Money, family, property and respect, all can be cateforized under the idea of "The American Dream". To me The American Dream is merely a life long goal that is ideal for the average american. It is something that can be said to be unattainable, or unappreciated once it has been reached. Throughtout this year in english class I have looked at many books that deal with the american dream such as "The Great Gatsby", by F. Scott Fitzgerald and "Death of a Salesman", by arthur miller. Within both of these pieces of writing are examples that support the two ideas of the american dream that it is either unnatainable, or unnapreciated.
The idea that the american is unattainable can be seen through various examples of both books "The Great Gatsby", and "Death of a Salesman". An example from "The Great Gatsby" that supports this idea is how once Jay Gatsby attains his wealth and popularity and respect, he can still not gain the affection of his one true love. This shows how one can be incredibly succesful yet still not be happy, implying that the american dream is unattainable. A point of evidence from "Death of a Salesmen" that supports this idea is Biff Lowman. Biff was extremely popular and athletic in school, thinking he would become very succesful one day, but when he finally does grow up he realizes that his priorities were out of order. This shows that no matter how succesful you think you will be, you never know how things will actually turn out in you're future.
My theory that the american dream is unnapreciated once it has been reached is also supported in the two Books "The Great Gatsby", and "Death of a Salesman". In "Death of a Salesman", Willy Lowman was very happy at one point in his life, when his children were in highschool, yet he took for granted the happiness and level of satisfaction his family had. I feel that the happiness that the Lowmans had at one point was just as good as attaining the american dream and they just let it fly right by them. An example from "The Great Gatsby" that supports this idea is the way Jay Gatsby does not appreciate any of his money and throws it away on ridiculous parties and unnesesary items just to impress Daisy. This shows that his succesfulness was not appreciated and he would throw it all away for one thing, love.
Both books "The Great Gatsby", and "Death of a Salesman", do support these two negative ideas about the american dream, but this does not mean that the american dream is all bad. Both novels also tell of solid examples that reflect upon the idea of the american dream positively. An example from "Death of a Salesman", that supports this idea is how Willy Lowman does recal certain aspects and memories of his younger life as being hapy and succesful. This can show that one may be able to attain complete happines (Which can be seen as attaining the american dream), and just not notice their happiness. An aspect from "The Great Gatsby" that supports the american dream positively is how Jay Gatsby's success did bring him closer to capturing the love of his life. Although Daisy did not fall for him in the end, he did get a lot closer rather than if he was not succesful.
In closing, there are many ways one can view the ideas of the ideal "American Dream", but the two ways that i feel most repeated and renounced are the two ideas that the american dream is either unattainable or even worse, unnapreciated. Both ideas can be seen proven true through examples of the two books "The Great Gatsby", by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller. No matter how succesful one can become or how close one may get to the american dream, theres only one factor that maters in the end, one factor that determines how the rest of ones life is going to turn out, that factor is happiness.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Indentify your best piece of writing.
Over this year I have submited many pieces of writing to my english class, some good, some bad, but everything that i write only makes me a better writer. No matter how boring or unwell-written a piece of my writing is, it can only help me in understanding corrections needed to be added to help progress my writing skills. A great example of a piece of writing that has helped my progression as a writer is an un-named short story that I wrote for a final novel assignment. The story is about my eventful year of ninth grade and the choices one undertakes during their adjustment from middle school to highschool. I did excellent on the piece, recieving an A + and only possitive comments from my teacher Mr. Brannigan. I don't only consider this my best piece of writing because of the grade i recieved, but also because of the passion and imagery i used in writing this piece. Considering the story was about actual events that i personally went through, such as first encounters with drugs and hanging out with an older crowd of kids, it was very easy to write this piece. I used a process of basic memories to write this piece, meaning that i simply recalled my freshman year and put the main events in the story using wonderful imagery, such as the way i described the places and people i encountered during the story, which coveyed the emotions i was undergoing during my actual ninth grade year. The only challenge i had during writing this piece was trying to decide whether i wanted to tell exactly what happened or switch up the events a little. In the end i felt that telling the readers everything for truth would help convey my emotions better. My favorite line of this piece is the first sentence, "C'mon Danny get in the car, it's my brother's friend it'll be fine." This is my favorite line in the story because it deffinately catches the reader's attention and it also shows the main idea of the story, which is young children entering highschool and going through a phase of peer pressure. Overall this piece of writing means very much to me and shows much about the type of writer that i am and have become over this year. I am very proud of my writing.
how do you think you have grown as a reader in the past year? what have you discovered about yourself as a reader.
Being a reader holds much responsibility, in order to progress as a reader, one must first want to be as responsible as it takes. I feel that in the past year, i have grown greatly as a reader and that it shows through my reading. Not only does my progression in reading show through my reading, but it also reflects how am I am as a person. There are mutliple ways that I have grown as a reader and they all add up to my overall progression. I owe all of my progression as a reader to all the training and practice i have practiced in English 11R with Mr. Brannigan through out this whole year. An example of a way that i have advanced as a reader is the way i interpret vocabulary words that i do not recognize in my reading, meaning that instead of skipping over unknown words, i now look up the words either through the internet or dictionary. After identifying the definition of the words, i then re-read the passage. This gives me a much greater understanding for what I am reading. One more example of how I have grown as a reader is my note taking skills. Before this year I would normally read the book and hope to remember the important elements of the story, but now i can be assured that any information from the story that i may need after completing the book, I'll have written down in my notes and be able to look back at them. Along with my advance of reading skills, this year has also taught me alot about myself as a reader. The most important thing that i have discovered about myself as a reader, is that the more I commit my self to my reading, the more my reading will commit itself to me. This simply means that the more effort i put into trying to understand what I am reading, The more I will actually understand it. Overall this year has done more than i could ever imagine for my reading skills and i greatly appreciate the progression this year's english class and Mr. Brannigan have given me.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
vocab
Ordinary People Vocab 27-Epologue
Inexplicable: Unable to be explained or justified. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: Mystifying Antonym: Explicable (230) “For some inexplicable reason he was left out of this.”
