Leopard Man

Some people feel no need to express themselves in how they look because they think that society will judge whatever they do. In Logan Fey's article entitled "The Sociology of Leopard Man", he argues about conformists and non-conformists. In my opinion, I agree with Fey because I do think that society judges people on how they dress and present themselves.

The author supports his claim about people not being able to be themselves because of society by saying that you should always be yourself no matter what and you shouldn't care about what other people think about you. The author next proceeds to show that Leopard Man is not a freak and doesn't do things for attention, but only to make himself happy. Finally, the author argues that sometimes, trying to "fit in" can cause mental disorders. Fey thinks that Leopard Man is not a freak, he is one of a kind and doesn't do what he does for attention. 

Some people go extreme with their hair, make-up, piercings, etc. Most of them do it for society's attention, and are only worried about what others think about them. I agree with Fey's when he says this. But, Leopard Man is different. He doesn't do things to please other people, or live for other people's reactions. He lives to please only himself.

I also agree with Fey's when he says, "Living in society, we are under constant pressure to surrender our individuality to the will of the majority, the school, the workplace, the family, etc." I agree because some people do feel like they are constantly having to please society. They feel like society will judge you no matter what, so it might as well be for something that pleases them.

Many people feel no need to show who they really are because society is so negative. They feel like in order to be "liked" and to "fit it" you must be a conformist. People shouldn't feel t what way, though. You should be able to express yourselves in your image without worrying about what society has to say about you.

Vocabulary Sentences #9

1. The savory steak my dad made was the best thing I ever ate.

2. I enticed to ask the guy with a mole on his face if I could poke it.

3. The tactless guy told his girlfriend she was fat.

4. My friend has a lot of integrity; therefore, he got an award.

5. I had to compensate my friend with my good looks since I didn't have any money.

6. She was so aloof, she didn't realize she was starring at a guy the whole time during class.

7. I get very annoyed when people goad me, I want to roundhouse kick them in the face with a spiked shoe.

8. My cohort loved to eat, no matter what it is.

5 Things You Can Do to Be Happy

Selena Huitron

October 21, 2013

Block 3

Five Things You Can do to Be Happy

1. Live in the moment. Stop worrying about what happened in the past or what’s going to happen in the future, just focus on living in the moment. Look for opportunities that bring you happiness. Don’t wait for “that day” to come to you, make it happen yourself (“How to be happy: Tips for cultivating contentment”)!

2. Live life with no worries. There are some things in life you worry about, maybe even too much. Stop worrying about the little things, like why your friend isn’t talking to you at the moment. Maybe they’re just busy. Stop looking at the negative things in life, there’s always a brighter side to every situation. As Bob Marley says, “don’t worry about a thing, ‘cause every little things gonna be alright.”

3. Love more. A lot of people who are happy in life have a significant other. Find someone who loves you for you. it’s crazy how one person can make you so happy, even by just saying one word to you (Freeman).

4. Be grateful. You have plenty of things in life that you should be grateful for. Just start thinking of things, it’ll get you in a better mood. Be grateful for your friends, family, shelter and all the other things you have in life. Because some people may not have it as easy as you ("Valeo).

5. Forgive yourself. We all make mistakes in life, some bigger than others. But don’t keep blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong in life! Who cares if you made a huge mistake, learn from it and move on. Sometimes, good things come out of mistakes. Just be happy ("Valeo)

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Works Cited:

Anjaria, Ketan. "How To Be Happy." Medium. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

Freeman, Shanna. "How to Be Happy in a Relationship." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

"How to Be Happy: Tips for Cultivating Contentment." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 15 Sept. 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

Valeo, Tom. "How to Be Happy: 7 Steps to Becoming a Happier Person." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

My Favorite Mistake

Selena Huitron

October 17, 2013

Block 3

My Favorite Mistake

It all started two summers ago…

My parents and I had gotten invited to a quince. My parents knew the girl’s parents and I sort of knew the girl. They asked me if I wanted to go. So I thought, “sure, why not? I’m probably just gonna spend this Saturday night doing nothing in my room anyways.” Which was exactly the opposite of what happened.

