Reflec-flec-flec-tion Essaaaay

      My sophomore year has reflected much off of my freshman year. The mistakes I made then are the mistakes I detect immediately now. One class that has been especially distinct from last year is English 10. Ever since eighth grade, I have been incessantly used to writing analytical papers and essays, I was bordering on the thought that I had lost all of my writing creativity. From deceptive introductions, to featureless concrete details, to scheming illusionary conclusions, I began to despise English, which was once one my most favored classes. In English this year, having a blog that permits exemption from mind-numbing analysis helps me exercise methods of editing and revision, and appreciate the composition produced. 


      On my blog I have flexibility, which helps the flow of what I am writing. Last year my usual editing and revision process was a bunch of nonsense; it did not reflect what my opinion of the piece was, and the tone I was required to write in did not display me as a satisfactory writer, whatsoever. What bothered me most – in writing as well as in school generally – is I am often not allowed to write without constrictions. When I would write my essay or paper, I would scan and scrutinize them again and again, to edit them in such a way that they would meet the expectations of my teachers. (It very much annoyed me that teachers were very reluctant to accept papers with even a miniscule amount of an artist's inventiveness.) Other times, I would not even revise the paper myself – I would allow an upperclassmen tutor to revise it for me, and I would just leave it at that. It frustrated me that my best wasn't being put into my essay, but for the sake of my grade in the class, I did not dwell on it. At this moment, the blogs I come up with for class do not require a first or second draft, because the ideas come to me like ants to a picnic. For example, in the blog Change For Who? You? Nahhhh, I wrote about something I sincerely believe in:

“The thing about society is that people - a lot of them being mostly women - want to alter something about their body. They don't appreciate what they have, they complain, then they try to change it. Some want to look like celebrities, some like their friends, who the hell knows. They may have a good or bad reason as to why, but most often it is media influence, peer pressure, or strictly unhappiness. Dumb right? What I believe people need to realize that everyone looks different for a reason. If everyone looked the same, why would we have the word originality?”

 My individual opinion is much less demanding to construct than it is to write an entire analytical essay. With the words vomiting from my brain, all I have to worry about is spelling and grammar check.

      I have surprised myself this year with my ability to produce such exceptional work (in my opinion, of course) under time and workload constraints. I compared an essay I composed lat year on The Color Purple last year, to the Q Essay I wrote this year about a month ago; the disparity between language, diction, syntax, tone, etc. was shockingly conflicting. I realized that being given the leeway to write as I please, and in a tone I am contented with, has given me practice with writing acceptable papers on impulse, without having to BS them. With the blogs I have been writing I've been actually putting in serious thought and strength. In one response blog, I approached a topic I at first though I was familiar with. With second though however, I seen there was much more I did not know about. I surprised myself by being able to analyze this topic in depth enough to write 350 word blog on it.

      The way I write and the way I think about writing has been altered by having a blog; and I love it. I think it is very important for students – especially in our age group – to be able to express their strengths, no matter what subject. Mr. Sutherland allows the class to apply themselves to the very best of their abilities, and he doesn't overly scrutinize our work content or ridicule our ideas. A blog stands way over on an essay in my opinion, because blogs can represent the personality of the author; their personal experiences, views and/or hobbies. It also can include the most random things like pets, comics, celebrity gossip, personal diary etc, the list can go forever. Even with a professional approach we can include blogs that offer informative information, products and/or services (I doubt anyone is doing this, but it's an available option).

      In conclusion, I think that my performance in English class has increased to the greatest expectation that I can set myself to. My essays are more suitable, my flow and tone reflects me as a writer, and I really enjoy the class. This is my reflection.

***pretty sure it didn't meet the word limit, I apologize :)

Night Essay

* Mr. Sutherland, this isn't my best work at all. Please consider that.


     Most of us decide our fate evryday we live. In the book Night, Elie's fate is determined for him. At a concentration camp,  his fate can be death at any moment. His motive is to survive, but there are conflicts holding him back. Elie's struggle to avoid his fate is hindered by the complicated relationship he must endure with his father.


