Thankful

     It's that time of the year again, and I'm supposed to be thankful for what I have. There are certainly things I am grateful for having and actually take for granted when I shouldn't, and things that I am completely not thankful for. Now that I've stated this, I am thankful for one person in my English II class, and that is Kevin.

     He is certainly no my best friend, but he is fun to have around. I find it interesting that we "known" each other since elementary school. We were not in the same class; we never saw each other but knew the other existed. Coming here to Whitney, I could easily point out Kevin was from my elementary school. Seeing me, he could easily point out I came from the same school as him. Just interesting how that all turned out. He has that interesting character that makes you laugh whenever he says something. He is mostly messing around all the time, but still a guy with a personality you want to hang out with...I think. He started Deck Club with another person, and that is a huge success from a group of sophomore Asians, and a couple white kid's who are close with those Asian's. I'm not going to participate in the club for the next couple of months, which I will state the reason why later. But all in all, I'm thankful for him to be in this class.

     Enough about Kevin and this small world, let's go bigger. I'm also thankful for all my friends around school, they have supported me through rough times. I am thankful for my friends outside school. All my friends around me won't shoo me away, which is an improvement of what I thought would be true. I thank all the seniors from last year for not hazing me. I thank my family, for staying together all these years, because I know some people whose lives have dramatically took a turn from that.

     Now that I have listed all the things I am thankful for, there are two things I am not thankful for. Swim team's season started, and it will be a long road ahead. Mornings and afternoons plus weekends is not fun. Trust me. Spending half of your day at school is also not fun. It will also reduce your social life and deplete all the time you have for other clubs and activities. Like before, let's go bigger. Something that is out of our whole social zone, but still something we all know. AMERICA!

    Yes, it's America's governing I am not thankful for. Sure, we live in a country that allows us certain rights, but it is granted that these rights would not exist if the country fell apart, which is something that is happening as I speak.

     After WWII, we owed a sum of debt from Roosevelt's extravagant spending plans to rebuild America, and the war cost. After that, the bill has lost its value as the U.S. started borrowing money from other countries and corporations inside the U.S. Ever since, industries have moved across to other countries, and the U.S. has been mainly consuming while others produced. Argue all you want against my point. Go ahead. Every reason you come up with to argue the U.S. is not in downfall will actually prove my point that America is going down the drain and many American's are either oblivious to it or they won't bite the bullet. That debt is at 16 trillion right? Wrong. It is at 17 trillion and counting. Look at China. Oh, all the anger coming at me for pointing this out, but China is rising. We are falling behind. High speed rail trains there are at 350 km/hr. We are stuck with the good ole' fashioned, outdated diesel engine trains that pull us across America. Plans to make high speed rails are still in planning, planning constructions to 2030. We may live in a somewhat decent lifestyle now, but the clock is ticking and our time may be up anytime now. Therefore, I am not thankful for what is happening to the country right now.

     But, at the moment right now, I am thankful for my friend Kevin, all my friends in my circle, and my family. Hopefully, I get to be thankful for the next several decades.

I Celebrate Myself

     This is a term not everyone hears everyday. I never even heard of this or thought about it. I know we have to type something about Transcendentalism, but I am not sure, so I'll just write the background. What is Transcendentalism then?

     Transcendentalism was a religious and philosophical movement that was developed during the late 1820s and 1830s in the Eastern region of the United States as a protest against the general state of culture and society, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard University and the doctrine of the Unitarian church taught at Harvard Divinity School. Among the transcendentalists' core beliefs was the inherent goodness of both people and nature.

     The Transcendentalists stood at the heart of The American Renaissance; the flowering of the United States thought in literature, poetry, painting, sculpture, architecture, and music in the period. Authors such as Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller, the Alcotts, Theodore Parker, Jones Very, George Ripley, the Peabody Sisters, and the Channings were involved in this movement. Transcendentalism was far broader than a geographical phenomenon or a select club membership, although Ripley and Emerson had founded the Transcendental Club in 1836. Rather it was a faith shared with diverse minds and diverse places as those of Walt Whitman in Brooklyn or Emily Dickinson in Amherst or the Hudson River School of painters in New York.

