Reflective Essay By Jessica Chen :D

    I had written lots of blogs this year that i am amazed about after reading them back. I never thought of myself to talk about my past so much on my blogs. I thought writing blogs was fun and it was a way for me to not hide myself to the outside world.After posting blogs this year, I felt that writing blog was fun because it was a good way for me to show people who i am and tell them about the obstacles i went through.

Overall this year of posting up blogs, i believe that one of my favorite post that i had posted this year was about My Life with Violin/Viola. I think that this post may had took me the longest to write because it gave me lots of thinking about what my life was all about. My inspiration for writing this post was the thought of of my past. Before playing music, I was a really quiet and shy girl who did not know how to express myself. I was not the energetic and joyful girl as I am now.The face that I could always give out to the people surrounding me was hatred because i came from really strict parents. When i was little, my mom would scream at me when i get one math problem wrong on my math test or even when my writings are too ugly. The expression i always give to people make them feel that i am out of reached. Until i met my world of music where i actually felt something and learned to express myself more. Writing this post really brought me to tears because i actually realize how much an impact music had gain to me.

Looking back to my post from My life with Violin/Viola brought me a surprise looking at the growth i had from my past.“She screams at anyone that doesn't know how to play twinkle twinkle little star. It was my luck that I remember my fingering to play that song.”“I was able to teach young musicians all the things I learned over the past five to six years. I was proud to be a music teacher and because I get paid :D”This post really amazed me about what i had gone through that made me who i am now. Music was important and i felt that i had made lots of improvements over these past years. Although, there were lots of stress and stopping points over this past year, I now find it worth it for what i gone through. Reading this blog really made me think a lot about what my life is all about. I started from a little girl who learned how to play twinkle twinkle little star into a teacher who teach young ones how to play complicated music from composers like Bach, Beethoven, and Mendelson. Music turned me into a more smarter and stronger person. After rereading this blog, it really inspire to cherish my past music life that I had gone through and what I am doing now. Currently, i am focusing on my studying with piano and i will cherish it. Hopefully I will write a blog about it someday.

             Blogging was a lot of fun. I never tried it up until this year. Although I had opened some earlier accounts on tumblr, i had no idea on how to blog. At the beginning, I thought blogging was hard, however now i am getting better and better with blogging. Good thing we learned how to this year :D I felt that blogging was a really great way to express myself. I mentioned that playing music express myself, however putting up blogs is my second choice when i have to express myself. I really enjoy reading the comments that are commented by readers in my blogging. Some comments that inspired me was a comment from a stranger who said that i did a really good job with talking about the character on the House on Mango Street. She or he thought my ideas were really creative. Also, I like looking at my stats knowing how many people had read my blogs and the places in the world that reads it. I was surprised when i found out that I had a lot of my blog viewers from Russia. I never thought that Russian people likes to read blogs i post. Blogging had changed the way i think about writing because now i find my writings to have more freedom. I could write whatever i feel like writing. Blogging is all about freedom to me where i can talk about my recent status and other past experience i would like to keep as memories. Making a blog had been a good way for me to actually show people my mood when i write a blog. There are always transitions with my mood and I like how people can actually know my mood from reading my blogs. Some examples would be from my vignettes where i talked mostly about my past memories and life.

Usually when I write a blog, I get my topics from thinking about my past. I always try to focus my blogs on writing about my life. I think that the reason I talk about my life on my blog is because I want to tell people about my life experience and for me to remember my past before I forget. One of my vignette I took in deep thoughts about my life.“Don’t talk back to me ! says Mama. She slapped my face so hard, it was red. My face was as red as the color of a red apple. Drops of tears were coming down my face like it was raining. My mom rush towards her room and shut the door as if someone was chasing her.” This is one of the quote where i talked about my past. This slap from my mom was not a bad thing because it taught me the lesson to not talk back to my parents and elders. I went through lots of obstacles through my life and I want to remember every single one of them. Writing a blog about it will stay there forever where i can read it anytime. Also, I like to share people about my past, so they would get to know me better. There were many tears that i had from my past and it shaped who i am now.The reason i start writing blogs is because Mr. Sutherland assigned this as homework, however after starting writing blogs, i realized that posting blogs is a fun thing to do. Starting writing blogs had inspired me to start writing other non academic blogs on other websites like tumblr and blogspot. I had gain more followers then usual.

