Review on Week #14

This week was okay, I guess. All I’m waiting on is next week. Why? Well because that’s when we go on winter break! So all I have to do is get through next week and then the week after that is Christmas. I really can’t wait for that, because my family and I are going to a hotel for Christmas, as we’ve done for the past 3 years.  But a good thing that happened this week was that Journey came over and is staying for a whole week. That little girl always makes me laugh. Lol…, but I’m going to wrap this up and just stop now.

Review on Week #13

      This week was just a regular week for me. I mean nothing special really happened. It was just a pretty chill week. I don’t have any thoughts to put on this review so I’m just talking mindless talk. But the thing I liked about this week is that it brought me closer to Winter break. That is now only two weeks away. I was confused because at first I thought we would go on break next week but I was wrong. Anyways so I do believe that my turn for talking about the week is now over since I couldn’t really find anything to talk about.  

Review on Week #12

            Well this week was also pretty hectic but, it was okay. I mean I only had two days of school this week and I got 5 vacation days. Yes I said it 5 not 3! It was also Thanksgiving break and I am thankful to just be alive and still have my family. On another note I basically relaxed the whole vacation. I am also dreading having to do tournaments tomorrow in gym. I suck at basketball! But I just got done watching the 2014 Soul Train Awards and it was so good. I actually watched the whole show, except for when the artists I did not know performed. Also, my favorite little cousin, Journey, got to stay the weekend again!

Ted Talk Review

      The Ted Talk that I chose was called "Embracing Otherness, Embracing Myself". The speaker of this Ted Talk is Thandie Newton. What I found interesting about this Ted Talk was the fact that Thandie did not have a lot of self-confidence, so that landed her with therapy sessions and bulimia. She talked about how in school she always wanted to try and fit in with the other kids. Since she was the only black child, she always wanted to fit in with others. And in doing that she had never really found herself. So then later on in her life she had taken on other hobbies so that she could embrace herself in a way as to where she felt really comfortable and at home. She said that when she dances or acts she feels as if she's losing her self, but in a good way. This Ted Talk has taught me that if you try and try so hard to fit in with others so much, you may just end up losing yourself, in a bad way. So basically if you try so much to embrace otherness, then you'll only end up not knowing how to embrace yourself.

Come Watch This Video! It's Really Inspiring!

Review on Week #11

      Well last week was really hectic due to the in between no school days. But either way they were still good vacation days to me. The best thing happened though because when I went home Thursday I found out that my favorite little cousin was staying the weekend. But I also went to Go Bananas Friday and it was kind of fun and then not. But it was for a little cousin’s birthday party and she was turning 8. But I also have been on the computer a lot this week trying to finish up work. But I also think I did pretty well on that Scarlet Letter test too.

Review on Week #10

                Well first off I’m glad that first quarter is finally over. That is amazing because I ended the week off excellently. That being that there was no school on Friday which was a much needed vacation in my eyes. But I also finished my Driver’s Ed class with Mr. Wiegmann this week. And on Saturday I finished my Driving Range class with a B. That is pretty good because all I have to do now is just finish up my practice hours and I’ll be set to go on getting my license. I just can’t wait until I can get my license.

Review on Week #9

                Last week was actually the worst week of my life. It was the worst week of my life because on Monday, I had a severe allergic reaction that I had to go to the hospital for. My whole face was swollen and I actually was in shock because I had never had an allergic reaction before. I had always thought I was not allergic to anything until now. So I had stayed at home and missed school on Tuesday. But other than the whole allergic reaction ordeal, my week had gone by pretty okay after that. I mean Halloween was last week so I can't really complain.

A Raisin in the Sun - ACT 4

ACT 4

It has been ten years since the Youngers moved into their new home. Travis is now 21 years old and is in his 3rd year of college. He has studied hard and was able to receive a full scholarship. Ruth and Walter had a baby girl named Hope but moved away to a different state because Walter got a new job as the butler for the same family that he worked before.The family moved and gave a choice to Walter to move also. But because Travis attended college near their house, he had to stay and become the head of the house. He now lives with Mama while Ruth, Walter, and Hope live in Kentucky and Beneatha in Africa with Asagai.

SCENE 1

Travis runs out of the house, running late to his first day of his junior year in college.

Travis: Mama, I’m heading out!

Mama: Boy, hurry up or yous gonna be late on your first day.

