Transcendentalism Essay

    Everyone wishes that people got along perfectly. That everyone was nice to eachother, no one did anything to hurt anyone else. Unfortunatly this proably could never happen.
     As much as everyone will try to make thus happen it is almost  impossible. The reason this is so hard is because you can't control actions of every single person in a society. If authorites of Forever Land were to posecute  citizens for being mean to one another then the punishment would have to be very unsevere because it would be a very common felony. Again it would be very unsevere because they cannot watch every person every second of every day. Then the people that do break the law will not take it seriously and the law will be pointless. This law is basically the structure of Forever Land. This law is not the only reason the society wouldn't work.
      In Forever Land it is against the law the steal other peoples ideas to pass them as your own. It is against the law to steal someone else ideas, especially the one stealing. The one stealing the ideas is the main one trouble. By taking credit for someone else work are hurting themselves just as much as the person their stealing from. Individuality is very important and when you steal someones idea your stealing their individuality and your own as well. The whole idea of not stealing is and would be very hard to make a law in the real world because how could someone prove who wrote or made the original. Also not everyone can be caught which is a problem becuase how can people know if it is happening. Many people of society today would not take this law seriously. Many of these laws wouldn't take seriously and would discarded immediatly.
        Forever Land has a strict no excluding people policy. When a person gets excluded that person is kicked out of the group, or they are not allowed to join the group in the first place. Everyone has most likely been excluded at one point or another in their life. Generally in grade school or middle school. But the group excluding the child would have to let them join. As everyone starts to get older and mature its harder to make people be friends. To make this a law today would be interesting because people might follow this rule but then again maybe not.
        This society is a sort of utopia. Eveyone tries to make it work but in the end it just doesnt. It works for a while, but only for a short period. These rules would be great if they actually could happen the world would be a much better place.

Extra Credit Shirt

   The point of making the shirt was to show that you were proud of things that made you, you. Even though some people may make fun of you, or tease you. On my shirt I put that I watch Disney Channel, it is meant for kids but it still entertains me. Also seventh through eigth grade I had a huge obsession with the book series the Twilight Saga. Literally every word out my mouth related to Twilight, anything any person said I could relate to Twilight. And come freshman year everyone knew as the Twilight person, I started to feel self concious so I told everyone that I didn't like it any more, even though that was a lie. It felt good to tell the truth on my shirt. On my shirt i also put "I am a cheerleader" I am new to the team and at Grosse Pointe South cheerleading is frowned upon, and never once thought it was bad but other peoples opinions made me nervous. I did not put it on my shirt because I am embarresed, I put it there to show people that I am not embarresed but proud. I am proud to be an individual, I am proud to be me.

Transcendentalism Post

     Transcendentalism is when you are not afraid to be who you are. You take risk and you don’t care what other people thing. You believe what you believe; do what you want to do, say what you want to say. A good person to describe this is Katy Perry. At concerts her outfits are always very different and outrageous. One outfit she wore at one of her concerts is rainbow, and the bottom of it is a carousel. If that doesn’t say “I don’t care what people think about me” I don’t know what does! She has dyed her blue at points in her music career. Many, many celebrities won’t dye their hair a crazy color, but she did. Her song “Firework” really emphasizes how important it is to be you. Katy Perry in her song says “Just own the night…” when she says that Katy Perry means that you should live your life to the fullest, do what you want when you want and not care what others think. In the song she also says “Come on let your colors burst” This line really talks about being who you are, who you really are on the inside and letting it come out to people, because colors represent your true colors. People always talk about people’s true colors coming out, sometimes their ugly, and sometimes their beautiful. The lyrics to her song are very transcendentalist, because the whole song is about how you are special, but it is more than just the lyrics it is the visual part as well. In the video there is a girl that is a little on the bigger side, she sitting at the edge of the people watching everyone else have a fun, this young girls gets up and jumps in the pool in her underwear. She makes a statement about herself that she is comfortable with herself. At another part there is a party, the camera is focused on a boy, as he makes his way through the crowd he kisses another boy. The reason this is such a huge deal is because he could be shunned for the rest of his life for being gay. But, he does not care, because that is who he is and he is and should be proud of it. Katy Perry chose these scenarios for a reason, they show how kids have tough time showing who they are, and takes a lot of guts to be who you want to be and do what you want to do, but this video also shows how good these kids felt after doing it. Katy Perry is a transcendentalist because she goes crazy with how she looks; she takes her outfits to the next level. And her music talks about being an individual. Katy Perry is a true transcendentalist.