Intermediaries: Somebody who carries messages between people. Part of Speech: Noun Synonym: Mediators Antonym: Partisan (235) “Intermediaries. She would not look at him all night.”
Manipulate: To change or present something in a way that is false but personally advantageous. Part of Speech: Transitive verb Synonym: Influence Antonym: Leave alone (238) “I just know how people try to manipulate other people.”
Indispensable: Not to be done without. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: Crucial Antonym: Dispensable (241) “The indispensable man, huh?”
Inundated: To overwhelm somebody with a huge quantity of things that must be dealt with. Part of Speech: Transitive verb Synonym: Hectic Antonym: Idle (242) “He is inundated with Howardisms suddenly; all true, those old and wrinkled maxims, proverbs, cliches.”
Maxims: A general rule, principle, or truth. Part of Speech: Noun Synonym: saying Antonym: Not saying (242) “He is inundated with Howardisms suddenly; all true, those old and wrinkled maxims, proverbs, clichés.”
Impromptu: Not prepared or planned in advance. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: Spur-of-the-moment Antonym: Prepared (242) “or maybe it was his description of the impromptu picnic on the school lawn in thirty- degree weather, to celebrate the coming of spring.”
Rapturous: To be in a state of excited peace and luxury. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: Euphoric Antonym: Depressed (245) “Rapturous. Passionate. Use those.”
Assimilation: The process of becoming part of or more like something greater. Part of Speech: Noun Synonym: Incorporation Antonym: Nonconformity (247) “Data for assimilation, but later, later.”
Dilute: To water down or make less concentrated. Part of Speech: Verb Synonym: Offset Antonym: Increase (250) “He doesn’t want to dilute that first powerful moment, wants to lie still, thinking about it.”
Rebuke: To criticize or reprimand somebody, usually sharply. Part of Speech: Transitive verb Synonym: Give a talking-to Antonym: Praise (252) “Rebuke. Revelation. But it all falls between them.”
Indecorous: Somewhat rude or shocking because of being considered socially unacceptable. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: Ill-mannered Antonym: Polite (254) “he would never even presume to lay an indecorous hand on her breast in those days”
Benediction: An expression of approval or good wishes Part of Speech: Noun Synonym: Sanction Antonym: Disapproval (260) “Berger had raised his arms in the familiar gesture of confusion and benediction: Listen, you’re my prized pupil, you know that?”
Inexplicable: Unable to be explained or justified. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: Mystifying Antonym: Explicable (230) “For some inexplicable reason he was left out of this.”
Intermediaries: Somebody who carries messages between people. Part of Speech: Noun Synonym: Mediators Antonym: Partisan (235) “Intermediaries. She would not look at him all night.”
Manipulate: To change or present something in a way that is false but personally advantageous. Part of Speech: Transitive verb Synonym: Influence Antonym: Leave alone (238) “I just know how people try to manipulate other people.”
Indispensable: Not to be done without. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: Crucial Antonym: Dispensable (241) “The indispensable man, huh?”
Inundated: To overwhelm somebody with a huge quantity of things that must be dealt with. Part of Speech: Transitive verb Synonym: Hectic Antonym: Idle (242) “He is inundated with Howardisms suddenly; all true, those old and wrinkled maxims, proverbs, cliches.”
Maxims: A general rule, principle, or truth. Part of Speech: Noun Synonym: saying Antonym: Not saying (242) “He is inundated with Howardisms suddenly; all true, those old and wrinkled maxims, proverbs, clichés.”
Impromptu: Not prepared or planned in advance. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: Spur-of-the-moment Antonym: Prepared (242) “or maybe it was his description of the impromptu picnic on the school lawn in thirty- degree weather, to celebrate the coming of spring.”
Rapturous: To be in a state of excited peace and luxury. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: Euphoric Antonym: Depressed (245) “Rapturous. Passionate. Use those.”
Assimilation: The process of becoming part of or more like something greater. Part of Speech: Noun Synonym: Incorporation Antonym: Nonconformity (247) “Data for assimilation, but later, later.”
Dilute: To water down or make less concentrated. Part of Speech: Verb Synonym: Offset Antonym: Increase (250) “He doesn’t want to dilute that first powerful moment, wants to lie still, thinking about it.”
Rebuke: To criticize or reprimand somebody, usually sharply. Part of Speech: Transitive verb Synonym: Give a talking-to Antonym: Praise (252) “Rebuke. Revelation. But it all falls between them.”
Indecorous: Somewhat rude or shocking because of being considered socially unacceptable. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: Ill-mannered Antonym: Polite (254) “he would never even presume to lay an indecorous hand on her breast in those days”
Benediction: An expression of approval or good wishes Part of Speech: Noun Synonym: Sanction Antonym: Disapproval (260) “Berger had raised his arms in the familiar gesture of confusion and benediction: Listen, you’re my prized pupil, you know that?”
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
English Nonfiction Assignment
Danny Feiler April 15th, 2009
"Lindsay Lohan Talks To Us" :Suicide Fears
Written dy Kevin O'leary with reportings by Natalie Thomas
April 20th 2009
The article that I have chosen to do my report on, "Suicide Fears", is about Lindsay Lohan's feared suicidal tendencies. Lohan's role in hanging around a new friend, along with the stress and bad influence that came along with her new friend, all added up to a very serious state of depression that soon began turning heads. Lohan's depression began creating fear that she may be suicidal.