I got ready and got in the car. The hall the quince was at was only around the corner from where I live. So it practically took us a minute to get there, if not less. When we got inside, I saw girls in dresses and guys in button ups and ties. We went and found a table and sat down. I had a feeling I was going to be bored the whole night there, just sitting at the table, drinking bubbly soda and listening to Spanish music that was going to be leaving my ears ringing in the night. So, I decided to text my friend Jenny, if she wanted to come. I texted her and she replied right away and said “yes. I’ll be there in a little. :)”

After about an hour, she showed up. We were just sitting at a table, EXTREMELY bored. We kept giving each other looks, knowing the night was going to be a fail.

Then, out of no where, our two guy friends, Dominic and Albert, came up to us. My palms got sweaty and I felt my face turn into a tomato. I always get nervous around guys.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” they said.

“Nothing really, just really bored.” we replied.

“What are you doing tonight?” they asked.

“Don’t know, parents are out of town.” Jenny had said.

They looked at each other and right away, I knew they were up to something.

Her parents had left to LA for the weekend. Of course, dumb kids that we were, we had ideas pop into our heads. At the end, we decided, “hey, let’s just throw a party!” It was a good idea at the moment, but ended up being nothing but regret at the end.

My parents left sort of early, so I stayed with Jenny. The music got better, we started dancing, and more people came. We were already inviting people to the party.

Around 11 o'clock, we decided to head home. We walked home, but to this day, my parents still don’t know that. When we got to our neighborhood, I went to my house to get a change of clothes. We got to her house and began getting ready, the room filled with clouds of hairspray. We walked downstairs and went on her laptop, waiting for people to get back to us. I didn’t think that people were actually going to show up, so, I posted it on Facebook. I guess I had forgotten about some of the friends I had on there…

People messaged me, and people began showing up after a while. It was around 2 A.M. when the party actually started. Around 20 people came and most of them had brought alcohol. We had music playing and they began playing beer pong. I was talking to people and having a good time, thinking nothing could go wrong.

The party lasted all night. Everyone left at 7 A.M. The house was a disaster, and I was half asleep. We had to clean though, because the house reeked of nothing but beer. We cleaned for about an hour, half asleep.

We made sure that the house was spotless. We went upstairs and fell asleep in the quickness. I slept for about an hour and got woken up by my phone ringing. I didn’t get it in time, and when I looked at my phone I had 9 missed calls. I looked at the caller ID and it said “Mom”. I knew right away that I was in for it. I didn’t wanna call back because I knew that she somehow found out something and she was probably going to blow my eardrums over the phone. But, when I called back, she was talking very calm.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Where are you?”

“Jenny’s house, why?”

“I’m outside in the car, come on.” *click*

I knew something was up because i live right around the corner from Jenny. I went outside and saw her there waiting for me. I got in the car and she was just looking at the road.

“So, what did you do last night?” she finally said.

“Nothing. Just watched movies all night.” i lied. I knew I couldn’t tell her the truth.

I got home and went to put my stuff on my room. I overheard my dad say something to my mom. The called me out into the living room. when I went, I saw the sitting there, waiting for me. I didn’t even want to know what they knew.

They finally got the truth out of me, and I told them where I really was. They found out because one of my friends on Facebook had told their mom, and their mom told my mom. I got grounded for a while, and to this day, I still can’t sleep over at Jenny’s house.

I don’t exactly regret what I did, because it gave me nothing but fun memories. But, I learned to be smarter with my actions and be careful what you post online. Because you never know who will see it.

