NICK & JAY

As I read The Great Gatsby, I notice a relationship beginning to be developed between Jay and Nick.  Jay throws a lot of parties and since Nick just moved right next door, Nick gets invited to the parties.  Many people show up to Jay's house during his parties that has never even met him and that wasn't even invited, but Jay doesn't mind because his real intentions on throwing the part was to meet his one true love Daisy again since he hasn't seen her in about five years.  When Nick accepted the invitation, he hadn' t even met Gatsby yet, but one day when he was there he just happened to run into him unknowingly.
Once Jay found out that Nick knew Daisy, he wanted to hook up with Daisy through Nick.  He wanted Nick to invite Daisy over to his home for tea.  So he started hanging out with Nick and Nick invited Daisy over for tea and told her not to bring her husband, but didn't tell her why.  The question is though, is Jay using Nick just to get to Daisy?
I seem to think that Jay is using Nick to get to Daisy but at the same time he still is trying to be friends with Nick.  His intentions of the parties was to get to Daisy so therefore he was technically going to use ANYONE to get to Daisy if they knew her.  I just feel like if Jay didn't want to be friends with Nick at the same time, then once Nick invited Daisy over for him, Jay would have started to blow Nick off instead of inviting him over with Daisy once they left Nick's house.  Also when Nick left the room, Jay followed because he still wanted Nick to be a part of their get together.  I don't believe Nick thinks that Jay is using him because he says in the beginning of the book that though Jay was not like the typical people that he associates with, he made an exception for him because he was a really cool person (not in those words).  I guess I will just have to continue to read to figure it out but as of now I believe it can go both ways depending on how you look at it.

WINTER POEM

Classmate I appreciate..

I am thankful to have Briana Hammons in my class.  I've been knowing her since third period geometry last year with Mr. Nunn and immediately we became friends. We went through the year helping eachother out in Geometry and being partners for every assignment.  For every question she didn't understand I would help her and for every question I didn't understand she would help me.  She was a good helper to me and explained things well.  And every time I would fall asleep she would fill me in on whatever it was that I missed in the lectures when i awoke.  We would always treat Robert together and talk about the bball team together.
This year, I appreciate having her in my class because she fill me in on whats going on when I feel lost, she reminds me of the homework and bloggs sometimes when I forget after a long day and practice, and she also helps me sometimes with the vocab book questions.  Don't get me wrong these aren't the only reasons I'm thankful for Briana, she also keeps me dying laughing not only in class but outside of class.  We are not those type of people that are only friends inside the classroom, I have a lot of fun with Briana outside the class room but that is a whole different story so....yeah that's enough about her, I will stop there before I end up putting all of our business out there ;)

Changes in American Lit

To start, I really don't have any major problems with American Lit.  The only thing I can't keep up with is the blog and comments every week.  Don't get me wrong it is a good thing and a good way to express ideas and find out other students ideas on the same subjects but I mean sometimes I just forget to do them by Friday.  Maybe if we could get the weekend, like until Sunday night to have them done it wouldn't be such a problem.  I'm not exactly sure why this is a problem, I think maybe because there's so much going on during the week and other teachers give out so much more unnecessary homework, then I don't really get a chance to get it done.  Or maybe I'm just soo tired after having practice so long after school then coming home to do other home work and studying then I just forget that I have to get on the computer and do this.  If it were due on a Sunday night on the other hand, I think I will have a better chance at getting my blog done.
Other than the blogs,  I think we should have our vocab test and our tests once we finish reading a book separately.  That way we can have more test grades and a better opportunity to do well in the test category.  Since we only had one test this quarter if we were to do bad on it, we wouldn't have had an opportunity to make that grade up on any other tests so that we can get a better percentage in that category.  I guess it doesn't really matter if we just study and read the book then we won't really have an issue with this, but for people like me who have very little time during the school week and at that manages their time very badly than studying and doing homework sometimes really become a major issue for me, especially on those long days when I get really tired.
Overall I think I like this class a little better than it may seem, it doesn't really ask for too much out of you and it really challenges you to think outside of the box.  Also it allows you to voice your opinions so that others may hear you and put up a good argument.

