After carefully monitoring her grades throughout the semester and struggling to put full effort into each of her projects and all of her completed homework, an overachieving student destined for the Ivy Leagues finds herself facing a major obstacle. Although she had studied the night before, the multiple-choice test resting upon her desk that glared back at her now seemed to mock her, eating away any focus she could create. Racing thoughts of college, parents, teachers, counselors…too many thoughts cluttered her mind with each passing minute being pounded into her ear by the ticking of the clock against the wall behind her. She could not fail this test, she could not get a B, she could not upset her parents, and she could not give up her chance at a potential college. So many factors depended on whether or not she shaded a circle marked “A,” “B,” “C,” or “D.” Willing to sacrifice just a bit of integrity in order to save her future life plans, she glances to the tattered piece of paper in her pocket and mindlessly fills in the bubbles as if reading an instruction manual.
In this “new era of responsibility,” President, Barack Obama, has explained the personal engagement needed to solve the nation’s problems through his Inaugural Address. With an ailing economy, weakening school systems, and energy crisis, followed by numerous disasters and emergencies, he brought to attention the troubled state the nation has fallen into. With this awakening, he brought hope, however, introducing his ideas to help and the new responsibilities each citizen should carry out.
“Certain tasks … cannot be accomplished by volunteers showing up occasionally or contributing a few hours a week,” writes The New York Times, reflecting Obama’s ideas. Opportunities to serve the community need to be expanded, and plans for doing so have been introduced. Democrat of Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy, and Orrin Hatch, Utah Republican, have introduced their Serve America Act to the Senate, an act that should “expand the number of full-time and part-time national service volunteers eligible for minimal living expenses and a modest educational stipend.” These new positions will be targeted at strengthening education, cleaning the environment, repairing our economic state, responding to emergencies and disasters, and boosting energy efficiency. A well thought out plan, everyone is invited to become involved, including “people of all income levels and ages.” Along with the Volunteer Generation Fund the will help nonprofit groups with volunteers, our new President along with the Senate are aiming at creating new jobs and aiding the nation’s economy. Personal engagement is most needed at the moment, as the country won’t repair itself.
With our families and neighbors losing their jobs all around us and businesses constantly having to close their doors for a final time, it’s amazing how we can act as if nothing is happening. Citizen activity and willingness to help is essential to keep the country running. Where would the country be without her people? Amongst our diverse crowds, we need to grasp the idealism and unity that makes us who we are and increase the productive national and community service granted to our communities. With the help of the Senate’s proposed Serve America Act, “tens of thousands of meaningful new positions for people ready to work hard for the public good” should become available and with the Volunteer Generation Fund, volunteers will be gifted many opportunities to help nonprofit groups. By helping our neighbors, our homes, our communities, and our country, we help each other. We help restore our economy to the stable platform it once rested upon. We help deliver rich knowledge to the children of the next generation. We help the air become more pure and the leaves on the trees thrive as green as they once did. By volunteering and getting involved with programs in our communities and with the new acts proposed under our new President, America can be revived and once again become an inspirational land that bestows upon her people what they put effort into.
Every citizen carries his own responsibilities and plays a part in the restoration of America. To solve the nation’s problems, Mr. Obama declared that each person would need to become involved. The “spirit of service” that he spoke of in his Inaugural Address is within all of us, and it needs to be awoken.
Reference
“The Moment for National Service.” The New York Times 26 Jan. 2009. 26 Jan. 2009
© A cold and frigid morning, millions were anxious to hear from their newly elected leader.
After speaking the sacred oath, Barack Obama, chosen to become the first African American President of the United States of America, still had many words to speak. The moments were writing themselves in the history books and each word and idea he expressed needed to change the world, or at least the thoughts of its people. He was America’s inspiration, after all, and her citizens were waiting to hear his voice. The styles of his phrases, the choices of his words, and the organization of the ideas that made up his forecoming speech had been carefully examined with a single purpose in mind.
Using his skill of rhetoric, Barack Obama was expected to deliver hope to the world.
