great victory for the entire anti-terrorist world. This was great news for president Obama because it has shown how he is taking control of the terrorism problem, and has taken down terrorist leaders, including Al Quada leaders and now Moummar Kadaffi. Although this is a great foreign achievement, it is said that this has had very little effect on Obama's popularity, because most American's interests are on the economy at this time. Reporters say this can only help Obama against Republican debates when they call him weak, but it won't help him get more votes.
          I found this article important to read because first, it saids how Moummar Kadaffi is now dead, and the Libyan people finally have there freedom and can work on fixing their country. Also it has strengthened US foreign policy, which is a great boost for president Obama, not so much as a popular one, but more of a self boost that he is doing his job. This article also shows how difficult it is to run for president, as Obama has taken down two important terrorist figures, but has barely affected his popularity. I really enjoyed reading this article and i am glad Kadaffi has finally been executed and the world, including Libya, can rest and help rebuild there country under a new government.

My Virtues

1. If i had to pick five virtue's to work on, i would start with laziness. I would choose laziness, because i should do more then what i have to for school, in order to do better overall. I started to read more in biology and making a effort to do better in the class.
2. Another virtue i would work on would be sportsmanship, i want to be a better athlete on and off the field. As i have had soccer game's throughout the week, i have showed more respect to the other team's players, and have gotten respect back for it.
3. A important virtue i would work on, is honesty. I would like to work on honesty, because if you are not honest, how can you expect others to trust you, or worse, how can you trust others to be honest wtih you! I have been working on this virtue by not lieing this week and telling the truth.
4. Another virtue i would choose is cleanliness. My mom always tells me to clean my room, and i need to do so, in order for my mom to stop nagging about it. I have cleaned my room everyday this week.
5. The last virtue i would choose is exploitation. Exploitation is using other's for my personal gain, which isn't right because you are lieing to the person for your own selfish needs. I have not taken advantage of anyone this week.

"Straw Into Gold"

          Hello, this week in class we have read quite a few interesting autobiographies, and one of them was "Straw Into Gold." This autobiography was on Sandra Cisnero's, as she is the speaker. The whole autobiography would talk about her life experiences. She wrote a autobiography to show her life successes and what goals she has overcome that have made her a better person and find her true personality.
          This autobiography is very interesting, because it shows a specific part of her life that she had a dilemma needed to overcome. The subject of this autobiography was doing something that was almost impossible for her to overcome. The tone was very exciting and overwhelming, as she didn't know what to expect to happen, or how she is suppose to do it, which kept us readers interested. As she would talk about the dilemma, she would incorporate her parents influences on her which showed us what kind of person she really is.

The Ultimate Vacation

          If there would be one place I would love to go any time during the year, for however long, I would go to Beirut, Lebanon. This would be the best vacation spot, not only for me, but anyone that enjoys great and magnificent sites, amazing food and heart warming people. I love Beirut, because it truly is paradise, the food is just amazing, and Lebanon is full of many historical and beautiful sites that can keep you in awe for hours on end. Don't you love being surrounded by loving people, who just want to have a good time and enjoy the streets of Lebanon? This is the place to be anytime during the year, you have to be here for its great food, and the food never runs out, or the space in your stomach to stop eating, it just tastes great and made by loving people. The most important part about Lebanon to me, has to be its beaches, you can go and hang out at the beach all day, and swim in the perfect ocean, it is never cold and you can go as far as you want and the water never gets deep. Lebanon is a very historical country, but with alot of modern attractions today which make it the place to be!
          Wouldn't you want to go some where new and exciting for once? Are you scared of leaving your home? Why not give the streets of Beirut a chance, you will fall in love instantly. There is nothing but great hospitality, entertainment, such as belly dancers and you can eat all day and night and never get tired of it, because the food is just outstanding. The deserts will also kill you. Why wouldn't you not come to Beirut, Lebanon, what are you waiting for?

