Nick & Gatsby

Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, these 2 have a very peculiar realtionship. Why did Gatsby befirend Nick? When  they met at the party, Gatsby was as nice as one could be to a stranger and from that point on, Gatsby has nothing but friendly intentions, so it seems. For later we learn that Gatsby wants Nick to arrange for him to have tea with Daisy so Gatsgy can "coincidently" meet Nick and finally see Daisy for the first time in 5 years.
This is very interesting for it opens a world of possibilities, well, one really. This entire time, has Gatsby been befriending Nick just to get to Daisy? It appears that way. However I think Gatsby's motives are pure, somewhat. He really, really likes Daisy. So he uses Nick to get what he wants. but i see it more as killing 2 birds with one stone. While he plays it his plan to rekindle what he had with Daisy, he gains a soon to be (if not already) great friendship with Nick. But, since the motives to initiate this friendship were to gain access to Daisy, does make for an interesting future. Let us see how this plays out.

Winter Night

It was 3 in the morning, on a cold Winter Night
As I trudged through the Snow.
In my journey, houses decorated with Lights
Created an endless Glow.
That Night something happened that never did before;
I Heard God.
He Spoke to me,
Through Silence.
For when I got home, as I reached for the door,
I paused.. & turned around.
At that moment, there appeared so much Luster;
It was coming from the Snow.
With each passing second, Snow turned whiter & Brighter.
Joined with the lights, this made a huge Glow.
All sound disappeared, taken by fire
Created by the Lights & the Snow.
All that was left was a Pure Winter Night
Joined by a frosty breeze.
As I watched this unfold, I tried with all my might
To not let myself freeze.
Not just physically, but mentally from fear
Of the divine powers, that i felt were soon to appear.

And I was right.
For in the absence of sound, created by Winter, I could finally hear
God.

And the "Thankful For "award goes too...

Ummm My Asian Duo! lol that would be Amy Tu & Cindy Mei! They may hate/dislike me for whatever reasons, but i like to consider them my friends =) they've helped me out a lot this year already (thank you Cindy =D) and we've had some interesting conversations too (haha Amy). Not only this year in this classroom, but last year & outside of the classroom we've helped each other out; whether the response was a NO! w/no explanation, they still gave me their feedback which in turn helped me out. I honestly am not sure whether they think of me the same as i think of them, but i think they can at least call me a friend if not at the minimum an acquaintance. Acquaintance or friend, they can still count on the benefit of me considering them as a friend; and that benefit would be, which applies to all the people I consider my friend, is that matter what, i will be there if you need me. I’ am a person you can always count on. I feel I’m too nice sometimes. Like I got my friends who don’t deserve this benefit but they’re still my friend & I will risk life & limb for them because I care for them nonetheless, same goes for yous =); I got your back, if you ever need help for anything i'll vest all the power in me to help you out =)...most of the time at least and if my schedule allows it =) haha
I consider all my friends my family, regardless of what THEY may consider me. So believe it or not I’m Thankful for yous; my Asian Duo of [Mei]hem xD haha
So Cindy Mei, Amy Tu, if you ever need me; i'll be there! (just look over your shoulders, honey! xD [Michael Jackson haha])
-your friend,
Carlos =)

