The Tell-Tale Heart

Let me just start off by saying that this story is very odd. It's sick and twisted, but at the same time I felt sympathetic towards the narrator and did not see him as necessarily a bad person. I came to the conclusion that he was definitely insane, like most people have. The fact that he tells us continuously that he is not crazy conveys the feeling that he is not just trying to convince the reader, but himself as well. Also, what kind of person kills another human being without any sort of motive? In fact he straight forwardly says he admires the old man he murdered and had nothing against him. Only a crazy person would do this. So can we, as readers, trust the narrator? I don't think so. His perception of things most likely is skewed. For all we know he could be making this whole story up. But for the sake of further analysis, let's assume he is telling the truth. Next is the "Evil Eye". The narrator makes it seem like the eye which the old man possesses is not a part of him. Therefore he does not feel remorse for killing the man because he is only trying to get rid of the eye. That is why he can calmly state his love for the old man while going forth and murdering him.

Untitled Rough Draft

"Jillian, hurry up they're outside!" Margo whispered loudly, with a frantic undertone in her voice. Jillian quickly shoved a third and final pillow underneath her duvet cover, took a step back to evaluate her creation, and cracked a sly grin, satisfied with her work. She turned towards the mirror and twirled her dark ringlets while puckering her lips, like she always did before leaving the house. 

Margo and Lauren jumped up from the couch and the three girls put on their sandals and fleece jackets. "I hate the weather in Chicago…it’s practically 100 degrees during the day and below freezing at night? There's something seriously wron--" Lauren began to rant.

"Shh!" Jillian and Margo simultaneously warned. Lauren often went off on passionate tangents, progressively raising the volume of her voice. She was never offended when her friends shushed her because she understood her rants did not often occur in appropriate situations.

Margo went to the front of the pack and unlatched the creaky, white door. She carefully opened it to a 60 degree angle, knowing from multiple experiences that it would not make any noise. Her swift hands indicated it was safe for the other girls to go through the door. After everyone slipped out, Margo took her time to close the door and turn the knob to ensure the process was silent. 

Everyone held their breath as they crept around the side of the house. It felt like ages before they finally arrived at the front steps. The three girls took a few cautious steps forward to the sidewalk and released their breath.

"Where exactly did they say they were going to be?" Jillian asked her friends, panning the block and trying to make out any figures in the darkness. As if to answer her question, three bodies popped up from the steps of the neighbor's house across the street, startling the girls.

Lauren intertwined her fingers with the girls on opposite sides of her and checked both sides of the road. She whispered something to them and they cupped their hands over their mouths, releasing muffled giggles. Quietly, they trotted across the street. 

The girls released their grip and greeted their friends with a gentle embrace. "It sure took you guys long enough," AJ teased, "What, where you waiting for everyone in the city to fall asleep?” He gave Jillian a small nudge and shot her his irresistible smile.

"Yeah really. We've been sitting out here for almost forty minutes." Wesley complained, and Josh nodded in agreement.

"Oh, can it." Margo told Wesley, playfully punching him in the stomach.

The six teens had been best friends since the age of five when they formed their neighborhood clan, naming themselves the Sensational Six. They all lived within a two block radius of each other. Now that they were in high school, they didn't make plans as frequently. Lauren, Margo, and Josh went to the same school, but the rest attended different ones. They spent every minute of their summers together and were practically inseparable.

The group walked to 711 a few blocks away and purchased a few liters of soda and some snacks. They opened a bag of Lays barbeque chips and a bottle of Coca Cola as they left.

“You know what we haven’t done in a while?” Josh asked the group, a sudden excitement coming over him. Everyone handed their attention to Josh. “We haven’t gone to our old tree house! Remember the one we spent summer of ’05 building?”

“How could I forget!” Lauren shouted with a mouthful of chips, spitting some crumbs into her straight blonde hair. She hopped in place and bombarded Josh with a huge hug. The kids were overrun with a newfound exhilaration.

"To the treehouse?" Wesley asked, confident that he already knew the answer.

And so the Sensational Six were on their way. The air was heavy and humid; it hung over them as they walked down the middle of the black road. On their way they reminisced of the days when they worked from sunrise to sunset building the treehouse. They laughed at AJ when he brought up the memory of him falling off of the treehouse ladder and fracturing his wrist. 