             My goal for next semester is to write more blogs. I feel that i wrote too less blogs this year. I believe that if i wrote more blogs then i would receive more viewers that i can check from my stats. It is important to me that i would get more readers because that shows that people actually care about what i write. In order for more readers, I will write more interesting topics. Another goal for me is to expand my writing topics more. I do not want people to read my blogs just all about my life. I feel that it would be more entertaining for me to talk about other things other than my life.

Final draft For the Last Song :D

The Last Song       

       In the book, The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks describes a main character named Ronnie who has a family with divorced parents. Ronnie’s life was hard for her to face. She dislike how her parents are separated and she tries her best to ignore the fact that her parents are divorced. She was a talented pianist but after her parents divorced, she lost her confidence and gave up her talent in playing piano. Ronnie did not have any goals in her life, so she can not think about her future.

“ And Ronnie doesn’t always come with us. She locks herself in her room and refuses to come out, but as soon as we leave, she goes over to Starbucks to hang out with her friends. It makes mom furious.” (pg 27)

Ronnie does not like to interact with her family. There must be problems going on with her family that causes her to ignore her family. She tries to pretend they do not even exist. Because her routines of locking herself in her room, it made her mom curious about Ronnie’s life. Her past had impacted her lots when it comes to talking to her family. Ronnie finds that it would be better if she stays separate from her family so then she can get away from the problems that her parents are giving out.  Ronnie understands that it is hard to talk to her family,so then the best thing for her to do is to replace her family with her friends. She had many difficulties after her parents had divorced, she had tried shoplifting and other things that caused her to be in a huge amount of troubles. Her problems worsened more and more as she visited the police station more often.

Her parents’ divorce had impacted her a lot where it turns her from being a talented pianist into a girl that had lost confidence in herself. She is basically stuck in a dead end. She could have been in a destined road where she could have a better life. A life that she wants. She just can not accept the fact that her parents are divorced because she came from a family with a dad who is a pianist who she thought were in love. His dad had taught her a lot about music and the piano, however it seems like now that her parents are divorced, she hates her dad. She was able to enter to one of the top music schools called Julliard, however she rejected them. Ronnie feels that playing piano just reminds her the hatreds she has with her dad. She thinks it is all her dad’s fault for the divorce because his dad left the family behind to chase his dreams as a pianist. Ronnie may seem strong in the outside,but she is actually a really weak girl that needs help.

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks is an inspirational book because it brings out tears to readers. After reading this book, I felt that the author had lots of purposes in writing this book. One of his purpose was to convince readers that parents are really important and they should spend more time with them before they leave them alone in their world.

   Ronnie ignored his dad for three years and when she tried spending time with him or forgive him, his dad had gotten cancer and was about to die. After she found out her dad had cancer, she realized that she only had a few months with him. Ronnie tried her best to be close to her dad.

   “ I played for him as long as I could, mom. And I tried so hard to make it beautiful for him, because I knew how much it meant to him. But he was just so weak,” she whispered.” ( pg 448)

Ronnie regretted for not forgiving her dad earlier enough or even gave her dad a chance to explain what was going on within those three years. After she found out the truth about why her parents divorced and she realized that it wasn’t her dad’s fault, her mind was full of regrets. She really wanted her dad back where she can play more piano music for him. Ronnie showed that she was missing him very much and wish that none of this would had happen.

   The author tried to tell readers to appreciate their parents because they will leave some times in life and they may not see them again. Ronnie was an example where she was mad at her dad and when she was finally forgiving her dad, she knew it was to late. Her dad was about to leave her world. I believe the author did a really good job with integrating this purpose into the book because at the end, readers were able to learn the concept of appreciating parents after reading the scenes of how Ronnie and his dad tried to spend as much time with each other as they could but they knew it wasn’t just enough. After reading this book, the message had brought readers to understand how important it is to care for their family and spend more time with them.