Travis opens the door and walks out.

Curtain Closes and Scene opens with Travis in his lecture class and bumps into a white girl named Mallory and she drops her stuff.

Travis: Woah, sorry!

Travis helps pick up the books that are on the floor and hands them to her.

Mallory: Oh thanks!

Travis: No problem.

Mallory: I’m Mallory Lindner.

Bell rings and students rush into their classrooms

Travis: Oh that’s the bell, nice meeting you Mallory and by the way I’m Travis. I’ll see you around!

The class starts and ends, and Travis goes home.

SCENE 2

The next day.

Travis goes to school again  and meets Mallory again.

Mallory:(enthusiastically) Hi Travis!

Travis: Hey Mallory... (tiredly)

Mallory: How are you?

Travis: My grandmother had to go to the hospital yesterday.. I think her old age is making her more fragile and weak..

Mallory: You must love your grandmother a lot, don’t you?

Travis: Yea….She’s my rock….She is the only one that I could talk to outta my whole family. She really loves me and looks out for me.

Mallory: She sounds like a nice lady. I would like to meet her one day.

Travis: I’ll introduce you to her one day, once she gets better.

Mallory: Okay, that sounds good. But I want you to know that you can rely on me too, okay?

Travis:Okay….Thanks a lot for being so understanding Mal.

Mallory: You’re welcome Trav….See ya later!

Travis: Okay...bye!

Travis and Mallory continuing talking to each other and as each day passes grows close with each other.Travis is still overcome with sadness of Mama’s condition but he still manages the strength to go on day by day. He has promised Mama and himself that he would graduate college.

One day Travis gets invited to Mallory's house.

Travis:Are you sure that your dad would be okay with me coming over?

Mallory: It'll be fine, don't worry!

Travis and Mallory have dinner with Mallory’s father, but the displeasure in her father's  face is clear.

Mallory's father: So, young man. You're name is Travis?

Travis: Yes, sir.. uh... Mr. Lindner

Mr. Lindner: I'm not sure you remember me, before your family moved into our neighborhood, I visited you people.

Travis: Really Mr. Lindner? I don't seem to recall.

Mr. Lindner: Yes, well you were about ten I suppose. Anyways, I went to your house to stop you from moving into our neighborhood. Did you know that?

There is an awkward silence in the room as Mr. Lindner fixes his gaze on Travis. Travis stays quiet for a while, then begins to answer.

Travis: Well, sir-

Mr. Lindner: My point is that I still don't really like your family, and don't want your family living in our neighborhood. We want to be a tight, good, and secure neighborhood, without any violence or crime.

Travis: Sir, I think that is a bit harsh. My family doesn't-

Mr. Lindner: And again, my point is, I want you out of our neighborhood still, even after ten years!

Mallory: Dad!

Mr. Lindner: (ignoring his daughter) I mean you're kind will just create a world of violence for this peaceful neighborhood..

Mallory: Please excuse my dad Travis...

Travis: Look Mr.Lindner, at least I know I have better manners than you, and it's okay Mallory.

Mr.Lindner: I think you should leave my house right now, I don't want to be associated with you people.

Mallory: Dad!

Mr.Lindner ignores her and points to the door.

Travis: I know the way out, no need to show me.

Mallory turns to her father with anger in her eyes.

Mallory: Dad don’t you think that was a bit too far?

Mr. Lindner: (screaming) Don’t you tell me what you think is a ‘bit too far’ young lady! I don’t want you to ever see that boy again! (softly) I don’t want you associated with people by the likes of him. I just want the best for you honey and you’ll know that by staying away from him.

Mallory: I know that dad. (sighing), Can I at least go catch up with him to say goodbye?

Mr.Lindner: Well I don’t know…(trailing off)

Mallory: Come on dad!

Mr.Lindner: Well alright, but you better be back here in less than five minutes.

Mallory: Thank you dad! I will for sure.

Mallory run off in hopes of reaching Travis before he gets homes. The curtains close and there is a new scene. In the scene they’re on a street with Travis walking away head held low and Mallory running to catch up to him.

Mallory: Travis!...Travis!….Hey!...Wait Up!

Travis pauses in his footsteps so that Mallory could reach him.It just so happens to be that Travis stopped right in front of his home.

Travis: Mallory?...What do you want?

Mallory: I came to check up on you,...I know my dad can be a little harsh.