“The Crucible” by Arthur Miller
Carl Van Doren’s quote, “The race of men, while sheep in credulity, are wolves for conformity,” can be used to express ideas written in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. When a belief is stated, such as the belief in witchcraft within the play, people tend to blindly agree without sufficient evidence. Without thinking it through, people accept the belief no matter how ridiculous. This will create a calm and passive environment within the “herd” of people until a difference arises. Pleasant sheep will then transform into violent, aggressive wolves that fight the difference into submission, striving to keep the form and unity.
In The Crucible, John Proctor was one who would not confess to witchcraft. As he tried to convince the mistaken court into believing the children could be lying about witchcraft, he was attacked until he would agree with the crowd. The court would only believe that the children accusing him of witchcraft were correct and did not take time to logically think it through. Through this belief, they created a manner which would not accept difference. These wolves preyed upon their own flock, hoping to exterminate those who did not blindly follow.
“The Crucible” by Arthur Miller
As the camera fades out leaving the lone figure silhouetted in the solitary spotlight, the music swells to a dramatic climax leaving the audience breathless. Vivid imagery and compelling music that touches the soul thrusts the viewer into the heart of the story allowing them to see the pains, feel the joys, and truly understand the story. Books can have the same effect on a person but do so in a much different manner. When Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible was shifted from stage to screen he was given the opportunity to use film’s advantages to fully express his points on harmful, closed-minded thinking once more. One point that is more easily seen in the film is the constant self-saving motivation that many of the villagers have, driving them to continue their murderous lies.
When the entire town of Salem, Massachusetts becomes infested with the idea of witchcraft, innocent people are brought to their deaths by the accusations of their friends and neighbors. Motivated by fear of the unknown and the need for a scapegoat, many villagers blindly ended their neighbors’ lives while some used this new-found power to protect themselves. Changes to Arthur Miller’s play in the movie format clearly show these selfish acts, especially near the end of the film. After John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and many others are accused of witchcraft, suspicion continues to torment the minds of many. When the accused are excommunicated from the church in the film, Parris is shown to be using his power to get rid of those who oppose or frighten him. Because Parris had seen the girls’ childish act near the beginning of the story and was aware that witchcraft did not play a part he knowingly sentenced innocent people to hang and banned them from the Church, saving his valuable reputation. Following the excommunications Parris is then shown attending some of the hangings that were also not written in the original play. On film, viewers can see the nervous guilt that is buried within him along with his cowering stature and uneasy, scanning eyes. With such a strong visual, it is difficult to doubt that Parris knows what he is doing is morally wrong. Not only is Parris shown as having self-preserving motivations within the film, but Danforth and Abigail are as well. When Abigail comes running to Danforth claiming that one of the councilmen’s wives is a witch, Danforth calmly claims it couldn’t possibly be true although he had previously believed that anyone who was accused must have been a witch. He tells her that her evidence is untrue and that she cannot be believed, yet does not doubt her evidence or liability from before. This new scene shows that Danforth begins to doubt the entire witchcraft trials, yet decides not to speak up in order to preserve his reputation and career. After accusing so many people, another new scene shows Abigail pleading to Proctor, trying to convince him to run away with her. Through her conversation she explains that she knows she has done wrong and has been lying to save herself from punishment and is going to ultimately save herself by fleeing from town. Although Proctor declines her offer, this scene gives the audience a closer look at the true Abigail.
While the play and the film for Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, both give the same message and tell the same story, some may argue that the film shows the images much more clearly. With the addition of new scenes in the film version, Miller tried another approach to portray the inner workings of his characters. With images and atmosphere that couldn’t be seen and felt through the play, Miller takes advantage of the film and more clearly reveals the selfish murderers within his tangled plot.