After reading this book, I believe that the author wrote this book for teens because it seems like the author was trying to teach teens a lesson. This book had a bit of a romance and brought in some sadness because of the dad’s death. I am one of the teens that really like this book because this book had gave me a lot of emotion like sometimes i would feel sad, happy, and excited to read the next part. This author really knows how to give out life lessons and bring in tears to teens or any readers. I will read another book by this author again sometime because i feel that the author knows how to teach lessons and brings in entertainments :D

I recommend people to really read this book !

Peer Review Comments !

Cameron : Hey Cameron, I think you did a really good job with your book review. Although, there are some redundancy in some parts. Your blog post had attracted me to read this someday. This book seems very interesting and complicated to read. The quotes are hard for me to understand, however you did a good job explaining and relating to it.  This book seems like a good book for anyone to read if they want to learn or know more about life. The last suggestion that I want to give you is as if you want to expand your ideas more, but everything else are well done already :D

Kasia : She did not have any new blog post updated and i commented on her last one already.

Beatrice : She also did not have any new blog post updated.

Ashli : Hey ashli, your book review was really good. A suggestion for you may be that you could actually add more commentaries to your quote. Your book sounds fun to read. I like how you gave a biography in your blog post, so i would know what the book is actually about. The book sounds like its a really good book and very interesting. The ending should be more detailed. other than that your book post is awesome :D

Adralyn : Hey Adralyn, I really enjoyed reading your book post. I liked how you gave a full summary about your book. A suggestion from me for you is that you should give out some quotes and commentaries to your book post. The book post would be better if you apply some quotes onto there. Your blog post makes me want to read that book. There are some grammar issues but everything else is good :D

Rough draft The Last Song

The Last Song       

In the book The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks describes the main character named Ronnie who has a family with divorced parents. Ronnie’s life was hard for her to face. She dislike how her parents are separated and she tries her best to ignore the fact that her parents were divorced. She was a talented pianist but after her parents divorced, she lost her confidence and gave up playing the piano. Ronnie did not have any goals in her life, so she can not think about her future.

“ And Ronnie doesn’t always come with us. She locks herself in her room and refuses to come out, but as soon as we leave, she goes over to Starbucks to hang out with her friends. It makes mom furious.” (pg 27)

Ronnie does not like to interact with her family. There must be problems going on with her family that causes her to ignore her family. She tries to pretend they do not even exist. Because her routines of locking herself in her room, it made her mom curious about her life. Her past had impacted her lots when it comes to talking to her family. Ronnie finds that it would be better if she stays separate from her family so then she can get away from the problems in her family.  Ronnie understands that it is hard to talk to her family,so then the best thing for her to do is to replace her family with her friends. She had many difficulties after her parents had divorced, she had tried shoplifting and other things that caused her to be in many troubles.

Her parents’ divorce had impacted her a lot where it turns her from being a talented pianist into a girl that lost confidence in themselves. She is basically stuck in a dead end. She just can not accept the fact that her parents are divorced because she came from a family with a dad who is a pianist. His dad had taught her a lot about music and the piano however it seems like now that her parents are divorced, she hates her dad. She thinks it is all her dad’s fault for the divorce because his dad left the family behind to chase his dreams as a pianist. Ronnie may seem strong in the outside,but she is actually a really weak girl that needs help.

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks is an inspirational book because it brings out tears to readers. After reading this book, I felt that the author had lots of purposes in writing this book. One of his purpose was to convince readers that parents are really important and they should spend more time with them before they leave them alone in their world.

   Ronnie ignored his dad for three years and when she tried spending time with him or forgive him, his dad had gotten cancer and was about to die. After she found out her dad had cancer, she realized that she only had a few months with him. Ronnie tried her best to be close to her dad.

   “ I played for him as long as I could, mom. And I tried so hard to make it beautiful for him, because I knew how much it meant to him. But he was just so weak,” she whispered.” ( pg 448)

Ronnie regretted for not forgiving her dad earlier enough or even gave her dad a chance to explain what was going on within those three years. After she found out the truth about why her parents divorced and she realized that it wasn’t her dad’s fault, her mind was full of regrets. She really wanted her dad back where she can play more piano music for him. Ronnie showed that she was missing him very much and wish that none of this would had happen.