     Many of these authors have written poems that were criticized at the time they were written, for not following the conventional methods. However, I disagree. Even though it takes me five minutes to understand one line, they do bring in certain ideas and ways of writing that have lasted into the modern day.

Poe

     Edgar Allan Poe (born Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor, and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.

     One of his more famous pieces was The Raven. He as written many other short stories and poem. People have seen his work and recognize it to have spooky and ominous themes to it. I see it to represent all his resentment and anger that came out of his life events. He had a father that left him, mother that died early, wife that died early, and lived poor all his life. Poe was so poor, he served in the military to get payed 5 dollars a month. At age 40, Poe died in Baltimore; the cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents.
     
     As the author, he is committing a lot of time on other events. He has served in the military, watched his foster mother die, watched his brother die, and watched his wife die. This is a rather depressing life, and he actually had the heart to still develop pieces that become famous today. He wrote mysteries, missing characteristics, interesting theories of life, and symbols that are chosen carefully that sparks the interest of a reader from an absent clue, a clue that leads to the understanding of his story. Yet he leaves that clue, and leaves a lot of people and critics arguing his perspective and reason behind the stories. I solely believe he wrote those stories because of his tragic life.

     It is hard to accept such a recognized author today has suffered a poor life at his time. He was the founder of mysteries, and the mysteries that exist today stay because such a genre exists. He is a very important person, and wrote many interesting poses, yet still passed away as a sick, lonely man, something I believe great authors do not deserve.

What is an American?

     So what is an real American? Is it someone who lives in America or something else? I believe the answer lies way back to the time when the first people showed up in the New Land.

     We are rejects from Europe, whatever people don't like. When people in Europe dislike religious ways they just boot us out. Convicts who are in jeopardy of persecution sail for America so they die. They end up here, set up new settlements, and and that how our nation started after we broke free from England. That was 200 years ago. Now, we are the gung ho nation, who threatens other countries for our own benefit. Ever since world war two, we thought we were the greatest, no one would beat us. Is it what we have become? Just people who would kill for success? I afraid it is true. Many people may deny it, saying we are a clean country, no one is beyond compare. We are standing on one leg my friends, we are about to fall, the country of the brave is about to die.

     We still get immigrants, but is it so? Does immigrant define America? To be very exact, the native Americans were before we were. That means American? I think it doesn't mean literally people born in America, it is people who pledge allegiance to our nation, people who come other shores, people who look for a better life, people who were discarded by their home nation, that is an American.

Modern Puritans

Modern Puritans don’t exist. However, there are still groups that are similar in their harshness of rules. Puritans escaped to America for religious freedom when the Church of England was formed. Puritans believed in strict rules and ruthless and cruel punishments if broken.

There is one religious group I should mention, mainly because it is very hard on the people, using shame and humiliation to keep people has followers. It is the Church of Bible Understanding.

The Church of Bible Understanding (formerly known as the Forever Family) was formed by former atheist Stewart Traill. He started his group in Pennsylvania, targeting people has young as 13 by drawing on their weaknesses. Throughout the 1970s, the group expanded to other parts of the United States. Traill, born in Quebec in 1936 is the son of a Presbyterian minister, who teaches that he is the reincarnation of Elijah, and that he knows the date of the return of Christ.

According to members of the group, they live in a commune and donate 90% of their income to the religious faction. Traill amassed a fortune and owns four planes and a half million dollar mansion. According to former members, Traill controls every aspect of members’ lives through harsh criticism, shame, and public humiliation. The cult also runs a mission in Haiti, where some former members claim Haitian children are indoctrinated in exchange for food and clothing.

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

     Is John Proctor hero or stooge? The definition of hero is a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength. A stooge is more of a stupid character. He may appear to be a stooge at times, but I believe is the hero of this story. Even though he died and couldn’t save anyone, the courage in him to go against Abigail really makes up for it.