As they reached the corn field where their treehouse was located they created a human chain in a single file line behind Josh. They ventured further back behind the brush until they reached the familiar wooden ladder. One by one they climbed up into the safe haven they built from the world.

The place looked just as they had left it: beanbag chairs in a circle, a mini table with a kite on it, and even a pack of dusty Uno cards laid out. Everyone leaped onto the squishy seats, and Jillian and AJ shared a chair.

AJ was in love with Jillian. For as long as he could remember he always liked her as more than a friend. She never reciprocated his feelings until this summer. They flirted with each other but did nothing more than that. With the encouragement of his friends, AJ finally built up enough courage and decided he was going to ask her out. Tonight. 

“Does anyone want anything to eat? We have a lot of food here.” Margo offered, standing up. 

“PB&J for me please,” smiled Josh. 

AJ was feeling nervous. “Yeah can I have a....uhh...just a jelly sandwich? You know ‘cause of my allergies.” Margo nodded, more than happy to prepare an easy snack for her friends.

Everyone began talking again, and Josh shot AJ a look, indicating it was a good time to talk privately. “So Jill..” Aj breathed, fidgeting with his keys. “This summer so far has been amazing. I’ve had a blast spending so much time with you.” He looked up and met her eyes, focusing his gaze on her. She had a sweet, sincere smile across her face.

“So have I,”

He rested his hand on top of hers. “I think what would make this summer even more awesome, though, would be if you wanted to be my girlfriend...?” He asked, coming out in between a statement and a question.

Before she had the chance to answer, Margo interrupted their conversation. “Does anyone have another knife? There’s only one in here,” she asked. No one seemed to have one, so Margo shrugged and went back to where she was making the food. 

“So, what do you think?” AJ  proposed.

The grin evaporated from her face as she took a moment to gather her words. “That’s really sweet AJ. And I truly am flattered,” a look of confusion came over his face. “But don’t you think that would be a little weird? I don’t mean for the two of us. I mean for the group. I’ve had so much fun hanging out with everyone, and I think we would drift from the group if a relationship between us did work out.”

Dissapointment was written across AJ’s face, but he quickly masked it with his famous charming smile. “Yeah that makes sense. Thinking about it now, maybe a relationship wouldn’t be best right now.” Jillian gripped his slightly clammy hand. At the same time Margo walked over and handed him his sandwich wrapped in a white paper towel. He thanked her and took a bite, giving her a thumbs up.

“I really don’t want you to take it personally though.” Jillian said, obviously feeling guilty. “So is it ok if we just leave things the way they are for now, and at the end of the summer have this talk again? Assuming nothing really changes between now and then.”

AJ had a hard time getting his words out. “I would like that,” he said with difficulty. He tried to clear his throat but found that it was becoming increasingly more challenging to breathe. His arms flailed nervously and he began gasping for air. 

“AJ?...What’s going on?” Jillian panicked. The other four friends rushed over. By this time AJ was on the floor pounding the ground and tossing violently in different directions.

“He’s having an allergic reaction!” Josh shouted. “Did he have any peanuts? What happened?”

Then it hit them. The sandwich. “There was still peanut butter on the knife when I made his sandwich.” Margo began crying. “This is all my fault, he’s deathly allergic...we have to fix this!” AJ’s face was turning a sickly shade of blue and he looked miserable. Wesley searched AJ’s pockets for his epee pen but couldn’t find it.

Jillian grabbed his hand and sobbed. “Call for help. Now.” She said through her tears. “We can’t waste any time.”

The other four friends took out their phones but none had any service. Josh climbed down the ladder quickly in pursuit of gaining service to get help.

In the meantime they helped AJ sit up, though he was hunched over. His body began to slow down and his eyes were glassing over. He took Jillian’s hand and put it over his heart, which was beating much slower than it should have been. He locked eyes with her and mouthed three simple words: I love you. He set his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. In the treehouse, where AJ came as a child to escape the world, he tragically escaped the world one final time.

