The Holden Caulfield in all of us

                Holden Caulfield is quite an interesting character. Today many people have said the charter is truly a portrayal of teenagers and adults. Holden appears to be a brutally honest, harmless, average person. I feel that Holden displays what all of hide sometimes: ourselves. Even though Holden is a contradiction to his contradictions he is the youthfulness and childhood in all of us. Holden is a young man who doesn’t have the picture perfect family life with the white picket fence, dog mom who cooks dinner everyday and dad who comes to all of his baseball games, but really who does?! Holden whines about this at the beginning of the novel and we can all be sympathize with him, but I feel that he just highlights what all of us feel sometimes. Holden has trouble identifying with others and this is because he can’t identify with himself. He is searching for the “lack of phoniness” and the person who is “true” to themselves and what they believe in but he himself doesn’t reach these standards. He is quite like us today we have such high or maybe low expectations that when we don’t get what we think we should then its wrong, when the truth could be we just aren’t willing to except something different.

                One thing I like about Holden is loyal no matter what. Holden protects and cares for the people he wants to shield from the phonies and this I appreciate. Holden adores his sister (Phoebe) and Jane for reasons. He likes that they seem to be innocent and loving. Because they are so blameless they haven’t had the opportunity to be corrupted by the evil doing and doers of the world. Holden can also be very judgmental towards others at times or as I like to call it a “special critical analyst of charters and characterizations”. But, I feel this is only Holden’s personal right, he judges people based on what he feels is right and goes on that. This is very understandable, we all do it we judge the teenage girl who’s pregnant, or the 45 year old woman who isn’t married, or the weird girl who despises pop music and wears blue lip stick. That is how we get to know people, we make assumptions and we guess and then we choose whether we like people or not.

                The “Holden” in all of us comes out everyday. We can all relate to him even his despises for liars when he is almost a professional liar, or his lack of respect and approbation for school. Holden’s character is a small piece of reflection peering back at us from the pages of The Catcher in the Rye. So, judgmental, opinionated, selfish, shy, concerned, over-protectors, whiners LET THE HOLDEN IN YOU OUT!

Direction the Class Needs

Fifth period English happens to be my favorite class this year. We have diverse class members, thoughts, and perspectives. In the class we discuss morals, goals and how they apply to our daily lives. I feel that we are headed in the right direction, and that understands ourselves and the world around us better. Mr. McCarthy leads us to the path often and inspires us to think and ponder what, who, where, when and possibly how. I feel that more people could be involved in our class discussions (but I do know that participation is a personal thing). I also like the fact that we have one day out of the week to read a separate book form classwork, this helps us with our vocabulary, and builds our personal library of books.

The class also is the interesting in the way that we talk and discuss several subjects. We aren’t just limited to American English and we are also challenged to think outside the norm. Another thing that I would like to incorporate in class would be more in depth discussions on current events and historical events and how they link to whatever we are learning about. We do usually cover what some historical background on whatever topic we are on but I think it would be nice to study more in depth what and how events link one to another. Also when we do group work I also think sometimes we should be assigned groups that way we get to know our classmates better and we aren’t always working with the same people. So far this year I think our class has accomplished a lot and we have set our selves up for numerous achievements and successes and I can’t wait to see what else is in store!

My "Little Red Hunting Hat

            I think that I am a very unique person but, one thing that I love about myself is my willingness to say what I feel and think outside and inside the boxJ. Since I have such splendid and emblematic thoughts it inspired me to write and that’s what I do. So I feel my writing (creative thoughts) is my red hunting hat. I ALWAYS have something to say, if you have a question I have an answer. And I usually don’t care what other s think of what I think (not to be egoistical) I just have a lot of confidence and I’m very hard to persuade once I have my mind made up.

Even though this can sometimes be considered a flaw I feel that if I don’t speak up no one will so I don’t sit around and wait for others to take actions, I lead the way. Also who can better express my thoughts than me?

            The color red is also a great color to consider with me because I’m very bold and I can sometimes be very dangerous (LOL) even to myself. I know that sometimes I’m my own worst enemy and since I love to think I tend to over think things, but one in all I count my thoughts as a premeditated blessing from God. I want to attend college to become a doctor and I also want a law degree, so I know my talking and thoughts (red hunting hat) will come in handy, one day. I feel my ultimate duty is to help spread truth, love, compassion, knowledge and of course the wealth of my opinion and the power of opinions.

(Below I have posted a few poems of mine just to share what I think about sometimes hope you enjoy J)

Ignorant Bliss

(Ignorant people, ignorant people…this one goes out to all the ignorant people)

Someone once told me that ignorance is bliss

But I’m wondering when that happened…

How could it be?

What did I miss?

Uniformed, inconsiderate, rude thing ignorance is

The bliss part….well I’m confused on how that came in

There’s a thin line between the truth and ignorance

And we stand on one side or another

Ignorant bliss is a total contradiction

It is what it is

Self-conscious stupidity

I’m pissed at the ugliness you ignorant blissful people bestow

So I feel it’s about time I let everybody know

Ignorance is Not bliss

Scrapping the bottom of the pudding cup

Too scared and senseless to even look up

No I can’t handle lies

But y’all not ready for the truth

The sincerity of ignorance is real

The ignorance that lies, deceives and kills

Reality is ignorance is a choice…you choose

Ignorant bliss or truth in the exactness

So to all my ignorant people who are out there listening?

Tell really, how does ignorant bliss feel?

