Tell Tale Heart

"The Tell - Tale Heart" is a very well known short story by Edgar Allen Poe. The narrator of the story is the main character of the story. The narrator in my eyes a man telling the reader he is not insane while describing the way he observed an old man for a week before killing him just because of the way one of his eyes looked. In the story it is never established as to whether the narrator is a man or a woman, but the first image that came to my mind was that of a man. After the man kills the old man and the police come he simply lets them search everywhere because he is very arrogant and thinks he hid the body perfectly. He even lets the police sit right above the buried body! Then he believes he hears the beating of the heart and it drives him insane to the point of him screaming that he killed the old man and ripping up the floorboards to show the police officers.
I think that the narrator was insane but very smart. Not smart enough to know he was insane, but smart enough to make other people believe he was not. He keeps reassuring himself throughout the story that he is not because of one clever thing or the other that he has done. He was just a mad,calculating, smart killer. If anyone goes to such trouble just to kill a man because of the way his eye looks they are insane in one way or another. I believe he killed the man and the police came but the pressure and guilt got to his already messed up head so he thought he heard the old man's heart beating even though he was dead. At that point he just snaps and tells the police officers everything. If he had wanted to the narrator could have gone on living his life because he had been very smart but he was also insane which made him hear the heart and confess to the police

Short Story

There once was a neighborhood.This neighborhood was small and had no name but to the inhabitants living there it was home. The neighborhood was three blocks wide and three blocks long. It was filled with simple houses, a park, and a few alleys that not everyone knew about. Every block was an abundance of trees and squirrels running amok. Everyone seemed to get along but there were a few troublemakers. There were three friends Mike, Max, and Marcus who wandered the streets looking for fun.  They would play basketball and football in their backyards and spend countless hours exploring their neighborhood.
There was one alley that they loved the most that was in between their houses in the middle of the neighborhood that was seldom used. The boys would use the alley as their hangout and secret meeting place. One sweltering summer day Max found an old slingshot in his attic that took three people to use.  He marcus and Mike shot water balloons and whatever they could find and it went far. The day was fun and exciting until the neighborhood troublemakers came. The troublemakers were all brothers and they looked identical. They were all very tall, had bright red hair, and bright green menacing eyes that cut through whoever they looked at. These boys were known as the "harry potter" kids because they resembled harry potter other than the red hair. These boys were known for stirring up trouble and were avoided at all costs by the other children.
This particular summer day the harry potter kids heard the laughter of Mike, Marcus, and Max in the alley and went to check it out. When they saw the three boys shooting water balloons they decided to strike at them with some of their own. The harry potter kids filled up some water balloons and headed back to the alley. At the end of the alley Marcus saw them coming and warned his friends, they each grabbed a handful of balloons and took up positions on either side of the alley. With sweat perspiring down everyones face and the scorching sun bearing down on their backs the first balloon was thrown, the first battle cry was screamed and the battle begun. 

song analysis

Lotus - Cage the Elephant

Woke before the mornin' sun i found it tucked beneath the hills

I sat and watched it rise it hit the sky and burst to flames

The lotus flower's got me thinkin' 'bout the way that we live

I've got this feelin' it's gonna stop

Driven by religion runnin' backwards down a one way road

A course collision split decision tryin' to save your soul

Manifest destiny is just a fancy word for murder

I've got this feelin' it's gonna stop

A billion faces runnin' round my head

All got opinions but the don't mean shit

Keep droppin' bombs until the whole world's dead

They said it's all been done and it's all been said

They'll turn this message into a pop movement

A fashion statement call it politics

You can't mark my words they'll put a spin on it

They say it's all been done

Look outside the box my friend

You heart's been dead since who knows when

It seems we've missed the mark lost all hope and given in

Pack up the suitcase take that handkerchief and wipe off your chin

The fear that drives you needs to be stopped

A billion faces runnin' round my head

All got opinions but the don't mean shit

Keep droppin' bombs until the whole world's dead

They said it's all been done and it's all been said

They'll turn a message into a pop movement

A fashion statement call it politics

You can't mark my words they'll put a spin on it

They say it's all been done

Fell into a daze and found my mind was gone and laid to waste

A battle ground indeed where holy wars have taken place

I saw the sun set watched it travel down and tear through the ground

The hate the drives us needs to be stopped

In this song the author is telling us that the way we are living is not going to be able to go on forever.  Eventually we will all end up killing each other one way or another.  They are saying that our lifestyles must change. "Keep droppin bombs until the whole world's dead." We are just dropping bombs on each other to solve our conflicts.  The last stanza explains how after everything is said and done and all of the bombs have been dropped the people will wake up and see that their lives have gone by and their minds have gone to waste, the beautiful world that they are used to has changed into a destructive battleground.  "The hate that drives us needs to be stopped."  We all must change for our way of life to go on.

On the Reservation

Reservation......
what does this mean to you? When i hear the word reservation i immediately think of something or someone being held back.  Being "reserved".  That is essentially what reservations are isn't it?  It is a group of people that lived in North America and were kicked off by white settlers.  What did they get in return for giving up their land?  They got small reservations with bad land that made it hard for them to grow crops.  Native Americans were here first so why should they get the short end of the stick? 
The colonists and settlers from across the sea would not have survived in this new land had it not been for the help of the Native Americans.  But just like most humans  when we no longer need the Native Americans we kicked them off their land and said that they could still have their own land.  They got reservations.  It is like kicking someone out of their house and making them live in the doghouse in the backyard.  You reserve them from living the life that they want to live.

Black Boy response

So far I am really liking the book Black Boy and it is by far my favorite book that we have read this year.  Richard Wright is a spectacular writer and he is capable of keeping me into the story throughout long chapters.  Richard Wright is writing about events in his life that have already happened and I forget that they are not happening right now because they are described so well.  His descriptions are very clear.  Richard is always getting into some type of situation where he is in trouble and the way he handles the situation makes the book sort of humerous but definetly interesting.  Compared to the other books that we have read this year this one does not even have to compete with them for best book of the year. (so far)

Black Boy

Black Boy written by Richard Wright is a very interesting story.  The main character Richard is very conflicted and confused most of the time.  He gets in a lot of trouble and he grows apart from his family. The only person who is still any bit warm towards him in his family is his ill mother. His granny is very religious and when Richard stops believing in religion he is dead to her.  Richard does not really have many choices in his life.  He is only in a kid still but no one ever listens to him or respects his opinion.  He is not given many if any chances to prove what he thinks is right.  When he disagreed with his aunt she whipped him and they fought.  When his granny goes to slap him and he dodges it and his granny falls hurting herself it is not even thought to be partly her fault it is all Richard's fault.  Richard is an awrny, stubborn born but his family should at least here him out before they punish him like they do.

Hunger

In the book "Black Boy" the author and main character is Richard Wright.  He is hungry the entire book in more than one way.  He is literally hungry because he is poor and his mother cannot provide enough food for him.  He is also hungry for attention.  His craving for attention gets him into a great amount of trouble.  For one he burns down his house.  Even though he is only four at the time I believe he would have had the sense not to put the fire by the curtains.  When he kills the cat he does it just to go against his dad and finally win one of their battles.  He would not kill the cat because he did not know it was wrong.  Richard killed the cat for attention and to beat his father.  Richard is very hungry for attention even in subtle ways.  He wants to be heard when he was told to be quiet when his grandmother was sick, so naturally he made himself heard.  When Richard roams the streets and goes into the saloon and drinks he is basically an act for the people there.  Richard does not care though because he is getting attention.  Richard is definitely craving attention at all times.