Music Review

Dragonhunter - by Richard Meyer

This is a song that we've been practicing in beginning orchestra for two weeks. It's an awesome song. It's my favorite so far out of all the songs we've played. There are no words in this song. I don't think people listens to instrumental music much, they're more into the rock,country,hip hop, and all the others. People don't seem to be interested in orchestra these days. Last year, I've heard there were over 40 people in beginning  orchestra, but this year there are only 20 people including me. We will be playing this song and 2 other songs sometime in January 2011. This song basically uses only the notes on a D major scale. The dragon is basically the bass (we don't have any) and cellos and they're being hunted by the violin and violas.

Here's a video I found on youtube of a orchestra class playing it. Overall, I think they a pretty good job on it.




You guys should come to our concert in January. I'm not sure when and what time yet. But it'll be announced soon.

Nick & Jay

   

                                      
Here's a short comparison of Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby  up until Chapter 5 in The Great Gatsby book.

Similarities: Nick and Jay are both "new money" type of people meaning they had worked to get rich. Even though Gatsby did inherit lots o f money when his parents died, he lost most of them and then he made them back after doing some businesses. They both came from the Midwest. They both are single and they both are in love with someone. Nick with Jordan Baker and Gatsby with Daisy Buchanan. They were both in the same division during the war. They both live in the West Egg.

Differences: They do different kinds of business. Nick is in bond business, but I'm not that sure of what Gatsby does except that he did business with Meyer Wolfsheim who was the one responsible for rigging the 1919 World Series game. Gatsby attended Oxford. Nick attended New Haven (Yale). Gatsby holds lots of parties during the summer. He only hosts them hoping that Daisy would show up at one of his parties. It's convenient for Nick that he's in love with someone that's single like him, but it's not convenient of Gatsby because he's in love with someone that is already married.

Is Gatsby really Nick's friend or is Gatsby just using Nick to get to Daisy?

I think that Gatsby really is Nick's friend because he always invites Nick to places. They have some similarities. Also in the book Nick said that Gatsby represent everything that he scorns, but in the end Nick said is all right.

So what do you think, friend or no? Please leave a comment.

Winter Poem

Winter, the season of coldness.
The season of earlier and longer nights.
Can bring happiness to all.
Everywhere there are colorful lights,
that replaces the colors of fallen leaves,
from the previous season of fall.

People outside having fun,
some making snowmen/ snow angels,                            
others throwing snowballs,
or some just simply running with each other.
Some staying inside, happy being around one another.
Lay/sit by a warm fire in different angles.
Drinking,playing,reading/telling stories, or talking.

Listen to the bells ringing,
as Santa's sleigh comes flying.
Behold the presents under the lit tree.
Look how the kids are happily unwrapping.
T'is the season to be jolly.

Thankful for a Classmate

Happy Thanksgiving Day! It's that time of the year again when people are giving thanks to one another. Hope you all had a great day. My day was good with the only exception of my little brother yelling the whole day.

Okay. Now on to the blog of the week, which was to write a blog of praise and thanks to one classmate in our class. I know it is hard to be only allowed to pick one person in the class. There are many people that we would like to give thanks to even though they're not in Mr. McCarthy's 7th period American Lit class. There might even be old elementary schoolmates that you would want to give thanks to in this blog that doesn't attend Whitney Young.

Well the person I would like to mention and give thanks to in this blog is Yi Dong Mei. He sits next to me everyday during American Lit and he's always helping me with homework in American Lit and Algebra with Trig BC. I don't know how I'll be able to pass those classes without his help. He always explain or tries to explain things to me when I ask him something I don't know. He's a really helpful person, he's the most helpful person I've met at Whitney Young ever since our Freshman year. Even then he was also helping me, mostly in Biology.

Thanks Yi!!!

   

                                        

I'm a Plow.

I'm a plow..hmmm..what kind am I and what do I do these are the questions.

I'm a plow because I help to make my parent's work faster and easier. Unlike my little my little brother who runs around all day making weird noises and yelling every time my parents ask him to do work. Yea, that's what my little brother do, don't ask me why. I help them often at their restaurant during the weekends and Mondays. But I don't always want to be there especially when I got a lot of homework. I think I'll be a red plow because the color red is part of the Chinese traditional culture. The color red is consider to be a symbol of integrity. Ancient Chinese believe that the color red can keep away ghosts and drive away misfortunes. Red lanterns, red  candles, and other red decorations are common in formal occasions. People also write on red paper and then paste it on their doors to express their best wishes on every New Years Eve. Another reason I'll be red is because both my parents favorite color is red. They only people to push me around are my parents and anyone else that I allow. 