Slavery Today

Have you ever took the time to realize how many people treat others in the world today.  Some people may not think it matters while others may think the world has changed a lot compared to how people use to treat others.  Still there are some people who really don't think the world has changed and probably won't change the way that we treat one another.  The world was once focused on racial issues, cultural issues, religious issues, and many more.  Slavery has been an issue forever though and still continue on, just maybe not getting as much attention as it once was.
In our very own city here in Chicago, I happen to believe that slavery is going on right here in some of our backyards.  Have you ever considered that maybe these street gangs can be categorized in the same category as slavery.  In many street gangs, you have one leader or "master" who is in control of what everybody does, says, and believes.  Then you have the followers, or the people that works for the leader doing all of the dirty work and not getting nearly as much out of it as the leader is.  If you don't obey the leader or if you do something wrong then you will basically get beaten or killed by the leader himself or someone ordered by the leader to do it.  So really you are being forced to do something that you don't want to do because you want to keep your life.  Also to get into the gang may require some initiation where you will have to let every "jump" you or maybe you will be forced to go out and kill a certain number of people.  Some may argue that this isn't being forced if you want to be a part of this gang, but really you don't have a choice because I doubt if you can just tell them no and walk away with nothing done to you after all of that.
I think this can possibly be considered slavery, but maybe it's just me...

I did a little more research on the Puritan religion so that I can have more of an understanding while reading The Crucible and the House of the Seven Gables also Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.  In class we were focusing on Puritans, and in our discussion I began thinking that Puritans were like the Jehovah's Witnessess in many ways.  I didn't understand why people would believe that God already had a list of selected people in which he wanted in heaven.  If that were the case, why would God, since that was who they believed to be the creator, create people who he knew would do things that wouldn't get them into heaven?  Why would he mix the evil minded people that were "following" the devils and his ways with the godly people who were good and followed the Bible's word of law?  I could understand the fact that not all people get into heaven, but I also thought that they believed the world should be peaceful in a way that was excepting to God.  Yet God created the people that he knew would oppose his followers?  What did they believe to be the purpose of that?
conversion
repression
sympathetic to needs
no music? a dreamy state
only taught reading to younger children

The Time I Knew I Was An American

I seem to believe that compared to all of the other countries, America does try to make life more convient and easy for everybody that lives here.  I knew I was an American as soon as I started to grow up with the family that I have.  I have a typical American family.  I say this because my family does everything they can to spoil their children, and just as they say Americans are spoiled.  I feel as though I have almost everything I could ever want as a teenager.  I'm pretty sure I remember getting everything I ask for when I was little.  Well at lease the realistic things in life.  This may sound crazy, but besides doing well in school, which really shouldn't count, I have never had to work really hard for the things that my family "rewarded" me with.  It was just the other day when I walked into the store with my grandpa, and he offered to buy me so many things.  He kept asking me if I wanted this thing or that thing.  Finally I said ok I want this, are you going to buy it is the question.  Then he told me it was what ever I wanted, if I wanted it he would buy it.  Now there's a spoiled child for you.  But don't mistake me for a "brat".  In my oppinion, I don't really ask for much and I don't throw "fits" or whine about the things that I don't get.  Also if my mom says no I won't go to my dad and ask the same thing because I know he will probably say yes.  I learned the definition of what it meant to be spoiled early because of my family.  Now that I know what spoiled is, I really do think that not just me but all Americans are spoiled.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Wow well I think this is very interesting seeming that I am a Christian.  I think if Jonathan Edwards was my preacher now, I would probably look at him like he was crazy or something when he gave this sermon.  I know back in his time people were very strict when it came to what the preacher said.  Basically what the preacher spoke was the truth, like it came from God himself just delivered through someone else.  So people in this time probably did believe these things.
What he is saying really is that God doesn't forgive you, he just keeps adding up your wrongs until he gets fed up with you and wants to cut off your life line.  God just keeps getting mad and upset, and there is nothing you can do about it so you better just remain a "saint" and don't do anything that is wrong or that you may think is wrong.  Also he was saying that if you don't go to church and haven't been "saved" then you will not go to heaven  If you have been "saved" then you can't do anything.  Everything you do wrong will turn in to your guilt and God's frustration.  God is just waiting to give you your final chance then he will cut your string and you will fall to hell.  Since God is holding you and keeping you from falling, God can just as easily let you go.  The things that you have that you think is keeping you safe are fake.
I really think this is crazy because in church I was taught that you can "repent", ask for forgiveness, and God will forgive you.  The God that I believe in is patient and understanding, while the God that was described is the complete opposite.  Also God does tally up our wrongs and rights and doesn't get frustrated us where he will get to the point where he will kill us just like that.  The first time he destroyed the world he gave a warning, people just chose not to listen, therefore it wasn't God just "cutting our strings" and dropping us like that.  This speach really amused me.