Travis:A little? What you came to tell how much of a problem my family is too?

Mallory: What?...No! I only came to check up on you as I said but you know this all could have been avoided if your family would have just stopped moving into the neighborhood when my father tried to stop them.

Travis: What?! Are you really serious right now?!

Mallory: Yes baby, all you have to do is move out of the neighborhood and we can be together. He just wants you to move out of the neighborhood. And once he gets what he really wants, I think we can be together.

Travis: I don't know Mallory,this house means a lot to my grandma.

Mallory: I understand but wouldn't you rather be with me?

Travis: I have to go.

Travis turns around and walks home. Scenes changes with Travis and Mama in the house.

Mama: Boy were you be at?

Travis: With Mallory.

Mama: You okay?

Travis: Yes ma'am.

Mama: Well you better go to sleep, you don't want to be late to school tomorrow.

Travis head to his room and so does Mama.

SCENE 3

It is now early Monday morning, Travis is awake and is making some eggs and bacon.

Travis: MAMA! Breakfast is ready!

Travis then walks over to Mama's room.

Travis: Mama? You okay? Usually you're always awake by this time.

Travis then goes to tap her and notices that she is really pale.

Travis: MAMA! Please no!!!! This can't be happening! (Crying) MAMA....(heavily breathing) NOOOOO!!!

A week passes by and Travis returns to school. He has already called his other family members about the terrible news.

Mallory: Baby, where were you?

Travis: .......

Mallory: So did you make up your mind?

Travis:(he looks at her with fury all over his face) YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS RIGHT NOW! MY GRANDMOTHER JUST DIED IN THAT HOUSE(students look at Travis and Mallory)….DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THIS HOUSE MEANT TO HER? SHE DAMN NEAR SPENT HER WHOLE LIFE TRYING TO GET IT AND NOW THAT SHE’S GONE YOU WANT ME TO JUST UP AND MOVE AWAY JUST SO I CAN BE WITH YOU?!

Mallory: I’m not saying you have to move away now, just sometime in the near fut-

Travis: WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP!?!?

Mallory: (scarily) I...I..I’m sorr-

Travis: (screaming) NO!(softly) Just no! I don’t want to hear an apology from you….All I want from you is for you to leave me the hell alone,because there's no way in hell I’ma move outta my ‘dead’ grandmother’s house just so I could be with you!

Mallory: I thought you wanted to be with me! I can't believe you would choose a stupid house over me!

Travis: You know what's stupid? The fact that I ever wanted to be with you. If I ever knew that you would be this selfish and rude, I wouldn’t even had any feelings for you!

Mallory: Ugh! (Angrily yells) GOOD BYE TRAVIS!

SCENE 4

The same day, in the evening.

Travis sits alone, in an empty house. He is standing by the telephone in his hands, debating on calling someone. After a while of thinking to himself, Travis finally picks it up and starts to dial a number.

RING RING RING

Beneatha: Asagai! Be quiet! ...Hello?

Travis:......

Beneatha: Hello?

Travis: (clears throat) Hi Beneatha. It’s Travis.

Beneatha: Oh, hello Travis. How are you doing? Are you alright?

Travis: I’m trying to stay positive.. well as the best I can. But something did happen the other day, before… before Mama… passed away.

There is silence on both ends of the call, until Travis explains about the dinner with Mr. Lindner and the conversation about Mallory.

Beneatha: Ooh, that terrible little girl! Who does she think she is? I should go and whoop her-

Travis: That’s not why I’m telling you this, Beneatha! I’m trying to say, I was thinking about this for a while, but I think it’s time for our family to be back together again. I think that’s what Mama would have wanted; for us to be a family again, instead of living far away from each other without even talking to each other. Mama bought this house for a reason. She wanted us to be a united, whole, strong family. But how can we be it if we ain’t all together no more?

Beneatha’s side of the call is very quiet, as she thinks about what she just listened to

Beneatha: Travis.. even though I would hate to move away from my life right now, I think you’re right. Mama gave us that house for a reason but we’ve been forgetting for a while now. We’re family but I think we’ve been forgetting that for a while. That’s a great idea Travis. I think we’ll move back to our family now. I’ve been missing all of you for a while too.

Travis: Thanks Beneatha, for understanding.

