Blog 11

1. For me and my writing, the theme comes naturally. i don't try and express a specific theme, but in a good story or any writing there is usually a theme or idea being portrayed. It doesn't necessarily have to, but it certainly can. For instance, a lot of great writers write short stories that do not have a specific theme, but end up being great pieces just because the writing is good, and their use in language. there are some authors that specialize in theme, such as Mark Twain and the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, there were a lot of themes in that book, and they were integrated into the story very naturally. Now whether Mark Twain meant to include those themes, or whether they just came with the story line I'm not sure, but he is one of the great American writers and i think people can take a lot of inspiration from his work.

2. I think these writers are so great and have survived so long in history is because they each have specific traits in their writing that is rare and doesn't come along very often in writers, so they remain in our textbooks and in education as great writers. I also think there is something to be said about the time frame that they wrote in, because the history of the author can tell you a lot about what their writing is actually about. To use Mark Twain again, his writing has lasted a long time, and looking into his life can help us interpret his writing because authors tend to write their own experiences into their works. His stories have lasted so long because they tell us a lot about American life, and especially life during the time period he wrote them.

3. For me, my life long goal is to be nice to people and not have any enemies. I would like to live my life so that when i die, at my funeral, nobody will have anything bad to say about me, and everyone who i knew in my lifetime would like to go. I would hope that when people leave me after meeting me, they would only have good things to say about me, and nothing too bad. It's not that i care about what people think of me, and so i try to be someone I'm not, because i am always myself no matter what, but i do care about how i treat people so that they do not have a reason to not like me. I guess i can use writing to first of all not write anything bad about anyone else, and sometimes i struggle with that-especially on the Internet- because not everyone can be nice all the time. But i do try my best, and hopefully i can leave a good impact on the world whether it is through my writing or other feats i hope to achieve.

Blog 10

1. Something that conerns me in my world is going to college. I want to go far away, but there is so much here that i love that i don't know if i would be happy with leaving. I want to go where i will be happy, and i've always thought that going away for college would make me the most happy..but the closer it comes to the decision the more i dont know what i want.
2. One of my best friends, Jacquese, has the most dynamic personality of anyone i've ever met. She doesn't care what anyone thinks of her, so she is always herself. For instance on Cinco De Mayo last year, she dressed up as a mexican and marched down the streets playing Spanish music. It was soo funny. She is the craziest person i know, but at the same time she is caring and never talks bad about anyone behind their backs. I've never heard her talk bad about anyone, even when i start to first. She is a wonderful listener and you can talk to her for hours on end about anything and she will sit there and listen.
3. When my grandma died, we found a ton of poetry that she had kept throughout her life, and among them were some really great things that i loved. One that sticks out in my mind however, is this very short saying that she had underlined and circled in a tattered old poetry book, and it said "Be kind to everyone, for everyone is fighting their own battle." I recently recieved this same quote in a fortune cookie at my favorite chinese restaurant. I like it so much, because it is so true. You should be nice to everyone, because you never know what their home life or work life consists of, and they could be really struggling. A smile can go a long way, and "being kind" doesn't necessarily have to mean helping every old lady across the street, it can be as simple as a smile.