Attended another UIL writing competition today…(I am an official member of the Ready Writing team here at Taft High School now.) This competition was at Medina Valley High School. Ah, there’s so much to say about it…but basically, the topics this time were REALLY hard and I took the first hour (out of two) just analyzing them. I didn’t have a topic chosen by the first hour! Mostly everybody was done by then; one person was finished within the first half hour. Three went from my school (27 participants in total,) and all three of us were the only ones there after an hour and we took both hours. When I was finished I returned to the Cafeteria and told my English teacher that my essay was even worse than last time and I just did really bad. I didn’t think I had much of a chance. She reminded me that’s what I said last time when I got third place, but I assured her that I did a lot worse this time…Well we waited for 5 hours for results…The two others from my school got 7th and 10th place, but I got 1st! I was so shocked… On my scoring sheet, I got a perfect on every category. But I realized I forgot the comma in my title, (I can’t believe I did that! I realized it right after I turned it in…) so they scribbled out the perfect for punctuation and took off a point. Still 1st place though. 😀 Anyways, my essay is after the topic. Reading it now, I still think it needs a lot of work, and I should have done a lot of things, but I got 1st, so I’m satisfied.
Topic: “The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of the rhetoric than to any other force.”
-Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), Mein Kampf
Use force on a man and he may follow for a year, but feed his mind with your ideas and he will follow for life. Speech has been known to be one of mankind’s most valuable tools and treasures, but when sharpened, can be more powerful than any other force. Many memorable leaders throughout history have caused action from their mastership of rhetoric, bringing change to the world through persuasive speeches and convincing words. New leaders continue to arise even to this day, using their sharp tongues to control our minds and manipulate our thoughts. Control people’s minds and you control the world.
I attended a UIL competition yesterday at James Madison High School because I was invited by my English teacher. It was last minute, however, so I hadn’t attended any meets or practices and really had no idea what was going to happen. I wasn’t very prepared. I participated in the Ready Writing Invitational Test, an expository writing competition. We were given the following topic and were just told to write. My essay follows the topic. After the competition, I waited for five hours, the last from my school to leave. My teachers left early, yet I decided to stay. Of course my contest was the last to be announced. Fortunately my wait was not in vain as I won a third place trophy out of about twenty-five contestants.
Topic: “Three hundred thousand bikers spent Memorial Day weekend roaring around Washington in tribute to our war dead….The street had been closed off for them and they motored on by, some flying the Stars and Stripes and the black MIA-POW flag, honking, revving their engines, an endless celebration of internal combustion….A patriotic bike rally is sort of like a patriotic toilet-papering or patriotic graffiti-the patriotism somehow gets lost in the sheer irritation of the thing….If anyone cared about the war dead, they could go read … any of a hundred books, and they would get a vision of what it was like to face death for your country, but the bikers riding in formation are more interested in being seen than in learning anything. They are grown men playing soldier, making a great hullabaloo without exposing themselves to danger…”
-Garrison Keillor, “The Roar of Hollow Patriotism,” Chicago Tribune, May 28, 2008
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,” can be heard each morning within many schools across the country. Many view this act as a patriotic student display, although true patriotism does not support it. Blindly following routine, students moan as they pick themselves from their seats and slouch towards the small flag hanging from the chalkboard. Tired arms rest hands somewhere upon their chests, perhaps not always over the heart, and cold vocal chords force out mumbled words without thought. Patriotism is not often a real feeling expressed by proud citizens, but a figurehead in society, a meer image or thought. This idea wraps around America’s people as an unappreciated security blanket, gifted by those who valiantly sacrifice themselves to keep our nation a strong and supportive country.
Admiration and affection are important qualities that affect people’s lives, directing and guiding them through changes and new experiences. People carry and create passionate emotions within themselves that allow them to connect with the world and those around them. From these connections, relationships can form, encouraging the emotions to grow and develop. Without acknowledgement, these relationships affect a person’s life every day. By admiring a person, great changes can come about one’s life, usually for the better, but at times, creating problems rather than helping with them. In my freshman year of high school, I grew to admire my friend, Hannah Boudreau, unknowingly allowing her to affect my life in a variety of different ways.