"The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin"

          Hello, this week in class we read a autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, which was very interesting, especially what he based his life on growing up. The speaker is of course Benjamin Franklin, as it is a autobiography, and it is mostly about his teen years, and all the important things he based his life on to be a good person growing up, it was around the 1720s. The audience is anyone that is interested in learning about this great man's life, which truly is very interesting. The whole reason Benjamin Franklin wrote this was to inform others about his life and what made him the great man, which lead him to be one of the founding fathers of America. The most important part of his autobiography was the importance he put on morale perfection, and how he based his life on a set of morales which he worked on to perfect, and make him a great human being.
          This autobiography was very interesting because first of all, its on one of the founding father's of America, and the tone used really kept us, the reader's interested. It was very informative and descriptive, and the contents of his autobiography were very surprising, to say the least. I hope to read more autobiography's in the future, especially on effective important figures that have changed the world in many ways, this was one of the more interesting literary works I have read so far this year.

The great speech

          This week in class, we read two great speeches, one a sermon, and one speech that united the colonist and made them America. The speech that I am talking about is by Benjamin Franklin, which he said in 1787, in the constitutional convention in Philadelphia, to all the delegates of the colonies, to spread the word of uniting. The whole point of this speech was to persuade unity, and spread the idea of becoming one united nation, and be free from England. The entire speech was done in a very serious matter, because Benjamin knew he needed everyone to agree with his idea or it wouldn't end up very well.
          Benjamin Franklin had used just the right words to make the crowd agree with his ideas, and spread the news of unity of the colonies throughout. Benjamin Franklin had a very calm and reasonable tone because the topic was a serious matter, and needed every one's attention. Benjamin Frank's purpose of the speech was to unify the colonists, which he successfully did because they all agreed with his idea's at the end. I really enjoyed reading this speech because it doesn't have a overexaggerated tone, it was a logical tone and really got the listeners thinking that they must listen to him and fight for freedom and liberty.

My favorite Ice Cream

          Hello class, this week i will be discussing my favorite ice cream, which i would have to say, without a doubt, would have to be bubble gum flavored. First off, just by looking at the bubble gum ice cream, you will be craving it in seconds. It is a light blue color with many colorful gumballs mixed within it. I get a smile on my face each time i see bubble gum flavored ice cream, because it is joy waiting to enter my mouth. This flavor has always been appealing to me, because first of all, it has gum balls in it, which is a double win, you are eating ice cream and chewing gum at the same time, which blends together perfectly in taste.
          Can you really say no to eating this ice cream flavor? I say no, it is just beautifully blended with its look and taste, too good to resist. If you love great taste, then you must try this great tasting ice cream. To dislike this ice cream, is being a critic, but not to give it a try is preposterous. Just one try of this bubble gum ice cream will make you want it forever, its taste is unexplainable, but if it were to be, it would have one word, and that would be, delicious!

Mission Update

          This week in class, we read the "Mission Update", which was very interesting because it was a change from its usual writing format, to a more relaxed blog style, which catches our attention and more interesting. The Mission Update interested me because it was about the rover landing on Mars, with a astronaut watching the rover land and guiding it through the craters of Mars, with pure excitement in his writing. The writer of Mission Update is Steve Squyres, he wrote this in 2006, and it is live feedback from what he was witnessing in space, watching the rover land on Mars and exploring the planet. The tone would keep me interested because there was no persuasion or informing involved, it was just excitement about the beautiful images Steve Squyres was watching.
          Steve Squyres describes the imagery very beautifully and makes the reader more interested in it because it sounds very fascinating, and shows how all the things we were accomplishing in space in 2006, which can inspire future readers to go up to space and explore. Also this piece of literature was interesting to me because it was written in 2006, compared to much older works we have been reading so far. I was truly fascinated from reading this piece of work, and i went home and did my own research and saw pictures of the rover exploring Mars, i hope to read more works like this to keep the year interesting and also modernized.
        