   The author tried to tell readers to appreciate their parents because they will leave some times in life and they may not see them again. Ronnie was an example where she was mad at her dad and when she was finally forgiving her dad, she knew it was to late. Her dad was about to leave her world. I believe the author did a really good job with integrating this purpose into the book because at the end, readers were able to learn the concept of appreciating parents after reading the scenes of how Ronnie and his dad tried to spend as much time with each other as they could but they knew it wasn’t just enough. After reading this book, the message had brought readers to understand how important it is to care for their family and spend more time with them.

Drops of Tears, The Last Song

    The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks is an inspirational book because it brings out tears to readers. After reading this book, I felt that the author had lots of purposes in writing this book. One of his purpose was to convince readers that parents are really important and they should spend more time with them before they leave them alone in their world.

    Ronnie ignored his dad for three years and when she tried spending time with him or forgive him, his dad had gotten cancer and was about to die.

    “ I played for him as long as I could, mom. And I tried so hard to make it beautiful for him, because I knew how much it meant to him. But he was just so weak,” she whispered.” ( pg 448)

Ronnie regretted for not forgiving her dad earlier enough or even gave her dad a chance to explain what was going on within those three years. After she found out the truth about why her parents divorced and she realized that it wasn’t her dad’s fault, her mind was full of regrets. She really wanted her dad back where she can play more piano music for him. Ronnie showed that she was missing him very much and wish that none of this would had happen.

    The author tried to tell readers to appreciate their parents because they will leave some times in life and they may not see them again. Ronnie was an example where she was mad at her dad and when she was finally forgiving her dad, she knew it was to late. Her dad was about to leave her world. I believe the author did a really good job with integrating this purpose into the book because at the end, readers were able to learn the concept of appreciating parents after reading the scenes of how Ronnie and his dad tried to spend as much time with each other as they could but they knew it wasn’t just enough. After reading this book, the message had brought readers to understand how important it is to care for their family and spend more time with them.

Ronnie,The Last Song

In the book The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks describes the main character named Ronnie who has a family with divorced parents. She dislike how her parents are separated and she tries her best to ignore the fact that her parents were divorced. She was a talented pianist but after her parents divorced, she lost confidence in herself and gave up piano.

“ And Ronnie doesn’t always come with us. She locks herself in her room and refuses to come out, but as soon as we leave, she goes over to Starbucks to hang out with her friends. It makes mom furious.” (pg 27)

Ronnie does not like to interact with her family. There must be problems going on with her family that causes her to ignore her family. She tries to pretend they do not even exist. Because her routines of locking herself in her room, it made her mom curious about her life. Her past had impacted her lots when it comes to talking to her family. Ronnie finds that it would be better if she stays separate from her family so then she can get away from the problems in her family.  Ronnie understands that it is hard to talk to her family,so then the best thing for her to do is to replace her family with her friends. She had many difficulties after her parents had divorced, she had tried shoplifting and other things that caused her to be in many troubles.

Her parents’ divorce had impacted her a lot where it turns her from being a talented pianist into a girl that lost confidence in themself. She is basically stuck in a dead end. She just can not accept the fact that her parents are divorced because she came from a family with a dad who is a pianist. His dad had taught her a lot about music and the piano however it seems like now that her parents are divorced, she hates her dad. She thinks it is all her dad’s fault for the divorce because his dad left the family behind to chase his dreams as a pianist. Ronnie may seem strong in the outside,but she is actually a really weak girl that needs help.

Lets talk about Guitars ! :D

Reading all these vignettes that my classmates had wrote, I found out that there was a pattern in some of the vignettes that strucked me. I realize that some of the vignettes have the same pattern just like Christy, Fermin, and David where they all talked about guitars.

Many of us have talents that were not revealed until our later age. Christy is an example because she found her talent later on in her life. She found her talent and she has the passion to keep going.  

“After a year I decided to buy a guitar. My first guitar was absolutely stunning. Jet black body that shined in the light. The light colored wooded neck fits in my palm perfectly. I know that the first strum would last forever.”

Christy found her talent and she knows that she will have it forever. Her talent was playing the guitar and the way she describes the guitar is really descriptive. This shows she love her guitar and love her own talent.

    Fermin is just like Christy because they both like to mention about guitars.