Skinny Love - Bon Iver

(I am aware that this is one of the most popular indie songs, but I have to say it is filled with rich content and I quite enjoy it.)

come on skinny love just last the year
pour a little salt we were never here
my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer

In the first line the narrator uses the phrase skinny love, which could literally be taken as a thin person the narrator is in love with, but I believe it is referring to a relationship that is lasting for only a short period of time. When the narrator says come on, it shows he is trying to encourage his partner to make the relationship last longer. The use of pouring salt is similar to what one would do to heal a wound, so the narrator is trying to make things better between the two of them. The narrator indicates there was a struggle or some sort of fight because of the "sink of blood and crushed veneer."

i tell my love to wreck it all
cut out all the ropes and let me fall
my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
right in the moment this order's tall

I think that the narrator is daring his lover to break his heart and ruin everything between them. The narrator uses the words ropes and fall, which seems like she is a puppeteer who can control his every move, and he would fall without her. He shows his seriousness to his order of cutting off their relationship by saying it is tall and implies that there is a lot riding on her actions.

i told you to be patient
i told you to be fine
i told you to be balanced
i told you to be kind
in the morning i'll be with you
but it will be a different "kind"
i'll be holding all the tickets
and you'll be owning all the fines

The first four lines seem to be referring to previous conversations the narrator and his lover have had. When he says he will be with his lover in the morning, he is saying that no matter how many times he is hurt by her he will always be there for her. However, this time is different, and he shows that by saying it will be a different "kind". The quotations indicate that kind is not taken literally, and almost has a cynical tone to it.

come on skinny love what happened here
suckle on the hope in lite brazziere
my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
sullen load is full; so slow on the split

The narrator is trying to mend the relationship with his encouraging use of come on. When he says suckle on the hope, he means for her to hold onto hope so they can work through their problems. Sullen load is full refers to the fact that he has been brooding a lot and their inevitable split is long and painful.

i told you to be patient
i told you to be fine
i told you to be balanced
i told you to be kind
now all your love is wasted?
then who the hell was I?
now i'm breaking at the britches
and at the end of all your lines

It is interesting that the narrator put a question mark after the line now all your love is wasted. Throughout the poem he has given the impression that he is positive he has his lover all figured out, but the question mark shows he is hesitant to feel the same way in this situation. He questions his position in the whole scenario in the line after that using a question mark once again. When he says he is breaking at the britches he is expressing the fact that he is falling apart.

who will love you?
who will fight?
who will fall far behind?

He ends the song with three questions, in hopes that his lover will realize that he has always been there and truly cares about her. The last question however, is more of a foreshadowing on his lovers part that she will "fall behind" without him, and quite possibly that he will do the same without her.

On an Indian Reservation

          When the subject of Native Americans is brought up, I have to say my knowledge is very limited. The only time I have really learned about them is in history class when we've studied Europeans traveling to America and encountering the Native Americans. In general they were known for being friendly and welcoming, and the Europeans took advantage of that. When I think of what happened between the whites and them, I remember them teaching the Europeans how to hunt on their lands and farm crops such as corn; basic survival skills that they weren't used to. I also remember how the Europeans tried to civilize them by trading weapons. The one thing, however, that I remember most is the Europeans giving them blankets. This seemingly harmless notion actually led to the decline of many Native American tribes. That is because these blankets were covered with diseases that the Native Americans were not immune to. These horrible things that the Europeans did is pretty much all I know about them. I know that later on they were put on reservations and many still stick there to this day. Reading the book Montana 1948 has taught me a bit about their culture, but I still can't say that I'm particularly familiar with their heritage. 

Propaganda 2011

Propaganda. I have always learned about ways dictators in history have utilized it to try and brainwash people to help carry out some sort of negative plot. When I really think about it, though, propaganda is still alive today and can be found in our everyday lives. Though propaganda certainly is used in a variety of ways, I would like to focus on how it is used when it comes to advertising. Ads in magazines and commercials on television in a way use propaganda. They try to convince someone to buy something by using different tactics, however, they always fail to mention the negative things that can come from their products. I think the perfect example of this is McDonalds. It's well known that McDonalds is extremely unhealthy, but if you ever watch their commercials, they don't speak from a health aspect. Rather, they show children having fun and enjoying their food while playing with little toys that come with their meal saying "I'm lovin' it". Though this advertisement does not lie about anything, it is misleading. I know that when I was a child, before I understood how unhealthy the restaurant chain is, after watching a McDonalds commercial, I wanted to go to McDonalds to get cool toys and have fun like the children in the ad I had seen. I think that feeling that these advertisements sends to people is the modern-day propaganda that exists everywhere, yet is not often recognized.