What kind of plow would you be? Leave a comment below.

                                                         

A Direction the Class Needs

One of the things I think the class needs to do is a little more vocabulary book, since we're behind on  the vocab book according to the sheet you gave us during the first day of school. Also you said that you were going to use them more because you're require to use them. I think we can learn a lot of new words to use in our writings. I think you need to be more specific on what the blogs are about and to tell us more ahead of time when they're due.. Like for example this one you just told us there's a blog due when the bell rang and some people are probably already out the door and didn't here that there's a blog due. Then they'll come back on the day it's due saying that you never said anything about a blog. I think you should also be more specific on what the blogs each week is about, because for this one you just said there's a blog due about a direction the class needs and know I'm just typing just stuff. But I guess you aren't specific because you want us to be creative in our writing.
                                                  

Modern Slavery

Even through the slave trade was banned from Africa in the 1880's, force labor is still being practiced in West and Central Africa today. There's still according to Anti-Slavery International (the world's oldest human rights organization) that there are over 20 million people in bondage. Modern day slaves differ from bonded laborers (people who owe debts to their masters. Example, back then there were indentured servants, who have to work for someone in the New World because that person payed for their trip to the New World. They usually serve for about six years then they're allow to leave.) because  modern day slaves are held in physical bondage (shackled, held at gunpoint, etc.)
The Arabs actually consider it a traditional right to enslave Southern Sudan, and to own chattel slaves (slaves own as personal property). They sell the slaves for as little as $15 per person. In my opinion, this is a shocking and cruel custom that should have been gone long ago.
In India, children are held as "carpet slaves". They were captured from their village and forced to weave on looms for food. The food only consists of a few bread balls,onions, and salt. They are forced to work ten to fourteen hours a day.
There are people in Pakistan who are shackled to leg irons and then force to harvest canes.
In the Dominican Republic, they need lots of people to harvest canes. Some people voluntarily work in the fields, but if there's not enough people, they send out their army to capture people and force them to work at gunpoint and they'll be beaten if they try to escape.
I'm not that surprise that there are still modern slaves because it's human's nature to be greedy and some people would do anything to be more wealthy. What I'm surprise about is that there are still so many people in different places being held as slaves.

                                           

The Puritans, Salem Witch Trials, and Nathaniel Hawthorne

The name Puritan first appeared in English history in 1550. The Puritans were an influential order which was a part of the revolting Protestants prevalent in the 16th and 17th century. They were strong believers of Calvinism which loosely preaches that the consequences of our actions in this mortal world decides the fate of our souls which could be subjected to either damnation or salvation. Their main principles relied on the ideas of free-will and sanctity of the human soul. The Puritan beliefs are roughly based on the Doctrines of Grace written by the fellow theologians of James Arminius. The Puritan lifestyle was restrained and rigid: People were expected to work hard and to repress their opinions and emotions. Individual differences were frowned upon.
Puritans believed the Devil was as real as God. Those who follow Satan was considered witches. Witchcraft was one of the greatest crime a person can commit and is punishable by death. During the Salem Witch Trials about 24 or 25 people died either from being put to death or died in prison.

Nathaniel Hawthrone was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. He is actually related to a judge name Judge Hathrone, who was a judge in the Salem Witch Trials. Hawthorne's works belong to dark romanticism (cautionary tales that suggest that guilt, sin, and evil are the most inherent natural qualities of humanity). Many of his works were inspired by Puritan New England. He's mostly a short story writer but he also wrote some nonfiction. He died in May 19, 1864 , in Plymouth, New Hampshire. After his death his friend, Longfellow wrote a tribute poem to Hawthorne, published in 1866, called "The Bells of Lynn."

The Puritans influence our modern society in many ways. They made a virtue of qualities that made for economic success—self-reliance, frugality, industry, and energy—and through them influenced modern social and economic life. Their concern for education was important in the development of the United States, and the idea of congregational democratic church government was carried into the political life of the state as a source of modern democracy.

Interesting fact: Edgar Allen Poe once accused Nathaniel Hawthrone's Twice-Told Tales and Mosses from an Old Manse of plagarism.

Statue of Nathaniel Hawthrone

The Moment I Knew I Was An American ... Hmmm...

