MYSTERIES OF LIFE

Suicide
After-Life
Are aliens real?
The crazy culture of the internet age
Physics on black holes
Theres so many mysteries in life that I hope to know before I die.

WE EAT SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BREAKFAST

     The author of this essay shares his thought process through taking a picture. His argument is that even though the picture has lost a deep meaningful value does not mean that we can dismiss every picture that seems shallow. He effectively shows this through his use of diction, syntax, and rhetorical strategies.
     First the author tells us how taking a picture of food is almost impossible. He shows this by using internal monologue with himself in the process of taking the picture. He tells us what he thinks of those people that take pictures of their food, narcissists. The author then introduces his argument by asking us rhetorical questions. Why did he do this? To show us to ot be so quick to judge as he also falls prey to that as we saw in his internal monologue. Taking a picture does not have to be seen as narcissistic as the author finds out. He further develops this through how the internet is not seen as it actually is. The internet can be used in numerous ways. The author clearly has a personal connection to it all and he finally explains. To use the word "her" he can connect most of all his audience and we can understand the deeper meaning to the photo. Which takes us to the photo.
    Noe we know his overall interest in explaining us the meaning to the photo of his breakfast. The author then uses the word artifact to describe the term "photograph" to explain to us how fast it has revolutionized. The process of enjoying a photo has changed. He relives those moments of sharing photos and the nostalgia it brings him. The author concludes by saying that now the photos tell the story not the photo. Although it is ironic how this whole story came from one "narcissistic"looking photo.

ESSAY PRACTICE

Describe a place, conveying feeling through concrete and specific detail.

     Everyone has their own sanctuary. For most people a place that has meaning to them is mostly due to some memories or maybe just the environment. For me a place that has meaning to me is the trails and places that I have ran at. I have always appreciated the nature of the world and those places always trigger emotions from me. 

      When I wake up on a Sunday morning I step outside to the crisp morning air and just enjoy it. I put my running shoes on and grab some earbuds and I'm ready to go. I quickly find a trail that leads into areas surrounded with trees. Nothing but the joy of running in the refreshing morning surrounded by the very thing that provides oxygen. The texture under my feet changing since some trails go more off road. The loose sand kicking from my feet as I trudge through it trying my best to maintain pace. The elevation going up and down as I go up and down hills. The jog up hills is always slow and peaceful as I don't want to tire myself. Going downhill is another story as I just let myself go and feel the wind against my face as I pick up speed naturally. Places like these are essential for a great run

       On most Saturday mornings the ambiance to run is perfect. You start running and you see the life around you. Someone walking their dog or 2 people power walking and laughing. You are all on the same mission, to get distracted by the beauty of nature around you. The weather is perfect as well. The mornings are met with a chilly air but the sun is still shining on you. The air isn't hot enough to be suffocating but instead each breath feels like cold air entering and powering your lungs. 

ESSAY

Describe the difference in Ray Bradbury's tone with regard to Clarisse & Beatty. Support your analysis with examples of Bradbury's diction and detail.

      The yin and yang, night and day, dead and alive. In Farenheit 45, Ray Bradbury uses obvious contrasting details when describing Clarisse and Beatty. Throughout the story we see how contrasting these 2 characters are with how Bradbury uses diction and detail. We can describe Beatty as a wise but conformist man and Clarisse as a curious and care-free person.
    Clarisse is introduced as a silly girl. She approaches a fireman which most people would not since they burn stuff. Montag luckily is curious of this and rather listens to her. She has an interest in books and the "why?". Bradbury's reason to introduce her like this is to show us the pure innocence of being a curious human. With Clrrisse we can see how Montag also reacts to this. I is clear to us that Bradbury uses Clarisse to show us that Montag himself sees himself in Clarisse. Clarisse is still a teenager unknown to the reaality of the world around her.
     Beatty knows a lot but knows he is not the person to go against the government. He is seen as this knowledgeable person that Montag seems to be scared of. Beatty does things because he has to not because he likes to or thinks they are right. Bradbury uses Beatty to describe the conformists of society. They are not going to be te ones to stand up and will just let everything pass them. As we see in the end Montag comes to the realization that maybe Beatty wanted to die. Beatty probably knew to much but did not want to do anything about so the only solution would be death.
   

QUESTIONS I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT 451

1. To some people reading is not so enjoyable so burning insteadof reading them is a change some might like.
2. Books are compared to birds because they represent the freeedom of flying birds. They fly away wherever like books take you places.
3. Montag lives a mundane routine life while Clarrise is an innocent teenager that lives her life like she lives it. She might be considered foolish to be acting like that and Montag can be considered smart for simply adjusting to society. But Clarrise is having fun while Montag is not.
4. Technology controls their life just like it controls people's lives today. They want the newest T.V set or the newest model.

SHORT STORY

As I looked at it all I felt accomplished. It had a good run of several million years. It seems like the most successful of them all. I  look around and think it really is amazing what they can do together. Just the other day glaciers melted a little bit more. The water line has risen and many cities are submerged. The weather has been crazy with monsoons and tornadoes so I know the end is near. I really thought they were on track to saving it but it seems not. There was some close calls. They actually built weaponry to wipe themselves out several times over but it never came to that. The one slip-up was no one seemed to care about the environment. Another failed earth but we have gathered great intelligence from them. Hopefully the next one is successful. (i am not finished)

WHAT I SEE IN LITERATURE

In Prufrock we very much see this tone of dark sinister bottom rut life. This Prufrock has no self esteem and puts himself under the scrutiny of others. There is imagery to this with him saying he is under the pin and being judged upon by others. It is very effective because it makes you have that feeling of uncomfortness. Just imagining you're being judged like that by others is not great. Feeling like a worthless bug under judgment, some good imagery.

