Thankful for a classmate

I am very thankful for my best friend who also happens to be my English 2 period 5 classmate named Imani Evans. She is worthy of being grateful for because she is a great friend and she is a great English student! I am thankful for many of my classmates because they have given me the opportunity to become somewhat close to them as we sit in a class for around an hour or so and learn. I am specifically grateful for Imani because she has been able to be that friend and classmate that I can say I've been able to "grow with". Especially with writing. Considering I love to write. She is always there to critique my writing and help me become a better writer. And I think I do the same thing for her is different classes that she either struggles with or is in a deep liking for. I think Imani and I are a great friends because of all of these things and that is why for this thanksgiving, I am grateful for her throughout this year at Whitney Young as well as I'm sure I will be every year at Whitney Young

I Celebrate Myself

I celebrate myself. I celebrate myself because of all I have done. I celebrate my writing like Walt Whitman does. I recognize the hard work I put into all that I do. I recognize the love I have to many people, family, friends, life. To celebrate yourself you must have some kind of faith in yourself. I believe this because having faith gives you the mentality to go and just spend that time to celebrate anything you do. I believe like Walt Whitman, a good way to celebrate oneself as well is to take time and look back at all that you've changed. All that you believe you can and will change. Walt Whitman wrote his own piece which looked back at so many of his wonderful works of liturature. He took long periods of time to look at all he had done for liturature. Celebrating myself helps me keep hold in whatever stress is put onto me. To realize the good and bad you have done can keep you in a steady place. Walt Whitman had a special way of writing,  and a large part of me thinks that he had such good writings because he was able to handle things through writing. Writing cleared his mind,  while helping him become a famous well known poet and writer. A large part of me thinks that he did not put as much effort as many people would think. And I would conclude that from his way of releaving his thoughts.
And that is why I follow his theory,  to myself and what I do,  and to keep my celebratory mind by writing.

"POE"

Edgar Allan Poe, born January 19, 1809. The wonderful American author, poet, literary critic, and overall literature legend. We all know him for many of his wonderful pieces in literature. We all know of the dark, evil and deep situations put into his work, but the question remains as to where it all comes from. What is the base from this man becoming all of which we know him to be today? Well, it is said that Poe had a very tough childhood. His father left home when he was young and soon after that his mother passed away, leaving him to become an orphan. Because Poe's work is so dark and mysterious,  I connected his childhood to the deep meanings in each of his pieces. He was known to be the creator of detective fiction: which is said to have a mixture of crime, mystery and usually including murder or some kind of death. Also, Poe growing up closer to poor than anything, could have also been a large factor in his writing. So what it is that enhances Poe's deeper meaning in his work is the struggle it was said that he had before rising to the top through expressing himself quietly in his poems, stories and so on.

      There is a quote from Eleonora, that states "Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence– whether much that is glorious– whether all that is profound– does not spring from disease of thought– from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect."
    This quote can be an expression of how Poe started with what many can say is nothing and ended up with so much more than anyone would have automatically thought of him gaining. He can easily be expressing how to be poor or having any specific childhood should not and does not determine the future as long as you use intelligence and use a lot of good thought into whatever you do. There is a sad, dark and mysterious mood and meaning in Poe's work, but throughout it all, can it express any good?

What is an American

What is an American? According to the letters from an American Farmer, an American is someone civilized and distinguished. Now I believe personally that its hard to determine a human to be civilized because some would say that an american should be a mix of different people coming together, but does that actually mean were American,  why can we not just claim where our descendants truly came from. Once you come to America to become an American it would be said that you have to leave behind the past and be ready to move on as an American,  however I believe being an American can also mean you have a background that can actually be held on to when you "become an American" I guess I should say. America was meant to be a place to you could assume "restart fresh" but as of recently Americans have been able to bring their past heritage to the "American way" and it still makes us American. I believe that the letters from an American farmer represents how America was meant to start out and possibly was for a short period, but times have changed. So many of the "American laws" (as they can be categorised into) have not been fully followed all through American time. An example of that is religion not needing to be forced onto anyone, and reward for hard labor, and even simple equality. All of these things and more have been pointed out to be the expectations for the average American,  but that has not worked out in my opinion. In the end An American to me is just a human making a living in the land we call America. 