“Playing Bass is my favorite thing to do in my free time. And of course, it is my all time favorite hobby. In my family, I happen to play bass and also so does my godfather.  But, there is a big difference, He has been playing bass guitar for about 15 years and I’ve been playing for only 4 months, a huge difference.”

Fermin found his talent too and it is to play guitar just like Christy. They both are beginners on the guitar. They develop a pattern where they both mention about guitars. They both believe that guitars are their favorites and will keep going throughout their life. Guitars are mention both of their vignettes.

David also mentioned about guitar in his vignettes. Although he did not talk about how guitar is one of his talents, he mentioned about it. They all have an interest in guitar so that is why they mention about guitars in their vignettes. I think that finding our own talents is really important and I am happy that Fermin and Christy found their talents.

Esperanza's future?

In the book, The House on Mango street,  Esperanza thinks of her future a lot. All of her early life events had caused her to care about her future.

    After reading the vignettes, it seems like Esperanza’s future does not want to live back on Mango street.

    “ You live right here, 4006 Mango, Alicia says and points to the house i am ashamed of” (pg 106).

Esperanza was embarrassed when telling people where she lives representing that in her future i think that she will not go back to the house on Mango street. The place where she was embarrass is probably the place where she will not go back to. She will do a comeback from what she left behind because all she want to do is run away from the stuff that caused her to leave things behind. Her childhood had caused her to feel the way that she should not going back to where she was. She wants to go back to what she had before and have a comeback. She wants to tell the people around her that she is strong and will have a come back to what she left behind.
   
    She dreamed about her house in the future where it uses lots of words representing alone.

    “ Only a house quiet as snow, a space for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem” (pg 108).

The word “myself” defines that she wants to be alone in her future. She wants to live in a different place then the house on mango street. She wants to show her neighbors that she is not going to be one of the people that is going to be trapped on mango street. She will have a come back where she can tell people the things that she can do that other people couldn’t. Her space for herself to go means that her destiny is for herself to chose and not by other people who ruins her future. She knows that in order for her to come back and chase her dreams, she must run away from the house on Mango Street.

House on Mango Street ; Gender Difference?

          After reading The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, I find that the author is trying to tell reader that teenage girls and teenage boys should be raised differently. In order to say that teenage girls and teenage boys should be raised differently, she implies it into her vignettes.

Esperanza in the story was raised properly by her parents where she would know the right things that she should do.

“ And since she comes right after me, she is my responsibility” (pg 8).

 Esperanza knew that in her life, she must take care of her little siblings because she learned how to do things that her little siblings might can not do. She was taught by his parents to take responsibility. Those responsibilities would help her future where when she have to develop her own family and she have to take care of the whole family herself. The responsibilities she learned would be passed on to her future to her little kids. Being able to take responsibility is what something that sisters needs to do.

In this book, teenage girls seem to have to take care of the family more.

“Alicia, whose mama died, is sorry there is no one older to rise and make the lunchbox tortillas” (pg 31).

Alicia’s mom died so then she had to replace her mom’s spot for her family. She wishes that there is an older sibling or her mom to stay alive to look after the family instead of her. She misses her mom and the lunchbox tortillas that her mom makes it. If her mom is still alive, she would not have to take all those responsibilities. Why didn’t her dad take responsibility after her mom passed away?
       
    Esperanza’s mom knows what a girl should do when they grow up.
             “My mother says when i get older my dusty hair will settle and my blouse will learn to stay clean, but i have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain” ( pg 88).
Her mom believes as a girl grows up, they would be mature. Esperanza does not want to feel trap means that she does not want to take care of a family. The ball and chain symbolize her being trap. Her mother believes that girls should be raise to become a mature girls that can take care of a family. Being mature means holding all the responsibilities. It was never said that guys have to lay back like what the girls have to do. Esperanza does not want to be trap which is a view from the author that although girls want freedom, they would need to be mature and take responsibilities.

   

Influences that had affected my Life !

Table of Contents

1. An Elegant Piece of Wood

2. Slap

3. Lets hang out

4. Family. Free time?

5. Question?

An Elegant Piece of Wood

The moment I stepped into the room, I can feel butterflies going mild in my stomach. The teacher was standing there measuring hand lengths. I got scared because I had really short arms and I knew it was a 50/50 chance that I would be able to get one. The teacher measured me and said there was no violin that fits my arm length. I teared and ran out the door like a cheetah. The moment I told my mom about it, she was as quiet as a turtle. She didn’t say anything.