According to the article the source of Lohan's depression and lean towards suicide is the time spent with specific actress friend Samantha(last name not given). From when Lindsay and Samantha first started spending time together Lohan began spiraling downward. As stated in the article Lohan was charged with a DUI around the period that she began hanging around Samantha. On top of the DUI, Lohan also was enrolled in rehab. Once let out of rehab, it was said that Lohan turned from drugs, to Samantha, meaning that instead of making stupid decisisions by taking drugs, she began making stupid desisions by hanging around her new friend Samantha.
Lindsay's Friend Samantha was said to have tried to end their friendship but this only made matters worse. Samantha stated that every time she tries to end their friendship, "Lindsay threatens to kill herself".
A said to be close friend of Lohan also stated "She needs to get help because she could harm herself", this statement to me, sums up the drama that has been going on in Lohan's life. Lindsay's reactions to the accusations of her being suicidal were that she is doing fine and she is working with her mother and sister. She says that she is hurt by the relationship shared with her and Samantha but is not depresed or in danger of hurting herself, but merely hurt and insulted.
Some vocabulary words that gave me trouble while reading this article were "garnered", and "turmoil". Through the online resource of Dictionary.com, I've figured out that garnered means to be stored and that turmoil means a state of great commotion, confusion, or disturbance. To give myself a better understanding of these words i used Dictionary.com to find the parts of speeches, synonyms, and antonyms of both words. The part of speech for turmoil is noun, synonyms are turbulence, disorder, and uproar, and antonyms are order and quiet. For the word garnered, the part of speech is adjective, a synonym is stored, and an antonym is released.
I feel that the main point of this article was to try to prove that Lindsay Lohan is indeed showing signs of being suicidal. I feel that this is the main point because the author uses examples that support Lohan's downfall such as trips to rehab and DUIs and then tries to convince the readers that she is in danger of harming herself by using quotes from Lohan's "close friend" saying she has threatened to kill herself before.
One point of this piece that I did agree with was how the author points out Lohan being suicidal because from the examples he used to persuade the readers that she is suicidal, i also feel that she is in danger of harming herself.
A point of this article that I found difficult to believe was where Lohan claimed to be doing fine in life by taking care of herself and spending time with her family. I found this hard to believe because i don't feel that someone in bad of shape as Lohan was can just recover from that kind of depression without any help.
I thought that this article was a very well-written and developed piece of writing. This article gave me a whole new view on reasons people may have for suicide, it made me realize that every suicidal person has different reasons for being suicidal, and more importantly it isn't just something happening in someones life that causes depression and possible suicide, but it is how people deal differently with events going on in their lives that influence their depression and possible suicide.
"Lindsay Lohan Talks To Us" :Suicide Fears
Written dy Kevin O'leary with reportings by Natalie Thomas
April 20th 2009
The article that I have chosen to do my report on, "Suicide Fears", is about Lindsay Lohan's feared suicidal tendencies. Lohan's role in hanging around a new friend, along with the stress and bad influence that came along with her new friend, all added up to a very serious state of depression that soon began turning heads. Lohan's depression began creating fear that she may be suicidal.
According to the article the source of Lohan's depression and lean towards suicide is the time spent with specific actress friend Samantha(last name not given). From when Lindsay and Samantha first started spending time together Lohan began spiraling downward. As stated in the article Lohan was charged with a DUI around the period that she began hanging around Samantha. On top of the DUI, Lohan also was enrolled in rehab. Once let out of rehab, it was said that Lohan turned from drugs, to Samantha, meaning that instead of making stupid decisisions by taking drugs, she began making stupid desisions by hanging around her new friend Samantha.
Lindsay's Friend Samantha was said to have tried to end their friendship but this only made matters worse. Samantha stated that every time she tries to end their friendship, "Lindsay threatens to kill herself".
A said to be close friend of Lohan also stated "She needs to get help because she could harm herself", this statement to me, sums up the drama that has been going on in Lohan's life. Lindsay's reactions to the accusations of her being suicidal were that she is doing fine and she is working with her mother and sister. She says that she is hurt by the relationship shared with her and Samantha but is not depresed or in danger of hurting herself, but merely hurt and insulted.
Some vocabulary words that gave me trouble while reading this article were "garnered", and "turmoil". Through the online resource of Dictionary.com, I've figured out that garnered means to be stored and that turmoil means a state of great commotion, confusion, or disturbance. To give myself a better understanding of these words i used Dictionary.com to find the parts of speeches, synonyms, and antonyms of both words. The part of speech for turmoil is noun, synonyms are turbulence, disorder, and uproar, and antonyms are order and quiet. For the word garnered, the part of speech is adjective, a synonym is stored, and an antonym is released.
I feel that the main point of this article was to try to prove that Lindsay Lohan is indeed showing signs of being suicidal. I feel that this is the main point because the author uses examples that support Lohan's downfall such as trips to rehab and DUIs and then tries to convince the readers that she is in danger of harming herself by using quotes from Lohan's "close friend" saying she has threatened to kill herself before.
One point of this piece that I did agree with was how the author points out Lohan being suicidal because from the examples he used to persuade the readers that she is suicidal, i also feel that she is in danger of harming herself.
A point of this article that I found difficult to believe was where Lohan claimed to be doing fine in life by taking care of herself and spending time with her family. I found this hard to believe because i don't feel that someone in bad of shape as Lohan was can just recover from that kind of depression without any help.