Progress essay

          Progress is a good thing. It can help change the world. With progress comes change, some people, however, do not like progress. Often when someone doesn’t like progress is because their regular routine changes. But once those people get used to it, they normally turn out to like it, because progress and change are a good thing. Progress and change are kind of a package deal, and they are indeed a good thing.

          Without change or progress we wouldn’t have half of what he have to do, we would have maybe a quarter, maybe. Most of the progress that the U.S. has made has to do with technology. Just look at Thomas Edison, he tried to create the light bulb probably about a thousand times. Without all of his hard work and progress, we would still be living in the candle light. At Walden’s Pond everyone tried to convince Thoreau that he was crazy and that he needed to stop working on something he truly believed in, then we would still be trying to save the planet.

            It’s funny how things turn out. No one would have thought that some crazy man named Thoreau would be making real progress. Trying to save the planet, back then, was something that was a change. People didn’t like the idea of change but once they got used to the idea, the idea kept growing. Living in twenty first century people have come to be a lot more lenient to change. Apple is the best example of progress. When Apple was first created, the computer was old, big, clunky, and lots of wires. Now, if you walk into an Apple store, there are cordless laptops that are shiny, sleek, and very thin. And we even have iPads. Apple is most likely the best example to show how much progress the U.S. has made in the past 100 years.

             Progress is how the world evolves, and without change the world could not make progress. At Walden’s Pond no one thought Thoreau could do anything. But he changed lives. Apple has made the most progress, therefore the most change. The world needs change, the world needs to evolve. Without the progress that the U.S. has made we would still be sitting in the dark.

Declaration of Independence

I.                   Declaration of Student Rights

We, as students of Grosse Pointe South High School, deserve basic rights as young adults. Being in a public school, a student deserves freedom while maintaining discipline. The student should have the right to dress, express, and act the way they want to, as long as it is appropriate for a school environment. The student should be able to make decisions for their own self that benefit them and the school.

Academically, with the vast majority of classes offered, the student should be able to take whichever classes they want, as long as it goes along with their ability level. The student has to complete certain academic requirements, but the electives are their choice, it all depends on their interests and expression. If the student chooses to take seven academic classes, it is their right. If the student chooses to take the bare minimum of academic classes and the rest classes of their choice, it is their right.

With extracurriculars, the student has the right to participate in whichever pertains to them. From orchestra to choir to sports to clubs, there is about everything offered to interest a student. No administration should have the right to stop these activities; the students have the right to keep them ongoing for as long as they choose.

Being in high school, open campus should be an automatic right for the student. For lunch especially, it allows the students to choose wherever they want to go that interests them. When it comes to attendance, the student should be allowed to take full advantage of the open campus while respecting the attendance policy. As long as approved by the parent, the student should always have the right to leave if sick, injured, or for other reasons. Going along with attendance, the student should always have the right to have the weekends off, holiday breaks off, and occasional regular school days off. Constantly having homework and work to do is not always to the student’s interest, so these breaks are necessary.

When it comes to teachers and counselors, the student should always have the right to communicate with them, whether it be for help or other reasons. Teachers should always be willing to accept the student for their personality and behavior, and to create a good relationship with each one of them. Students have the right to talk to them and counselors, to figure out what is best for them, for help, whatever it best for them.

A student of Grosse Pointe South should have many rights, being a public school. The student should have the right to express themselves academically, through sports and activities, and whatever other ways they choose. School should be a place to benefit the student, give them rights is the best way of showing it.

II.                10 Complaints

I.        Start time- The start time is just too early. It is easier to get up when it is lighter out. The extra half hour that we could add to the start time would increase the attendance in school. It would increase the attendance because the students would most likely get up on time and not skip their first hour. This would boost the grades of the students in the school.