First of all lets start with what is an American. An American is anyone who loves life enough to want the best that it has to offer.  An American is anyone who understands that to achieve the best in life requires action and effort. An American is anyone who understands the need to use one's mind and wits to meet life's challenges. An American is anyone who understands that achieving the best in life requires risks. An American is someone who seeks liberty. They are here to run their own farms or their own businesses. They are here for freedom and not to be told what to do from a dictator. They're also here for  opportunities for a good/better life. An American is anyone that's protected under the Constitution of the United States. An American is a mix of heritages living with one another. An American is someone that celebrates the day of independence on the 4th of July. Americans are united by a love of liberty, respect for the freedom of others and an insistence on their own rights as set forth in the Declaration.

So, the moment I knew I was a American is when I wrote this blog. Anyone can be counted as an American, even illegal immigrants, because they came to America to escape problems that they have in their old country. They come for opportunities  at a new life and to be protected from their problems. 

You don't need a citizenship to be an American, everyone is an American by heart.

                                            

Us vs. Them ... Us and Them

Conflicts can lead to conclusions of death and instability in a place. Some say the death of a person or persons is a solution to a problem and I think that that is inhumane way of solving a problem. Conflicts often arise from economic, political, and religion issues because not everyone can agree and have similar ideas about them. People always have different thoughts about these things.

An example of a economic issue was between the colonists of North America and the British of England. Back then England passed many laws telling the colonists who they can and can't trade with. They told the colonists that they must export all of their raw materials such as cotton to only England. If they wanted to trade with other countries they must pay a tax in order to export things to other countries. So, as a result some colonists smuggled  exports and imports into the colonies. The British wanted them to only trade with the British so they can take the cotton to England, there they can process it into things such as cloth which they sell back to the colonies. And the British makes lots of money this way and they use the money to build up a stronger army so that they can go and take/claim more lands so that they can have more markets to sell their goods and make more money. The colonists soon thought why not just process the cotton here in the colonies and then sell them and keep the profit for themselves,  but the British didn't want this. Soon after the French and Indian War, England have lots of debt to pay because of all the money they spent on the war. So they decided to tax the colonists in order to make money, but the colonists didn't want to pay these taxes and soon they decided to rebel since King George III issued more taxes and he wouldn't listen to their demand of allowing the colonists to have a voice in the British government. As a result this led to the American Revolution, which the colonists won and gain their independence.

American Revolution Battle                    
                   

An example of a political issue is the difference between the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States. There are many issues they face each day and each party have different solutions to them. Soon issues can led to a fight such as the events that led up to the Civil War. The Republicans of the North were against slavery while the Democratic South supported slavery.

Republican And Democratic Symbols                                         

Lastly, there's religion another cause of conflict. Throughout history many religions developed each having different ideas than the others while some have similar ideas which some differences. There have been many conflicts throughout history because of religion. Such as the Crusades where the Catholic Church sponsored campaigns to take the city of Jerusalem from the Muslims, who had taken  over the city.

Crusades

Comment below and tell me what you think.
                                    

The Crucible: John Proctor- Hero or Stooge?

Is John Proctor (a farmer in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller) a hero or a stooge? First of all lets start with the definitions of hero and stooge. A hero is a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities, regarded as a model or ideal.  A stooge is a person who is "played" or taken advantage of by another person. In my opinion he doesn't fit in the definition of a hero.

You can say he tried to be a hero by proving that Abigail's accusation of his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, and the accusation of the other two women were false, but ultimately he's a stooge because he didn't tell people what he knew about the girls until it was to late. By the time that he did tell, it was to late the girls had already gained the trust of many people and soon people didn't believe in what he said. If he is a hero, he would have told the truth earlier instead of thinking of whether to go to court or not. He could have prevented the girls from gaining so much trust.

He first tried to get Mary to tell the court that the girls were pretending to be possessed by the people that had been convicted. He showed them the papers that she wrote saying that the girls were pretending to be possessed. Although she did tell the truth, she soon mentally broke down when Abigail and the girls started pretending that she is sending out her spirit to attack them. Due to their actions, Mary says that her words were all lies forced upon her by John Proctor. Now they think Proctor is a liar.

The next thing Proctor does to try to save the convicted was confessing that he had an affair with Abigail. He told them that Abigail's motive in accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft was so that she can have him all for herself. To make them believe him, he tells them when and where this took place. To see if John Proctor was telling the truth, they have Elizabeth to come and testify that this did occur. But she denies it ever occurred, and soon John was deem a liar and a sinner. After this the girls start saying that he sided with the devil. Soon the judge ordered him to confess or be executed.