      In the beginning, Elie is seperated from all of his female relatives and is only with his father. Being that is the only family member he has left, Elie is determned to keep him alive. However, considering the circumstances they are under, keeping his father as well as himself breathing is not going to be easy.  Another victim reminds him,  "Don't forget that you're in a concentration camp. Here, every man has to fight for himself and not think of anyone else...even of his father...don't give your ration of bread and soup to your old father...you ought to be having his ration (pg. 105)." Elie wants to save his father, but becomes conflicted because he also wants to save himself. If he had kept his food as well as his father's, it'd only be one meal closer to his father's death, which Elie so badly wants to prevent. Elie is risking his survival in the camp by trying to save his father, thus pushing himself to his sure death. His conflict continues as his father brings about more trouble.


      As time passes in the concentration, abuse from the authorities - also known as SS officers - gets worse. The men in the camp who were strong and useful were allowed to be kept alive, while those who were weak and useless were put to death. Elie's dad was growing older and becoming weak and unable to keep up with the officers expectations. When he lied back, sick and craving water, Elie watched as his father was beat up, but did nothing. "The officer came up to him and shouted at him to be quiet...he went on calling me...the officer dealt him a violent blow on the head...I did not move. I was afriad. My body was afraid of also recieving a blow (105-106)." Elie's father was at his most vulnerable point, when he needed his son the most, but could not reach him. Elie ignored his father's claims in fear of his fate, death. Had Elie helped or even protected his father from the SS officer, he may have gotten a blow to the head himself, maybe even worse than his father had. This may have resulted in is father's death, but Elie allowed it so long as it kept him alive. He ignored his father for the saftey of his own being.  The sooner he realizes his father is a nuisance to his survival, the sooner he wants his father gone all together.


      By a certain point, Elie wants nothing more but to live through his horrid journey. With his father tailing on toe, Elie realizes it may not be easy to survive. At the same time, he is conflicted because he wants to save his father as well. As his father grew old and sick, his death became eminent. Elie could only do so much for his father, but limited his services for fear of the fate that may come. Elie woke up to his father's bed, replaced with another person. Now that he was finally gone, Elie was relieved to say, "I did not weep...and, in the depths of my being...I might perhaps have found something like - free at last! (106)" Sad to say, his father had died, but he was happy. He no longer had to feed or protect another (barely) living being, and is able to avoid the possible fate he had coming with his father in toe. Elie could finally care for only himself, and bear any small tragedies he had before him. His biggest conflict was over.


       Elie's fate of death was avoided by overlooking his biggest conflict - his father. Elie strived to keep his self and father alive, but in the end knew he could not. His father's death ultimately ended with Elie's neglect. To avoid a terrible fate may require sacrifices. Elie successfully avoided his fate.

MAX IS THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!

MAX IS THE BEST!!!!!!!!

Response Post: The Belief In...

Quite frankly our life can be a little boring. And perhaps my inclination to think that there is more out there (wherever that is) comes from the fact that I can feel like our life is less boring if there is something mysterious and new out there (again, wherever that is). Sometimes I don't think life is boring at all, but during the times I feel like all we do is breath, eat, sleep, work, play, die, and other things, I think that life can seem pretty boring. So I start to think about additional realities hidden behind reflections, I think about if your soul flies out of your body when you die, and if love is an actual bond that two people can share without question, or if it's just a masked heart breaker that a few of the freshmen know about and I don't.  - Amber Gomez

 At the age of fifteen, there is only so much I can do with my life; especially living in a home under extraordinarily protective parents. I am of the same mind/opinion as Amber; life is boring, but to what extent can we go to change it?


My weekly ritual consists of: waking up, going to school, coming home to do homework, and sleeping. Throw a few snack breaks in and you have my life Mon-Fri. Saturday and Sunday, never too much thrill out of those days either.


When people submit themselves to a constant, tedious, uninteresting, unexciting, uninspiring, unstimulated life, they can collapse under such boredum. The one thing that saves them (along with myself, and Amber) from absolute desolation, is the belief that there is something inexplicably remarkable in the world, that we can one day get to. Day to day we console in ourselves. We say that it will one day change; that one day we will discover the answer to a hidden question; that one day life will reveal a new significance; that one day we will satisfy our curiosties.