II.      No free period like other schools- Other schools, like Ligget, have a free period when you can do what ever you want. We should also have designated rooms where students can take naps, like in China at some work places. This free period would recharge students’ brains, and work harder. This period could not only be for taking naps, but you can catch up on work, or go get food. Students will not sleep as much in class because they know they have a nap coming up.

III.    Homework on weekends- Homework on weekends is rarely done. Rather than wasting the assignment, we should be given the homework during the week. The undone or half-way done assignments bring down students grades. There is no point to assigning work that will not get done, because without doing the homework, students will not understand the topic. Without understanding the topic, students will not do will on the test that teachers will subsequently give.

IV.    No snow days- Snow days are rarely had here in Grosse Pointe. Even if the entire state and surrounding states are not in school, we still have school. It should not matter that we do not have buses; some of us still need to get rides to school. If there is enough snow to close down most schools in the surrounding areas that would mean that it is too cold to walk. Also, it is very hard to drive in those conditions, so students could be late to school because of difficult driving conditions.

V.      Electronic use in classrooms- The electronic policy is pretty strict. Students should be allowed to use their iPods or other devices after they finish a test, or while homework is being done in class. If they are not disrupting the other students, it should not be a big deal. IPods help some people be more focused and get more done faster. If students got their homework done faster in school, then they would have less at home, and it would be more likely to get done, and not be a zero.

VI.    Lunch too short- The time we get for lunch just does not cut if. If a student wants to go across the street to Subway, then they barely have time to eat. By increasing the lunch period by just ten minutes, it would give the students a chance to go somewhere to get food and to enjoy it. It would also give students minds a break, and have a chance to recharge. Being rushed during lunch is not fun, so adding the extra ten minutes would make it more of a relaxing period.

VII.  Attendance policy- Students are not allowed enough absences. Ten absences are not very many for an entire semester. There are sometimes issues with illness, doctors’ appointments, and even custody. It makes it very hard for students to feel like they can stay home and recover from an illness, when they feel they might miss too many days of school. Even just making the days absent to twelve would greatly improve the attendance policy.

VIII.                        Food/Drink policy- Teachers do not want their students leaving class for any reason, so if drinks were allowed in class, it would take away one reason for students to leave. Also, sometimes students do not get a chance to eat breakfast in the morning. So, being allowed to eat in a classroom would be very helpful. As long as the foods or drinks are not mess or distracting there should not be a problem. Eating and drinking can also help some students concentrate, which would lead to higher grades and test scores.

IX.    Tests and Quizzes on Mondays- Having a quiz or test on a Monday makes life more difficult. Some students will forget over the weekend, and some just will not study, because it is the weekend and they do not feel like it. It is very difficult to have a quiz or test on a Monday because the student did not have the review day the day before, they had it three days before. The extra night to prepare if the test was on a Tuesday, would give the students who did study over the weekend a chance at a better grade. Tests and quizzes on Mondays are harder to concentrate on, because it was just the weekend, where students stayed up late, and are now tired.

X.      Unnecessary required credits (computers, art, health, etc.)- Some required credits are just unnecessary. Some students are not very good at computers, or art, and just do not want to know about health. Not doing well in these classes that they have no interest in taking will just bring down their overall grade point average. These classes are sometimes mundane to students, and serve no real purpose. Some students want to take an arts class, or computer class, and they should be able to, but it should not be required that every student do so.

                         

III.             Concluding Statement

The students are the majority of the population at Grosse Pointe South. Therefore it is only fair that the student body make most of the decisions, or at least get a say in the matter. Instead we are forced to go to a school where we don’t agree with half of the rules and policies. We, the student body, are taking a stand. The student body is revolting against the school, the board and Mr. Provenzano. We are told as teenagers that we need at least 8 hours of sleep that is hard to do when school starts at 8:00 A.M. we should be able to come to school at a reasonable hour. We deserve a free period every day, just a single hour a day where we can do homework or anything within reason. The weekend is a time for students to be relieved of stress and take a break, we are swamped with sports, drama, and homework all week, the student body deserves to have no homework over the weekend. The fact that we have one snow day a year is preposterous! It can be below zero degrees and we still must come to school, when schools like L’Anse Cruse have two in a row, we must get more then one snow day. There should be and acceptance of electronics in class rooms, high school students are old enough to be able to use a cell phone in class. Students go to school for approximately eight hours a day, it should not be too much to ask to have a longer lunch. When you are legitimately sick you should not be penalized, you should still be getting credit for taking the class as long as you get the work done. We get to eat once a day, that is it! We are not allowed to eat or drink anything in class, and that is just not fair because teachers can eat what they want when they want it and the students just have suck it up and be hungry. When there are tests and quizzes on Mondays it makes it difficult to get a good grade because you cannot ask questions and no teenage wants to have to worry about studying all weekend. When we are forced to go to school we should be able to pick what classes we take, not be forced to take unimportant classes such as computers. It is the student’s school; therefore the students should make the decisions. We will not cease until our new requirements are met. It is time for the students to take a stand. We will no longer be walked over and bossed around. Our demands must be met or there will be consequences.