I thought that this article was a very well-written and developed piece of writing. This article gave me a whole new view on reasons people may have for suicide, it made me realize that every suicidal person has different reasons for being suicidal, and more importantly it isn't just something happening in someones life that causes depression and possible suicide, but it is how people deal differently with events going on in their lives that influence their depression and possible suicide.
english vocab
Danny Feiler
Ordinary People
Brannigan 11R
Vocab 12-15
Daunted: To make someone fretful, or downcast. Part of Speech: Transitive Verb Synonym: Threatened Antonym: uplifted :96 “He is not daunted, either.”
Fibrous: Something consisting of or resembling fibers. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: hair-like Antonym: Thick :98 “In the hospital the seed would grow and begin to produce thick, shiny leaves with fibrous veins running through them.”
Reprimand: To criticize someone for wrong behavior. Part of Speech: Transitive verb Synonym: Rebuke Antonym: Complement :101 “He takes it as a reprimand.”
Utilitarian: A level of importance based on the amount of use. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: Value Antonym: insignificant :107 “It is too big a city for that; its streets are too dirty, its buildings too coarsely utilitarian.”
Wellspring: The source of a flowing stream, river,or spring. Part of Speech: Noun Synonym: Waterhole Antonym: Desert :109 “And the wellspring of anger erupts, engulfing them all.”
Revelation: A change in someone's life revealed by a hidden truth. Part of Speech: Noun Synonym: Change Antonym: Unrevealed :120 “Revelation. She's not perfect.”
Delirium: Being delusional caused by poisoning or other un-natural experiences. Part of Speech: Noun Synonym: Hallucination Antonym: sain :123 “... and tanned themselves beside the aquamarine blue of the swimming pool at the Sonesta Beach, looking at other people from the distance of delirium.”
Jaunty: Jolly and carefree. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: Gay Antonym: Upset :125 “The green LeMans with its white vinyl top is parked at a jaunty angle in the drive.”
Disarrange: Being put out of order. Part of Speech: Transitive Verb Synonym: Disorder Antonym: Organized :127 “And, knowing that he shouldn't, knowing somehow that it will only disarrange the contours of the day more thoroughly, still he says it:”
Ordinary People
Brannigan 11R
Vocab 12-15
Daunted: To make someone fretful, or downcast. Part of Speech: Transitive Verb Synonym: Threatened Antonym: uplifted :96 “He is not daunted, either.”
Fibrous: Something consisting of or resembling fibers. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: hair-like Antonym: Thick :98 “In the hospital the seed would grow and begin to produce thick, shiny leaves with fibrous veins running through them.”
Reprimand: To criticize someone for wrong behavior. Part of Speech: Transitive verb Synonym: Rebuke Antonym: Complement :101 “He takes it as a reprimand.”
Utilitarian: A level of importance based on the amount of use. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: Value Antonym: insignificant :107 “It is too big a city for that; its streets are too dirty, its buildings too coarsely utilitarian.”
Wellspring: The source of a flowing stream, river,or spring. Part of Speech: Noun Synonym: Waterhole Antonym: Desert :109 “And the wellspring of anger erupts, engulfing them all.”
Revelation: A change in someone's life revealed by a hidden truth. Part of Speech: Noun Synonym: Change Antonym: Unrevealed :120 “Revelation. She's not perfect.”
Delirium: Being delusional caused by poisoning or other un-natural experiences. Part of Speech: Noun Synonym: Hallucination Antonym: sain :123 “... and tanned themselves beside the aquamarine blue of the swimming pool at the Sonesta Beach, looking at other people from the distance of delirium.”
Jaunty: Jolly and carefree. Part of Speech: Adjective Synonym: Gay Antonym: Upset :125 “The green LeMans with its white vinyl top is parked at a jaunty angle in the drive.”
Disarrange: Being put out of order. Part of Speech: Transitive Verb Synonym: Disorder Antonym: Organized :127 “And, knowing that he shouldn't, knowing somehow that it will only disarrange the contours of the day more thoroughly, still he says it:”
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Frilly McNarcsharc
Frilled Shark: Chlamydoselachus anguineus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frilled_shark
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110481/frill.html
Can grow as big as 6/12 feet
Can vary from colors such as red, white, tan and brown.
The frilled shark preys on big animals that can be easily swallowed whole such as squids and other small fish.
A young boy Chester continued pestering his grandpa, asking questions about his missing pinky finger.
"OK Chester if you really want to know what happened I'll tell you, A shark bit it off when I was around your age."
Chester looked up in amazement,
"Well what did they do to the shark that bit it off grandpa?"
"Well if you want to hear it, I'll tell you the whole story Chester."
"Sure go ahead grandpa I'm all ears!"
"Ok it all started on a beach in New Zealand... I was swimming with my sister in very shallow water, when all of a sudden my sister started screaming. I looked up nd she was already standing on he sand, screaming "SHARK" but before i could get away the shark gnawed my pinky finger off. Before it swam off with my finger i caught a glimpse of it but couldn't tell if it reddish or purpleish. Everyone in the town went on a hunt for the shark that had attacked me.
Frilled Shark: Chlamydoselachus anguineus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frilled_shark
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110481/frill.html
Can grow as big as 6/12 feet
Can vary from colors such as red, white, tan and brown.
The frilled shark preys on big animals that can be easily swallowed whole such as squids and other small fish.
A young boy Chester continued pestering his grandpa, asking questions about his missing pinky finger.
"OK Chester if you really want to know what happened I'll tell you, A shark bit it off when I was around your age."
Chester looked up in amazement,
"Well what did they do to the shark that bit it off grandpa?"
"Well if you want to hear it, I'll tell you the whole story Chester."
"Sure go ahead grandpa I'm all ears!"