I often refer to myself as “veiled in secrets” due to the self-destroying burdens I keep to myself. Timid and untrusting by nature, I don’t tend to open up to people easily, and finding friends becomes a challenge for me. Throughout middle school, I grew comfortable with my lack of close friends and did not find it troubling to live without a personal confidant. Although I met my friend, Hannah, in middle school, she became a closer friend to others before she became my best friend. It wasn’t until our first year in high school that we grew closer because her other friends had moved away. Through our new high school experience, we grasped the little bond we had and made it stronger by helping each other out. Hannah helped, encouraged, and inspired me incredibly and I have grown to admire her unique traits and social talents. Opposed to the shy and quiet girl I was, I was attracted to Hannah’s unusual characteristics. Hannah was independent, loud, playful, and comical. She could get along well with different people and was loved by many. I felt that I could learn from Hannah and I enjoyed spending time with her until I later found out that she wouldn’t always be there.
“It’s strange to think that I may never see you again after high school,” I once told Hannah before school, pondering over my thoughts. I was shocked and heartbroken when Hannah responded with the fact that her father was retiring and she would be moving the following summer. From that impending event, my life was effected greatly. I couldn’t think of what to say or even breathe as a pain choked my insides and the truth strangled my mind. I had just become friends with Hannah and I didn’t want to have to give her up. After years of not having a close friend, I had become thankful for having her to rely on. Ironically, from this dread of impending sadness that would surely follow losing my friend that summer, I fell into a deep depression.
After witnessing how easily Hannah made friends and realizing how difficult it was for myself, I came to the conclusion that I was simply not worthy of friends and that I would burden any person who became my friend. With these new thoughts settling in my mind, new feelings and pains also settled in. Indescribable aches and pains consumed my soul with the swallowing hurt of depression. The worst of these mysterious pains developed within my stomach and continued to sweep through my chest and throat. My heart rate steadily increasing, my throat would begin to tighten and my body would be thrown into a seizure-like state, trembling and shivering without my consent. This feeling came over me many times, always invading my mind with the constant thought of doom and emptiness. From these constant thoughts, I called the feeling my “Doom feeling.” With these pains attacking my physical being causing me to actually feel an aching emptiness within me, troubled thoughts sabotaged my mind. Fear and dread attacked my brain and blurred my thoughts into a horrid painting of confusion, colors violently thrust upon the canvas. My mentality was so wrecked that the cause of my constant sadness was usually unknown to me. Stress and other troubling ideas kept my mind awake to suffer in guilt, punishing and hurting my tired body. In the silent black of night, I would either lie in wait listening to each passing second of the clock, or would transfer my thoughts into words through each clacking key of my computer keyboard. My blog was a frequent refuge to release the burdens that tormented me, and for a while, it was my only listener. Not wanting to burden my friend with my troubles, I tried to hide them from her and instead relied on the comforting text from those on the Internet. My blog gave me encouragement, yet I still longed for a true friend. Although I was writing on my blog, it wasn’t the same creative writing that I loved. Rather than letting fictional worlds open up upon the screen, I ranted and begged for help. As if I had become an entirely different person, my interests and hobbies became dull and lifeless and I became obsessed with improving myself in both physical and characteristic qualities. The time I had previously spent drawing and writing was now used to check my weight and carefully monitor and record it as it rose and fell dramatically. My enthusiasm and enjoyment in life was falling just as quickly as my body mass and my stomach felt just as empty as my heart.
Throughout this dreadful period in my life, I desperately reached for different forms of help. Friends from the Internet sent in advice and constantly reminded me to worry less and take a break. My writing club advisor emailed me and asked me to take better care of myself and seek medical attention, and classmates from school were troubled by my appearance and suddenly changing moods, begging me to speak to someone of authority. Denying that I was even troubled, I never did seek help from a counselor or medical specialist. Trying to keep my state entirely to myself, my parents never even knew of how I was. Faking a smile each time they passed, I skillfully fought my internal war myself, yet I wasn’t entirely alone. Although I tried to keep it from her, Hannah knew what was happening to me and tried to help as best as she could. She spoke with me and helped reason through my troubling thoughts. Always knowing what to say, I could rely on her for a good word. Even though these issues were caused from the knowledge of her forthcoming absence, her current presence greatly helped.