The Crucible Epilouge

    By: Dahlia Holbrook

   

      A short while after the Salem witch trials Abigail Williams hitch hiked to New York. She was much of a gold digger, and still trying to get over the love of her life, John Proctor. She was living in beautiful Mansion with anything and everything she could ever want. She did not do anything except lay around her house all day admiring all her beautiful belongings. It is said she felt actually guilty, but who knows if that’s actually true. Everyone in Salem had a large grudge against Abigail. The people of Salem said that if she ever showed her face in Salem again they would hang her.

           Abigail was so much of a coward that she couldn’t even face the last few people she murdered. She used a rouse to get a ride on people’s buggies. When they didn’t let her let on she did one of two things. One she would sneak on somehow, or murder who ever forbid her to ride with them. So her craziness never left her, it very much followed her. When she finally arrived she had murdered 6 people that didn’t allow her to ride with them. The sixth person was quite an experience. At first she hid in the back of the buggy so she was not seen, but all he had to do was look behind him and see her, which he did. When found out she was caught she jumped off and grabbed the buggy, to grab a huge rock, which she bashed the passengers head in. Then the buggy was all her own.

              Once she got to New York, she had absolutely nothing to her name, except for the clothes on her back. So therefore she had to do something to survive. And being the beautiful girl she was, used her beauty to her advantage and became a prostitute. She did that for quite a while. Sometimes she even got an urge to kill, because by this time she could be classified as serial killer. So after sleeping with a man, sometimes she killed them. It’s ok though because they deserved it, sometimes they didn’t pay her enough, sp then its okay to murder a person, right? Wrong, there should really and truly be an alright time to take another person’s life. She met a man, and he fell in love her, and then they were married.

                      His name was Henry, Henry Beckett. She didn’t really love him, just his money. He was very, very wealthy. Henry was a great deal older then Abigail, but he was still considered handsome. His hair was gray he always wore the nicest clothes money could buy; he was a rather important person in New York. Abigail got everything and anything she ever wanted. She lived a charmed life, she had beautiful clothes, had some of the finest food. Abigail spent the majority of her days lounging around Henrys gorgeous mansion. It really truly was beautiful. The outside had a garden with dozens of flowers, all different types. There was a huge gate in front of the house. Inside there was eight chandelier’s through out the house. It had 10 bedrooms, 2 dinning rooms, and 5 bathrooms.  The bigger dinning room was full size and could fit 15 people, the other one was a little smaller, it could only fit 10 people. Each bedroom had silk curtains and a king size bed. The bathrooms had marble floors in each one. He had maid service and a cooking staff to wait on the couples hand and foot.

                         Abigail turned out alright, she had some rough times, but everything tuned out okay. But the fact is that urge was creeping up and she tried to fight the urge to kill, so you have to give her some credit for trying to fight it. That only lasted so long; she ended up giving into her urge. In the end she murdered her husband. She was caught by the authorities and hanged; finally that was the end of Abigail Williams.