"Ok it all started on a beach in New Zealand... I was swimming with my sister in very shallow water, when all of a sudden my sister started screaming. I looked up nd she was already standing on he sand, screaming "SHARK" but before i could get away the shark gnawed my pinky finger off. Before it swam off with my finger i caught a glimpse of it but couldn't tell if it reddish or purpleish. Everyone in the town went on a hunt for the shark that had attacked me.
oceans frilled shark
Frilly McNarcsharc
Frilled Shark: Chlamydoselachus anguineus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frilled_shark
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110481/frill.html
Can grow as big as 6/12 feet
Can vary from colors such as red, white, tan and brown.
The frilled shark preys on big animals that can be easily swallowed whole such as squids and other small fish.
A young boy Chester continued pestering his grandpa, asking questions about his missing pinky finger.
"OK Chester if you really want to know what happened I'll tell you, A shark bit it off when I was around your age."
Chester looked up in amazement,
"Well what did they do to the shark that bit it off grandpa?"
"Well if you want to hear it, I'll tell you the whole story Chester."
"Sure go ahead grandpa I'm all ears!"
Frilled Shark: Chlamydoselachus anguineus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frilled_shark
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110481/frill.html
Can grow as big as 6/12 feet
Can vary from colors such as red, white, tan and brown.
The frilled shark preys on big animals that can be easily swallowed whole such as squids and other small fish.
A young boy Chester continued pestering his grandpa, asking questions about his missing pinky finger.
"OK Chester if you really want to know what happened I'll tell you, A shark bit it off when I was around your age."
Chester looked up in amazement,
"Well what did they do to the shark that bit it off grandpa?"
"Well if you want to hear it, I'll tell you the whole story Chester."
"Sure go ahead grandpa I'm all ears!"
Sunday, March 22, 2009
final novel assignment
Danny Feiler
Mr. Brannigan 11R
Final Novel Assignment
“C’mon Danny get in the car, it’s my brother’s friend it’ll be fine.”
I tried thinking of myself getting in the black corolla, what the consequences would be, who would see me, stuff like that. I quickly silenced the thought of going along with Oliver and told my other friend Mike to go in my place. He made sure I honestly didn’t mind letting him go instead of me, as if it were some Goddamn honor to go drive around with a bunch of wanna be hippies doing God knows what, well I had an idea of what they were doing, that’s partly why I chose to stay behind in the parking lot of the local movie theatre. There were things that being put on probation restricted me to do, smoking pot was one of those things, not that I had wanted to anyways but I do things I wouldn’t normally do sometimes. Like as if I were the main character in one of those damned above the influence commercials, but I wasn’t like the kids in the commercials. I didn’t give a rat’s ass about what some kids who I knew wouldn’t go anywhere in life thought about me, it’s just whenever I was put on the spot where I should’ve been getting pressured into doing something stupid, I began convincing myself that I didn’t care about what happened to me, and always ended up doing something stupid, not because I was pressured into it, but because when I wanted to, I could have the mentality of not giving two shits about anything in the world.
Well I stayed behind in the parking lot, listening to my ipod, 25 minutes passed and I looked up to see the black beat up car parked in front of me. My two friends stumbled out of the backseat, with eyes the color of the brightest cardinal glimmering in freshly laid snow in the dead of winter. I didn’t say or ask anything about what my two friends did that night, but things changed the next day. It was a Saturday afternoon and I met up with my persistent group of friends around noon as usual. As freshmen in high school there wasn’t much for us to do on weekends besides skateboard and go to the movies, so me Oliver, and Mike left my house on our skateboards and headed towards some of the main spots in our scumbag littered town of St. James. We had been screwing around on our skateboards for a couple of hours, kick-flipping off of curbs and doing other tricks that seemed cool at the young ages that we were, when we noticed Oliver’s brother’s friend from the night before and two of his friends, a trashy looking blond girl and an overweight Mexican boy with pinpoint spiky hair, walking down the street.
“Ayyy lil Olivaaa how are we?” exclaimed the boy from the night before, Dan I think his name was, he was tall, a senior, long curly black hair, he reminded me of a poodle, I began thinking about a large black poodle that my Aunt had owned when I was younger, that fuck damn poodle bit my hand nearly to shreds the only time I ever tried to pet it, I hated that poodle.
Well after our greetings and being acquainted with the trashy white girl (Claire) and the porky Mexican boy (Hector), Poodle boy Dan invited us to hang out with them at a place they called “The Fort”. We all looked at each other, sharing looks of approval, and accepted to go with them to the so-called fort, all I could think about was the poodle, staring me down with clumps of skin and blood stuck in it’s teeth.
We walked behind the three seniors, down the block, into the back of my old elementary school, and proceeded to climb over the back fence into what looked like a mere patch of wood, but once we reached the other side, a cleared out pathway was revealed behind the trees that were closest to the fence. Still thinking of what I would do to that demonic poodle if I had the chance, I followed the group of kids through the pathway. The path led to a cleared out area of woods, a fireplace rested in the middle of the clearing, a tee pee the size of a small shed was set up in the corner of the fort, but what really caught my eye, impressed me even, was a booming tree in the back of the woods. The tree must’ve been around 50 feet tall with nails sticking out of it, but what fascinated me was what were placed hanging off of the nails… there were tools upon tools upon tools, hammers, screwdrivers, axes, hatchets, rakes and any other tool you could think of, I had always been drawn to building things and creating new things so seeing that tree hit me, it made me feel a speck of belonging.