HOTSG Essays. Question 1 & 4

Essay 1:
Appearance vs. Reality
In the novel that the class has recently finished reading, The House of the Seven Gables, there appears to be a recurring theme. That theme would be Appearance vs. Reality. There most certainly are numerous examples, situations, characters, etc that present the theme, Appearance vs. Reality, throughout the book. Such an example would be The Judge’s Smile, which is perhaps the scariest and evilest thing in The House of the Seven Gables. Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon is the cousin of Clifford & Hepzibah. Throughout the entire book, the Judge Pyncheon maintains this smile; this is no ordinary smile that he maintains. Yes, it is a fake smile but it as perhaps the most powerful, deceiving smile known to man. For it head the powers. Oh the powers it head; the smile had hypnotic powers, so hypnotic and deceiving it was, that it ought to have been a weapon. With this powerful fake smile, he was able to deceive all. No matter how angry he would become, like he did in Chapter 14 when Hepzibah once more (and for the last time) refused to let Judge Pyncheon see Clifford, that deceiving smile would remain; the narrator knows it, the reader knows it, Hepzibah know it, EVERYBODY knows it. What? That Judge Pyncheon was seething anger, ready to explode at this point during Chapter 14, but he maintained his cool, largely because that smile remains. Part of what made that smile so devious, was the fact that it seemed to have a mind of its own; which would make sense in a way, if the smile had its own mind, conscious. It could explain how Judge Pyncheon was able to maintain the smile; the smile would simply maintain itself by the smile’s own will. And what better way to represent Appearance vs. Reality than with a greatly deceiving smile that never disappears and has a mind of its own, obscuring the true identity and person that Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon is.
Essay 2:
Phoebe & Holgrave’s Love
It shall be assumed that you have completed reading The House of the Seven Gables. Fair Enough? At the end of the story, or at least in the closing pages/chapter, Holgrave declares his love to Phoebe. Phoebe is hesitant at first to admit she loves him too, but inevitably she declares her love for him too. For anybody who saw this coming, deserve a round of applause. Them declaring their love for each other did not seem to make sense; or at least that the establishment of their loved did not seem to tie in with the story or have any relationship except that two important characters have fallen for each other. However, if you look deeper into this you will see their love represents something more than “two important characters have fallen for each other” and actually, their love represents a very important symbol if you will and major part of the resolution of the book. Everyone, one would presume, can agree that the main theme to this book is that your family’s past is carried on with you and in the generations to come, or as properly and “fancily” worded on SparkNotes the internet; The Sins of One Generation Are Visited on the Next. Meaning the sins of your ancestors will be carried out through the following generations. So what their love represents is the breaking of this godforsaken curse/theme. Their love represents the beginning, if not end, of the curse of the Pyncheons and the feud between the Maule’s & the Pyncheons; since Holgrave is a Maule & Phoebe a Pyncheon. Their love marks the hopeful end to the terrible past of the horrible relations between their families during earlier times. It symbolizes that there may finally be peace between the Pyncheons & the Maule’s making the Pyncheons no longer cursed! This being said, the discovery of the meaning of Phoebe & Holgrave’s love is the conclusion and/or resolution to everything the book gave to us.

I am plow

first off, this blog is late (a week late)because i moved in to a new apartment during the 4 day weekend and have been living there without electricty/internet/cable. so yea, i'm at my grandma's house typing this.
"I'm Mr. Plow, thats my name, that name again is Mr. Plow"-Homer Simpson haha lol
I am a plow...i would say i am in one sense but would hope im not in another. I would say i' like a plow in the sense of what they do. i will take on the burdens that people dont want to do/do things that make other peoples' lives easier; especially my friends. Isnt that what plows do? clear the roads to make things easier for us. One may agrue they do that to make things safer but that's the point! They're there for the benifit of the community...like me. I always(unfortunetly)or the majority of the time put others before me. So yes, in that light, i am a plow.

However i would not want to be associated as a plow if it were in this sense: someone who just pushes things out the way; doesn't care bout nothing, antisocial possibly. Fair enough right? Basicaly some negative look based from what plows do. just thought i'd put that out there.

I am a plow in the terms of the first mentioned manner.
Carlos out!

Change in the Classroom?

Lets see, what i'd like to change (but will NEVER happen)is for the class to star later lol i only say this because i go 2nd-8th. since they didnt give me my 7th class, i'd much rather start 3rd & end 9th. So thats that. Other than that there's nothing much i'd change. I absolutely love how we start with a journal entry every morning. I dont like to write about anything that doesn't interest me (i.e an essay on contrasting the society in a book from ours. However, all the topics interest me (as i'm sure they're intended to). So i like this a lot b.c i can wake my brain up from the lack of sleep from the night before & getting thinking with some thought provoking stuff. I like it even more that we not only right about it, we have the opportunity to discuss the topic, we wrote about, with the class. So there really isn't anything to change about the classroom. WAIT! Yes, maybe the classroom could possibly assign less reading every night. It might just be me, but i feel the assigned reading is too much. it may actually not be, but with the busy schedule i have, reading it's up the majority of the already small amount of time i have to do my homework. just saying. but yea, besides that, it's all good! :D

American lit topics so far ?

