Analysis of The Tell-Tale Heart

           Now this story is told from a first person perspective so we are limited to one person point of view. Not only that but the narrator seems to be trying to convince the readers that he or she is not crazy which ironically does make us believe that he or she is crazy. So these factors will make it difficult in find the truth behind the story.
           So it comes down to did he or did he not kill the old man? Was it all a hallucination of his disorganized mind or did the narrator truly rid the world of this evil eye? Perhaps it is a bit of both. The narrator probably did commit the actions he or she said yet tried to justify them with this story. In the narrators mind he or she truly believed that this mans eye was evil and must be removed. After committing the crime however the narrator believed to have heard the beating of the old mans heart. Now it is impossible for a dead and dismembered man's heart to continue to beat and nonetheless being loud enough for the narrator to here. There are many interpretations of what could of been the cause of this beating heart. Some say that it was the guilt secretly growing within the narrator of committing the murder that made him or her hear the beating heart. Others such as Henry Thoreau have said that it may have been nothing more than an insect that mimics the sound of a beating heart. The truth behind the beating heart will remain a mystery for we cannot entirely believe the narrator's side of the story.
           In conclusion the narrator did probably murder the old man but only because of a mental insecurity or disability. The narrator did believe that his or her actions were justified but in actuality were not. So the beating heart could of been a figment of the narrator's imagination and could of just been guilt.

Revelation (Rough Draft)

        A man set foot off the train and checked his surroundings. His name was Ryan Miller. He stood there up high on the platform and the train soon set off on its predetermined journey. From the platform he could see a large vacant construction site surrounded by a chain-link fence. The area was once a large factory of a sort but now only rubble and gravel remain to signify its previous existence. Cement blocks littered its floor amongst other collections of bottles, bags, and other items people tend to throw over the fence. From the platform he heads off down the stairs to get the sidewalk. As Ryan takes his usual route home he always gazes upon the construction site as he passes by it. The earlier rains have created large puddles scattered across the area. Many of which could be large enough to resemble a small pond. It was a strange site seeing such large collections of water amongst the wasteland that the construction area resembled.

   

          He walks with a blank stare across his face as if he has no regard for his surroundings. People pass by him and he just looks ahead without giving a single glance.  He reaches an intersection where he takes a left. Along the street is a large assortment of marts, shops, stores, and several other types of businesses. Ryan pays little attention to most of them however the grumble of his stomach caused him to reconsider so he enters one of the many marts. As he walks in he noticed the shelves upon shelves of food and produce. It was a small mart so there was little space to maneuver. Ryan looks around for a something to diminish his hunger when he noticed small kid near the end of the mart. The kid just seemed to walk around looking at all the snacks and foods that are stored on the shelves. Ryan didn't pay much attention to him when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. The kid had grabbed a pair a chocolate bars and stuffed them into his pocket. Ryan pretended not to notice and looked around to see if anyone else had but no one else did. Ryan walks up to kid and crouched down to talk to him.

"Hey there kid isn't the chocolate going to melt in your pockets?" whispered Ryan. The kid then stared at Ryan with widened eyes as he noticed that he had been discovered. "Hey don't worry about it I won't tell anyone but you can't leave the store with those candy bars in your pocket.”  Ryan then reaches into his back pocket and takes out two dollars. "Here, if you want a candy bar you got to make sure you pay for it first." Ryan says with a smirk.

         

"Wow thanks mister!" said the little kid and he reached for the two dollars in a heartbeat.

       

 "Whoa slow down there buddy" Ryan said as he moved the money out of the kids reach. "You got to promise me that you won't be stealing anymore candy bars or anything else for that matter alright?"

         

"Okay okay I promise! I won’t steal anymore."       

"Alright here now run along now it’s getting dark soon." said Ryan.

         

The kid then let out a wide smile and ran to go pay for his candy bar. Ryan just watches the kid as he rushes out of the store with a candy bar in hand. Ryan sighs and under his breath he says "He might come back tomorrow and be back at it again but who knows maybe he'll learn from this." Ryan then pays for a candy bar himself and walks outside the store. He nibbles away at his snack as he walks. The sun had become dawn and the afternoon winds created an unfriendly chill yet it doesn’t bother Ryan. He just walked on and whistled a merry tune.

Shadow On The Sun - AudioSlave | Interpretation

Once upon a time
I was of the mind
To lay your burden down
Leave you where you stood
You believed I could
You'd seen it done before
I could read your thoughts
And tell you what you saw
And never say a word
But now all that is gone
Over with and done
Never to return

And I can tell you why
people die alone
I can tell you I'm
A shadow on the sun

Staring at the loss
Looking for the cause
And never really sure
Nothing but a hole
To live without a soul
And nothing to be learned

And I can tell you why
People go insane
I can show you how
You could do the same
I can tell you why
The end will never come
I can tell you I'm
A shadow on the sun

Shapes of every size
Move behind my eyes
Doors inside my head
Bolted from within
Every drop of flame
Lights a candle in
Memory of the one
Who lived inside my skin

I can tell you why
People go insane
I can show you how
You could do the same
I can tell you why
The end will never come
I can tell you I'm
A shadow on the sun

Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Sun
Sun

        Now to begin my interpretation it will mostly be revolved around "Shadow On The Sun." Now what is a shadow? To many it is just something that the sun can't reach. Now lets revolve around that idea. A shadow is a darker portion of its true self. Some place that light can not reach or a lost world. Shadows are to some even considered evil. Now what about the sun? The giver of light that represents the opposite of a shadow. It represents purity or good. Knowing these interpretations I can more easily explain the meaning of this song. 