Vocabulary Sentences #8

1. I was very shocked when I found out my tumor was malignant; I couldn't eat for days.

2. I get super ornery when my little sister comes in my room and doesn't close the door.

3. I get so indolent after I go jogging and I do nothing but sit down and watch tv.

4. After the girl belittled me, I socked her and round house kicked her in the face.

5. You're jeopardizing your job as captain if you put someone on the team down.

6. After my cousin drank 8 bottles of vodka one right after another, it lead to his demise.

7. The party went awry after the banda came, but it still went good.

8. My new shirt was so frugal that it ripped right away.

Literature Analysis #1

The book Just Listen by Sarah Dessen is told by a girl named Annabel. She's a teen who tells her story about her crazy life. She has been working as a model since she was young. But, she's beginning not to like it as much anymore. She doesn't want to quit though because her mom loves that she does it. She thinks it's the only thing that her mom has left to look forward to since her mom died. Her two older sisters, Whitney and Kristen, also model. But, her sister Whitney has an eating disorder. She's going to therapy but is mad because she doesn't think that anything wrong with her. In the commercials that Annabel is in, she's the "popular" school girl-cheerleader. But, in real life, she has no friends and nobody likes her. Until she meets a guy. His name is Owen Armstrong at school. He has his own radio station with unusual music. They instantly click once they start talking. They give each other rides to and from school and they always talk about music, which Owen loves. Owen gives Annabel a list of songs to listen to one by one. At the end of the list is a song titled "Just Listen" . He tells her to not ask any questions or anything, but to just listen to it. At the end, the song ends up being a song that he wrote for her. They go though many obstacles, but end up falling in love with each other.

The theme of this story is "never judge a book by its cover". At first, Annabel thought that Owen was a trouble maker guy who everyone was scared of. But, once she got to know him, she found out that he was actually a really nice guy who she fell in love with.

The author's tone to this book is mostly objective. She doesn't really tell her feelings throughout the story, she just says facts. Like, when she says "I had a flash of my first impression of him-that he was dangerous, a threat," and "I could feel her looking at me, and i knew, despite her questions, that she knew exactly what had happened, or most of it," and lastly "My mother's depression, or episode, or whatever it was..."

The author uses some literary elements in this story. She uses flashback on page 21 when she says "It had happened the previous January, in the parking lot before first bell. I'd gotten out of my car when I saw Owen..." . Also, she uses situational irony on page 35 when she says "I could take her," she said We all looked at her. "I mean, if she wanted to go." She uses imagery on page 56 when she says "Whitney." I put my hand on her face. Her skin was hot, wet, and her eyelids fluttered." . She also uses diction on page 41 when she says "Kristen and I were always being told by photographers that while we had pretty faces, we were too plump or too short..." . Lastly, she uses sensory detail when she says "The dirt in them was black and fragrant, spotted with fertilizer, and I could see beads of water here and there, glinting in the sun light."

Vocabulary Sentences #7

1. I had to inhibit myself from talking to my best friend in third block.

2. It was aberrant when Mr. Ostini didn't assign any homework.

3. After everything that happened, my befriend and I now loathe each other.

4. Mr. Ostini has a lot of prowess when it comes to his art abilities.

5. Geometry is very incoherent for me, especially with the teacher I have.

6. I want my kids to say something on my epitaph when I pass away.

7. I'll be sure that my daughter has an elaborate quinceneara when she turns 15.

8. I made weird countenances when I do my mascara in the morning.

The Monkey

If I had three wishes, I would wish for happiness, things to be easier in my household, and for a new phone.

I would wish for happiness because, well, who wouldn't like a little happiness in their life? I would like good things to come to me so I could be more happier than I am now.

I would wish for things to be easier in my household because things aren't really that easy for us. Maybe, if there weren't so many bills and arguments, I could get my other wish for being happy, too. And also, I wouldn't have chores.

Lastly, I would wish for a new phone because I need one. My phone is really out of date and it would be nice to be part of the iPhone gang.

There isn't really anything I’m superstitious about. I believe that things happen for a reason. There’s no explanation for things to happen the way they do, they just happen. 

Antigone Compare and Contrast

In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, Antigone and Creon come across many obstacles. Antigone’s brother dies and she wants a proper burial for him. But, Creon, the king, won’t let her.

Antigone and Creon are different and similar in many ways. Antigone is loyal to her family. She says, “I will bury him. Will you come?”  That shows that she is determined to get her brother buried. She is also loyal to the gods. In scene two, she says that it’s not the god’s fault that Polynieces wasn’t buried, it was Creon’s fault.  Creon on the other hand, is loyal to the state. He says the long speech, (1. 8-53), talking about the state and laws. But, he’s not as loyal to family. In one scene, he says his job is more important than anything, which is showing that that is the only thing that he cares about.

Antigone and Creon are also similar in many ways. They both have things that they are proud of.  Antigone says, “There is no guilt in reverse for the dead.” Creon shows pride by saying, “And yet you dare defy the law…” This is showing that he is determined to make sure everyone follows his laws and no one else’s.

Antigone and Creon both deserve some blame for the tragic outcome of the play. Antigone should of just obeyed Creon’s laws and should of just let her brother be. But, then again, Creon should have been more generous and let Antigone give her brother a proper burial.