Looking for Zora

Alice Walker's search for Zora begins as her plane lands in Sanford, Florida. At the airport, she looks for Charlotte Hunt, her"companion on the Zora Hurston expedition". They begin their search at a "neat grey building" with two signs which read Eatonville Post Office and Eatonville City Hall. In there, they speak to a young lady, and Walker makes up an unnecessary lie to ensure she'll get the information she needs. They get pointed in the direction of Mrs. Mosely, who tells them Zora's grace isn't even in Sanford. They go to the mortuary that handled Zora's funeral and are given vague instructions to her grave. Before they leave, they learn Zora died of malnutrition. They buy Zora a tombstone and go find her grave. They eventually find Dr. Bentom, a man who personally knew Zora. Walker adds to her lie, even though she can tell it's not needed, and learns Zora actually died after a stroke. They travel to the welfare home Zora died in and speak to an old man who remembers Zora. They find out Zora was well liked and actually had a great funeral. Walker's quest ends with self-realization. All through her travels, she uses a lie that she is Zora's neice. This lie, although unnecessary at times, helps Walker get all the information she wants. It also makes the search for Zora personal, which in turn made it to where she couldn't give up. She learns about her heritage and herself at the same time. Walker is ultimately successful and leaves this experience with newfound knowledge.

Janie is so blue, she's full of sorrow, She's had it tough, growing up with no mom or dad. Janie looks forward to the morrow, She's had it rough, she hopes it won't be so bad. Maybe soon she'll escape the heartache, But deep down her heart will never do anything but break. Janie is so blue, she's often been abused, She's had a past and husbands that didn't last. Janie keeps going no matter what, She lives in a world where her dreams will never come to pass. Maybe one day life will be the way she wants it, But for now she'll hide her sadness in a closet. Janie's life is full of sadness. She grew up without parents and her grandmother died when she was only a teen. Growing up, her dream was too fall in love. She believed the only way to do this was to get married. This dream was crushed when she married Killicks. Their marriage was loveless and he mistreated her. Her current marriage with Starks didn't help at all either. She's given up on her dream and this has left her shattered and broken.

Juan speaks to Janie

When you grow up, you spend much of your time wondering how the world works. Where do babies come from? How do you spell cat? Much of the time you don't even notice yourself asking all these questions. These are your years of development, the years that you are still very dependent on your parents and naive to most of the world around you. As you grow, you experience more of the world. These experiences turn your years of asking questions to years of answering questions. You become responsible for your decisions and you are in charge of yourself. These years of answering will take up most of the rest of your life. Fin.

Juan Way to Look at Men and Women's Dreams

Men and women often have different experiences of their dreams about the future. I agree with the statement above. Men and women are both put through different standards by society. They are treated differently simply for being of different gender. Women find it tougher than men. They are ut through a lot more hardships and expected to breeze through them like nothing. Men on the other hand, are given many more opportunities to succeed. As unfair and unjust as this may seem, it is the reality of today's world. Because of this, men and women's dreams of the future tend to differ. A man might hope to climb the corporate ladder and one day become CEO of a company. He might even succeed. A woman is also capable of this, but the simple fact that she is not male means her climb will be longer and tougher. A man might wish to be successful and provide for his family whereas a woman would like to stay at home and care for the kids. It is not fair that this happens, but it happens and nobody, until recently, cared much for changing this. As long as humanity can remember, men and women's dreams of the future have differed greatly based on their experiences.

Juan's Gatsby's Fakebook

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Juan's Gatsby's Quiz Questions

1. Why does Gatsby continue to host such large and wild parties?

2. Why doesn't anybody tell Tom anything about his affair?

3. For what reason did Gatsby send Nick a formal invitation?

4. What is the author's purpose for repeating the eye motif?

5. In what ways do Tom and Gatsby difffer in the ways they display their wealth?

A Mistake of a Marriage

“I almost made a mistake, too,” she declared vigorously.