I was entranced by the doings of all the older kids that were there, the things they did were so instinctive and independent, and best of all, creative. We spent the day helping building and up-keeping our new little patch of paradise, the older kids smoked, while my friends took part I turned down the drugs and watched, while I hadn’t desired taking place in the smoking, it still drew my attention, along with everything else the kids did, the way they worked was just so unified and beneficial to everyone there, it was as if these deadbeat seniors were the first functional family I had ever seen… it was weird to think about, it gave me hope to believe that things could be good for some people, but at the same time it depressed me to damn near death to think that the first time I had been exposed to this feeling of hope was in the middle of some tic infested woods with a handful of stoners. However doubtful I was about it though, I grew to love the fort. Going to hangout there a couple times a week, turned into everyday, and leaving before darkness hit, turned into staying until the middle of the night. During our time spent at the fort me, Mike, and Oliver met many other peculiar and interesting people, all whom shared the common interest of wanting to belong to something that was only good, no evil, isolated from the crime and hate that actual society had to offer.
We spent basically our first half year of freshmen year hanging out at that fort. I became more comfortable there then at my own home, and I can honestly say the same for Mike and Oliver, and any of the other older kids that hung out there. During the weekdays we sprawled around the fireplace on lawn chairs, smoking cigarettes, sharing stories and laughs, and being ourselves, during the weekends we spent all day cleaning and making repairs to our sanctuary getting prepared for the parties we would have at nights. The parties were some of the best times that I can say I’ve ever had in my life, we all turned into drunken bastards, singing songs that everyone knew, singing songs that nobody knew, talking about politics, war, religion, life, death, and other interesting topics that other people were to careless or scared to discuss. I never would have thought that those grimy looking teenagers in the black corolla would have turned into family.
There were plenty of nights that meant the world to me that I could tell you about, but the most important memory I can tell you about, is the day when it all ended. A chain of phone calls went around on a Sunday morning to the whole family of the fort. A party the night before had ended up with the police coming and telling a few boys, Dave and Allen to never go back to the spot again or else they would be arrested for trespassing. Not wanting to believe that the run of memories it had brought were over, I rode my back up to the back of the elementary school where the fort was. I made sure no one was looking and I hopped the fence, I walked the path to the fort and saw the monstrosity that had been my home away from home less then a day ago. The tee pee was knocked down, the fire pit that had once been at least 3 feet deep was now filled with dirt, yellow caution tape was strewn everywhere you could look, but the thing that hit me hardest, the thing that really killed me, was that all of the tools were gone, not a single damned one was left. I couldn’t believe what the police had done, they were supposed to be there to stop all the evil in society had destroyed the one place that I had found where there was no hatred or racism or anger, “Fucking great,” I said to myself.
Mr. Brannigan 11R
Final Novel Assignment
“C’mon Danny get in the car, it’s my brother’s friend it’ll be fine.”
I tried thinking of myself getting in the black corolla, what the consequences would be, who would see me, stuff like that. I quickly silenced the thought of going along with Oliver and told my other friend Mike to go in my place. He made sure I honestly didn’t mind letting him go instead of me, as if it were some Goddamn honor to go drive around with a bunch of wanna be hippies doing God knows what, well I had an idea of what they were doing, that’s partly why I chose to stay behind in the parking lot of the local movie theatre. There were things that being put on probation restricted me to do, smoking pot was one of those things, not that I had wanted to anyways but I do things I wouldn’t normally do sometimes. Like as if I were the main character in one of those damned above the influence commercials, but I wasn’t like the kids in the commercials. I didn’t give a rat’s ass about what some kids who I knew wouldn’t go anywhere in life thought about me, it’s just whenever I was put on the spot where I should’ve been getting pressured into doing something stupid, I began convincing myself that I didn’t care about what happened to me, and always ended up doing something stupid, not because I was pressured into it, but because when I wanted to, I could have the mentality of not giving two shits about anything in the world.
Well I stayed behind in the parking lot, listening to my ipod, 25 minutes passed and I looked up to see the black beat up car parked in front of me. My two friends stumbled out of the backseat, with eyes the color of the brightest cardinal glimmering in freshly laid snow in the dead of winter. I didn’t say or ask anything about what my two friends did that night, but things changed the next day. It was a Saturday afternoon and I met up with my persistent group of friends around noon as usual. As freshmen in high school there wasn’t much for us to do on weekends besides skateboard and go to the movies, so me Oliver, and Mike left my house on our skateboards and headed towards some of the main spots in our scumbag littered town of St. James. We had been screwing around on our skateboards for a couple of hours, kick-flipping off of curbs and doing other tricks that seemed cool at the young ages that we were, when we noticed Oliver’s brother’s friend from the night before and two of his friends, a trashy looking blond girl and an overweight Mexican boy with pinpoint spiky hair, walking down the street.
“Ayyy lil Olivaaa how are we?” exclaimed the boy from the night before, Dan I think his name was, he was tall, a senior, long curly black hair, he reminded me of a poodle, I began thinking about a large black poodle that my Aunt had owned when I was younger, that fuck damn poodle bit my hand nearly to shreds the only time I ever tried to pet it, I hated that poodle.
Well after our greetings and being acquainted with the trashy white girl (Claire) and the porky Mexican boy (Hector), Poodle boy Dan invited us to hang out with them at a place they called “The Fort”. We all looked at each other, sharing looks of approval, and accepted to go with them to the so-called fort, all I could think about was the poodle, staring me down with clumps of skin and blood stuck in it’s teeth.
