Sunday, November 27, 2016

My Mad Dream of An Essay

Remember that time you ate that spicy burger just before you went to bed on the night before the big Halloween party. Oh, that weird dream you had about the 2016 presidential election. When you woke up you couldn't quite remember the gory details, but after reading "On Self-Reliance" and "A Sound of Thunder" it's all coming back to you now.

The dream started badly. You were in line with your family at Walmart waiting to be sent to the library. Everywhere you looked there were posters of president-elect Waddle, looking like a crazy cheetah who could eat a whole chair.

 Suddenly, there was Ralph Waldo Emerson telling you, "Greatness appeals to the future". You realized that you have something to contribute to the world so you decided to fight. But it wasn't easy. First you had to put on a fancy dress and hat and then you had to make a monkey go back in time to the mall so you could convince people to learn about the candidates and the deportation of immigrants.

But right there in the mall there was a giant bear and it started shouting at everyone. People started to cry. You grabbed a ball from a nearby shop and yelled "we have the power to be the bigger person". Everyone stopped and listened, so you kept going.

We as the next generation will change the world. Whether or not you believe so, we will do it. If you choose not to do your work, so be it. If you choose to make bad choices, so be it. Responsibility is inevitable and if we make the choice of facing responsibility now, determines our future. Even making that small decision of ditching a party to do a homework assignment shapes our future decisions. One experience I have had with this is I wrote an essay the day before it was due because I procrastinated. I sacrificed quality time with my family to do it and now I now that I have to make the right choices of doing my work beforehand so I can have fun. "On Self-Reliance" uses the example in hid first quote "Our acts our angels are, or good or ill, Our fatal shadows that walk by us still." This quote shows an example of the choices we make because it says that they can be good or bad, but it's really up to us. "A Sound of Thunder" shows a classic example of the choices we make now influence our future. With Eckels making the mistake of going off the path and literally changing the future, but not for good. It's up to us to make things better in the future by making he right choices now.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Emerson's Child

         Yourself can be a hard word to describe. Emerson's definition of "yourself" may be as subtle as "someone who believes they can do whatever they want to do" or something a little more complex such as "a person who shows who they really are because they aren't following in the footsteps of another person". Whatever Emerson's definition of "yourself" is, I'm sure it has meaning. Whenever others aren't looking, I am genuinely my true self. If people don't like the real me, I miss the part where that's my problem. I make fun of people who are fake, I cant say it is a good thing, but I do it anyway.
         I am just as crazy, and funny and weird as my friends think I am and I couldn't think of myself as anyone else. I feel as though the people who have a lot of friends or who are "popular" don't have friends that really care about the real them, they only hang out with the fake them. Behind closed doors I am still the same Jordan as you see at school, but I have to say I don't really associate myself with the "popular" people because their definition of "fun" is a little different from mine.
         My true nature is a fun, weird and enthusiastic person. Although I am occasionally serious, it usually has to do with my schoolwork. If I am going to have friends, the nature of my personality remains the same because if I am not myself then I am not happy. I have to say I have the ability to be a huge bully, but I choose to remain the good person I am. What I think about others is I hate it when people try to be someone they're not. I can't help making fun of someone if I have seen the real side of them but have also experienced their fake side. I get irritated if someone I know tries to be different because I know deep down they aren't really happy with who they are because they are hiding their true selves, The only reason you would be someone you are not is because you aren't happy with yourself and you are afraid of being rejected if you do show your true self.
         What I really want is for people to be who they really are. Being in high school, I have more anger on my shoulders than I should carry because of the people I see everyday, but it's not up to me to tell them who to be. I want people to be true to themselves and show their friends who they really are. If people weren't so afraid of rejection and judgment, society would be a much better place. I feel like it is the responsibility of others who are true to themselves to teach others to be who they want to be and not to follow in someone else's footsteps. The reason I say "teach" instead of "tell" is because it's going to take time for people to accept that change.
           Emerson's wisdom makes great points about society. High school is an obstacle everybody faces in their life, unfortunately some people choose to avoid it by dropping out. Even though I do still try to dress like the "trends" you cant help it because it is a part of life, it's how we evolve. I don't wear skinny jeans or Jordan's because other people do. I wear them because I like them and that is what Emerson is trying to say. Emerson tries to say to do what you want, but not for others. but for yourself and I can connect with that. To get along with others they have to like me for who I am and if they don't I usually avoid them because 95% of the time they are very annoying. I cant say everybody likes me, but I know who my real friends are if I can text one friend for a pen and have the whole group show up just to make sure I get one.