     His affair with Abigail was his chance to save everyone. It would prove that Abigail is trying to kill his wife. It was a sin that destroyed his honor, and his wife did not want to destroy it and lied about it. Lying about it got Proctor in even deeper trouble.

     Throughout the play, he is an enigma. I could never figure out what his personality. At first, I thought he was a bigot since he didn’t go to church. The more I thought about it, I realized he is man of opinion and I respect it. Parris and Danforth are the ones I can’t bear to stand. They are so concerned about their reputation that they would kill a bunch of innocent people. Abigail’s course of action was based on their tolerance for admitting to witchcraft. This led to accusations of false people. Proctor rarely goes to church because he dislikes Parris’s way of church. This is something was not really tolerant back then, but is a choice that really effects the outcome of the book.

     Proctor may have done a couple of “bad” things, such as not going to church and having an affair. But that doesn’t mean he is a stooge. He had evidence against Abigail, and he tried to put her behind bars. However, the court was once again concerned about its reputation and Proctor lost. Out of the whole book, he is the one trying to save everyone accused, not just his wife. Trying to save others, not just his wife, is something hero would do. However, he doesn't follow Puritan beliefs and doesn't go to church. Therefore, I believe even Proctor committed a couple sins, he is more of the hero than anyone else in the story. 

Arrivals...There goes the neighborhood

     This statement is correct. As soon as Columbus discovered the New World, the natives' neighborhoods instantly disappeared. Why? Although they said whey came in peace, and intended to explore, they settled down in the land. England actually started the colony here. They obviously did not move in with the natives. They just simply booted them out of their land. Some of the land was bought. They rest was rather "booting" the natives off. They even gathered them into lands designated for the natives. The lands were way different than the plains, the mountains, the forests where they used to live. Even so, the government actually cut off little by little off of the reservations the natives already moved to.

     How, we say, why would the natives just welcome them? How is there such peace as Thanksgiving? What happened to the Iroquois Pact? The answer is the same. They simply got booted off the land after the settlers moved in and need the space for them to live in. They slowly push them across the west. They also took away Indian resources. They hunted bison. With guns, their efficiency was deadly. They wiped out all the bison, so much that the natives were forced to change their way of life due to lack of their food resources. All around America, the Native Americans were forced to move. Even when they put up a fight, the U.S. just pushed them aside so they could mine the land for gold. No matter who and what it is, arrivals cause the neighborhood to face change.

Me

     My name is Benjamin Liu. I am a sophomore; and I have trouble accepting the fact I am one. I'm am not the typical tenth grader. Many expect a fit, tall, and smart student. I may be a good student, but I am short and skinny. Maybe it is because I don't eat a lot. Even though I am underweight and all, I am still a good student. I currently take seven classes: PE II, Algebra w. Trig, Chinese IV, AP World History, English II, Computer Science, and Chemistry. I will always aim for the A in each class, B is a failure to me.

     Yes, I may be small and "unfit". However, it doesn't stop my after school activities. I swim and play water polo. Yes, I play both sports in different seasons. I play ball in the summer. I also glowstick for AAC (Asian American Club, yes, come see our show in May!). Not only I participate in these time consuming activities, I am in Math Team. Well, I wasn't on the state-winning team last year, I'm not that smart. I expect that I will participate in the same activities, in addition to the possibility of fall polo. I will be very busy, and it will be very challenging for me. However, I will not be deterred. I will also take the lifeguard test in attempt to have life guarding job with CPD this summer. People usually laugh at that. Imagine a skinny 5'3'' boy trying to save a chunky 5'10'' man! I can't imagine that either.

     My ultimate goal? Finish this year as my best year of school. Pass AP World, improve in swimming, get better at polo, train harder at baseball, learn more moves at glowsticking, higher math team scores, lifeguard, and get all As in my classes. Wait a sec, that's a lot. A minor change in my plans. My plan is to finish this post here, right at the end of this period.