The modern Puritan

A long time ago Puritans were very strict believers lf God. They were also very harsh towards those who did not believe in god and/or sinned at all throughout their lives. From what I have read in the Crucible and The Scarlet Letter, even the old day Puritans were not so pure behind the scenes. Not saying that ALL old day Puritans were not true Puritans, but not nealry all of them were. You could easily be "damned to hell" if you were to ever sin (and get caught ofcourse).Now, I can only be led to believe that there is no true modern day puritan. This is for the simple fact that Society has changed in so many ways on so many levels that puritans could not even manage a small group with all of the people from today around them. The closest I could ever imagine to be a Puritan are the Amish and that is because not many are in America. The ones that are in America,  I could not come to believe would be able to withstand the American life of small sin. Those who can come near a Puritans ways with America's torturous lifestyle are true saints. Even religion has been moulded in to fit the likings of today's people. To even be a puritan you have to basically never sin in your life and with all of the problems us American people have around us, it seems to me that it is almost impossible.

Act 4 Crucible: John Proctor (A hero)

In act Four of the Crucible, John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth Proctor were basically the main characters. The debate of this act of the writing was whether John was a hero or a "stooge". In my opinion John Proctor was definitely a hero in this act. This is because although he battled with his wife on if he should confess also known as "lie" about actually "rolling with lucifer" he chose the side that in truth made him a better person than nearly everyone else in Salem who pointed their fingers to keep themselves from being executed or being charged with anything. Salem had a very contradicting rule; If you admit to the crime, your more better of than not. Although it may have seemed right in their eyes, it turned out to make the actual liers safer than the truthful people of Salem. John Proctor was one of those people not just in act four but throughout the whole story. He did have small problems towards certain people of Salem and he did have his flaws. However I would not call him a stooge over calling him a hero. He being a hero was due to his action of taking his unnecessary punishment of being hung. The only problem was his argument being mainly about his name to the people of Salem. Nonetheless, John Proctor stood his ground and did what he thought ws best and in a way, faught for his ideas. He did not reach to the low of lying to save his butt because the reality is that John Proctor, along with very few other people of the Crucible,  were true people of God.

Arrivals... There goes the neighborhood

   A long time ago. Pilgrims where exploring new land. This new land turned out to be owned already by Indian tribes. To me this shows a lot about new people taking over a specific land or in this case "neighborhood". When new people come into a neighborhood and somewhat take over it as if it was their/ and or just come and share it with the people there first, it shows that the new comers are somewhat demanding and/or used to being in charge.
   Another way I think of it is like kingdoms with kings and queens. In that case there is one ruler. But in any way you think about it, there is always the one person and/or group of people that are above and in charge of the other group(s) This also pointed out to me that ever since the beginning of history as we know it began.. there was always a theoretical "leading" of society whether there were titles or not. If you think about new people coming to a neighborhood without warning or permission, it seems pretty wrong and kingdom like to me.

Me

Maya Nicole Valentine is the name. I begin with a name and my name says a lot. Maya was chosen for me simply because of likes; however it makes me look into the Mayans and history of that situation. Everyone says the last name Valentine is very historical and cool too. So I have come to love my name. Whitney Young has become a place I can call a second home by now. The people and the activities, the vibe it gives to everyone who passes it, just make me realize what a great choice I made coming here. I am a dancer for life and I hope to continue dancing until I can’t anymore whether that is as a career or a hobby. Besides dancing I love almost anything that has to do with performing arts. Acting, singing, even drawing and painting are all passions of mine. I have always been the ‘artsy’ one of the bunch growing up and that is why coming to Whitney young helped me fit right in. I am a big people person and family oriented. Family is definitely before everything in my mind. I am known for hard work to a limit of where I know the word will actually lead me. When I grow up I would like to do something along the lines of journalism and/ or something in the psychological field. If none of those then definitely performing arts. If I could describe myself in one word it would simply be “difficult”, no easy choice can be made by me. It is hard for me to say a simple “yes” or “no” in any question. Second guessing is my first move when given a question. And with all of my small difficulties and with all of my passions and goals, I can only be me.