The next day, she surprised me with a violin in her hand and I screamed like a mouse. The violin smelled like fresh wood and the color made it look so elegant. When I tried playing the violin, it made a vibrating sound that surrounded the room. It was difficult for me to read the notes and to understand all the dynamic changes. Whenever I play, my hands turns to be as sweaty as if I just ran a mile.The first song I played was allegro and when I realize that I can play such beautiful music.

Time passes as I get better and better with that instrument. My very own first solo was played at the church near Lake Merritt. As I walked onto the stage, my heart felt like it was going to explode. The moment I place the bow onto the strings, I knew I could play song for the audience. I played and played until my song was over. The audience’s hands were so cheerful. They keep on clapping. I walked off the stage with pride. My music life started from there.....

                                          Slap

Don’t talk back to me ! says Mama. She slapped my face so hard, it was red. My face was as red as the color of a red apple. Drops of tears were coming down my face like it was raining. My mom rush towards her room and shut the door as if someone was chasing her.

My brain started to repeat what my mom said over and over. I screamed and ran into the bathroom closing their door as fast as a rabbit can run. I stared at the mirror and look at my swollen face. I teared even more. I was reminiscing what I did wrong that caused my mom to hate me so much. I was never slap in the face before.

As my memories come back, I realized it was because I talked back to her when she was trying to tell me something. I wiped all my tears off my face with a tissue that was as soft as silk. I walked out the door and there was my mom sitting in the sofa so stiff like a wooden figure.

Mom I’m sorry that I talked back, I said. That was disrespectful, she replied. I stared at the fish tank right next to her and say, I’ll never do it again. She started to sink into tears and suddenly hugged me tightly. I was never slapped again.

                                   Lets Hang out !

“Ring, Ring, Ring” the phone rang. Hey, Lets hang out!, my friend Allie said. The moment I heard that phrase, I cheered ! I ran into my closet to check what I should wear for that day.

The day had came when my group and I went ice-skating. The friends’ smiles and hugs were so warm that I feel like my body is a fireplace. I stepped onto the skating rink and hands were holding me giving me the confidence that I won’t fall. I start skating around and every time I stop, I can see my friends either talking or skating.

My stomach started to growl like a sad dog and the moment I got off the rink, my friends held a pile of food for me to choose from. I love my friends and after I was done. I went off to the arcade where i spotted a bear that i really want. My friend walked over to me and tried playing that game. He won. Handing me the bear i feel loved like i just ate a piece of chocolate. The coldness filled the air leaving me to shiver like a dog hating to take a bath. The day was over and my face starts to frown like a bird missing its nest. Bye ! I need to see you guys again, I said. Everyone separated and left for their life.

   

       Family. Free Time?

    Everyone in our family has different events they like to do when it comes to their free times. My mom is a sloth who likes to sleep everyday and she does not like to do anything. She can just sleep the whole day even with distractions. And me, when I’m free I like to go shopping with my friends. My friend always say that I am like an alligator in which always be trying  to snatch things I see.

Every time my dad is free, he likes to go hang out with his friends by going to visit his friends. Usually he would go to his friends’ restaurants. His mouth shoots out bullets that can hurt people and every sentence that comes out is with lies. My brother likes to go out to the city where it is crowded with people along with the smell of food and the sounds beeping of cars.

                                             Question?

   
    “ What is it like to go college? ” I asked as I stared at UC Berkeley. “ Someday you’ll know,” my uncle replied. I looked at the streets. The streets were crowded with people. There were a lot of students walking around the stores. “I want some food!” I said. “Hmm... I want some McDonald.” I continued. My uncle replied, “Okay.” We parked the car across the street from McDonald. As we got off the car, I asked, “ Who are they?” I pointed at those group of girls all carrying a pile of books. My uncle said, “ I think they are students from UC Berkeley.” “ I want to be like them someday.” I said. My uncle gave me a big smile showing his crooked teeth. He said, “ When you’re in college, I’ll drive you whenever you need me to.” That day I knew my goal is to get into a good college.

Why use the word RED so much?