Salem: 1692 was a very difficult time in Salem, Massachusetts. It started with a group of girls displayed bizarre behavior. Thus the town concluded it had been invaded by the devil. The first to be accused of witchcraft was Tituba, a slave; she was accused by the girls. then one thing lead to another as a core member of the puritan society was accused of witchcraft. The town went mad as they believed the devil was after anyone. By the end of it, 19 people were hanged, i stoned to death, & 13 dead in prison. The only thing that brought an end to this was the fact the the accused were becoming people that were of higher stature & also many others who confessed and had their lives spared were now taking back there confessions also brought an end.

Puritans: The Puritans were basically Christians of the extremist type. Anything that wasn't approved by god was punishable; and any misfortunes you may have been dealing with (i.e death of family, poor land, etc) was your fault; you were being punished directly by god himself for your sins. They also believed the devil was as real as god. They believed they all had to think the same & believe the same, others who thought different were sinners. They had to live their lives by the bible and 10 commandments. It was law to observe the sabbath and basically all things that would be extreme with religion would be true.

REAL House of Seven Gables: was built in 1668 by john turner. They lived there for 3 generations. The land was then bought by Captain Samuel Ingersoll in 1782. When he dad at sea he left the house to his daughter, Susanna. Susana is the cousin of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Nathaniel Hawthorne: He was born in Salem, Massachusetts. William Hathorne, his great-X3-grandfather was the first to come from England & was a hardcore Puritan living in Salem; he became an important member there as a judge, becoming infamous for his harsh sentencing. William 's son, Nathan's great-great-grandfather, John Hathorne, was one of the judges who oversaw the Salem Witch Trials. For this reason, Nathan changed his name from Hathorne to Hawthorne. In his literature, he liked to right that suggest that guilt, sin, and evil are the most inherent natural qualities of humanity; referring a lot to Puritan lifestyles.

Conclusion?:
They all tie together, Hawthorne connects to the witch trials. His older ancestors had everything to do with it. Some of his older family were judges that sentenced people to death & what not. Those two have everything to do with the Puritans. It was because of the Puritans that the Witch Trials began. Their beliefs & extreme ways were what caused the trials. Hawthorne's cousins lived in the house of 7 gables which may have been the inspirations for his book (has to be). They're all tied together through witches & family

I knew was truly an American when...

I;d have to say when i learned our National Anthem in 3rd grade. The words, so strong & so true, they say everything perfectly! Every time i here the song, i cant help but think of how great a country this is & how proud & lucky i am to be a citizen of it. Also, at that point i was proud to be an American, i also realized the real blow of 9/11 that year during Sept. Books i read (that i dont recall) about the wars we fought in, movies i watched. it all clicked on how i was proud to be a citizen of America & call myself an American

Us vs Them....Us and Them

i truely don't understand what this blog is supposed to be about, so yea. this'll be my interpretation of what i think it's asking. That many times, our enemies tend to become our "allies" or at least we need to work with them often because neither side is going anywhere. Just goes to show that even though they may be your enemy, when its apparent that both sides are too great powers for either side to truely be victor, it will need to be learned to deal with the enemy.

John Proctor; hero or not?

Normally, with a question like this, i believe people would describe the person then tell you what their answer is based on their previously stated words;i would like to start by saying that John Proctor is a Hero & deserves this recognition from anybody who reads "The Crucible". He did all he could to save his wife, prove her innocence & save his friends of the town of Salem from execution by ruling of witchery. He could have taken the deal for his wife to be spared since she was pregnant but wanted to save everybody because the reasons for all these accusations was a load of BS. Vengeance, was the motive for all the witchcraft accusations, which lead others to do the same out of greed & jealousy.

John Proctor was trying to set things right, and in doing so, it cost him his life. John Proctor was a hero for trying to fix Salem, even throwing out his name saying a had an affair with Abby, to save lives from death from a stupid reasons. And by not taking the deal to keep his life rather than falsely admit to working with the devil, he shows the town that all the accusations really WAS a load of BS

Sinners in the Hands of God...[VERY INTERESTING!!!]

