A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

To what extent, if any does it matter whether Pelayo’s guest is an angel?

Angels should be seen as something miraculous and very beautiful, then why do Pelayo and Elizenda treat him with such harshness? Since the beginning the angel was seen as fragile and weak. He looked as if though he would die. My idea is that if he were an angel, then maybe he would have been treated better and maybe given more faith that something actually divine happened. Also, if he were an angel, then he would change every ones opinion about their beliefs and their religious standing. If he was not an angel, then it definitely shows that he would have been treated badly because through out the story he was treated like a circus animal because many things discredited him as being an angel. I very much disliked the two main characters because of how they treated “the angel,” shows how they are as humans. Since they treated the old man with ridicule, they are not truly sympathetic or religious in a sense because even if he was an ordinary man, they should have treated him with respect. It also shows how selfish they are in thinking of only money when they know the man is suffering from something that is making him weak. In the end, his departure was truly magical because to Elizenda he was just an imaginary dot. But to me it was his departure to freedom.
Some things that ran through my head were:
-Was the old man and angel or not?
-Was he in some way a guardian angel to the baby?
-Was his weakness coming form the lack of faith they had of him being an angel? Any religious meaning?
-Was it a test to humans to see if they were somehow truly humans?

Wrestling as a symbol? Chapter 6

In this chapter, the wrestling has begun and Okonkwo hides his excitement. The wrestling starts with the young boys. One in particular made a move that fascinated everyone. Do all boys have to prove their masculinity by violence? Okonkwo throughout the whole thing tried to hide his amusement and his excitement. He never lets his true person come out. Emotions are part of being human and it probably takes a lot out of Okonkwo to have to hide it all the time. Maybe that is why he resorts to anger. He gets frustrated with having to erase his father from his life and he makes sure they remember him when they hear his family name. He is so ashamed that he doesn’t really care about anything else. It basically has become his obsession. This obsession to be different can lead to many misfortunes. He will soon forget to tend to more important things and it will hurt him in the end. Is his obsession gone too far? What healthy way should he have handled being in his fathers shadow of shame? is wrestling a symbol? Is it a symbol of power or is it a way to escape everyday life?

A Day in the Life of Lala

My day starts out with my mom yelling at me to get up. I can never seem to get up without making a big deal out of it. I take my sweet time sitting up and then I quickly get dressed. I walk in to my small bathroom and start my very precise procedure. I start by brushing my teeth and then by fixing my hair. I try to do something different every time. Today I think I want to straighten it all the way down. My hair is long and dark brown. I then start my makeup, which also takes a while. I start with the foundation and move to the eye shadow. I then apply my mascara and eyeliner. Where would a Latina girl be without her mascara? In Spanish, my mom keeps yelling at me to hurry up. She likes to make me hurry since I have to take the school bus to school. I take an apple from the fruit tray and I walk out. It is nice outside; not too hot and not too cold. I love springtime in Arizona. I start walking to my bus stop it is only a few blocks away. I try to hurry so I won’t miss it. I make it right on time like always and I quickly get on. I sit close to the front and put on my headphones. I love to listen to music wherever I go because it makes my day better. We make a few more stops then head to the school. Once we are there, I make my way to the cafeteria. My friends are waiting there for me and they all smile as I approach. I wonder if it is something I am wearing or if there is something on my face. I ask them and they say, “Lala there is nothing on your face, we are just glad you’re here.” We hang out and laugh at every little thing our friend Maria says. She is the funniest girl ever. The bell rings and I make my way to my first class. My first class today is math. I don’t like math but then again, who likes math? I make my way over to my seat and pay close attention to everything. I have always been very observant but I could never quite have the right amount of concentration.

The rest of my day is a blur except for lunch. Lunch is the best period in my whole day. We all sit together and we gossip about the latest rumors and what we will do after school. We made plans to go to the mall. Right after school we took off on foot at first. We walked to the public bus stop not too far and we got on. We each had to pay a dollar and twenty-five cents. We sit in the back and keep going with our shenanigans. We are the loudest group and everyone kept looking at us. My friend Susan pulls the string to request our stop and we get off. We walk to the mall and go straight for the shoe store. We love to try on all kinds of shoes but especially the high heels. We go through a bunch before we decide to move on to the jewelry. We go and we buy a lot of earrings. I like to wear the big hoop earrings. Next we hit the food court. I decide to buy a smoothie because it is my favorite drink. We drink our sweet beverages on a little bench by a carousel and reminisce the old times. It was getting late so we decide to leave. We take the bus back to school and I walked them to their parents’ cars. They offer to give me a ride but I tell them I would rather walk.