In the book, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, there had been a lot of use with symbols or words that had been used repetitively. After reading all these vignettes, I found out that the symbols actually mean something to the story. The narrator Esperanza probably have something behind all the symbols that are used many times. One of the words that I had found a lot with these vignettes is the word red.  

“Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor” (9).

    In the book, the narrator named Esperanza uses red to describe a balloon because she find red as color she likes. She described the balloon to be anchored as if the balloon to symbolize herself. The balloon is RED because since the balloon is her and she is being anchored down which means she is getting pulled down and she can’t go far, she keeps all those anger to herself. All these angers cause her to be red.

    Another use with the word red comes from a quote describing a lady from her neighborhhood.

    “And the boys across the street says she is tall red headed who wear pink tights and green glasses “ ( 71).

    Here it uses the word Red again. I think the use of red shows the way she look at people. Like I said how the red color represents anger, it can be justify that the red referring to the lady means the anger looks that the lady have on herself. When i think about the color of the lady’s hair, it makes me feel that she isn’t really nice or she is a lonely person.

    The use of Red had became really common in the book and almost every page I  turn, I would find it.

    The use of Red here symbolizes sadness and maybe with angryness too. Red had been used a lot because the narrator finds red as memory to her life. It symbolizes sadness because in this quote, Esperanza define the house that is red as something that causes her to be sad.

    “ Before Keeler it was Paulina, but what I remember most is Mango street, sad red house, the house I belong but do not belong to” (110).

    After looking at all the “RED” from the vignettes, it gives me a feeling that it symbolizes anger and sadness throughout the life of Esperanza.

   

The Vignettes Symbolizes....

    After reading parts of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, I find that there are a lot of vignettes in the readings. The four vignettes I read was My Name, No Speak English, Rafaela, and Sally. These vignettes have many symbolic meanings.

    In the first vignette named My Name, Esperanza the narrator talked about how she recieved her name.

“ I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window” (Pg 11).

This vignette symbolizes how she does not like her name because her great-grandmother had experience lots of trouble with that name. She is scared that with that name she might have to experience the same thing as her great-grandmother. She hope that with that name she will not experience all those troubles her great-grandmother had.

    Another vignette is named No speak English, where Esperanza talked about her neighbor unable to speak English.

“ Somebody said because she’s too fat, somebody because of the three flights of stairs, but I believe she doesn’t come out because she is afraid to speak  English, and maybe this is so since she only knows eight words“ ( Pg 77).   

What I believe from this vignette show that if you don’t know how to speak English, you would not know how to face other people. When Esperanza talks about how the lady does not come out of the house because of not knowing how to speak English, it shows that without knowing how to speak English, they would lose confidence in themselves. It seems like not speaking English can be a major issue to their lives when they come to an English speaking country.

Another vignette  is named Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays, where it talks about a young woman being trapped at home because of her beauty.

“Rafaela who drinks and drinks coconut and papaya juice on Tuesdays and wishes there were sweeter drinks, not bitter like an empty room, but sweet sweet like the island....” (pg 80).

A lonely woman in the house represents darkness. I find this to symbolize that living in a place with bitterness and boredom is really bad. For a woman to feel not so lonely, she tries to drink sweet drinks so then she can imagine herself being free. It is hard for her to be stuck in an empty room, so she tries to do find something to do or eat or drink to stop her feeling of loneliness and boredom.

The Color Purple. Celie and Nettie.

In the novel, The Color Purple by Alice Walker portrays the lives of two sisters who have difficulties throughout their life. The book is narrated by the main character named Celie where she writes letter to god throughout most part of the story. Later on, she starts writing letter to Nettie who was her sister in Africa being a missionary. The story starts when Celie is being sexually abuse by her pa and had made two children with her pa. Her children have to leave her after they were born. Later,Celie was married to a guy named Mr___ where she gets beaten and abuse.Celie and Nettie are growing up with differences base on separation and their living styles. They have their differences towards religion, education, and personalities, but they are sisters..

