The Soloist (23-31)

These last few chapters of The Soloist were both happy and unexpected. Nathanial Ayers finally gets his own apartment and a studio so he can make his music. Even though it didn’t seem to bother him all too much, his life before was awful. He lived on the dirty dangerous streets of Skid Row. It wasn’t for his friend Steve Lopez he would most likely still be wondering the streets aimlessly. Now he has a whole group of people who honestly care for him and care about how he lives.

The story gets very interesting and unexpected when Ayers verbally attacks Lopez and threatens to kill him. He doesn’t do it purposely but because of his disorder. Lopez really gets hurt and tries not to take it personally but it really suprised Steve. Lopez realizes at that moment that Ayers will never be able to get better from his disorder. It is a very upsetting part of the book.

The end of the book is happy. In the beggining of TheSoloist Nathanial Ayers was once a homeless man with nothing but the clothes on his back and his beloved instrutment, no home, no family, and no friends. At the End he completly transformed and now has a safe home, studio, and many people who care about him. It makes me really happy because his life before, even though it didnt seem to bother him, was very depressing. This book really opened my eyes and made me believe that one person can truly save someone's life. If it werient for Steve Lopez, Nathanial Ayers most likely would still have the same depressing life.

The Soloist (13-22)

I learned a lot in these chapters. The mayor of Los Angeles, who happens to read Lopez’s columns takes a stroll through Skid Row and is appalled. He sees the crime and the disaster that is occurring. He dedicated 50 million dollars to skid Row and other places like it to build homes and buildings. When I read this I really got happy because it was such a generous gift. It really can save many people’s lives. I also think about how if Lopez never wrote a column about Nathanial and his “home” in Skid Row that would have never happened.
Part two of The Soloist taught me a lot about Nathanial Ayer’s past. He had a hard childhood. He had a father, mother, and sisters. When his father left his family and started a new family with another woman, it really affected Ayers negatively. When his mother also got remarried, it created even more problems. I think that Nathanial’s family’s history really affected him. It really explains the distrust he has in people. The fact that Ayers is so carefree also might be a side affect to his devastating childhood.
Later in part two, Nathanial finally sleeps in his room at lamp. Of course he put up a fight and he was a little stubborn but he agrees to sleep there three nights a week. When Ayers turned 50 he woke up in his room in lamp instead of on the street, which really made me happy.
I think Part two really gave the story a new twist. Now that Nathanial is finally in lamp I can’t help but wonder what will happen next. I also love that I learned a whole lot about Nathanial’s past which in my opinion fills in a lot of holes in the story.

The Soloist (7-12)

        In the second part of my reading, I learned some personal things about Nathaniel Ayers. Steve Lopez did some more research about Ayers, for his column and discovered that he lives in a place called Skid Row. Apparently it is one of the most dangerous places to live, between the drug abuse and the heroin addicts. Its scary to think that in the mist of the muggers, fights, drugs, and slums, there is an innocent man with nothing but his instrument. I think that once Lopez saw this he immediately felt the need to help him. 

        I feel some pity for Nathaniel, but not as much as i thought i would. sure, he is homeless and lonely, but here is something about him that separates him from the common homeless person. Yes, he does live on the streets, but that doesn't seem to bother him. He doesn't have a cup at hand begging for spare change. He seems really independent and i really admire that confidence in him. I just wonder why Ayers doesn't want to get off the streets, what is holding him back?

The Soloist (1-6)

So far, The Soloist is a really intresting book. The fact that it is a true story really makes me want to find out what really happens to Nathaneil Ayers. The love that he has for music is very inspiring. He lives on the streest and has nothing but the clothes on his back, but as long as he has his precious violin, then he is alright. it makes me really think about how people take things for graunted. Alot of people in the world have everything they ever wanted, a huge house, money, designer clothes, and cars, but they still want more. Then there are people like Nathaneil Ayers who has no care in the world as long as he has his instrutment.
The first six chapters are about a writer names Steve Lopez who is looking for a story. He stumbles upon a homeless man on the streets of downtown LA. As soon he hears Ayers play he is mezmeriezed. He decides that his story is going to be about this amazing musician who lives on the streets. Whenever he tries to interview Ayers he dosent cooroporate. When he tries to find information about Nathaneil by talking to his loved ones, including his beloved sister he finds out that Ayers attended Julliard. He suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Lopez then realizes that he wants to help Nathaneil in any way he can.
I really enjoy the first few chapters of this book because of the determination that both characters have. Ayers, because of his music, that is all he seems to care for. Lopez, because he wants to write a great column, and because he wants to truly help out Ayers. I am excitedto continue reading and find out what will happen to Nathaneil Ayers.