We walked behind the three seniors, down the block, into the back of my old elementary school, and proceeded to climb over the back fence into what looked like a mere patch of wood, but once we reached the other side, a cleared out pathway was revealed behind the trees that were closest to the fence. Still thinking of what I would do to that demonic poodle if I had the chance, I followed the group of kids through the pathway. The path led to a cleared out area of woods, a fireplace rested in the middle of the clearing, a tee pee the size of a small shed was set up in the corner of the fort, but what really caught my eye, impressed me even, was a booming tree in the back of the woods. The tree must’ve been around 50 feet tall with nails sticking out of it, but what fascinated me was what were placed hanging off of the nails… there were tools upon tools upon tools, hammers, screwdrivers, axes, hatchets, rakes and any other tool you could think of, I had always been drawn to building things and creating new things so seeing that tree hit me, it made me feel a speck of belonging.
I was entranced by the doings of all the older kids that were there, the things they did were so instinctive and independent, and best of all, creative. We spent the day helping building and up-keeping our new little patch of paradise, the older kids smoked, while my friends took part I turned down the drugs and watched, while I hadn’t desired taking place in the smoking, it still drew my attention, along with everything else the kids did, the way they worked was just so unified and beneficial to everyone there, it was as if these deadbeat seniors were the first functional family I had ever seen… it was weird to think about, it gave me hope to believe that things could be good for some people, but at the same time it depressed me to damn near death to think that the first time I had been exposed to this feeling of hope was in the middle of some tic infested woods with a handful of stoners. However doubtful I was about it though, I grew to love the fort. Going to hangout there a couple times a week, turned into everyday, and leaving before darkness hit, turned into staying until the middle of the night. During our time spent at the fort me, Mike, and Oliver met many other peculiar and interesting people, all whom shared the common interest of wanting to belong to something that was only good, no evil, isolated from the crime and hate that actual society had to offer.
We spent basically our first half year of freshmen year hanging out at that fort. I became more comfortable there then at my own home, and I can honestly say the same for Mike and Oliver, and any of the other older kids that hung out there. During the weekdays we sprawled around the fireplace on lawn chairs, smoking cigarettes, sharing stories and laughs, and being ourselves, during the weekends we spent all day cleaning and making repairs to our sanctuary getting prepared for the parties we would have at nights. The parties were some of the best times that I can say I’ve ever had in my life, we all turned into drunken bastards, singing songs that everyone knew, singing songs that nobody knew, talking about politics, war, religion, life, death, and other interesting topics that other people were to careless or scared to discuss. I never would have thought that those grimy looking teenagers in the black corolla would have turned into family.
There were plenty of nights that meant the world to me that I could tell you about, but the most important memory I can tell you about, is the day when it all ended. A chain of phone calls went around on a Sunday morning to the whole family of the fort. A party the night before had ended up with the police coming and telling a few boys, Dave and Allen to never go back to the spot again or else they would be arrested for trespassing. Not wanting to believe that the run of memories it had brought were over, I rode my back up to the back of the elementary school where the fort was. I made sure no one was looking and I hopped the fence, I walked the path to the fort and saw the monstrosity that had been my home away from home less then a day ago. The tee pee was knocked down, the fire pit that had once been at least 3 feet deep was now filled with dirt, yellow caution tape was strewn everywhere you could look, but the thing that hit me hardest, the thing that really killed me, was that all of the tools were gone, not a single damned one was left. I couldn’t believe what the police had done, they were supposed to be there to stop all the evil in society had destroyed the one place that I had found where there was no hatred or racism or anger, “Fucking great,” I said to myself.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
VOCAB 8-11
Danny Feiler Vocab Chapters 8-11
Mr. Brannigan
Conscientious: Adjective; Meticulous; controlled by or done according to conscience; Pg. 55 : “Some of the faculty are pretty conscientious.”
Incognito: Adjective; concealed; having one's identity concealed, as under an assumed name; Pg. 60: “I’m traveling incognito.”
Suave: Adjective; Affable; smoothly agreeable or polite; Pg. 64 “I said it suave as hell.”
Verification: Noun; Affirmation; the process of examination; Pg. 69 “but do you have some verification of your age?”
Conversationalist: Noun; Socialist; an interesting person in conversation; Pg. 72 “You’re a very good conversationalist.”
Jitterbugging: Verb; Dancing; a strenuous dance involving twists and spins; Pg. 73 “She started jitterbugging with me.”
Immaterial: Noun; Irrelevant; of no essential consequence; Pg. 72 “It’s immaterial to me.”
Mr. Brannigan
Conscientious: Adjective; Meticulous; controlled by or done according to conscience; Pg. 55 : “Some of the faculty are pretty conscientious.”
Incognito: Adjective; concealed; having one's identity concealed, as under an assumed name; Pg. 60: “I’m traveling incognito.”
Suave: Adjective; Affable; smoothly agreeable or polite; Pg. 64 “I said it suave as hell.”
Verification: Noun; Affirmation; the process of examination; Pg. 69 “but do you have some verification of your age?”
Conversationalist: Noun; Socialist; an interesting person in conversation; Pg. 72 “You’re a very good conversationalist.”
Jitterbugging: Verb; Dancing; a strenuous dance involving twists and spins; Pg. 73 “She started jitterbugging with me.”
Immaterial: Noun; Irrelevant; of no essential consequence; Pg. 72 “It’s immaterial to me.”
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Critical Lense Essay , Brannigan
Danny Feiler
Mr. Brannigan
The quote by Umberto Eco, seen in Travels in Hyperreality, 1986, “ The real hero is always a hero by mistake”, means that every hero from stories that have been true hero’s, are the ones who are modest and pure and don’t mean to be a hero. I agree with this statement because it makes perfect sense and can be proven true through many works of literature. One book that has evidence to prove this statement true is the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a story about a man who tries to change himself for the love of his life, but in the end realizes that money can’t buy happiness. Another story that has evidence to prove the statement true is the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, a play about a timid unconfident girl who needs to learn how to be comfortable with herself, her brother who wants to break away from his family, and their mother who wants to life her life through her children’s shoes.
