Author: JacquelineL

Once upon a time lived a brute king

Who looked upon his people as play things

Think think, and he had a great scheme

Oh, but how it was so very mean

Alas the ones accused of a crime

Would blindly pick death, or there life-line

Two doors laid upon the man

Containing a tiger and bride hotter than a frying pan.

A handsome mortal was the king’s pick .

Accused of an affair with the princess chick.

From afar sat the royal lady.

Knowing something quite so shady.

How she despised the likely bride

Yet would she let her lover be left to homocide?

Sometimes we can tell a few white lies to get ourselves out of tight situations. In the story, Heart and Hands by O Henry, a man meets his old friend on a train, and has to lie his way out of embarrassment. As I read through the short story, I noticed that there were two major themes of stereotyping and kindness.

Kindness is something that can be shown by even the least expected. This is represented in Hearts and Hands, because The Marshall went out of his way to protect Easton’s reputation. I can affirm that the action of kindness is a key theme, because The Marshall didn’t even hesitate to sacrifice his public respect to save Easton out of being embarrassed. He does this by willingly pretending he was the prisoner, instead of telling Mrs. Fairchild that Easton was being taken to jail. This theme can tell a lesson on how kindness comes from the bottom of your heart, and that generosity is a prime of human nature.

Many may stereotype people based on how they look or act. In the short story, Mrs. Fairchild does just this when she assumes The Marshall as the prisoner. Stereotyping and the deception of appearances are a main theme because of a few reasons. The reason why stereotyping and deception is a main theme is that when The Marshall tells Mrs. Fairchild that he is indeed the prisoner, she does not suspect anything. This proves the theme, because since Easton was much more proper and handsome, and The Marshall was ruffled up and roughly dressed, Mrs. Fairchild assumed The Marshall as a prisoner based off her stereotyping. O Henry’s use of common stereotyping based on appearances can tell a moral of not judging a book by it’s cover.

In conclusion, the main themes of Heart and Hands, are stereotyping and deception, and kindness. The book represents these aspects/themes, when The Marshall saves Easton’s reputation, and when Mrs. Fairchild assumes based on appearance. “Kindness comes from the bottom of your heart.” “Never judge a book by it’s cover.”

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a fun and famous short story written by James Thurber. In this story, a man named Walter Mitty has trouble facing reality so he resorts to daydreaming constantly. Mitty has daydreams about being a hero and an extremely successful man. A major theme portrayed in this story is escapism from the dull everyday reality. This is a main theme, as Walter Mitty relies on his daydreaming to get by with his average life and nagging wife.

I personally do not agree with how Walter Mitty avoids his everyday lifestyle, as of many reasons. First of all, Walter is putting himself out as a brave hero that has a perfect life. This is wrong, since his dream life does not exist. To elaborate, if Walter Mitty was to continue living in his fantasies, he would not be able to face real life hardships. Another reason why Walter should face reality, is that he would overlook hard work, and lose the quality of working to success.

All in all, I can conclude that Walter Mitty should not indulge in his fantasies. This is shown in the story by Walter Mitty dreaming himself up as a successful and heroic man. When Walter would do this, he was creating a fake fantasy where he got what he wanted without hard work or pain. In conclusion, even though one can easily live in a dream world by escaping reality, they will lose the main aspects of life.

A room of collaborative ones await

Yet someone defensive may turn the room to hate

Like a chicken in a red zone

We can turn to detest by one alone

A positive role model can make reform

In a vulnerable situation by the swarm

Defensiveness does not protect

Nor will our fears deflect

To end it by the whole

We must follow our three goals

At first we must bring it to light

Even though it may feel uptight

Slowing down is the next step

But make sure not to over-prep

To check your negative self-talk

Allows teamwork in a flock

Last we must remember to make a new start

As an attempt to put our mistakes to heart

In the story, Everyday Use by Alice Walker, there are two different perspectives on how one can acknowledge their heritage. The two sisters, Maggie and Dee are shown to see their African roots differently. Maggie understands her heritage as something that keeps her close and attached to her ancestors. Dee on the other hand, views her heritage as merely materialistic. She see it as an aesthetic to be hung on the wall and shown off.

Alice Walker symbolizes their “culture” in the story with a quilt. The quilt was a very important family heirloom, that had been passed down from generation to generation. When Dee requests to keep the quilts for decoration, the mother says no, as she already promised them to Maggie. Dee responds by saying that Maggie would only ruin the quilts by putting them to everyday use. This shows that Dee only values the quilt as an accessory and an aesthetic. When Maggie gives up the quilts to Dee, she says, ” I can remember Grandma Dee with the quilts.” This shows that she values the quilts for everyday use, to keep her connected to her ancestors.

