Thankful

This Thanksgiving, we must think about who we are thankful for. In McCarthy's 7th period English II class I'm thankful for Bella Fertel and Henry Ferolie. Bella's ideas inspire my own thoughts and promote deeper thinking from me in class. I am really thankful for her and I don't think my cognitive abilities would be so developed without her. Henry's more often than not very confrontational and looking for a chance to debate an idea with someone. Although it can be a little much at times, I'm thankful for it. He pushes me to my limits and forces me to thoroughly evaluate my ideas. I'm pushed to think of creative ways to convey my points. I wouldn't be as good a student if it wasn't for these two amazing people in class challenging me to excel everyday. Thank you guys for making me better, and happy Thanksgiving to all!

I Celebrate Myself

Self-reliance and self-appreciation were big aspects of the Transcendentalist Movement. Those ideas have carried over for years and years and are a big part of our society. There are two extremely opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to celebrating oneself. The first end is being over-modest. We live in a society that tells award-winners to thank everyone else before acknowledging the fact that they worked hard to win the award, if they acknowledge that at all. In this society, it's inappropriate to talk about yourself too much without being prompted to do so by the other person in the conversation. Over-modest people don't fully appreciate themselves (even if they believe they do) and will never be self-reliant because they don't believe they are skilled enough to carry out all tasks. They don't celebrate themselves. The opposite end of the spectrum is being self-centered. Self-centered people never acknowledge those who put them in the position to accomplish what they've accomplish. Many Americans were offended when President Obama said "If you've got a business, you didn't build that." However, this statement could not be more true and is applicable to several situations. If an individual is extremely smart they were not born smart. There were several teachers who aided their mental development. You didn't get their on your own and it's completely ridiculous for someone to say that they did! There is not one person who has been 100% self-reliant and has needed no help from other people. So there has to be a medium between the two ends of the spectrum! Celebrate yourself because yes, you've worked hard and have earned your accomplishments, but acknowledge those who put you in the positions do so. One must realize that is a combination of both their own hard work and the assistance of others that has led to their success, not one or the other.

Poe

   Poe's works are known for being mysterious, haunting and ominous. He has shown himself to be a stickler about attention-to-detail and uses these details to create a story that demands analytical and cognitive skills from the reader. This is why Poe's stories are so popular in educational systems around the world. Not only are they challenging, but they are interesting. He creates a world for readers to envelop themselves in using sensory details, characters of great personality, and of course attention-to-detail throughout the entire world. I enjoy this kind of reading because it requires me to push myself to read between the lines and serves as a challenge for me. However, I don't enjoy having a deadline attached to the reading because it typically takes me longer to comprehend and fully understand all of the details of the story.

   Like his stories, Poe too was perceived to be a mysterious man by many. This trait most likely started developing when both of his parents died when he was only 3 years old. He was sent to live with John Allan who had aspirations of Poe being a wealthy businessman. Poe, however, objected and wanted to become a writer as his childhood hero, Lord Byron, had. Later on in his life, Poe faced extreme poverty and tried gambling to overcome it. When this failed, he was publicly humiliated and looked for an outlet to his frustrations. He went back to doing what he had loved doing from childhood: writing. Throughout his life, Poe used his stories as an outlet for all his emotions. I think this is why he and his writings take on a similar persona of mysterious and ominous.

What Is An American?

There are many criteria for being considered an "American", in my opinion. The first and most obvious criterion is that you have to be a citizen of the United States. To fully understand what it is to be an American, one has to live in the country and experience its lifestyle. However, one cannot state that because they are a citizen in the country, they are an American. Secondly, an American believes in democracy and takes every measure to attain, practice, and preserve it. The definition of democracy is "a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections." Another definition is "an organization or situation in which everyone is treated equally and has equal rights". An example of  a group of people who didn't practice democracy would be the US citizens who oppressed African-Americans through the slave trade and neglect of civil rights. They did not believe that everyone should be treated equally and had equal rights. They also did not believe that African-Americans should be represented in the system. Lastly, the third criterion for one to be considered an American is to accept individuality and diversity. America is considered a "mixing pot" of all kinds of people from different kinds of cultural background. If one cannot accept that another person may believe or behave differently than them, then they don't deserve to be called an American. This also merits the act of being an individual. To me, this means that nobody can tell someone else how they should or should not behave without proper justification (e.g. the law). Religious groups that condemn others and tell individuals that they are damned by God for something like homosexuality aren't composed of Americans. They don't believe in the practice of individuality! There is too much variation, in terms of kinds of people, in the country for others to be constantly passing judgment on someone else for their differences. Americans must be accepting of others. In synopsis, an American is someone who is a citizen of the United States. This citizen is democratic and every measure that needs to be taken to promote the practice of democracy is taken. Lastly, they are accepting of people from all walks of life and don't suppress the opinions and actions of others that contrast their own.