Celie believes god is a human. When Shug asks her to describe what she thinks god looks like, she realizes she’s never thought about it much before. “He big and old and tall and gray bearded and white. God wrote the bible, white folks had nothing to do with it.” (195) Celie believes that god is the color white but god is unlike the white folks. Celie thinks god is her guidance to a place where she can be free. She thinks she is hopeless without god. She never thought about how god looks like because she doesn’t care since she knows god is always by her side no matter what. She finds that god had always been inside her heart and she doesn’t have to know how god looks like. Celie gives readers to think of why Celie thinks god is white and not her skin color.

    Although Celie and Nettie believes in god, Nettie doesn’t depend on god as much as Celie. Nettie is a missionary in Africa. She tries to help people in Africa how to speak English and go through hard times.“ Joseph said no, that I was a missionary just like Samuel and Corrine.” (129) Nettie turns to be a missionary who tries to help African people to convert to Christianity. Nettie doesn’t go to church like Celie but instead she tries to convert people. Nettie is not like Celie since there was no evidence that Nettie believed god is her guidance and only Celie said that.

    Celie is not as educated much as Nettie. Nettie is able to go to school but Celie can not.“ I know I’m not as pretty or as smart as Nettie, but she say I ain’t dumb.” (9) Celie shows confidence in herself that she’s not dumb. Celie wasn’t as educated as much as Nettie. Celie wasn’t able to go to school after her dad say she’s too dumb to go to school. Although Nettie is smarter, Celie knows that she’s not dumb neither. They both have their differences in education and it is hard to answer who should have good education. There is inequality not only based on gender but by smartness.

    Celie and Nettie both have differences toward their personalities. Celie does not know how to stand up for herself while Nettie actually stands up for herself and for Celie too. “ I don’t fight, I stay where I’m told. But I’m alive.” (22) Celie can’t stand up for herself. She was scared that she will get hurt. She does not want to get hurt. She fear that she won’t be able to survive. Celie thinks the best way to stay alive is to listen to what people tell her to do. Celie had enough of always being beaten, so she learns that the best way to save herself is to not fight back and just enjoy the rest of her life.

    Nettie is different from Celie because she knows how to stand up for herself. She tries herself to defend for herself or even Celie. “But Pa, Nettie say, Crying, Celie smart too.” (9)Nettie is able to stand up for Celie when their pa told Celie that she isn’t smart. Celie does not give out a word about how she feels when her pa called her dumb. Celie tries to pretend that she does not care about what her pa said about her. But inside her heart is hurt that she is told the dumb one. Instead, Nettie is able to tell their pa that Celie is smart and stand up for Celie. But what can Celie do, she just keep it quiet.

    Nettie and Celie have more differences than similarities and that makes them to be themselves. Celie is not as educated as Nettie or can stand up like Nettie, but Celie have confidence in herself. Their personalities are different, but the personalities identifies them as who they are. Throughout this book, the two sisters have gone through many hard times and they try their best to survive. They may have many differences in life, but they understand each other really well.

My rebuttal for Elton's Opening statement :D

I am going to do a rebuttal towards Elton’s opening statement about how children should be role models because they are well known and provide huge influences to the children in the world.  I would like to first off rebut on his opinion towards why child actors are bad to the public.

Another thing is that i think child actors are only bad to the public is because of paparazzi and i would definitely agree that it would be annoying having someone around always taking picture of me.

Referring to Elton’s blog, i think that the way he thinks that child actors act bad in public because of paparazzi is  from his own opinion. There had been no proof that child actors are actually being bad in public because of paparazzi. Some may be irritated by the paparazzi, however they should know that every step they take with a paparazzi next to them will be exposed to the community and their fans who are children that would be able to see that. I believe that if child actors love to be role model, they should understand that in any circumstances, they must be nice and good to one another.

There had been many child actors right now who are using drugs and hiding the fact that they are doing drug don’t work.

But one reason as to why i think she isn’t that bad because she only probably tried it or she probably would never have shown anyone or tell them that she does drugs.

.

Elton may be right that Miley Cyrus won’t be telling people that she is doing drugs however there are many websites and social networks in the world right now. One person can find out or even spy on her and the whole world would know including the little children that are believing that Miley is a role model to them. For instance, there had been many youtube videos with Miley Cyrus being rude to the public and many young children would watch those because they would want to follow their role models. Definitely child actors would believe that they are doing no bad to children, however it only takes one step for children to follow. They believed in their role models and believe that they are doing everything right.