I personally think that Dee does not understand the true meaning of her heritage, because she thinks of the quilt as only a family heirloom. Unlike Dee, I think Maggie understands her culture, since she appreciates the quilt as something to connect her to her loved ones. In conclusion, heritage is not just a heirloom or an accessory, but a connection your past.

A global outbreak had come

And the scientists knew what had to be done

Inspired from a navigational bot

With an additional UV light.

Violet was created without a single dirty spot

She did the dangerous job

Of disinfecting all high-touch surfaces

Including each door knob

She did her cleaning four times faster

Handling it better

Than a human radiographer

The robot was the hero of the day

Allowing the scientists to put their discoveries into play

Madi Hammod discussed the issues of advanced technology, and how it impacts today’s youth. In her Ted Talk, she talked about the upsides and downsides to the easily accessible internet, and how our generation responds to common tragedies.

Our generation is able to obtain information easily through the internet unlike any generation before us. If we want to find a definition to a hard word, or maybe we want to find out about the ancient Aztecs, we can just search it up on our devices. Even though we can use the internet to obtain knowledge, the internet also has some negative assets. Madi spoke on how people are able to, for example, find out how to kill someone or maybe even shoot up a school. Furthermore, Gen Z is exposed to so much disturbing stories in the media, like how kids in Africa are dying, or how an innocent man was killed because he was black.

Madi talked about how when she was younger, she would come home crying as she heard something dark and sad on the news. As the next year went on, she got used to the horrible things on the news, and became numb to them. Our generation has to see things the adults only have, and we are taught to not show emotion and to be tough. This is why, as Madi explained, people need to use what is going on in the world for positive change. For example, the Parkland activists had a shooting at their school, so they organized the “March for our lives”. In conclusion, we cannot do anything about being exposed to the negative media, but we can use to change for the better.

The short story, The Land Lady by Roald Dahl, tells a story of an innocent young man who ends up dead as a result of crossing paths with the landlady. I personally enjoyed reading this story as it kept me on the tip of my feet and ended with a dark plot twist. It also teaches a lesson on how you should never be quick to trust someone.

The story starts off with 17 year old Billy Weaver coming off a train from London to Bath, to look for a new job. As he was looking for an affordable resting place, he comes across Bed and Breakfast. Billy notices a cozy lit up fire place, a bird in a cage, and a dog sleeping. He is greeted by a sweet middle-aged women, and he finds the prices extremely cheap and affordable. The landlady tells Billy he must sign the guest book. As he signs the guest book, he discovers the two very familiar names of Christopher Mulholland and Gregory W. Temple. When Billy was served tea by the landlady, he remembered that Christopher Mulholland had suddenly disappeared two years ago. The landlady explains how she remembered Christopher as a handsome student, and that both of the men were staying upstairs. Billy then discovers the women had stuffed her pet dog and bird. As Billy drinks his tea he finds his tea tasting like bitter almonds. In the end of the story, Billy asks the landlady if she had any guests besides the two men and she replied, “No, only you”.

In conclusion, Roald Dahl was probably trying to tell the reader that the women had poisoned Billy’s tea, and was going to stuff Billy as she did to her pets and the two other men. Therefore, I think the theme of the story would be that things aren’t always what they seem, and you should always keep your guard up against strangers. This is the theme, because Billy first thought the housing was cozy and cheap, but later on he ended up on his deathbed.

Marco Polo dreamed to travel.

So he let his passions unravel.

He, His Father, and Uncle as a group.

Went to Asia without a troop.

After three years was their arrival day.

Greeted by Kublai with a hey.

The Chinese had much to give.

Including riches far greater than what any European could live.

Much more advanced as they were.

Took the Polos in as amauters.

Marco was given an important role.

While also enjoying the riches as a whole.

The Polos returned home on a ship

100 people died on the trip.

A war caused Marco to be arrested.

Yet he wrote a travel book that many quite detested.

In this Ted Talk about learning to be mentally strong, Amy Morin talked about her personal struggles, and what we can do to grow and develop as mentally strong people. Amy Morin experienced losses of her mom, her first husband, and her second father-in-law. She felt as if life was not fair to her and compared herself to her friends. As she went through her life, she let go of her bad mental habits, and stopped dwelling on her past. My biggest takeaway of her Ted Talk was to not compare myself to other people but to compare myself to the person I was the day before.

Amy Morin also spoke on some bad habits to let go of. One poor choice we make on the daily is worrying about pleasing the people around us. A positive person speaks on what they feel is right and doesn’t let other people control them. Another bad habit is giving up after failing the first time. Failure is not always bad, and it can help people improve and learn from their mistakes. Lastly, we should not feel bitter about other people’s successes. Instead of moping around being jealous that other people are surpassing us, we should celebrate other people’s accomplishments.