“Sinners in the Hands of God…” topics like these could keep my friends & I, from my old school, debating about these & having great discussions for a large number of our lunch periods! Our mouths would go 100 miles a minute! This peculiar topic, I don’t think, was ever brought up. However, I already have a strong ‘belief’ about this (more of my opinion); I’m always opens to others’ too though! Anyway, time to get down to business. When it comes time for sinners to answer to God to the wrong they’ve done, I feel it is not at all how described in the passage/story we read in class the other day. The main part to my opinion is this; Nobody goes to Hell; NOBODY. On that sentence I’m certain anyone reading this has had a thought pop into their head ranging from something as simple as “he, that’s weird” to “ARE YOU BLEEPING STUPID??” This is my opinion remember, so now listen to why I think this. I strongly believe this because God is too merciful. God is said to be all forgiving (I have heard this at least 1008 times when doing something that involves the Bible/Church); he is an all forgiving Being & because of this, I do not see how God could bestow a person with the punishment of eternity in Hell; remember, we’re talking ETERNITY. Think, because of you wrong doings on Earth, you are dealt to spend forever (really grasp your mind around the terms eternity & forever, it doesn’t end!!!) in a place of unimaginable horror. I know the Bible says strongly to avoid sin so you can avoid going to Hell, but (imagine this being said in a condescending, explanatory manner) it also talks of the all forgiving God!!! Therefore (being the technical person I am & how I take/look at things in a logical manner) nobody goes to Hell! So this always begs the (in reference to the extremely bad sinner i.e. Hitler, serial killers, etc. ) question and creates responses such as; “then where do they go?” ; ”So they get a free ticket to heaven?”; “They DO go to Hell, they had their chance on Earth, they made their choice!” and much, much more. My response: They go to one of 3 places I’ll refer to the first 2 as “Time-Out level 1” & “Time-Out level 2” & of course Heaven. So since no one goes to Hell, when “Sinners are in the hands of God” (which really means us [because we’re all sinners]), God decides to either put you in TO 1 or 2. TO1 is for those like you & me we sin & have plenty of things that need to be fixed. TO2 is for the people you’d thing have earned themselves a one-way ticket to Hell. On a side note, I also feel very, very few people go straight to heaven. Why; because we’re all sinners. Therefore I think sinners in the hands of God are put into one of these “TO’s” to think about what they’ve done & not just like you have to do this for a set amount of time; you will be in this place (some would call it purgatory?) in solitude & at times with others (like an AA group) to repent, you would then move to Heaven when your soul is truly pure. And when I say pure I mean pure, there is no ignorance, no racism, no thoughts of it, sex, pleasures, games, blah, blah, everything we like as morals, is not in Heaven. None of its needed! We’ll be in a place so pure & filled with love we need basically nothing. It’s like this because we all repent in TO, & not until sinners (we) have we repented, God will allow us the sanction of heaven. Eventually, the people from TO2 could get to heaven, it may take a very, very long time (century or 2 haha) but that’s the purpose of these TO’s. So by the time you see someone like say…Hitler in Heaven, you won’t think nothing of it; He’s just as pure as you (it just took him longer to get there XD). Ultimately, sinners in the Hands of God are given the chance to go to Heaven. One more thing, my second thought is everything I previously stated is to be the same, except the people God truly feels deserve to go to Hell DO go to Hell, they then move to TO2 when they are ready to begin to repent [which God will obviously know when they’re ready] (which may not be long considering how bad Hell is…it is Hell ya know). Why do I say they go to Hell now? Like I said, I am opened minded! Please leave your comments! I want to hear your thoughts!

Woop…There Goes the Neighborhood!

In my life, I have moved 7 times. Every new neighborhood we joined was the same; everyone kept to themselves, the people you knew on the block were people you went to school or work with (occasionally). Until reading & hearing others’ blog on this topic, I didn’t think unified neighborhoods existed anymore; that they only existed in movies or way far from the city. Despite all the times I moved, I lived generally in the same area; in a square going south from 25th & Cicero to 67th & Cicero, east to 67th & Western, north to 25th & Western, & back west to 25th & Cicero. In the places I’ve lived, the vast majority are Hispanic/Mexican. However in this area, there are Blacks, Whites, & Asians. But all the races tend to have an area where it’s mostly them. This square is where I grew up, & I’m certain there are no neighborhoods where people are really unified. (Of course I may be completely wrong because we keep to ourselves because it seems that’s what’s done.) People come and go. But there is one thing that makes people in these neighborhoods think, “Damn. Well, there goes the neighborhood!” That would be the plague that is gang violence. 3 of the 7 times I’ve moved have been because of increasing gang violence & currently we’re looking to move again because gang violence has slowly been increasing (and others) in my current neighborhood.
This has been my brush with “there goes the neighborhood.” Several times gang violence & members moved in and my family, along with others, thought “There goes the neighborhood.” How do/did we handle it? Well the first sentence says it all, we move, but not immediately; this obviously doesn’t happen overnight & we don’t run at the first sign of trouble; we notice that there’s a steady increase in this activity, as it increases, our tolerance decreases. Once we’re at the tipping point, the next thing that involves gangs we hear, whether it be groups of people screaming at night or gunshots in the morning, we make the arrangements to move. So this is my blog on ‘There goes the neighborhood!’ Hope you enjoyed. Carlos Out!