“I almost married a little kyke who’d been after me for years.

I knew he was below me.

Everybody kept saying to me:

‘Lucille, that man’s ‘way below you!’

But if I hadn’t met Chester, he’d of got me sure.”

“Yes, but listen,” said Myrtle Wilson, nodding her head up and down,

“at least you didn’t marry him.”

“I know I didn’t.”

“Well, I married him,” said Myrtle, ambiguously.

“And that’s the difference between your case and mine.”

“Why did you, Myrtle?” demanded Catherine.

“Nobody forced you to.”

Myrtle considered.

“I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,” she said finally.

“I thought he knew something about breeding,

but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.”

“You were crazy about him for a while,” said Catherine.

“Crazy about him!” cried Myrtle incredulously.

“Who said I was crazy about him?

I never was any more crazy about him than I was about that man there.”

She pointed suddenly at me,

and every one looked at me accusingly.

I tried to show by my expression that I had played no part in her  past.

“The only crazy I was was when I married him.

I knew right away I made a mistake.

He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in,

and never even told me about it,

and the man came after it one day when he was out.

‘oh, is that your suit?’ I said.

‘this is the first I ever heard about it.’

But I gave it to him

and then I lay down

and cried to beat the band all afternoon.”

Fitzgerald 38, 39

Juan's Quest for Acceptance (a tradgedy)

Too many people are trying to fit in. Personally, it's starting to get annoying. Kids walking around with snapbacks on their belts and scene kids with their hair looking all chopped up are the two things currently getting to me more than anything else. As a fashion trend, it's not so bad. Grown men trying to make sure they match their shoes with their shirt. I hope you notice the sarcasm. I only see it as a waste of money at best. The "swag" trend at Southwest is recent: hardly anybody dressed that way my freshmen year. Along with the outfit comes an obnoxious subculture. In this subculture, comparing a women to a female dog is a norm and smoking marijuana makes you "down".

The second group I can hardly stand are scene kids. These are the kids that most people call "emo" and are often seen with what appears to be straightened bed hair with an overdose of gel. They all listen to the same two or three bands and act as though they're the first to discover them. The music itself isn't always terrible, but then you find that one kid who likes to blast Blood On The Dance Floor out of his portable speaker system.

Equally irritating are the hipsters. These are the people who catch onto a new trend as soon as it starts getting popular, but only because everybody else is doing it. Unless you know what a hipster is, its kind of difficult to explain it. Basically they are the people who say they "love" Pokemon, but only know Pikachu and although they were a bunch of Star Wars clothes, they only now about Luke Skywalker. That's pretty much all I can say for this group...

The last three examples are examples of people changing to fit in with those around them just to feel accepted. In some cases its subtle, in others it's more drastic. People should not have to conform to society to earn a place with the rest. Take me for example. I wear whatever I get that year for my birthday and it lasts me all year, whether I like it or not. I don't listen to any bands, singers, or rappers unless they sound good to me. I act myself no matter what. People who don't like me stay away and people who do laugh with me. In these ever-changing times, kids think they have to change themselves to belong. In my opinion, this shouldn't be so.

With all this said, I'd like to make one last note. I don't mean to offend anybody with these singled out examples, but I just can't understand the reason behind the trends. Many of my friends fall in to one of these categories and they are great people to be around with. Part of why people change themselves is because other people comment on their flaws. They take it hard and try to change into something they aren't. Because of this, I keep silent about my friend's silly styles. After all, if deep down that's how they really are, let them be.

More than Juan way to look at it!

In the presence of modern trends, swag being the perfect example, it is difficult for people to recognize what a person is like past the image they put out. You get presented with a facade and that is sometimes all you get to work with when first meeting a person. Teens, the vast majority of which being male, are concerned with being "hard" and "trill" and in the end they end up being somebody they aren't. Personally, i find this stupid, idiotic, and ultimately pointless. Teenage girls also put up a false exterior, but, unlike with boys, it is usually for a reason. Girls, more so than guys, are abused and taken advantage of. They end up acting different around people and pretending to be somebody they aren't to protect themselves from more harm.

