Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Reflections of my Junior year... so far
It has been a really interesting year, I can say that much. It doesn't even seem almost like Christmas yet. Normally I'm stoked about Christmas and mark the days down until the annual event, but not this year. It just doesn't seem like the time yet, well it does more now than a week ago. Considering it has snowed, and that other annual event, semester tests, is upon us, I'm starting to feel the a little of the Christmas spirit. Anyway back to the topic at hand, my junior year... so far.
To sum it up in one big word, I would say: rollercoasterrider(I did that on purpose) That is the perfect word I would use considering it has been: exciting, scary, nerve racking, and very queasy at times. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all that bad, but I can't wait till' I'm a senior.
Next year will be better in every way considering I'll be captain of the Drumline( Yeah, that's right Tanner), easier classes( I hope!), and I can finally say those magic words," I'M A SENIOR!!"
Well I'm sure I'll post something talking about ALL of my junior year so, until then.
The Crucible-thoughts on bullying
In the Crucible, Abigail Williams(witch whom we've previously discussed) is in all the sense, a BULLY. Now you make ask yourself, what is the true definition of the word: bully or bullying? Well ladies and gentlemen, I am here to tell you.
The definition of bullying is: the act of intentionally causing harm to others, through verbal harassment, physical assault, or other more subtle methods of coercion such as manipulation.
Now if you've heard, or spoke about Abigail Williams, then all the sense of that definition is in the context of that women's name. She used verbal harassment,(I don't recall physical harm?) and she used mass amounts of manipulation. So the main purpose of what I've typed so far is to ask the main question, " What makes her different than any one else bullying? ". The answer, in my opinion, nothing. "Well she was the cause of a whole bunch of people getting hanged", you say, or "What she did was way worse than the word bullying". My response..."not really".
If you think about it, then bullying expands to all masses of harm. Terrorism, Murder, Rape, these are all forms of bullying. So in my opinion, calling some one a bad name, or causing some physical harm whom didn't deserve it, is the same as Terrorism, Murder, or Rape. No? then give me your thoughts, and we'll see who wins.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
The Crucible
Thirteen Reasons Why
This book really messed me up. I kept hearing about this book and how good it was so after long awaiting, I finally got it. Never in my life have I ever felt sick before from the words and pages of a novel. This one achieved that improbable goal.
This is the story about Clay Jenson receiving a set of tapes revealing the reasons of why Hannah Baker, one of his former classmates, killed herself. In these tapes Hannah goes into great detail of whom each person is and what they did to her to commit this terrible suicide. Clay must listen to each tape until his name comes across and discover one of the reasons why it was his fault. The person that's after him in the tapes, must receive the tapes when Clay is done with them or someone will release the tapes public wide for the whole world to see each of the thirteen people's terrible actions.
When I started reading this book, I could not put it down. I didn't even pay attention in all of my classes for two days(I'm sure I'll regret that later). The thing that got me the most was that Hannah Baker seemed like an pretty cool girl, and she killed herself. It wasn't necessarily the cool part, but rather the part that I'm sitting here listening to the tapes, just like Clay Jenson, and I can't do nothing about her death. She is already dead. That drove me crazy! I wanted to change the events of the book knowing that they were already set in stone, or rather in paper. To me that is absurd for me wanting this girl to live, I mean come on she is a fictional character. There were some parts in the story that just simply almost made me vomit. I'm sorry, that's disgusting. Even though this book really got to me, I think every body should really read it for the sole fact that it will really make you think about your actions towards other people, and the consequences for them. Remember, next time you see somebody in the hall who looks a little down, it doesn't take much energy to lighten up there day. Because who knows, you may get a set of tapes in the mail some day.