The Crucible Essay

       The Crucible by Arthur Miller, takes place in Salem Massachusetts. The Salem witch trials was a horrific time. The Three most responsible charecters for the trials are Abigail Williams, Reverend Hale, and Judge Danforth. Not all of these charecters caused the witch trials but they kept pushing them forward. They did not stop it, even though they had the power to do so. Abigail is probably most responsible, because she is the one that gave people up, in modern day society she could be classified as a serial killer. Reverend Hale, towards the end tried to put and end to the trials but failed. And Danforth seemed as though he just never wanted it to end, he had a million opportunites and did nothing. He would believe anything Abigail told him. Each and everyone of these people is responsible for the Salem witch trials.
        Abigail Williams is the number one person responsible for the Salem witch trials. If she would not have faked witch craft all those people would still be alive. Without her all of her "followers" would have been to scared to say anything. Everything always comes back to a power struggle. "I saw Goody Osbourne with the Devil!... As she is speaking Betty rises from the bed... (Miller 48)." This is the scene that Abigail get's the idea to lie, and name people supposedly a part of witch craft. Betty is sitting up to start naming people as well, because she got the idea from Abigail. And if Abigail does so must all the girls. Though Abigail is most responsible to the trials she did not do it by herself.
        
         Reverend Hale though he tried, towards the end, to stop the witch hunt contributed to it. Hale was the one to decide if a person were a witch or not. For a very short amount of time he did his job, until it was practically given to Abigail and he did nothing to stop that from happening. And if he had would the situation gotten so out of hand? "You are God's instrument put in our hands to discover the Devil's agents (46)." At this point Hale is talking to Tituba and we can see how he practically gives his job away. Hale is held responsible for the trials because he allowed the hunt to go on, when he had the power to stop it. Again, not all the blame goes to Reverend Hale, a lot of it is distributed to Judge Danforth.

         Judge Danforth is in second place for most responsible. He would believe anything that came out of Abigails mouth, without question. No matter how ridiculous or impossible he believed it. It was almost like he wanted to kill innocent people. "This child would murder your wife (104)?" Danforth has a hard time believe anything agaisnt Abigail, he needs much more evidence then he normally would for anyone. It seems as though he enjoys humiliating people, and getting them killed. Which is why Judge Danforth is responsible for the trials.
 
          Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Reverend Hale, are all responsible for the Salem witch trails in their own way. Abigail is responsible becuase she accused so many people and got so many people killed. Reverend Hale is responsible for not trying to stop it so early in time. Judge Danforth is responsible because he was so ignorant and naieve. All 3 were the most responsible.
         

Would You be Willing to Lie?

     I hate to say it, but if it were a matter of life and death I would probably lie and say that I believe something I didn't. Because people in this society were so judgemental that if you were in any way different in your beliefs you were basically burned at the steak. It was a tough time. You can still have you beliefs and believe what you want but I personally would keep it to myself. I wish I could say that I would stay true to be beliefs, but when it actually comes down to it, and if I were in danger because of my beliefs I would lie. It is a scary concept, the matter of life and death, and I dont know how I would or could cope with the decision. Why I would lie is because even though it would unfortunate to hide my beliefs but I just do not think I could die for them. But it also depends on the beliefs, if people are getting killed that is different story. I could not let innocent people die.

The Crucible Post 1

   In The Crucible there is an obvious change in power. Looking back over history we see that woman had absolutly no power what so ever! They were to be seen and not heard. But in this scenerio the woman are the one making the accusations. The puritans of Salem listen to them without hesitance because all they care about is finding the witchs. One of the woman that holds a lot of power is Abigail. She is very controlling and manipultive to whom ever will follow her. Power seems, in this story to be held by woman, which is unusual but it is most likely to change again.

How Would People of Today to Respond to the Sermon?

     The people of the 1700s were absolutly petrofied. Today with all the movies, books, T.V. shows, and people that are crazy. If Edwards was to preach this sermon if he actually got through to the people they might be very afraid.  Probably just as afraid maybe even more. We saw how poeple reacted to the day the world was supposedly going to end. Some took it very seriously and some blew it off. I think that if it were to be preached to the people of 2011 it might take a lot more this time to win over the minds of the people.

"Sinners of the Hands of an Angry God" Post

      The video is describing the sermon delivered by John Edwards. He produced Americans with a terrifying idea of God's wrath. To this day it is some of the most amazing and terrifying literature the U.S.A has ever heard. Even though Edwards wrote this terrifying piece, it is said that people who were close to him said he was a loving father. faithful husband, and generous friend. Even people that study literature every day are scared when they hear the piece. The people of  the 1700's were terrified for their lives! The sermen is a very dark and scary piece that is still studied today.
    
