Tell Tale Heart

Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart is a very creepy, but well written short story. I enjoyed reading the story. It is told from a first person point of view in the past tense. The story starts off with the narrator trying to convince the reader that he is not crazy. That right there is sign of being crazy. If that is one of the very first things being said, it usually means he is crazy. People who have to declare that they are not crazy usually are. People who have to make that kind of disclaimer are what they claim not to be. He is also crazy because his reasoning for killing the old man he lives with is the old man’s “Evil Eye.” The narrator is very fixated on that eye. Crazy people are also fixated on one thing most of the time. The narrator even says that the old man was always kind to him, never insulting, and never did him any harm. The only thing that bothered him was the eye. The narrator only wants to kill the old man to get rid of the eye. It takes him eight days to go through with it because the first seven days the old man sleeps peacefully, but awakes on the eighth. This is when the narrator proceeds to end the man’s life. He can also be crazy because he hears the old man’s heart after he is dead. This leads him to confessing to killing the old man to the police. The narrator of the  story is definitely crazy.

Neighborhood

            I live in the neighborhood commonly known as Andersonville-West Edgewater. I definitely live on the Northside of Chicago. The street my house is located on is

Olive Ave.

It is just North of Bryn Mawr (5600 North) and between Ravenswood (1800 West) and Hermitage (1700 West). My house is pretty much dead center in the middle on the North side of the street. My house considered to be the “Chicago Bungalow” style house.

There are many different families on my street and is very child friendly. Children range from eight months old to fifteen years old (which would be me). As the oldest minor on the street, I often baby-sit for the children on the block. I also baby-sit for a family that lives on the corner of Bryn Mawr and Hermitage.

Just a few weeks ago, our block had a “Progressive Dinner.” A progressive dinner is were different houses provide different courses of the meal. The dinner was mainly for adults and I got the job of watching ten children while they got to have their dinner party. Then dinner started off at my house for appetizers and then continued to the family who lives at Bryn Mawr and Hermitage for soup and salad.

After soup and salad, the parents left us to continue their dinner. For dinner, the parents ordered us pizza and we had cupcakes for desert. It was quite the experience to get all of them food to eat. The minute I would come out with seconds for one, another would be ready for some. After everyone was finally full, we proceeded to go to the basement to have a “giant sleepover.” Everyone settled in sleeping bags or on couches to watch the movie Megamind.

After the movie was over everyone was still awake, so I put on another movie. Everyone voted on watching Planet 51. After putting it on, the lights were turned off and popcorn was made. Once this happened, everyone settled down and watched the movie in peace and quiet.  About halfway through the movie, some were falling asleep and when the movie was almost over, the parents started coming back to pick up their children.

My neighborhood is a great neighborhood to live in. It is very child friendly and close. As from the statements above, it is pretty close that we are close. The adults like to get together and children all get along to have an eventful evening without arguments or nonsense going on.

Everybody Hurts

When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone,
When you're sure you've had enough of this life, well hang on
Don't let yourself go, 'cause everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes

Sometimes everything is wrong. Now it's time to sing along
When your day is night alone, (hold on, hold on)
If you feel like letting go, (hold on)
When you think you've had too much of this life, well hang on

'Cause everybody hurts. Take comfort in your friends
Everybody hurts. Don't throw your hand. Oh, no. Don't throw your hand
If you feel like you're alone, no, no, no, you are not alone

If you're on your own in this life, the days and nights are long,
When you think you've had too much of this life to hang on

Well, everybody hurts sometimes,
Everybody cries. And everybody hurts sometimes
And everybody hurts sometimes. So, hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on
Everybody hurts. You are not alone

~“Everybody Hurts”, R.E.M.

The literal meaning of the song poem is that whenever you are feeling lonely or sad, you can always count on your friends to help you out. They are always there to count on. The theme of the song is friendship and counting on others around to help you out. It explicitly stated theme. A metaphor in the song is “the night is yours alone” An image that I find is in the first line, “when the day is long and the night.” Both lines portray how the day can go on and you can still be alone. The speaker of the poem can be someone telling you advice. It could also be a higher power telling you or a friend. There are not any hyperboles in the poem.  However, it can address a person who could or could not be around the narrator. The language of the poem is pretty concrete. It is easy to understand and the message behind the song is clear. The song does not contradict itself at any point in the song. The word placement is pretty fluid. The song flows and there is not anything that is particularly out of place. The song is still relevant today because there are still people who can get lonely and need to lean on their friends for support. People should know that they have the option all the time look to their friends for support. It is a great song and the message behind it is a very important one that anyone can relate to.

Propaganda

In 2011, propaganda still exisits. Even though it may not seem as extreme as was in the past, it most deifintely still exists. It is seen in political, religous and social situations.  The propaganda of the past was often seen as a way to entice people into following the beliefs of certain groups. It was a way to make people think a certain person, group or idea was correct.  Today propaganda is not always as obvious as it was in the past. Propaganda in current times is often played out through the social media that exists today. Social networking sites such as Facebook encourage people to support causes. There are many Facebook pages encouraging people to support various causes such as cancer research, fundraising events, etc.  As recently as Januaury of this year, Facebook was the propaganda media source for the events that took place in Egypt.  The people of Egypt organized through Facebook and coordinated demonstrations in protest of the current government.  The propaganda displayed on the Facebook page encouraged people to participate in the demonstrations and the end result was resignation of the President of that country.  Various religious groups are also currently using propaganda to encourage people to continue participation in their group or to join their religious groups.  The propaganda is shown through the television ads as well as newsprint ads for these religious groups.  Propaganda most definitely is still in existance today and I imagine it will always be!

Black Boy

The novel Black Boy follows the life of Richard Wright as an autobiography. It follows what is going on the mind of Richard throughout his early years (when he is like four/five) to his twenties. He goes into great detail of things going on in the early twentieth century. When the reader is reading the beginning of the book, it seems a little unrealistic that a four/five year old was aware of all the terrible things happening and how he would know that doing certain things would get in trouble, but do it anyway. I think because he obviously wrote this when he was older that he wrote through the eyes of his current age and how he would think if the things were going on his present time. He writes beautifully and clear, don't get me wrong but, sometimes it is hard to believe that a four year old is very world consicous.

Hungry for Attention

Throughout Black Boy, Richard is getting into trouble often. He does stupid things such as lighting the curtains on fire which ended up burining down the house. He is also describes having this hunger. I think it is a hunger for attention. He is doing all of these things to get attention from someone. His family does not watch him all the time and he wants to be noticed. He has this need to noticed and wants people to pay attention to him. He needs people to see him. By doing stupid acts, he knows he will get reprimanded, but he gets noticed by it. It is the only way for him to be seen by his family and anyone else. Richard is kind of a attention hog. He needs to be noticed and says he has hunger for it. He is attention hungry and does things so that he can be noticed by someone.

King Still King?

King still King?

…I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today…
~Dr. Martin Luther King, August 28, 1963

These are the words of the speech we all know and have heard, bout how relevant are they still today?

In the year 2011, these words and Dr. King’s ideas are still relevant today. Over forty years ago he spoke these of equality and getting rid of discrimination. The words he spoke are still ones we need to abide by.

We all have to continue to live in a world were it does not matter what gender, the color of skin, etc. you are. We still have to live as one nation and one society. His words still play a part in how we as a nation function today.

As the days, months, and years go by, Dr. King’s words are still heard and read all the time. His speeches and teachings still influence us today to act as one. His words are always in our minds and how we need to be see the person by their personality, not the color of their skin.

No matter how many years go by, his words will still be very important and relevant to us as a nation.