        I believe that this song is about someone who has lost their hope of the world. A pessimist or someone who is down on their luck. Possibly someone who is depressed. To support this assumption is the stanza that begins with "Staring at the loss." This stanza basically explains that the narrator is hollow shell of their formal self. They try to find a reason for all the wrong that has happened yet they continue to live a shallow life or "To live without a soul."

       Now sometimes the cause a depression may be that they are possibly haunted by their memories. To support this is the fifth stanza. I interpret this stanza as if the narrator looks upon the world with a blank stare finding it difficult to interpret the outside world. As if his mind refuses to understand the things that happen around him. Much like the stanza says " Doors inside my head, Bolted from within."  Now as the narrator looks upon the world there are some things that spark the memories that first plagued him "Every drop of flame, Lights a candle in memory of the one who lived inside my skin." From this I can say its not the memory of an event that plagues him but maybe the loss of someone he cared about.

       So in all I believe that this song is telling the story of the loss of a loved one and from that loss has caused them to question the world around them. Such as how could such bad things happen for no good reason. The narrator also says that he has become "The Shadow On The Sun" which means that he was once a good or happy person but now has become the shadow of his formal self. Therefore shadow of the sun or a shadow of his old self.

Life on the Reservation

                 Life is certainly less prosperous on the reservation. It isn't exactly horrible but it isn't great either. Much of the Reservation is in poverty.  By reading off of Montana 1948 it states "On the western edge of the county and extending into two other counties was the Fort Warren Indian Reservation, the rockiest, sandiest, least arable parcel of land in the region". The county itself isn't that great but they still got the worst part of it. The people of the reservation are still allowed to interact with the rest of society however are seen as lesser beings to many. They are also denied opportunities due to their heritage. Much like Young Bear in Montana 1948. He was very athletic and would make a great member to any sport team but however he is Indian so he is never offered a position of scholarship.
                Despite the fact that their culture is shunned and scorned by others many of them still stick with their traditional ways of life. Many of them take true pride in their heritage. Yet their culture is one reason why they don't assimilate so easily into modern society.
              The Indian people do not deserve this form of treatment. It was their land to begin with so we have no right in telling them that their ways of life are savage or wrong. Yet time should heal all wounds and life on the reservation has gotten better. The movie we are watching in class "Smoke Signals" shows that life on the reservation isn't that bad. Its seems quiet and calm and many seem to enjoy themselves with what they have. So life on the Reservation has its ups and downs.

Propaganda, Hidden Amongst us in Disguise?

            Does propaganda still exist you may ask? Yes it does but it hides in plain sight and remains invisible but to only the untrained eye. Now first off let us discover what propaganda is.


Propaganda:
• information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause.
Now where does this exist you may ask? Its actually all around us but it subliminal. Lets take McDonald's as an example. They take famous athletes or celebrities to star in their commercials to promote their food to the younger generation when we all know that the food is bad for you. 
             Now how about another example. Lets say terrorism? After 9/11 the word "Terrorism" has been tossed around quite often when we talk about the war in the middle east. At first many people would of not supported the invasion of Iraq but after 9/11 that changed drastically. Many people wanted to feel safe after 9/11 so when politics talk about "fighting terrorism" people don't really seem to understand the situation but would continue to support it to have this sense of security. Fear can be a essential tool to propaganda.
             A silly but not so different example of this would be episode 17, season 5 of Family Guy where Lois runs for mayor. In order to win the election she resorted to propaganda on terrorism. She started saying these idiotic things about terrorist plans and such so the people of the town said: "How much money do you need until we can feel safe again?" After that they blindly started throwing money in. So basically she was spreading information (that is not necessarily true) for the purpose of some cause. 
            Now there are countless more examples of propaganda but thats all for now. 

Free Response On Black Boy

                         Compared to todays society it seems hard to believe the stories in this book are true. Richard has experienced so much in his childhood that not of us could compare. Nowadays I hardly believe any of us have been beaten to near death circumstances by our parents (at least I hope not). I don't understand why family would do that to one and another. I get the idea of punishment but this seems like they just want to hurt him. I couldn't stand the idea of me hurting any of my family members to such a circumstance. Yet Richard lived in a violent time where strict rules would seem just. I don't however agree with it.
                        The thing that I find really annoying though that at any time Richard gets in trouble he hardly understands why. More like beat now and answer questions later. We must remember that Richard was really young during these events. He hardly understands why he does the actions he does. Sadly whenever he gets into trouble its always one sided. He can never get any support and he would always be branded as the wrong one. So I was glad to see when he stood up for himself against his aunt for wrongly accusing him of making a mess. He now understands that he has to be strong and aggressive to survive in this world of his.
                        So far the book has been great. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Hungry for Attention (Is young Richard alone in his cravings? )

                 Richard seems to be always looking for attention. . He didn't like the feeling of being ignored. Yet isn't it just natural that children crave the attention of adults? Don't you ever have that one child that walks up to you and wants to show you how well they can count for over an hour? Richard is not alone for he is not much different from many other children.
                  Despite the fact that Richard set his house on fire and killed a kitten for attention he isn't much different then any other child. In our reading you can see that Richard loves playing 20 questions. He constantly asks his mom what does this or what does that mean to the point where he becomes a nuisance. I myself have had a little brother that loved to play that game. The fun was one sided. Richard just wants a little attention. With his father gone and his mom constantly at work he just needs someone to show him a sense of purpose. Sense his mother is always at work she most likely ignores him while shes busy. He wants his presence to be seen and not go unnoticed. Even I as a child would just walk up to my mom and constantly call out her name until she finally responded. This was very annoying to her but it does end up getting her attention.
                So Richard isn't alone. He's just like every other child seeking the attention of their parents. Children are kind of like sponges. They'll keep with them anything you say and they are always anxious to hear more.