I tell myself life isn't so bad. It could be worse right? 


Amber and I allow ourselves to think about the impossible, or the unanswered, or the ignored, aspects of life. It reminds us that, yes, life can be and is boring; but we know how to look through and beyond that.


Great blog Amber, I loved it :)

"So where is He...?"

The idea of religion makes a big impact in the story Night, as well as society today. 

When tragedies occur, when things go wrong, or life is downright unfair, people ask, "Where is God when we need him?" The idea that God is all-knowing and all-powerful leads his followers to believe that life will be right with him in charge. This entitles the assumption all misery can be restored by Him alone.

Elie, from Night, had questionable feelings about his religion and the purpose in praying. Though he believed in his religion and conformed with it immensely, he was uncertain why. By this time, Elie was in the concentration camp with numerous others. He confirmed his rebellious feelings toward God after he was separated from his family, witnessed deaths by massive numbers, and had his property, religion, and identity stripped away from him. For the first time, Elie felt revolt inside him. "Why should I bless His name? The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What had I to thank Him for? (pg. 31 par. 4)" In his eyes, if there truly was a God, he was forsaken by Him.

I personally have had mixed feelings on the idea of religion. People claim that "everything happens for a reason" or "God makes things happen for a reason"; in other words, all occurrences happen intentionally. What puzzles me is, when do we find out that reason?

The idea of God is a controversial one, so take no offense on anything I ask or say.

What I believe society does (those who are religious, of course) is allow their life to be run by the belief that there is a supernatural being, in the sky, watching and controlling their lives. That concept, personally, scares me.

If there truly is a God up there, do we really want to believe (s)he has complete jurisdiction over lives, and scrutinizes our every mistake? And, if God permits or generates the most unfortunate of events, what is our praise and faith really doing for us? Do all people believe dreadful; events aren't so bad, because God commands them or authorizes them to be done? And if God controls the Earth, why isn't the world in peace like we so desperately want it to be? 

I can go on for days with questions that may or may not have answers, but I wrote this post in relation to Night, as well as to get some sort of response.

Have fun.

Gateway Drugs: Prescriptions/Anti-Depressants & Marijuana

Prescription drugs and Anti-Depressants are two very common drugs used by teens. The drugs are often already in the user’s home or can be easily prescribed by a doctor. This can make the teen feel comfortable with using them, and help legitimize their reason for doing so. 

Teens also seem to believe that prescription drugs are safer and less addictive than street drugs because many people use them. Whether they are safer or not, addiction to these drugs has become a serious problem. 

“It is not uncommon for abusers to exhibit drug seeking behaviors - going to several doctors...reporting lost or stolen prescriptions...in an effort to obtain their drug (toftampa.com).” Once a teenager has become fixated on these drugs, he or she will use any excuse in order to be given more. It becomes unhealthy for their body to constantly consume additional unneeded drugs. 

Then, when the teen becomes bored with prescriptions or feels they aren't getting the satisfaction they crave, they turn to something slighty more extreme than what is in the medicine cabinet.

Marijuana is usually the first drug a teen turns to when buying drugs off the streets. It is the most common and easiest drug to get a hold of, and the teenager becomes introduced to a whole new territory.

Teens may turn to marijuana because they want to fit in, because they are stressed, or simply because they are bored. However, a very common reason is that they want the “high” people get when smoking it. Thus, addiction kicks in. 

It seems that “[m]arijuana addiction is simply an uncontrollable urge to possess and use the drug. Those with marijuana addiction are not able to stop using the drug even if they wish (marijuana-addiction.net).” The addiction isn't necessarily within the body, but within the mind. As the user becomes more frequent in buying and using the drug, they gain an obsession with doing it more, and it becomes their main priority. 

Smoking marijuana becomes more of a social pastime rather than an exciting illegal activity. 

The drugs teens are exposed to in society can greatly affect how the rest of their lives turn out. Addiction is something that is not easy to break away from, which is why teenagers must do their best to stay away from drugs, and know there is always a better path.