There Goes My Neighborhood..

As we all may know, of course white people are the majority in America and every other race is considered a minority.  I happen to be a part of that minority group.  One of the major times that I can remember a clash since I've gotten older and been able to realize when situations like that will occur was when I first moved into m neighborhood.  My family and I became the second black family on our block, the other family stays next door to the right of us coincidentally.  On the day we moved in, the other black family came over and welcomed us.  It was a mother and father along with two children, one was a sixteen year old boy and a ten year old girl.  They treated us as if they had already known us for a while, and were very comfortable around us.  They came in and checked out our house and stayed a while to talk.  They even made us a cake (which is the type of stuff you usually see on television, but I'm serious).  After they had spent about a hour and a half with us, making sure we were all settled and adapted, they went back home.  However they felt comfortable enough to leave their daughter over for a while to play with the children that were at my house visiting with their parents and helping unpack.
A few hours later a family of our white neighbors came over.  They introduced themselves and welcomed us also.  My family and I introduced ourselves also, but afterwards they started asking us a lot of crazy questions.  They were a little noisy for it to be their first time meeting us, I might add.  A couple of the questions seemed offensive the way they would ask it.  They were asking things like, "Wow, all of you guys live here?" because of the families that were over helping us unpack, it was about ten people in our house.  Then they put this look on their face, and after we told them no they had a look of relief.  Then they told us that they were sure we had made a major upgrade, as if they knew where we moved from.  They also asked my parents what they did (occupation wise), like that was important.  The only thing was they never told us about theirselves (no more than their names) and never even stepped a foot in the door of our new home.

Introduction

Wassup, I'm Brittany. 
I have one brother, he's my "Irish Twin" and his name is James.  The reason I say this is we stay the same age for about three weeks each year because we're only eleven months apart and we have the same parents. I am the youngest of the two of us, but for some reason we're both spoiled.  Surprisingly we actually like to hang out, we are really close.  Still we do have the times where we don't want to be bothered with each other. People say we look a lot alike, but we really don't see it at all.
I don't really know how I would describe myself but for the most part I'm a pretty laid back type of person, I like to have fun and laugh a lot, I'm not too shy but I wouldn't say I was outgoing, I'm fun to be about, I always have a positive attitude for the most part, I really don't like to let things get to me because in the end you still have to move on with your life, I think I'm a helpful person and pretty smart too, and I like meeting new people.  Some of the negative things about me would have to be that I can have a bad attitude when I want which is rarely, I'm very easily irritated (but once I'm irritated it won't really last long), I can come off as rude sometimes or mean but really you just have to get to know me I guess.
One major thing that's important to know about me is that basically basketball is my life.  I really love to play basketball, I've been playing since I was about three.  I went to my first camp when I was five and I played on my first school team when I was eight.  I played at park district teams the years in between.  By ten I was playing on my first travel team.  The whole time I played basketball in grammer school for my school teams, I only lost one game and that was in third grade the second game of the season.  I am a point guard and I really like this position because I feel like people depend on you in the game.  It is up to you to instruct your team (after the coach).  You should be a leader.  Now I play for lady fire and the girls I play with are amazing.  I also play with the Lady Dolphins and they too are incredible to be around.
Basically that is about it, these are the major pieces of my life story!