I start my long walk to my house while I listen to my music. I get to my house a little late and as soon as I get inside my mom starts yelling in Spanish. “Why was I so late?” “When was I going to do my homework?” I then walk to my room, relay only thinking of what I did today. I brush my teeth, change into my pajamas, and I start my homework. I didn’t finish it since I fell fast asleep with my books on top of me. I dream about all the things I will do tomorrow and what I didn’t get to do today. I will start a whole new day tomorrow.

Buin My Suit? I Don't Think So!

This poem got me thinking really hard about how it could possibly apply to me and what it really means. Then it suddenly knocked me off my…chair and I figured it out. My suit is who I am as a person. The suit makes me up and is what makes me different. It shows my culture, my family, and my race. Being Mexican to me used to be a problem. People would stare and would make comments to my parents when I was too small too understand. I would get teased because my hair was too long or because I was too dark. Sometimes they would make me cry and go home feeling like I was too different to live around these people. As I got older I found out that they were all wrong. I am beautiful inside and out and no one will ever say anything to me again without getting a response from me. I used to want to burn my suit but now that I am proud to be myself, I can proudly say that my suit fits me perfectly fine. From what I understood, the poem is talking about the suit as if it were something that defines us. Because it means to say that “our suits” represent who we are and if we have a problem with it then we should try to buin it. The other problem is that we can’t buin it because it is who we are. As hard as you try to pretend you are someone you are not, you will never be able to hide or erase who you are. People can spot fake people as soon as they meet them, at least I do. It applies to all of us because we all don’t like something about us and we wish we could change it. Burning the suit means changing it to something we want to. We often ask each other what is something you would change about yourself? And we always have something to say. So what would I change? I would like to be able to control my anger and maybe be a little less aggressive. But other than that I think my suit is fine. We all have flaws, we all have pwoblems, and we can’t help it because it is part of being human.
The most difficult parts to buin is our outer look. When someone looks at someone they automatically make a judgment about them. I hate this because people say they don’t do it when they know they do. It is a natural thing to do but it is a bad thing to do. People should not be judged by what their suits are like but by how they act and how they are. You can’t change how you look so drastically that no one can recognize you. Yes there is plastic surgery but it can’t take away who you are. Society pushes this ideal “look” and many try to achieve to look this way. Personally, I think the world would be terribly boring if we all looked alike. I enjoy looking different and I don’t mind the looks anymore. Why should I walk around worrying about looking perfect for others? Why should I act like someone I am not and regret it later? I want to live how I want and be who I am. People should accept that society is wrong for putting an impossible model of perfection. I don’t think perfection exists because perfection would ruin the whole point of diversity. Perfection is boring sometimes and it does not quite fit in with the world of today. Because of society, many people change who they are or want to because they think it is what they should do. This is an example when people most would like to buin their suits. Why? Personally I don’t know why they would want to please others. Like Marianne Williamson said, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine…” Do we want to buin our suits because we are scared? We just might. When society pushes others to change then that’s when most people decide to buin their suits.
If I could do something to make my heart beat faster, I would be a dancer or a dance teacher because music and dance are my life. I would never ever be who I am without it. My dancing started since I could walk and even though it’s not professional and all, it is great to me. I love dancing and I would choose it as a career to make my heart beat faster if I could. What prevents me? Let’s see, my financial situation, my parents, and other things. My parents support what I want but deep down I know they want me to do something bigger. I have always pleased others before myself and I am so used to it that I am going to it again. It is life and the way mine has gone, sacrifices come easy to me. I don’t mind putting my family first over my happiness because the way I look at it, living for them is the best thing I can do. I have all my life to do things for me and I have all my life to find happiness.

Pride leads to pain?

