I am thankful for...

I’m thankful for many people in the class but the person I’m most thankful for is Josue Salgado.  Not only does he help me with the class by telling me what the homework is but he also makes me feel ten times taller.  He is also very funny and is a very good friend.  I’m also thankful for Carl Isada who sits directly to the left of me.  He is always helping me not only in American Lit. but he also helps me in Geometry.  He also helps me stay awake during class because I am always tired when I walk into the class and sometimes I almost fall asleep during class but Carl is always there to wake me up and tell me to pay attention.  Without him I am 100 percent sure that I would be totally loss in the class.  I am also very thankful for all of the freshmen that talk a lot during the discussions because it gives me a little bit of time to relax.  And I think that all I’m thankful for.  Oh no wait I can’t forget about all the people who do their blogs early because I read them so that I can get ideas for my blog.  So people who do their blogs early and don’t wait until the last second like I do, keep up the good work.

American Lit Class

I really don’t have a lot of complaints about this class.  But the ones that I do have are the ones that I want to change (even though they’re probably not.)  First of all I would like the books that we read together to be more interesting.  No offense but the Crucible and the house of the seven gables bored me to death.  Why can’t we read books about action like ninja’s or secret agents?  But instead we read books about crazy people that accuse other people of being witches.  BORING!!!  Another thing I hate doing is taking notes.  I never even look at my notes again after I take them.  Plus it ruins reading because I’m always looking for something to write down instead of focusing on the book.  I don’t see the point in notes.  Those are the only two complaints I have but overall I really enjoy this class.  It is probably one of my favorite classes that I have. 

Slavery

When people think of slavery they think of African Americans being brought to America to work on plantations against their will.  That was a long time ago, and since then slavery has been abolished.  Or has it?  Today there are companies that use sweatshops to get their products made.  Now sweatshops are places where people work for big companies such as Nike and get paid very little and work in very poor conditions.  Nike even uses children in Pakistan to make their soccer balls.  The children get paid very little and have no other choice because they’re poor and needs to help his family.  This is why many people are forced to work in sweatshops.  But Nike isn’t the only company who uses cheap labor, I researched the companies who use sweatshops and to my surprise there were more than 30 companies!  So this isn’t just one company, this is an epidemic that needs to be stopped.  The companies aren’t going to change because they’re making millions of dollars, so I think that the only way to stop the use of cheap labor is to boycott these companies.  This will create less demand for the products.   By creating less demand for products, it forces workers out of jobs. A well organized boycott will cause a company to change the working conditions in a factory, instead of simply closing it down.

The House of the Seven Gables

The House of the Seven Gables is located at 54 Turner Street in Salem, Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The House of the Seven Gables has the reputation of being haunted. Many people claim to see Susan Ingersoll's ghost roaming the hallways and peering out of the windows. There have also been reports of a ghostly boy haunting the attic area. He can be heard running around the attic, and playing with his toys. In addition to the apparitions seen, many visitors and employees also hear strange sounds - the toilets sometimes flush on their own, and the faucets turn on and off by themselves at times. Just to clarify the employees that work there are tour guides.  I think that these spirits stay in the house and haunt it is because of the curse that Mathew Maule put on the family.  I also think that if one of the Pycheon descendents were to apologize to one of the Maule’s descendents then all of the spirits will be in peace.