CAN WE WATCH THE MOVIE?

First I have to point out that I am surprised I had not seen the Great Gatsby movie. The old one or the new one. I like that we are watching the old one because it is closer to the real time the book was written in. Often movies are really different from the books so it is also a good thing we read the book before watching the movie. It sucks even knowing who the actors are that play them in the movie because when you are reading the book, now you have a mental image of the actor (at least for me) and not of what your mind thought when the author described them. The first shots of the movie show Gatsby's huge but empty house. It is really mysterious and for people knowing nothing of the book it is perfect to set them up for the mystery. We then see Nick crossing the sea in a boat chasing his hat. There are other much bigger boats in the sea so we get to see are introduced to the snobby rich folk of East Egg. I will have to see more of the movie now.

GATSBY LOVES DAISY

Call him selfish but he's doing it out of love! You can't stop a determined man. His mind is set.

THE GREAT GATSBY

Chapter 1.
Q1. Are Miss Baker and Daisy introduced in a lazy way?
Q2. Why would Nick's past make him feel distant from others?

Chapter 2.
Q1. Culture in the 20's can be seen how in this chapter?
Q2. What events could have anticipated Tom hitting Myrtle?

Chapter 3.
Q1. Describe Gatsby's party in 3 words?
Q2. From where does Gatsby say he recognizes Nick?

Chapter 4.
Q1. From what Jordan says, can we infer that Daisy and Gatsby have a romantic past?
Q2. What is the significance with Gatsby having attented Oxford?

GATSBY CH4

Gatsby tells Nick about his past. He tells him how he became so rich and where he's from. Gatsby also mentions about his war time. I do belive Gatsby because it doesn't seem that much of a stretch. The story Jordan tells Nick is interesting. So Gatsby and Daisy could have had a thing in the past but Tom came in? The story sure is getting thrilling.

GATSBY REMIX CH3

What a great party I'm thinking,

Artists were there with great singing,

But I see the party is not over,

Couple cars honking & yelling move over,

I see an accident has taken place,

The people around asking "Whats the case?"
I leave the commotion and think about the night, 

How Gatsby invited all these people to feel alright, 

Curiosity and intrigue washes past me,

I just want to know a little more about Gatsby

GATSBY REMIX

"Civilization is going to pieces," broke out good Tom violently. I've gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things. Have you read 'The Fault In Our Stars' by this man Greene. " Why no," I answered rather surprised by his tone. " Well it is a heartbreaking book and everyone should read it. The idea is if we don't be careful  two teenagers fall in love with each other and there is a major plot twist in which one of them dies.It's all high school stuff."

GATSBY 2

MY BIG QUESTION

What do we as humans always want more or desire more? That is my big question. It ties in with my question of "why money can't buy happiness". Why if you would have all the money you want, would you not be happy. A lot of adults take on new jobs even though they have a steady paying job? So why risk it? I know half the answer: because taking a risk is just more fun than staying complacent. We all want to be better us. I have experience with this.
          I run cross-country and track for my school. When I started I was at the bottom of the "fast people" pyramid so I trained. Now you can say I rose and have beaten all the people on my team. Never did I think I was going to be where I am at and I thought if I was, I would be happy. Well I am happy to be here but not fully satisfied. Now I have bigger goals and I know that those goals are achievable. So when I do reach those goals, I am still not going to be happy. It is just the human drive. I am never going to be completely satisfied with my current situation. It doesn't make me mad, it just fuels my hunger for being a better me.
      School is the same thing. A 4.0 gpa was once my dream. But little did I know there was all these AP classes. It's funny last year as a sophomore I got a 4.19 gpa and I had been hearing all these things about the scary junior year. Well I lived it last year and it sure was scary. I did it though. I received straight A's on my transcript. (I got a B in AP US History but the teacher gives you an opportunity to change it) It was very stressing and I could've at any time said "fuck it it is the school system that sucks"but that is not me. My second report I had 2 B's which would mean that I would get the same gpa as my sophomore year. The whole rest of the semester I was working really hard to not get that when that is a perfectly good gpa. That was my drive the whole semester.
      To further my investigation on this question I will be reading up on interesting articles about motivation. Maybe i will be more motivated by reading on how we stay motivated

MUSIC AS LITERATURE

Music is literature. It is a whole other genre of literature. It is a branch which in itself has other branches. Music tells us a story. Maybe the composer was feeling strong emotions when he wrote the song so the song is that much stronger. I love hearing stories in my music. Rap is something that really can tell a story because of the way it is structured. There is "bars" or lines. I have listened to Kendrick Lamar's Good kid Maad City multiple times because of the story. The music paints a good story of a young Kendrick Lamar being exposed to the streets. I have listened to other "concept" albums but I feel Kendrick did such a perfect job with that album. Other genres of music tell music in another way. Symphonies is a collection of instruments being put together. It shows how these instruments were put together and how they sound. Music is great literature.

HELLO 2017!

        I have gained great knowledge on how to be successful. Last year January I did not have much going on. I was not stressing so much but this year is really different. At least now I feel that I can balance more of it out. Also with my big question focusing on motivation, I can have better insight to take that intrinsic motivation I have and use it. With the years going by I need to prepare and be ready for the big things in life.