Black Boy

I think this story is beautifully written. Although the content Wright is writing about, the way he portrays it does not make life seem nearly as horrible as I'm sure it was. I like and dislike the novel because of this. On one hand, many of the books that I have read that were written about a black person in this time period are generally about the injustices they face in life. I'm not saying most books are written like this, I'm just saying of the books I have read. In a way it's interesting to get a sense of the other things going on in Richards life besides being treated poorly--certainly his struggle with his mother when she becomes ill is intriguing. It bothers me to some degree that Richard doesn't focus very much on what is going on around him: blacks treated inferior to whites. In the town where Richard grew up, Natchez, we learned that it was one of the worst places in the country at the time with racism. Even though Richard was young at the time, he did not really tell any stories of black mistreatment other than hearing a few stories about a white man beating a black man. All in all, I really do enjoy this novel, and I hope that as the story progresses and Richard begins to develop a better grasp of what is happening around him he will further explore the issue of racism during his life.

Letter From a Birmingham Jail

        Of the recent stories I have had to read for American Lit class, I think that Letter From a Birmingham Jail really spoke to me the most. Martin Luther King Jr. was such an intelligent man. In this letter that he wrote, although the piece was long, he made all of his points clear, and showcased his knowledge with his comparisons of justice and injustice. Reading through this, I couldn't help but wonder how a racist caucasian interpreted it, because that is who it was really meant for. There were literally no holes in the whole piece where I could see someone criticize colored people. If anything, I would probably put my prejudices aside and seriously consider what this man was saying and the logic behind it which seems so ridiculous today. But back then some people were so ignorant and unwilling to even think about these things, and I think to some degree most people realized how stupid segregation was, but felt bound to stick with their original opinions on it being necessary. 
        I found one point in particular very interesting: Martin Luther King Jr.'s expectation that when he had his peaceful marches in the south that fellow white Christians from local churches would march with him and support his cause. I don't know if King sincerely believed that would ever happen. Sure, there were definitely some white people who came and joined in the marches, but why would he expect that? I'm not trying to say he was wrong for thinking that a white man would try to help the colored people, I'm just saying that he was well aware of the prejudices people had, especially in the south. I don't believe that King really saw what they shared, their religion, as something that would bring them together. Rather I think he believed religion was something that should bring them together. Same God, same morals. I completely understand that. I believe King said this to try and enforce his main point of everyone being equal and to try and end segregation.

King Still King?

Martin Luther King Jr. A name that everyone knows. A name that represents leadership, freedom, bravery. We don't see too many people like him nowadays. Sure, times are much different now; African Americans were barely treated as human beings when King was alive. But there are still problems all over the world just as bad, if not worse, than what fueled the Civil Rights Movement. The world needs a modern day King to stand up and fight for the rights of those who are oppressed. King acted as a king truly is supposed to. He represented his people and did as much as he could to try and make life better for them. We still recognize his actions and pay respect to him on a national holiday dedicated to remember him.

Children of the Sea

Of the short stories we have had to read in class, I think that Children of the Sea by Edwidge Danticat was the most interesting to me. Since the story is written as a series of letters with the authors expressing themselves through their writing, it felt very personal, and I felt as though I was being trusted with the information. I could almost feel some of their pain, and I felt really bad for them. It made me feel very appreciative that I live in such a safe environment and helped me recognize all of the privileges I take for granted.
It's amazing how strong the characters love for one another is. The male character is stuck on a boat escaping Haiti, while the female character is enduring life in Haiti. They write to each other for as long as they can, and their love for each other is ultimately the reason they choose to live. The characters in this story were so unbelievably strong, I could hardly believe they were about the same age as me! It was really upsetting hearing the girls story, and I still don't understand how she could accept the way her life was at home. 
This story was truly fantastic and eye-opening. While reading I was anxious to learn of the fate of the characters, and was quite disappointed when there was no concrete ending. Honestly, the horrible things that probably ended up happening I probably would not have wanted to read about, and even though the ending the author created didn't exactly explain what happened, I think it was appropriate.