The Catcher in the Rye

I thought The Catcher in the Rye was a really good book. Although the novel didn’t have the normal set up like most books, (beginning, middle, end, climax, resolution, ect.) it still had a good storyline. The whole book was about Holden Caulfield and his life, and all of the problems he faces in New York. I noticed that the book was written as if it were pages from a journal and that made it more interesting in my opinion. Throughout the whole book you can tell everything that Caulfield is thinking in detail. It makes the reader apart of the book. I read through some of the blogs that my peers wrote and I noticed that in someone’s blog post they mentioned that Holden Caulfield says “you” throughout the whole book. It makes it like he is speaking to someone he knows or a friend. I never thought about it like that. I really liked the wording in the book too. Holden is speaking to the reader as if we are sitting across from him. J.D. Salinger is a very unique author and this book was very interesting to read. I think it takes a great author to make a book good without a climax or normal book set up.
The book was a little bit depressing. It makes me feel sorry for Holden because he is always alone and seems like he is seeking something that he will never find. In the book Holden’s brother Allie died and I think that had a huge impact on his life and made him the way he is in the book. He is always alone walking the streets of New York looking for someone to talk to. It makes me wonder if his whole family is like this because of Allie’s death. Holden sometimes gets himself in trouble in an attempt to have some company. For example, the prostitute that he hires, when she arrives he just wants to have a conversation because he is desperate to talk to someone. He underpays her and then gets beat up, and he is back to being depressed.

After reading The Death of a Salesman I realized that Willy, the main character is similar to Gatsby, the main character in The Great Gatsby. They both had a dream and died before it could come true. Gatsby’s dream was to be with the love of his life, Daisy. Most of the time he thinks about the all of the “what if’s” and always wonders what would have been. When the time finally came to be with her, Gatsby dies. The novel is very depressing but it taught me that sometimes, some dreams are not meant to come true. There is a difference between a dream and reality. The dream for Gatsby was to be with Daisy, the love of his life. The reality was that she was married to another man.
Willy Loman’s dream was for his sons to be come successful businessmen. He himself was a successful salesman, but he tried to live a better life, one that he wanted through his sons, Biff and Happy. Willy put a lot of pressure on his sons. The years of pressure eventually lead to resentment. Biff, Willy’s eldest son was under more pressure than Happy simply because he was the oldest. It wasn’t his dream but Biff just wanted to make his father proud. In the novel, Biff witnesses his father having an affair with another woman and ever since then things have not been the same between. Willy begins to hallucinate scenes from his past and his wife and sons begin to worry. In the end of the play, Willy kills himself.
The two stories are very similar. Both characters strive for their dreams and don’t think about their consequences. Unfortunately, in both cases the consequence was their own death. Gatsby did not care if Daisy had a life with another man all he wanted was her and he would stop and nothing until he got what he wanted. Willy wanted more than anything for his sons to follow in his footsteps. He pushed Biff so hard it got to the point where Biff grew resentment toward his father. I’m not saying that Gatsby and Willy are wrong for wanting something so badly, but they let their dreams get the best of them. They were unconsciously hurting people along their path toward their dreams.
After reading both of these stories I learned that you have to look at a situation from every angle. Figure out how you are going to go about solving a problem and consider people’s feelings. What goes around will always come around.

third quarter reflection

I really enjoy using blogger. Everyone has their own personal page and everything is much more organized than the google group. Blogger has definately been valuable to me. All of my writings i wrote over the past several weeks are well organized. I can compare my writings from my first week to my last. I can edit and change things whenever i want. Its like i have my own little website for my personal writings. I like how both 11th grade classes are mixed up into one. i also like how even though everyone has a blogger, you dont see everyones like you did on google group. You only see someones blog post if u go on their page. You still have your privacy. Blogger is really a great experience. I like the fact that its over the computer. I find it eaiser to type than to write. I just have one suggestion...if we can see our grades after each post. I like to know what i got on my paper so i can improve my writing. I also like that you comment on each paper because i use your advice and it helps me.

The great Gatsby

“Riches have never fascinated me, unless combined with the greatest charm or distinction.
–Letter, Aug. 1936, to Ernest Hemingway

This quote says a lot to me. First thing that comes to my mind when I read this quote from Fitzgerald is, money cannot always by you happiness. Money can by you a lot of things accept the important things like love, and family. For example, Jay Gatsby was extremely wealthy and lived the lives most wish they had. He had the fancy mansion and the nice clothes. He had more than enough money but he was not as happy as you would think he would be. His former love, Daisy was marred to another man and he Gatsby was devastated. He lives by himself in a big mansion with no family. He is a very mysterious person, mainly because he doesn’t let a lot of people in. Gatsby could have the world at his fingertips, but it doesn’t mean anything f you don’t have someone to share it with.
The second thing that comes to my mind when I read this quote is the changes money can do to someone. Money can do very devious things to someone. I think Fitzgerald is trying to say that sometimes money can change people for the worst. It is so easy to get greedy and power hungry. People can loose sight of who they really are and I think that is what Fitzgerald is trying to say.