Postal Service Crisis

         Hello, this week i was reading the news, and i found a article about postal services and how they are proposing to facilities and services because of the increase of online technology, and sending emails. I found this article on La Times, it was written by Michael A. Memoli, reporting from Washington. This article is talking about how the US postal system is considering shutting down more then 250 mail processing facilities and downsizing, these are all vital to keep the mail delivery economically viable. The first step to this would be planning to cut first class overnight shipping, which would save the organization $3 billion alone, which would be a very big help for this money tight postal service. Mail volume has dropped by more then 43 billion pieces over the past five years, officials said that the postal service was heading toward a $10 billion net loss and they were already at there borrowing limit, they need these changes to take place in order to keep them running.
         The postal service is a very important aspect to America, because many people still prefer to use the postal service for their personal letters, instead of using the internet which isn't as trustworthy as some people might think. These changes must be taken place in order to keep the postal office running, and these jobs are also important for the econom because if the postal service shuts down in the US, hundreds of thousands of people will be losing there job and filing for unemployment, which only only take our economy much, much lower to where it already is.

A journey Through Texas

A piece of literature i pick this week would have to be "A Journey Through Texas", this story was the most interesting to me and very descriptive. I enjoyed this story because it shows how a journey pays off as long as you stick to it and dont give up. The speaker is Cabeza de Vaca who is a spanish explorer but isn't in it for the gold, he is doing it to help native americans because he is a doctor. Also it was very informative of how America was during the 1520s in Texas with all the indians roaming the land. The descriptive writing also made us, the readers, more understanding of what kind of situation they were in, and the tough life they had, with little to no food for long periods of time.
     The purpose of this story was for a spanish doctor to go and explore America and see how the indians lived, also trying to help them with there diseases that would kill them. The tone kept me very interested because it would describe there surrounding and what kind of territory they were getting into, but then change to a angry tone because everything had gotten serious, there lifes were at risk and needed to cope with the situation in the right manner, like for example, sending the two ladys to tell the upcoming tribe there arriving, to have peace between them.

My weekly article, week #1

As i was reading the latest news this week, i found a article about a major blackout that left over 4million people without electricity. I found this article on LA times news online, its called "More then 4million lose power in major blackout" and the author is Mike Anton, Louis Sahagun and Richard Marosi. A utility worker was doing maintenance near Yuma, Arizona, when he triggered a blackout that jammed roads, closed schools, bussinesses, grounded planes and more than 4 million people without power. Many people were trapped in elevators, and on rides in places like seaworld and legoland, and emergency hospitals switched to backup generators to keep it running, and store owners piled up on supplies because they were said they wouldn't get there power back until late friday. The blackout happened because there was a mishap on a high voltage power line which linked from Arizona and San Diego, which caused electrical grid failures until Southern California.
This article is important because first of all it is talking about 4 million people losing there power at a location very close to where we live, the blackout was until Orange County. This article shows that anything can go wrong at anytime, like for example a blackout, and these people are going to have to wait until late friday to get there power back at a time when the weather is really hot. This is why we must always be prepared for situations like this, no matter where we live, because this blackout could have easily happened to us as well, we must always be ready for these kind of situations and prevail through them without any casualties. This article is also important because during this kind of extreme weather, wouldn't it be smart to have your own backup generator for air conditioning, and electricity overall because you wouldn't know when exactly you will be getting your power back.

What is your favorite book?

My favorite book would have to be Catcher in the Rye. Catcher in the Rye is my favorite book because of the whole idea of living on your own and trying to live a normal live, while trying to attempt to maintain a decent grade point average to stay in university is very interesting. Holden talks about his live and all the trouble he goes through, while revealing all the psychological problems throughout the novel. The novel has a very good twist in the end, which is a great ending for any novel that is worth reading, and makes the reader think about their own life as well, relating it to the novel, which kept me interested. It truely is my favorite book.