      John Edwards wrote the sermen as a warning to the Americans. I think the sermen will be about the apocolypse. That when judgment day comes God will be very picky on who he will take to heaven with him. I think Edwards described Hell in his sermen, and that most people would be going there because they sinned so much. John Edwards prayed, prayed, and prayed that his people would stop sinning. But no one can stop people from sinning.

Descriptive Blog

http://hidefwallpaper.org/sunset/                         

      The picture above is of a lake. The lake is very calm, or still. The lake is still there is a perfect reflection. There is also a crescent moon hanging in a very deep and serene blue sky. The moon is thin, and the cresecent is hanging on the bottom. But, just below it is a small sun, a very bright and yellow, and small compared to the moon. Just below that would be moutains slightly covered by snow. The lake is covered by a light mist. You can visibly see, a clear sun in the lakes reflection. The sky has three colors in it, from the top of the picture the sky just keeps getting lighter. The top of the sky is a dark navy blue, the middle is a lighter blue, not quite a sky blue but lighter then navy blue. After that, the sky turns to a light, peachy pink, which is the final color. The entire picture is all in all the photo is calm and peaceful

Expectations About Honors American Lit.

      As an Honors American Literature class, the students are expected to work to the best of their ability.
    
       The children chose an honors English class because the students wanted a challenge. The class is expected to be a difficult and challenging, but, rewarding. The kids put into honors English should want a challenge, and everything the class does, writing, reading a project, it should always be good and well thought out. As soon as the students walk through the door teachers have expectations. The expectations are higher then a regular English. The teachers expect the writing to more colorful, more entertaining and cleasned. The reading should be faster and more efficiant. The teachers of an honors English expect more of honors students. The students should expect much of the teachers as well.
        Students should expect just as much of teachers as the teachers do the students. If the students walk into an honors English class and it is easy? Then the teacher, as an honors teacher is not doing his or her job very well. Most students do not want the class to be easy, because when the time comes for an A.P. English, the kids fail because they were not prepared! That will not go over well. Honors English is supposed to prepare a child for an Advanced Placement English, and it is the teachers job, to prepare. Students in an honors class definetly should expect a hard class, a Pre-A.P. class.
        Coming into a new hongors English class the students should know that they are going to work very hard. The essays should be lonnger. The reading should be done without complaints. Everything should be efficiant yet challenging. The expextaitions of honors kids are high. If the kids are placed in the class, then they should be able to reach the goals. The expectations are not to high that they cannot be reached. It is a reasonable height for expectations.

Blog about me!

     I know this girl, she's a regular teenager, spontaneous, takes risks, plays sports, likes to have fun with her friends! But there are a lot of things that difference her from the rest! Like the fact that she live, eats, breathes dance. She loves her friends, she would do anything for them, leggitimitly anything! This girl, is me, Anadahlia J. Holbrook, but Dahlia for short. And this is all about me.
       Dance is my life. It's not like one of those T.V. shows or movies where the parent forces their kid to dance. I choose to do, i have given up a lot to dance. I take eight classes a week, about nine hours a week. Not once do i complain, even when I'm sick I try to pick myself up and go to class! I don't just love it either, I want it to be the rest of my life. It sounds childish but when i grow up I want to be on Broadway (maybe), and open up my very own dance studio. I want to choreograph a bunch of little girl, go to competitions, the whole shabang! But I have to take baby steps.
         I want to start my  dance career by attending Michigan State University, and studying dance. I would also very much want to be on the dance team at the university. That is, if I make the cut for the team. Of course my dream school would be Julliard. We all know how it's practically impossible to get in. I will try my best, and I will dream big, but realistically I probably won't.  And that is ok, becuase Michigan State is a wonderfull school! So dance is my life, but i love my friends just as much as well!
         My friends mean the world to me. I would do anything, absolutly anything for them. That's how much i value my relationships. My friends and I have had our good times and bad, but we always make it through. I have this one friend, she is practically my sister. Not just emotionally, but physically. We share clothes, we have sleepovers all the time. We basically live together! I love her like a sister, but I am also kind of mean to her, but like a sister.
         That is everything about me Dahlia!