The Great Gatsby Journal (Wordle)

The first page of “The Great Gatsby” caught my attention. When Nick Carraway quotes his father, it was a very original way to begin the novel. The quote is: “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone just remember that al the people in the world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” To me this quote is self explanatory. It clearly means don’t criticize people when you don’t know their side of the story. The details in the first chapter are very vivid and sometimes threw me off.

_The main characters in the first chapter are:
-Nick (narrator)
-Daisy (Nick’s cousin)
-Tom (Daisy’s husband)
-Jordan Baker (Daisy’s friend)
-Jay Gatsby (Nick’s neighbor)

Nick moves to New York where he rents a house in west Egg. In the novel West Egg is a home to the rich. Nick visits his cousin Daisy for dinner in East Egg. While there he learns that Daisy’s husband, Tom Buchanan was a former member of his social club from Yale University. Daisy’s friend Jordan Baker is there and after she goes to sleep, Daisy and Tom suggest to Nick that he should take interest romantically in Jordan. When Nick arrives home he notices, next door, Mr. Gatsby, his extremely wealthy neighbor, on his porch. Nick finds Gatsby very mysterious.

In Mind

There's in my mind a woman
of innocence, unadorned but



fair-featured and smelling of
apples or grass. She wears



a utopian smock or shift, her hair
is light brown and smooth, and she



is kind and very clean without
ostentation-



but she has
no imagination



And there's a
turbulent moon-ridden girl



or old woman, or both,
dressed in opals and rags, feathers



and torn taffeta,
who knows strange songs



but she is not kind.

-Denise Levertov

Denise Levertov was born in Britain, in Ilford Essex England on October 24, 1923. Levertov was home schooled and was very passionate about writing at an early age. She published her first book of poetry “The Double Image” in 1946. Levertov married Mitchell Goodman, an American writer in 1947. She moved to the United States in 1948 and lived in New York City. Her first American book, “Here and now” was published in 1956. Later in 1959 she published another book called “With Eyes at the Back of Our Heads”. She began to publish many prize-winning books of poetry. Levertov became involved in anti-war movements. From 1982 to 1993 Levertov taught at Stanford University. Denise Levertov died on December 27, 1997 at the age of 74 from lymphoma.

“In Mind” I think, is about someone’s perspective on another person. “There’s in my mind a woman of innocence.” There are two sides to everyone, a good side and a not so good side. In the beginning of the poem she is speaking of an innocent woman who is kind and then in the end of the poem she refers to the woman as “turbulent moon-ridden girl” with “no imagination” and “is not kind”. Denise Levertov is very creative in her writing and manages to her point across without actually saying it. Since Levertov starting writing at such a young age, she is very experienced in writing.
As you read, a white bear leisurely

To the Reader
As you read, a white bear leisurely
pees, dyeing the snow
saffron,

and as you read, many gods
lie among lianas: eyes of obsidian
are watching the generations of leaves,

and as you read
the sea is turning its dark pages,
turning
its dark pages.
-Denise Levertov

For the third part of my English assignment I had to pick another poem by Denise Levertov. I read a few pomes but “To the Reader” really stood out to me. It was so creative. She uses personification in the last stanza: “the sea is turning its dark pages”. While reading this poem I pictured each stanza in my head with detail. Levertov used imagery throughout the whole poem. I really enjoyed reading this poem; it was very different, and original.

Denise Levertov wrote a lot of different poems and I didn’t read all of them, but I did read a few. The two I focused on in my assignment were “In mind” and “To the Reader”. Both of these poems are original and creative. Denise Levertov was born in Britain, but if I didn’t read her biography I would not have known that based on the poems I read. Her poems are, like I said original, but they have no reference to Britain in any way. I only read a few but they sound American.