Modern Puritans

    A group of modern-day Puritans is the Amish. The Amish share a very large amount of similarities to the Puritans and are still practicing throughout the country. Amish people live lifestyles based off of simplicity: no cars, cell phones, or any of the tools that "regular" people use. Amish men tend farms and exchange their harvests with their neighbors. They also take jobs like dentistry, shopkeeping, and medicine in order to keep their community operating in and by itself. Amish women typically stay in the house and perform household duties like cleaning and cooking. They are not an important part of outside community and are mainly there to keep things within their own doors in order. Generally, they don't make any decisions for the family and take a backseat to the male in the household. Amish people don't dress for fashion but rather simplicity and functionality. All garments are sewn by the women in the community and everyone dresses, essentially, the same way. Amish girls and women don't wear makeup or outgoing accessories. This is meant to keep everyone equal in each others' eyes and place focus elsewhere (on religion). Amish people view vanity as a sin and shun members of the community who act vainly. In fact, almost all Amish people have seen their own face only a few times because they don't have mirrors or cameras. The only way one could see them self is a reflection from water or glass. The Puritans, just like the Amish, practiced anti-vanity and simplicity in their lives and decided that they, as a people, should strive to be as much like Jesus Christ, who selflessly and unselfishly gave himself up so that mankind could be.

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

     In my opinion, John Proctor is a hero. Throughout the story, he stood up for what he believed in and put his reputation aside to help others. He showed the Salem community that often times the unpopular approach is the correct approach. This is the reason why he became a leader in the town even when he was not officially appointed to a position of leadership.

     Proctor's affair with Abigail was indirectly the demise of Salem and the beginning of the witch trials. Abigail's attempt to be with him resulted in her drinking a charm to kill his wife, thus causing a town-wide conversation about witchcraft. In court, his own wife was accused of witchcraft. Proctor decided to confess to his own sin in an attempt to save her and many of the other people convicted with witchcraft. It takes a true hero to publicly admit to their own shortcomings because doing so only benefits other individuals. He also called the court out on the unjust trials and recognized that they were doing no good for Salem. Instead, they were causing a pattern of lies and accusations.

     In addition, Proctor himself was accused of witchcraft at the end of the story. If he was not a hero, he would've lied and accused somebody else and continued the pattern. Instead, he decided to break it and selflessly gave up himself refusing to confess falsely against another citizen who was most likely innocent. This act of heroism resulted in his hanging. In refusing to give a false confession he obligated himself to previous statements and to his moral values. Most leaders today cannot do that and appear to be a certain way one week and another way the next week. Proctor put self-interests aside and operated with morality (even when it hurt him) and that makes for a genuine hero.

Arrivals... There Goes the Neighborhood

     "There goes the neighborhood" is a phrase people use when their way of living is going to be disrupted  or changed by something new entering into it. Usually, the "something new" is a group of people now occupying a place that they didn't before. Some examples of this in history are the English settlers settling the Native Americans' United States and Chicago's African-American project dwellers being relocated to some of the city's suburbs. In some cases, the arrival of the new inhabitants really isn't a cause for conflict. Stereotypes and prejudices dictate people's opinions on others. That causes them to be viewed in a negative sense without the opportunity to first establish a proper relationship. It's very easy for someone to be judged based on their religion, race or sexuality as opposed to their individual personality. In other cases, the new group of people really is a problem for the established community! For example, the English settlers' takeover caused bloodshed, disease and near-extinction for the Native American people.

     A "there goes the neighborhood" instance that stands out in my mind is the African slaves being "freed" into society in the United States. The country's new citizens faced an oppressive movement that I believe is still taking place today against them. The general viewpoint of African-Americans in the country was that they were a nuisance to their community and the people did most everything they could to keep them contained and out of their way. This included voter suppression, segregation, restriction of resources, racism, social injustice, manipulation of the media and a lack of educational opportunities for African-Americans. Most of these undemocratic acts still take place today and are silently keeping the African-American community from being fully integrated into society. "There goes the neighborhood" said the people of the United States, and for over 100 years they've fought (unjustly and unfairly) to get their neighborhood back.

Me

    Hello, my name is Devin O'Banion. I live in Chicago, IL (the greatest city in the world) and am a sophomore at Whitney M Young Magnet High School (the greatest high school in the world). I'm an African American teenager living in the murder capital of the United States so I suppose that fact is a major part of my lifestyle and has partly shaped my personality. I'm a strong leftist and I believe that in the country where there is "liberty and justice for all" that should truly be the case. I believe every citizen of this country in every neighborhood, of every race, sexuality and gender should have an equal chance to get a good education and lead a comfortable lifestyle.

    I love to play baseball, soccer and am in Young's Chamber Choir. I've been playing soccer since I was three years old, baseball since I was seven and I went to a fine arts school (Franklin Fine Arts Center) for all nine years of elementary school. These three activities are a major part of my life and basically dictate my time away from school. When I'm not busy with homework or anything else I like to hang out with friends or play video games. I like to consider myself a well-dressed guy and I enjoy looking nice and creating outfits for myself. When I grow up, I want to set up my own psychiatry practice and live my ideal lifestyle with my family.