In the end he was executed. By this it shows that he isn't a hero, if he is a hero then he would have told the truth early. He couldn't save anyone and soon all his friends were killed. I also think he was foolish in not signing the document admitting he was on the devil's side and that he was a witch. If he had signed it people might had stop accusing one another afterward, since they would see that he had confessed. He could have saved other people from being trial for witchcraft.

Please leave a comment on what you think he is.

Response to Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

After reading Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, I got to learn about Jonathan Edwards and his beliefs regarding Christianity. If I had lived in this Puritan community during this time, I would have thought everything that he was talking about was true all along, because I would have known what the Ten Commandments (Thou shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, Thou shall not kill, etc.) were and I wouldn't have been surprise that everything he talked about  would happen to us if we commit a sin. Some people might have been horrify at the punishments that awaits them if they commit any sins and then they would have started to change their ways so in not to anger God.  Some people would probably not have believed anything he says and then they'll move to a new community since they won't be accepted in the Puritan neighborhood for not believing in what they believe in.

Back to the current time, since I went to a Catholic school and was taught about God's kindness and mercy and how He created us all equal in his image and how He loves all his creations. I don't believe that God would hate somebody and then waits for that person to commit a sin and then condemn that person to Hell. If He actually does do that, then why would you try to please God, if he's always going to hate you? Even if you do go to Heaven, he'll still hate you.

I may have been taught at a Catholic school, but I'm definitely not Catholic. I believe in a God though but I don't really support any religion.

Jonathan Edwards giving a sermon.

There Goes The Neighborhood

     
Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492. He thought he had found a route to India ( which was his goal), so he called the people he found of the island(Hispaniola) Indians. He had relatively good relations with the Native Americans he encountered during his first voyage. But, beginning with his second voyage, these relations turned sour, with some tribes. Because the Spanish had come to America as conquerors. Therefore, it was no surprise war broke out between the Spanish settlers on Hispaniola and the natives. Soon people looking for wealth and adventure came and soon conquered many of the Indians such as the Aztecs and the Incas. The Spanish not only bought with them the desire for wealth, they also bought many diseases that killed many of the Native Americans, because they have no defense against them. Overall about 90% of all the Native Americans died because of the war and diseases.

But they not only bought destruction on many Native Americans, as we can see later on some European settlers, such as the French made alliances with some Native Americans. The French and the Native Americans worked together during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), because the British wanted to take over the fur trade from the French and also the Indians were afraid the British would take their lands so they helped the French.

Overall, I think that the Native Americans didn't benefit and sometimes some benefited from the Europeans. Even though the Europeans bought with them many diseases that killed many Native Americans, even so some Native Americans still was able to work with some of the settlers, which helped to improve some of their lives. Since they depended on the Europeans for trade and sometimes protection. So Columbus discovery of the new world helped some Native Americans but also lowered the living conditions of many other. So his discoveries have its goods and bad, but mostly bad.  

Introduction

Hi. Let me introduce myself first, I'm David Zhen. I'm a sophomore.

Over the summer I did a few things. Some of the things I did was go bike riding, but on some days i just stay home and go on the computer or just watch television. Every weekend during the summer I would always go to my parent's family owned restaurant and help out there from the time they're open to when they close at night. Some of the work I do there involve cutting/washing vegetables, washing the dishes (but I take turn with my cousin to do that), answer the phone and that the costumers orders, and package the food. If I'm doing nothing at the restaurant, I'll normally just be sitting around. Everyday at the end of the day my parents would pay me. Also over the summer I taught my little brother the multiplication table and some division.  Overall I think I had a good summer and is glad to be finally back at Whitney Young learning again. 

Last year during my freshmen year the only club that I joined was the Garden Club, where we got to plant some plants n seeds and then we took care of them throughout the year. I was one of the person from the group of people who helped build the greenhouse which is outside next to the Physical Education and Academic Buildings. Also during the Taste of Whitney last year I helped to sell plants and food to help get money for the Garden Club.

Things like to do are browse the internet or play game on the internet. I always like to read a good book once in awhile. I like to help my parents at their restaurant so they have less stress. I also like to solve the rubix cube. i learned how to solve it in the summer 2008. These are just some of the things I like to do,

Sometimes when I do my homework I get distracted and procrastinate.

In my house I have my mom,dad, and little brother. We live in a two floor house, with a main floor and the basement.

We have a ping pong table in the basement which i sometimes use to play with with my cousin and little brother.

We'll heres a introduction about myself.