For this weekend’s assignment I chose to write about Kate Chopin. The two short stories she wrote are: “A Pair of Silk Stockings” and “Lilacs”. “A Pair of Silk Stockings” is about a poor woman who stumbles upon fifteen dollars on the street. She spends the fifteen dollars on gifts for herself, a treat she never experienced before. This short story does not show any Romanticism. “Lilacs” is about a woman names Adrienne who use to live in a Convent with her nun friends. Every year she goes back to visit her friends, the story doesn’t tell why Adrienne left the Convent. This short story is called Lilacs because the smell of Lilacs reminds Adrienne of the memories of her past at the Convent. This short story shows a little bit of Romanticism. It shows the reader that something as simple of a smell can remind someone of their past.
Both of these stories show America Realism because the focus of the story is on a certain person. People that read these stories can relate to them. For example in “A Pair of Silk Stockings” the woman finds fifteen dollars on the street and treats herself to a gift. That has happened to me a few times and I’m sure a lot of other people. In “Lilacs” the smell of the flower reminds the main character of her past. There are plenty of smells in my life that remind me of things. For example, my mom use to make me a certain meal when I was younger, when I smell the food I get a flashback of my childhood.
I believe the topic that Chopin tries to cover in both of these short stories is change. Without change a person would not be who they really are. As you grow up not only your body goes through changes, but your mind too both physically and mentally. In “A Pair of Silk Stockings” The woman is poor, but when she finds fifteen dollars on the street, and treats herself, she changes into a person who can afford fancy things. In “Lilacs”, Adrienne changes her life a little more drastically then the woman in “A Pain of Silk Stockings”. She changes when she leaves the Convent starts living a different life.
Chopin is a great writer. The two stories that I read over the weekend were very interesting. Chopin uses a lot of real life examples in her stories that can connect the reader easily. While reading “Lilacs” I understood why Adrienne visited the Convent and her nun friends. She wanted to revisit her past. I love how she connected something as simple as the smell of a flower and made that the highlight of the story. I had a connection when I read”A Pair of Silk Stockings”. Finding money on the street is exciting, even if it is a dollar, or one hundred dollars, epically if you are poor like Mrs. Sommers. When you have the ability to go out and buy whatever catches your eye is a very good feeling. Chopin showed Mrs. Sommers excitement a lot through the story. She really connected the reader to both of her short stories.

Call and Answer

Tell me why it is we don’t lift our voices these days And cry over what is happening. Have you noticed The plans are made for Iraq and the ice cap is melting?

I say to myself: "Go on, cry. What¹s the sense Of being an adult and having no voice? Cry out! See who will answer! This is Call and Answer!"

We will have to call especially loud to reach Our angels, who are hard of hearing; they are hiding In the jugs of silence filled during our wars.

Have we agreed to so many wars that we can¹t Escape from silence? If we don’t lift our voices, we allow Others (who are ourselves) to rob the house.

How come we’ve listened to the great criers -- Neruda, Akhmatova, Thoreau, Frederick Douglass -- and now We’re silent as sparrows in the little bushes?

Some masters say our life lasts only seven days. Where are we in the week? Is it Thursday yet? Hurry, cry now! Soon Sunday night will come.
-Robert Bly

I chose this poem for this week’s assignment for many reasons. First, Bly used a different approach then the other poets. He tried to persuade the reader to speak up and use your voice to protest against the wars and violence. In the poem Bly is confused as to why no one is doing anything about all of the violence that the world has come to. The first sentence of this poem is what caught my attention: “Tell me why it is we don’t lift our voices these days and cry over what is happening.” He is confused as to why no one is speaking up or doing anything about what the world is coming to. “And now we’re silent as sparrows in the little bushes?” Bly is trying to tell the reader that if something doesn’t change fast the world will only get more violent. “If we don’t lift our voices, we allow others (who are ourselves) to rob the house.” The last verse is my favorite part of the poem. “Some masters say our life lasts only seven days. Where are we in the week? Is it Thursday yet? Hurry, cry now! Soon Sunday night will come.” It’s saying that if someone takes charge, soon the wars will be over.

In my opinion, writing has the power to enact social change. People like Robert Bly can change a lot with his writing. It may be hard to believe, but writing can change people’s lives. The famous speech by Martin Luther King JR will live on forever because it altered the lives of millions. There are many powerful speeches that changed the world. Many people are a fan of violence because they believe that it is the only way to get what you want. I disagree completely! It is proven that writing can in fact change everything!

Alexandra Fera11-2
English

The Price of a Child

Ginnie Pryor is a Virginia plantation slave who had three children with her slave master. Ginnie had been dreaming of freedom all her life. When she had enough of slavery and found out that Pennsylvania is a free state, Ginnie and two of her children left their life of slavery and set out to be free. Unfortunately, Ginnie’s youngest baby, Bennie, is still in Virginia with his father. Ginnie’s master, Jackson Pryor, goes to court to win his family back. Upon reaching Pennsylvania, she was no longer known as Ginnie Pryor, but as Mercer Gra Mercer got a job and made friends. When Mercer met Tyree her life takes a spin. Tyree is a married man and when Mercer moves in with him Tyree falls in love with her. He is not happy with his wife and he is in love with Mercer. I think Lorene Cary is an excellent writer.
She really shows Mercer’s emotions through her writing. I can feel the pain Mercer feels when she leaves her baby Bennie behind. I can feel the excitement through Mercers voice when the trial is finally over and she can call herself a free black woman. Cary really brings out the emotion that Mercer feels about her frustration with white society.
This story is filled with mixed emotions: love, lust, disappointment, failure, excitement, and accomplishment. I really admired Mercer’s character because she is a determined and strong woman who stopped at nothing to get what she wanted. She had a hard time but she doesn’t let that get in her way of success. I strongly respect that and wish I had some of the qualities that Mercer had.