When I think of pride I think of it as a quality that many people have. Sometimes it’s so bad that people would rather lose things and suffer instead of admitting they are wrong. The definition of the word pride is a bit vague on how it actually is. Life is powered by so many emotions and sometimes people don’t know how to handle it. Pride to me is something that should be in little quantity. It is fine to have pride in one self or of one’s family. But if someone uses pride in a bad way and loses things in the way, it is not healthy. The question is, does pride lead to pain and suffering? It sure does in my book. Pride, in the play “Antigone,” is prominent in the character Creon. Creon to the reader is taken as someone who is conceited and a person who only thinks of power. He also has so much pride that he would not “bend” to someone else’s priorities and only looked at his own. When he did this he lost his son, wife, and the support of the people. The villagers do not want a king that would rather see his son die than to let someone have their last goodbye. Creon talks about how he does it for the people and the city, but he knows that pride is what is pushing him to make stupid decisions. Antigone also showed this characteristic. The sad part is that there is no difference in the way they acted. She killed herself knowing that her fiancée would the same. Her pride was so large that she would not die by the hands of anyone but her own. Her pride ruined many lives and not only did she leave a sister behind, but she also left no reason for her actions. She was so affected by what happened to her that she was not thinking straight. Pride leads to pain and suffering because losing loved ones is not the only punishment. People that put pride before anything also gets punished with guilt. Guilt is something that I could never live with and I am sure would eat at anyone that actually has a heart. When someone decides to end their life knowing that they would take someone else with them is selfish and they probably will feel guilty as well. Guilt is everywhere and it powers people in the wrong direction. Creon will soon know what it is like to feel guilty. He will probably never recover from what happened as Antigone never recovered from her loss (434).

My List

A Wrinkle in Time: I liked it because it was so innocent. It had great details and it made me immerse myself into the world of the kids.

The Great Gatsby: I loved the irony in the book, as well as, the romantic point that Gatsby brought to the story. Although he was rejected in the end his love was greater.

The Catcher in the Rye: I loved the language in this book. It was so relatable since it was a teenager and it made it seem as I was actually he was talking to me. The story was a bit confusing at times but it was a good book. I didn't like the ending, however, because I wanted to know more about his life after he had his adventure.

A Walk to Remember: It made me very sad because it made me think about life and how people take advantage of it. I have always loved romantic movies and books.

Remember Me: This book was very interesting because a girl who was killed, comes back spiritually to find her killer. It has more than one book but the first one was the best for me. I like mystery novels as well.

A Good Review

The Secret Life of Bees

This story was very refreshing to me not only because it was different, but also because it reminded me of my own life. My story isn't exactly the same as Lily, the main character, but the way she did things and cared for many things was sweet. She had this zest for life even though she lost her mom. I do believe she should have handled things better but when one keeps in so much pain it is hard to think collectively about your actions. Her relationship with her father, Ray, was a little vague to me because I didn't see much of what they were about. I would have liked to have a little more information on how their relationship worked in the past and how it led to such an aggressive nature. What shocked me the most about this book was the death of one of the sisters, May. The way the author made her seem since the beginning, made it hard for me to see her die so suddenly. I did see it coming but it still shocked me so much, especially, how she died. Suicide did seem to run in the family but it was difficult to see them repeat it. The sympathy was very high for May because she seemed the most innocent and child like. Her sensitivity towards the problems in the world gives her a big heart. Her suffering did have to end sooner or later but what I don’t understand is why no one took her to get help. Yes, it was nice to have her around but her well being should be more important. Death is always shocking in a story but the book did end on a light note. The way Rosemary was treated in the book also made me sad and sympathetic towards her. She seemed so sweet and to even think about her getting beaten by a racist man gave me some chills because I know how it feels to be discriminated against. The relationship between Lily and Zach was very sweet and innocent. It shows some brightness in the story, especially, since they have to fight others to be together. The conflict it created symbolized the whole problem in the book, the lack of freedom. Freedom is prohibited to Rosemary, Lily, Zach, the bees, and the sisters. The bees were the most lifelike part about the book to me because they had so much symbolism behind them that they couldn't be ignored. In the beginning of the book they had their first scene with Lily which started out as the beginning of having more and more significance in the book. For example, they seem to me as Lily's guides to find her mother's trail. When they come around her or when Lily was around them, Lily becomes part of her mother. Overall, the book surprised me in how interesting the read was to me. I actually got really into it and decided that I liked it as soon as I put it down. The characters were relatable and the plot was wonderful. The meaning behind the story and the intention was refreshing and the ending was happy! Happy endings are nice because they make all the bad things seem in the past. I’m happy with it and would read it again any time. : )