Beneatha: No, thank you Travis. You let me realize what is most important. Life isn’t just about living your own life, it’s about being and sharing with others, your family. Travis, I think you’ve become the man that your daddy was trying to be for so long. You’ve become the man that Mama would have wanted you to be. You know your priorities boy! You know what’s important! Thank you so much for growing up into such a man Travis, thank you…

Beneatha exhales a sigh filled with mixed emotions.

Beneatha: Well then! I guess we should start preparing to go back! And Travis, don’t worry about telling your parents either. I’ll tell them nicely. You don’t worry at all. Just stay strong and positive until we get there, all right? Hang on, Travis. Your family is coming to you!

Curtain close.

Bad vs. Badly Grammar Lesson

Come & Check Out My Grammar Lesson!

My New Neighborhood

            I just moved into this new neighborhood on the west side of Chicago and I can say that I just might like living here. The neighborhood seems pretty close-knit which means that everyone knows everyone already. I think that I could get used to it, seeing as my old neighborhood was kind of the same way. But there are so many things about my old neighborhood that just doesn’t compare to this. One reason is that there weren’t any cars driving down the block blasting music so loud that it could burst our eardrums. Back in my old neighborhood it was very quiet.

Although there are bad things about the neighborhood, there are also a lot of things that I like about the neighborhood. I like the fact that it has so many stores and shops around that are walking distance. This is a very big advantage to me because I absolutely love to shop, but as I’m walking down the street right now I see little children playing outside with their family and friends and they all seem so happy. The time right now is borderline summer and fall, but as I’m walking I can smell the wavering scents of barbecue all throughout the air. There are lots of people out today, probably due to the weather. I cannot really talk badly about the neighborhood because this is where I’m going to be living for the next couple of years. As I am walking around the park near my house, I am appalled, because there is trash everywhere. Now what I don’t get is if the people here are so close-knit, why do some of them not get together and clean this park up. This trash in the park is annoying because there is actually a trash can right here and it’s not even being used. That is the type of things that makes me angry to be living in this neighborhood. Back in my old neighborhood we had a club at school that came together every Saturday and cleaned up the local park because we cared about it that much.

As I am wandering throughout the neighborhood, I see this beautiful tree. The tree has leaves that are starting to change colors. Even though the sights are beautiful, I don’t know if I can see myself living in this neighborhood long enough to start a family here. I say that because even though the people are close-knit, there are still plenty of police swarming around the entire neighborhood. That tells me that the police department has had a reason to have plenty of police swarming around this area specifically. I do believe in the protection of the Chicago Police Department, but something must’ve happened in this area to have this many police. Now in my old neighborhood we had the average amount of police, but never this many. This neighborhood actually looks pretty dangerous. There are a lot of people hanging around the corners and they don’t look as friendly as the other people in the neighborhood.

I don’t think I would make any friends around here. I know I said the people here are so friendly and close-knit, but that is only about half of the people here. The other half are so mean and they have such nasty attitudes and a permanent scowl on their faces. But I think I wouldn’t make that many friends around here because the girls around here have such nasty attitudes. By nasty attitudes I mean that while I was walking around there was this group of girls, and since I’m new to town I decided to ask them for directions because they looked about my age. That was the biggest mistake I’ve made since I’ve been here because they responded so disrespectfully, I almost cried because I was so offended. They said things like “Do we know you?” and “Get the f*** out of our faces.”, and I wouldn’t even dare repeat those things my worst enemy, let alone a person I just met. They just took it overboard and it wasn’t even caused for. I didn’t even want to be as disrespectful as them so I just retraced my steps to find my way back home.

On the way back home I saw the same people on the corner and the same swarming police. I also smelled the same scent of a leftover barbecue and I saw the little kids still playing around outside. As I walk up the street I see my house insight and I can see the front steps of the house. I could honestly say that I’ve never been happier to get home.

Things I Want To Learn / First Impression

Well I don't really know what to say but I can write what I want to learn. I want to learn how to write my papers better. I want to learn how to write my papers better because I know that I'm not the best writer, but I'm not the worst either. I want to learn how to make the least amount of grammar mistakes as possible because I know that the more you have the more will be taken off. Now the first impression that I had of this school here was that it was going to be pretty gruesome. I thought that it would be gruesome because the first day of school dragged on forever. But now I have gotten used to my schedule and I feel that before I know it the year is going to breeze by as quickly as it came. But yeah, I'm really rambling on, but I hope this school year continues to go great!