A small insight on the person called Carlos

About Me….



Alright, here we go…my 1st blog. First off, my name full name is Juan Carlos Solis Junior; even though my first name is Juan, I have been called Carlos since birth. Why? I don’t know so don’t bother. Legend has it my Grandma was the first one to call me an actual name (parents called me baby names, nicknames, & what not) & she called me Carlos because I didn’t look like a Juan & thus, the name Carlos stuck.

Alirght, enough about my name; I was born May 21st, 1995. I was born & raised here in Chicago & graduated from St. Gall Elementary. Oh yea, I’m 100% Mexican (who doesn’t speak Spanish that well) & if there’s anything you should know about me is this; I’m a HUGE Cubs Fan! Being a Cubs fan comes from being a baseball fan. I’ve been playing organized baseball since I was 4. Baseball would be my dream job (like MANY other kids across the nation) but I know it’ll be hard to get there. My main interests involve:

Science/Astronomy:
Even with the limited view we have in Chicago, I can stay up all night looking at the sky with my cheap $60 telescope from target. That's how much i like astronomy. Also, ALL of science is fascinating to me. It's so freaking amazing!

Psychology & the brain: the brain, i believe is the single most fascinating thing on the planet. The aspect of a subconscious simply blows me away. We spend roughly 1/3 of our lives sleeping and every time we sleep our subconscious screams stuff at us!; & we barely hear a word of it.

Baseball & the Cubs (sports): I KNOW they haven’t won a World Series in 100+ years (& counting) but that's why they're called the loveable loser. If there's anything to know about me it's i a Cubs Fan & I play baseball. Baseball is my passion. It's the "…only field of endeavor where a man can succeed 3 out of 10 times and be considered great". The best part is, it's truly never over until it's over. Throughout the history of baseball, things have happened that not even Hollywood could script. That's why I love it.

(Other) Things to know: I live with both my parents (yes, they're divorced [note, they never got married so yea...]) I have a chipped tooth (did that in 6th grade playing football). I played the trumpet for 5 years in grade school. Math is my best/favorite subject along with science (although it doesn’t come to me as naturally as science). I like to laugh. I love a good challenge (even if I have no chance). I’m a nice person but if you’re mean to for reasons I can’t understand, I’ll be an ass too you. Anything short of an ‘A’ I see as a failure. I forgive but I most certainly don’t forget! Lastly, I truly, absolutely, love my parents, whom without; I wouldn’t be one fourth the person I am today.

Lastly, these things are beliefs, opinions I’d like yous to know about me. I like to believe there’s always a bright side. I believe in a God/afterlife & even if there isn’t why not? It’s there to believe in for a reason; because when all is said & done life sucks, it truly does & we all need hope in our lives along with someone to comfort us. That’s what religion is for; it’s for something to believe in & comfort us in our times of need. I use the saying “there’s always somebody better than you” told to me by my dad, to motivate me in everything.

And most importantly I live my life by what I have to say next. I try my best, try to be the best at everything I do, everything! Because even if I don’t end up being the best it’s the satisfaction I get from myself that I knew I did everything I could do. Why do I do this? Why wouldn’t you! If you’re not going to try your best at everything you do, then what’s the point of doing it in the first place? Think about it, if you have to do it, why not do/be the best you can do/be?

Hope my blog wasn’t too bad. Also, whoever reads this that doesn’t know me I’m a friendly person so don’t be think twice about wanting to talk to me if you see me and want to get to know me.

Bye for today!