"Harrison Bergeron"

"The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal.  They weren't only equal before God and the law.  They were equal every which way.  Nobody was smarter than anybody else.  Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else," states Kurt Vonnegut. Personally, I believe America looks more towards competition, than equality.  I am for equality, but I value the achievement and benefit that comes from competition. If we were to live in a socialist world that is suggest in Vonnegut's story, then the thrill to win and to be better then oneself would be instantly taken away.  We would live in a stagnate world and no one could use there God given gifts to perform at the most maximum level, and that would be very sad.  The United States was built on capitalism, we believe in Darwin's "Survive of the Fittest," and therefore we thrive on competition and we have that desire in our competitive nature. We want to be the fastest, richest, more advanced, and overall dominant in our industry. Vonnegut's world would of course make us all equal, but it would hold us back from reaching our full maximum potential, and that potential could do some wonderful things for this world if given the chance! **Steps down from Soapbox**

"The Lottery"

Every time I read "The Lottery," I find it interesting for how this town is so accepting of this ritual. To sum it up, The Lottery is an annual event in which every subject meets in the town square of the village.  First pieces of paper are put in the box, and there is one piece of paper with a black mark on it, the recipient of that paper whens the lottery. The town does it by family names first the head of household, generally a man but not always, draws for his family.  The 'lucky' winner this year was the Hutchinson family, so then they put pieces of paper in the box for as many members are in the family, and each member has to draw their on slip of paper. As a sidebar note, I would like to mention how accepting this village is of the lottery, until someone has actually been chosen. For instance, the patrons worry about the children of the village being chosen, and then when the Hutchinson family is chosen,  Mrs. Hutchinson pitches a fit, for she believes it was unfairly executed and that her husband was not given enough time to choose. So, to conclude this sidebar the people of the town is accepting of this annual event, until they are chosen or if it threatens the younger people of the village.  Therefore, I say if you feel the ritual is unjust and dangerous -- then STOP it!  However, the town is so superstitious and fearful that if they don't, then their harvest will fail; then, they continue with their event and stone an innocent person, for no good reason!

"Carolina In My Mind"

I really enjoyed the poetry unit, surprisingly! Generally I do not like that unit in any english class I have ever taken, but this one sort of changed my mind.  The poems we read were sentimental and could be understood on a college students terms. We read about stereotypes, love, death, and woodchucks. (However, I still do not understand what a woodchuck is? Yet, that is beyond the point.)  Our last assignment we to write an essay developing a claim of whether a song we choose is poetry or not poetry.  I chose one of my favorites, "Carolina In My Mind," by James Taylor, it is a good song for any of you that have not heard it. I made the claim that it was poetry, because it consisted of a lot of the terms that we refer to in poetry, for it had metaphors, imagery, and themes.  As it goes, a lot of other students did different songs, and came to the same conclusion as well. Therefore, it makes me think, have we all enjoyed poetry all along? Since we said all or these songs were poetry, and as most young adults do we listen to a lot of music during the day, or at least I do. So, does that mean we all technically really love poetry, for songs are poetry. Its a good question to think about, but I am going to have to say that this unit has truly changed my opinion of poetry. I went in dreading it, and thinking here comes another few boring weeks of reading and trying to translate nonsense. However, I have been converted and if music is poetry, then I am a poetry lover! (:

Pigeons!

Stereotypes: are not cool! I found it interesting reading the stereotypes section of poetry, and then I went to a meeting for a greek leader seminar, and the topic was stereotypes that greeks are standardized in. Ironic, I know! However, these poems sort of hit a soft spot for me, because people are stereotyped all the time without even knowing, and we live in a very judgmental society. The poets of these set poems are strong willed people to put their opinions in words. I strongly felt an understanding to the poem about pigeons, because personally I hate pigeons, they look like rats with wings, and I judge them very easily. I fill like they are useless creatures, and reading this was sort of humorous. Yet, this poem made me feel sorry for them, and guilty for disliking them. Therefore, I have changed a mind set and try not to judge people, and stereotypes are hurtful. So, poetry is still growing on me, and is starting to be a good thing, I guess! I just needed to find the right poetry to read, and read subjects that I could understand or relate to, and I did!