Blog #1 of 2nd Semester

Both of these authors are very good and I enjoy reading their stories.  However, I think I like Edgar Allen Poe better, because he uses less description.  Sometimes, description just gets too overwhelming.  I found myself skipping pages just to get to the moral of the story.  I really did not care about the depth that Hawthorne went into.  I would've rather had him get straight to the point.  Edgar Allen Poe's stories are also more interesting.  They are a lot more suspenseful, and even scarier.  In my opinion, Poe is a much better author.   

Blog #10

I learned a lot in my research paper.  It was a topic that not many people do or think of, and some may even think it is ridiculous.  My topic was the causes of 9/11.  At first I thought this would be easy, but then i learned it would not be easy at all.  I learned that no one really knows the definite cause of 9/11.  Through my research I saw many different theories.  Even ones saying that it was the United States own doing.  I thought this was crazy, but after more research, it really could have been possible, and the facts led to that almost as much as they led to a different thing.  So during my research paper I learned a lot, and the two main things were about the causes of 9/11, and also about different theories of what caused it.   

Blog #9

The past two weeks we have been reading romantic poetry.  One of the poems that I enjoyed and found interesting was The Psalm of Life.  I have always liked the the metaphor of the footprints in the sand, and it reminded me of the story in the Bible.  Even though I usually seem happy, sometimes I need someone to carry me through something.  However, the poem was more of the footprints that we leave on the earth when we die.  Physically, we are gone, but our spirit and impact is still there.

Blog #8

The leaves are all falling around me, soon there will be none left.  Just as the days left of school are ticking by one at a time.  The leaves of school are falling quickly and before we know it snow will be on the ground, and we will be on Christmas break.  The birds are singing their final songs before they hunker down for the cold, and the squirrels are gathering food to hibernate.  While the animals gather final supplies, we are turning in our final assignments, and it is now time to celebrate Christmas.

Blog #7

As I looked up, the Scythe came down in a perpetual swing.  Slowly, it inched towards the ropes.  It dug deeper every time until it cut all of the bindings and I was free.  I was able to get off with just two shallow slices in my chest.  For once I had a feeling of relief as I slowly moved around the outside of the room.  Then, all of a sudden, a trap door opened.  I fell for what seemed like hours.  Eventually I hit the bottom, but found it to be soft.  From behind a pane of glass I heard, "Congratulations, you passed the test, welcome to the brotherhood."  Then I passed out.

Blog #6

I thought that The Crucible was an okay story.  However it got slightly annoying that it was basically mass hysteria.  Almost everything in there was just because one person started doing something and everybody joined in.  Once someone accused someone of witchcraft, everyone else did as well.  Overall, it was a decent story in my opinion, but could have been a lot more interesting if it was more personal, and the actions weren't just all repeated.

Blog #5

HUAC, stands for the House Un-American Activities Committee. It was part of the House of Representatives, and its primary goal was to be an investigate Committee.  It looked into cases of disloyalty, and subversion to and in the United States.  It was active until about 1969, and eventually dissolved in 1975.  Their actions during their time attracted a lot of public attention, and the committee is still studied today in History classes.