Admiring a person can cause troubles and problems, but also help with such disturbances. When people allow friends to grow closer to them, their lives are affected in many ways and can sometimes change tremendously. Each thing a person does in life seeks a comforting stability and may weaken when that presence is taken away. Affection is a human feeling that fills the heart with passion and grants value to our lives. Relationships are the strongest fibers of our lives, pulling together our emotions and feelings with our actions and personalities, each thing affecting the other and allowing us to truly live.
Writing enables one to express the many thoughts and images that emerge from his or her mind onto paper to transfer into the mind of another. From sheer words upon paper, entire worlds can be created and characters can be born. This power may seem minor to others, while some realize the true value of it. Nicholas Taylor is one of those who has become amazed by this ability and has been improving upon this skill over the years.
Nick, currently a junior attending Minot High School, feels confident and interested in his writing. He rested in his desk relaxed and slightly reclined while curling his fingers over his scruffy chin as he explained to me. He knows he has improved greatly from the simple stories that he said “were completely void of good writing techniques.” Writing through the years, he has never lost that special interest in allowing words to escape from his mind and appear before him for others to read, which he discovered when he was in the sixth grade. The ability to create new things and express his ideas amazed him and encouraged him to read other authors’ works to learn and let his talent grow. Writing will always be a part of Nick’s life, continuously expanding and blossoming.
When it comes to writing, the words mean nothing when there isn’t an important idea behind them. Nick feels that he has many elaborate ideas within his mind, but can’t always seem to execute them well on paper, admitting to sometimes using names for characters more than once. Sometimes he will write in the first person, never giving much information about the character itself, such as the name, and concentrating more on the story and the basic idea. Being able to create things with words was the fascination that led Nick to writing when he was younger and still holds him in its enticing grasp. Although he feels the writing is a useful way to express his ideas, he does not usually portray himself through his characters or base his stories on experiences. Instead of writing through emotion and personal experience, Nick tends to write through his imagination and thoughts alone. “I do not want to sound sappy,” he stated with a strong, clear, and confident voice, his mouth, as usual, slightly pulled to the right showing his pointed incisor. In his writings, each setting, every character, and all the happenings have emerged from his mind.
Writing a few times a week, although he would like to write more often, Nick most often arranges short stories and poems with his own personal mood and tone. He prefers the first person style of writing and finds himself writing in first person most often. Usually jotting his ideas into a notebook first, he then evaluates on the new creations over a keyboard with music sometimes playing along with the clacking of the keys; a duet aiding the flow of his words.
Being able to bring something into the world that has never been introduced before is a different concept which Nick enjoys. He is interested in original ideas and stories that avoid clichés. Overused plots, characters, settings, and creatures annoy him and distract him from the piece itself. He tries to stray from clichés in his own writing and will only write what could only reside in his own mind. He also feels that he can rate his own writing well and knows what’s well-written and what needs work. He sets extremely high standards for himself and instantly begins fixing any flaws in his writing. Although he generally likes what he writes, he feels that there is always something for him to learn and an area in which he can become better.
Writing not only interests Nick as a hobby, but also as a career choice and has seeped into his plans for the future. He plans to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for Creative Writing to perfect his talents and help him excel as a writer. It would be his dream to self-publish a book of short stories and later write scripts for other major passions in his life such as video games and manga, Japanese comic books. By combining his skills with his interests, Nick would like to form a substantial life that can support him well and give him something to enjoy.
As Nick is a well-balanced person, he keeps his interests and his work in order all throughout his life. Never forgetting the past and how far he has come from it while keeping a watchful and planning eye on the future, he always has a firm grasp on his life, especially in his writing. He has improved greatly and plans to continue doing so, hopefully making a living out of it. This great passion that Nick Taylor has will always be with him, his love of creating new things and sharing them with others through the English language never dying out.