The Great Gatsby has many pieces of evidence that support the statement that every pure hero is clueless that he would become a hero in the end of the story. The main character in this story, Jay Gatsby, is the character who becomes a true hero at the end of the story without any intent to do so. He becomes a hero in the story when his murder is foreshadowed and he is then murdered, his friend Nick Carraway soon after realizes how much of a generous and heroic man Gatsby was. A piece of evidence that shows how Jay Gatsby had no intent to become a hero was simple, the only thing Gatsby cared about in the whole story was the love of his life Daisy, even though she symbolized a sense of false innocence with all of the white clothes that she wore. While all Gatsby cared about doing was winning over Daisy, he had no intentions to become so significant to others in the process, he may have changed people such as Nick Carraway’s life, he definitely did not go into the story trying to do so.
One more piece of literature that proves the statement that every real hero has no intentions of being a hero in the beginning of the story is the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. The character in this story who can prove Umberto Eco’s statement to be true is Jim O’Connor, a responsible man who is seen as heroic when he explains to Laura how to be comfortable with her self and to not be scared of society. Symbolism referring Laura to a very fragile glass unicorn, was used to show the change that Jim had on her. The fact that he changed Laura for the better proved him worthy as a true hero because Laura’s way of life was prohibiting her to live her own life. The evidence that shows that Jim O’Connor had not intended to be a hero by the end of the story is that he wasn’t exactly a nice man who would go out of his way to help a girl like Laura, he was actually being mean to Laura by leading her on but it turned out to be better for her in the end of the play, making Jim O’Connor fit the perfect description of a real hero who did not attend on being a hero.
In conclusion, the two main points of evidence that I have used to prove Umberto Eco’s statement to be true are Jay Gatsby’s generosity and inspiration towards other people and Jim O’Connor equipping Laura Wingfield to be able to live her life free of self pity. “The real hero is always a hero by mistake…” means that in order to be a true pure hero, you must let it happen, you can’t try to be a hero or else you won’t be considered a pure hero if even a regular hero at all. All of this evidence that supports the statement all leads back at how one defines the word hero, a hero can be a rich man who shows extreme generosities, or a working man who teaches a young woman about life, a hero could even be an eleventh grade English student trying to win over the opinions of his reader audience.
Mr. Brannigan
The quote by Umberto Eco, seen in Travels in Hyperreality, 1986, “ The real hero is always a hero by mistake”, means that every hero from stories that have been true hero’s, are the ones who are modest and pure and don’t mean to be a hero. I agree with this statement because it makes perfect sense and can be proven true through many works of literature. One book that has evidence to prove this statement true is the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a story about a man who tries to change himself for the love of his life, but in the end realizes that money can’t buy happiness. Another story that has evidence to prove the statement true is the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, a play about a timid unconfident girl who needs to learn how to be comfortable with herself, her brother who wants to break away from his family, and their mother who wants to life her life through her children’s shoes.
The Great Gatsby has many pieces of evidence that support the statement that every pure hero is clueless that he would become a hero in the end of the story. The main character in this story, Jay Gatsby, is the character who becomes a true hero at the end of the story without any intent to do so. He becomes a hero in the story when his murder is foreshadowed and he is then murdered, his friend Nick Carraway soon after realizes how much of a generous and heroic man Gatsby was. A piece of evidence that shows how Jay Gatsby had no intent to become a hero was simple, the only thing Gatsby cared about in the whole story was the love of his life Daisy, even though she symbolized a sense of false innocence with all of the white clothes that she wore. While all Gatsby cared about doing was winning over Daisy, he had no intentions to become so significant to others in the process, he may have changed people such as Nick Carraway’s life, he definitely did not go into the story trying to do so.
One more piece of literature that proves the statement that every real hero has no intentions of being a hero in the beginning of the story is the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. The character in this story who can prove Umberto Eco’s statement to be true is Jim O’Connor, a responsible man who is seen as heroic when he explains to Laura how to be comfortable with her self and to not be scared of society. Symbolism referring Laura to a very fragile glass unicorn, was used to show the change that Jim had on her. The fact that he changed Laura for the better proved him worthy as a true hero because Laura’s way of life was prohibiting her to live her own life. The evidence that shows that Jim O’Connor had not intended to be a hero by the end of the story is that he wasn’t exactly a nice man who would go out of his way to help a girl like Laura, he was actually being mean to Laura by leading her on but it turned out to be better for her in the end of the play, making Jim O’Connor fit the perfect description of a real hero who did not attend on being a hero.
In conclusion, the two main points of evidence that I have used to prove Umberto Eco’s statement to be true are Jay Gatsby’s generosity and inspiration towards other people and Jim O’Connor equipping Laura Wingfield to be able to live her life free of self pity. “The real hero is always a hero by mistake…” means that in order to be a true pure hero, you must let it happen, you can’t try to be a hero or else you won’t be considered a pure hero if even a regular hero at all. All of this evidence that supports the statement all leads back at how one defines the word hero, a hero can be a rich man who shows extreme generosities, or a working man who teaches a young woman about life, a hero could even be an eleventh grade English student trying to win over the opinions of his reader audience.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
isolated
Stuck,
Immobile,
I am the skyscrapers,
Trapped in the sky,
Until alas I am burnt to ashes,
Bringing all the people inside me down to earth.
Immobile,
I am the skyscrapers,
Trapped in the sky,
Until alas I am burnt to ashes,
Bringing all the people inside me down to earth.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)