Untitled

Ssh…listen.

Raped thoughts, murdered love

Guilty hearts, sorrowed souls…..deadly condemnations

Lost respect, cold hard honesty

But, what if it could all be changed?

The past the future.

Pain, love, joy, pleasure, deceit, courage.

Or are they all one in the same…?

If the past could be changed it would already be done

Love gained, battles fought, wars won

If the past was in your control, what would you do?

Would love be stale, affections mild?

Could you forgive, forget?

Save a life, make a threat, build a dream, start over apologize?

Use the future as a gift…..nothing more and nothing less.

Guinness thoughts, bold perspective, endless possibilities and new beginnings.

Ssh…..listen.

thankful for a classmate

Outspoken, well read and funny. I am thankful to have Kirkland in my American lit. class. Kirkland has very insightful things to say and he also thinks outside the norm i appreciate this because, I’m so used to people doing and saying the same things its nice to have someone who doesn't mind speaking what they feel. Kirkland is also has a very unique personality, though a know several people who think Kirkland is annoying, he feel that he is just being himself and that is what draws me to listen and appreciate  him. He doesn't seem to care that other people dislike many things he says. I appreciate Kirkland’s open and opinionated statements. Considering myself as an outspoken person I enjoy listening and pondering other outspoken perosns thoughts.

Another person that I am especially thankful for is Mr. McCarthy. Since the first day of school I knew that he would be my favorite teacher and I would enjoy his class. And he has not disappointed me yet. I enjoy listening to Mr. McCarthy’s lectures and lessons. He challenges me to think outside the box and this helps me better evaluate me as a person, student, friend, daughter, sister etc. Mr. McCarthy is a very wise and educated man and I have nothing but great things to say about him. 20 years from now I will look back and think on Mr. McCarthy as my teacher and I know I will look back and say that I am thankful to have had Mr. McCarthy in as my teacher.

The Road: View on Cormac McCarthy

          Cormac McCarthy describes a devastated, drained, raped society. There is no need for money, government or even phones, iPods etc.  I believe that Cormac McCarthy has some truth to the world he is describing, but I also think that there are ways to prevent the world from collapsing.

Human greed, personal issues and lack of respect for the environment and world around us is the cause for the world’s destruction. Mr. McCarthy explicitly describes the effects from those things but he doesn’t really describe the causes.  I think in order to fix any problem you must know the cause. Cormac McCarthy does shine a ray of hope several times in the book, but he leaves a lot up to the imagination. I agree with him on several things how dangerous and desperate times lead humans to do desperate and dangerous things. He does a good job giving examples such as cannibalism, murdering and hunger.  The Road is a view into what the future can be for the human r ace, but it isn’t necessarily what is meant to be or destined for us.

father and son

Father & Son

A father is the man in a boy’s life who helps him define who he is and what he ought to be. A father is the significant on going symbol not only to his son but to the rest of the world. Since the beginning of time men have been in dominant power and have been the lead figures in life. In The Road the father is a protector, provider and stabilizer for his son. He will go any length and cost to protect his son. He even shoots a man who holds his son hostage leaving him with only 1 bullet left to protect them.

        Besides protecting his son’s life he protects his innocence in a cold world. He knows that not much is left so he shares with him bit by bit things he feels will be important to living. He even steps but to the plate after his wife abandons him and leaves him to care for himself and a child. It isn’t easy for him to forget the love of his life and pick up and start over. Instead of taking the tragedy of sorrow, death and poverty as a negative aspect of his life he learns form it and uses his experiences to pass on to his son.
        In The Road it is obvious that the son loves his father and looks up to him as a role model. He is young and is understandably full of questions, his father does his best to answer them and he doesn’t question his father he respects him. He also listens to what his father has to say and under the circumstances and conditions he is in he can be considered a grateful and admirable young boy. Leaving without a mother, TV, games, ipods, face book and twitter would all be deemed as hellish thing to live without. But the boy in The Road was thankful for simple things such as bed time stories and a coke. And superficial things no longer seemed significant such as money.
        The father and son in The Road exemplify the true meaning of what a man to boy 9father to son relationship should be like. Even with personal issues and the world around them they still find ways to enjoy life and move on from pain, this can truly be a humbling experience and anyone can take note from it

John Proctor, Hero or Stooge?

"Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story" -John Barth The definition to a hero is dependent upon one definition. A hero could be the guy who comes and saves the scared citizens from the evil villain or the smart guy who warns officials in time to save a town. But, I believe a hero is simple a person who stands up for what they believe in and embraces themselves and the human race. John Proctor is a respectable man who is bluntly honest and fair man. He is an example of what a protagonist who is a "perfectionist". John is a noble man, he of course despises hypocrisy, yet he is a hypocrite himself. This is not ironic because it is typical of humans to pick out flaws in others that they see in themselves. Striving to do everything "right" is what holds John back, as it is with several of the characters in The Crucible. To parallel with us in today’s society, people feel that they must fit in with the status quo or with what is popular. But this is what sometimes roadblock not only to life long success but with personal happiness. John in The Crucible constant tells his wife not to judge him, yet she clearly tells him that it is not she who is judging him but his conscience. He is so caught up with what the other citizens will think he can't forgive himself or Abigail for committing adultery. John Proctor is indeed, a hero he is a reflection of a genuine man in an unstable community. Though he has some difficulties “fitting in” he overcomes this and in the end does what he knows is right and proves he not only is an honest man but a hero.