As you glance at your watch, you find that it’s almost time to start heading for work. After dumping the newspaper that you had been reading into the garbage can beside you, you rush to your car and drive to the nearest convenience store to pick up your daily dose of Diet Coke. After consuming your beverage, you dump the empty plastic bottle along with the thin shopping bag it came in. After work, you pull into a gas station to fill up your close-to-empty tank and grumble at the high prices. Purchasing another snack while throwing away the wrapper and shopping bag, you find that the tax has risen and even all of the prices are a bit higher than before. To prevent this conflict from arising, communities should enforce recycling programs which help the economy, preserve the environment, and benefit the inhabitants.
Although most people understand the basic meaning of friendship, they may not comprehend the deeper ideas associated with it. Most simply think of friendship as a social idea, usually with people who are fond of each other and spend much of their time together. By relating friendship to fire, it can be more easily understood.
When imagining fire, thoughts of flames the colors of autumn licking at the sky arise immediately, although there are deeper ideas to the element. With its welcome and warm, inviting touch against one’s face it can offer comfort and protection to those in need. While offering security, fire will always light the way and can sometimes bring back that flicker of hope a person so desperately searches for. Even though people find it helpful almost everyday with cooking, heating, and lighting, fire can also be hurtful at times, turning against man, burning those who misuse it, and unexpectedly causing pain to those who trusted it. A great deal of dedication and work must be put in to keep a fire lit. When in a fragile and weak state, fire can unexpectedly go out with a slight gust of wind but when carefully built up it may strongly rage on, standing up against any who tries to extinguish it. The first flames may come unexpectedly or may have required much perseverance and desire to achieve them. Ranging in size and power, each fire is unique and capable of unexpected changes that must constantly be monitored.
Dedication must be put into a friendship to keep it burning to benefit from its pleasures. When treated right, a friend can supply warmth, compassion, and love. Friends will usually give protection and will try to help each other out whenever one is in need. Welcoming and inviting they are normally fun to be around and help bring joy to each other. Friendship can shine brightly, keeping hope in sight through difficult times and make life easier to bear. Friendships can sometimes go wrong, though. A friend may turn on another for reasons unknown or may have never been a friend before. Friends can seem to disappear in times of need and destroy a person’s hope, smothering him to the ground. A friend may do something hurtful, sometimes meaning to and sometimes not, and a friendship can go bad when mistreated. Friendships can struggle and go through weak and vulnerable times allowing them to die out or when not given up on, they can continue a true bond for many years. When the friendship is going strong, the friends tend to stand up for each other, stubbornly refusing to give in and will try to block and shield each other from the horrors of the world. Friendships can unexpectedly build quickly, but most take time and effort to build up. How much effort and love is put into them determines the bond between the people and that bond will constantly flicker and waver, allowing a change to suddenly happen. Friendships can come and go, grow and fade, brighten and sadden.
When thinking of a friendship similar to a burning fire, one may come to comprehend the idea in a different way. Understanding the fragile flickering of the relationship, a person may be more cautious to damage the bond and may come to enjoy the benefits more. Only when a determined person works at keeping a friendship ablaze can it burn strong and continue to provide warmth, comfort, security, and protection. When mistreated, it can cause pain and destroy lives just as a wildfire would. As long as each person continues to generously throw another woodblock into the fire, friendships can continue to shine brightly.
“The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare
“Glad that you thus continue your resolve / To suck the sweets of sweet philosophy” (Act 1 Scene 1 lines 27-28.) While most may not understand what Tranio, the loyal servant of Lucentio from William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, was saying to his master, most do understand the meaning of “fun.” No matter what the century, man has always fed his craving for entertainment. Even when work must be done and the opportunity of knowledge is in hand, recreation still holds its firm grip on the mind. At times, the value of fun is held higher than that of education and duty. Even relationships are considered more important than education at times. Today, one can still see this in the number of married people who attend college and those who drop out of high school for relationship-related issues. It is not uncommon for relationships to affect future college plans. As history continues on, man’s love of relaxation and entertainment are carried with it.