I find the fact that people are concerned about their outward appearance among peers to be a waste of time.   When it involves giving a positive outward appearance to a superior in hopes of a raise or a promotion or even out of respect, it is different.For me, I find it easiest to be myself. Fortunately, people tend to accept me for who I really am. If they don't, I distance myself from them slightly because I'm not changing for anyone. Not everybody is like this, however. As a society we find ourselves copying the "trendsetters" more and more. The "trendsetters" themselves often copy the trends they themselves take credit for popularizing, therefore making it their business to be fake. We shouldn't be concerned about outward appearances at all. Being ourselves around others is what helps us understand how to be better people in society. Being fake and never helped anybody either.

In America we have the luxury of surrounding ourselves with literally whatever we want. This means everybody values different things in different ways. For the most part, what we as value in America tend to be empty, worthless things. We worry too much about how we dress, care too much what others think of us, and think too much about business that is not ours. The problem isn't that we don't value things actually worth something, we do. It just means we give too much worth too that which should have no worth at all. As Americans, we value things of no value too often.

When it comes to a significant other, i could care less about their money. Besides, I'm the man. I'm the one responsible for bringing home the bacon. But if my future partner wants to work, ultimately it's her decision. As far as looks go, as long as she didn't look like an ogre it would be fine, although being pretty would be a bonus. Not all people think like this. Many women get with men only for their money and many men get with women only for their looks. This shouldn't be but it happens.

In conclusion, too many people are "fake", and not enough people know how to be real. They put out a deceptive exterior and try to be somebody they aren't. We also give worth to things with no value all the time. It would seem, if people would act themselves around others, we could progress as a society in social behavior.

The Price of Assimilation

Assimilation. Throughout time this word has gained a negative connotation. It has come to mean the betrayal of one's culture in exchange for another. This happens all over the world and is especially true in the United States. In A Raisin In The Sun, this concept is represented by the character Walter, a black man who is married to Ruth. He is trying to assimilate, but his wife is resisting. He sees it as for the better whereas Ruth sees it as a waste of time.

This problem is seen even into today. Many people try to fit in while others see it as a waste of time and energy. However, this can be a double-bladed sword. It can harm one by corrupting them and completely changing who they are. For others, it can be a great help. In the nineteenth century, for example, when immigrants moved to the United States from Europe, they tried to assimilate. This helped them get jobs and be accepted into society. This turned out to be an advantage for them and many others who have assimilated throughout the ages. This point-of-view was not seen by individual's culture, unfortunately.

These views continue even into today. When illegal immigrants come to the US, their children assimilate easily. While this gives them a huge advantage compared to what their parents had, they lost part of their heritage. The price of assimilation can be a costly one. How much of one's self is one willing to lose in the name of bettering one's life?

Juan's American Dream

The American dream is something everybody wants, but not everybody can achieve. It's the Mustang parked in the drive way. The kids running in the backyard with the dog. The Sunday barbeques with the 52" TV on the Cowboy's game. It's everything we want and everything we need. Ask anybody what their American dream is and most will respond," I want a family and a home." That is the summarization of nearly all their answers. But just as there are 300 million Americans, so are there 300 million American dreams. My American dream is different from yours just as yours is different from mine. So what is my American dream? I want many things, but the one thing I want more than anything else is to give my children what my parents gave me: a decent home and a good education. That's what my American dream revolves around. I want a home, large and full of room. I want a truck, a Ford preferably. I want a wife and children and a dog running around in the backyard. Call me stereotypical, but I am what I am. It's my American dream and nothing is going to stop me from getting there.

My name is Juan Castro. I'm a junior at Southwest and I'm a section leader in the band. I'm also in Police Explorers. I love playing soccer and running, but I hate doing them by myself. I love my family and care about them very much. Welcome to my blog!