The first half of the year has been a challenge for me, but has also gone by really fast. We have read so many books in such a short period of time, but we have had such interesting discussions in class. Now that I am in an honors english class, there is much more competition to get a good grade, as everyone is aiming for the A. Everyone is involved in class and much work is completed by the end of the block. Its pretty sad to say, that the only thing I can remember off the top of my head from this semester was the Macbeth project, becuase it was a fun group activity. We didnt do many Interactive and creativity projects while working on books, which is my favorite part of english class. I am glad that this class didnt consist of writing day after day, rather it was a brainstorming block each day. We all managed to get ideas from one another and come up with intelectual theories. Although we didnt all bond as people, we bonded as writers and readers. The days where Mr. Wasserman would start us off with a statement and we would have to persoinally define, or explore the idea were the greatest. In English I was able to think in many different view points, and express my personality without being questioned. English was a place where everyone could be themselves and have achance to speak. This class had a sucessful set-up and a non stress environment.

This article was funny but incredibly true. Its a little shocking to read this, for someday this remote or something like it might me mass produced just to make life easier. An invention like this makes people “more immobile, more stationary, and more physically inert than ever before.” I find this product useful in a way, becuase I often get frustrated when trying to find the remote in some corner of my matress. It is so common of Americans to buy items that make life easier, but in the end they are just another thing to deal with. Althought this remote doesn’t actually exist, there are many products that indeed make like more difficult. Any exercise machine that tries to make working out less of a hastle, is not giving one an actual workout. Also, these machines are cumbersome and aren’t attractive sitting in any house. Having a machine to do something for you isn’t like actually doing the physical workout. The remote control advertisement is satire, as it showing how lazy and obese America is becoming. It is good to laugh at a subject like this, but we also must remember that it is a serious problem for many people today who are couch potatoes.

The treatment of a slave seems much worse after reading a memoir of one who had suffered as much as he did. Its different to read facts about treatment of slaves, since you aren’t experiencing their compassion and cries for freedom. Isaac’s writings were an eye-opener and gave me a chance to compare my everyday life to his. I feel like this story was written thousands of years ago and it doesn’t compare in time to 2006 becuase our lives are each so different and even the poorest person in Greenwich has it better that Isaac Mason did.
“She told me to take off my coat so that she could give me a whipping for going off. According to her orders I obeyed; then she commenced work in right good earnest with her well roasted hickory wottels. Their smarting pains did not feel pleasant on my head and shoulders, so I laid hold of them and contested my strength with the fair feminine tyrant.” This was when Isaac was fairly young, but it makes me shiver to think how strong he was to experience that. If I was to write about some one whipping me, I would describe it as hell, when this is what Isaac explains as “not pleasant.”
Although I only skimmed the majority of the passage, I understand that Isaac was very similar to Huckleberry Finn in that he was always on the go. Isaac was able to escape like Jim, only Jim had a mentor, Huck, to guide him every step of the way. Isaac Mason was basically Huck Finn, but only working to free hiself. Mason was alwasy being chased by some one had had to fine makeshift homes to live in for mearly a night at a time.
Mason was lucky to have earning money at one point even though it was not a good wage. It seems as though Isaac escaped the worst of the life of a slave because his personality was so strong and he was able to push through the hard days and represent the slaves that were capable of more than being “lazy” as they were often stereotyped as.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20041126-010629-6032r.htm

This article contained a social aspect of the sport, soccer. Spanish fans grunted at three black players and made hand juestures at them implying that they were like apes in Madrid. The friendly game of soccer would seem to bring people together rather than cause conflict. It has happened a few times too, where people make monkey gestures at black soccer players. I expected for this sport to bring people from all over the world together with the love of a sport to relate to. The man that was accused of making these guestures was banned from soccer games until the year 2009, but that wont stop him from making these same remarks at another sporting event. It is difficult, though, to assign a punnishement to someone that does something that is difficult to prevent. It was interesting to read that the racism occurs more in places with less black people playing soccer. Here, there are many African soccer players, some of which have superb talent, so it doesnt bother many who view the matches.

“When you go to countries like Lithuania and Estonia, where there are not many black players, you get such abuse.”
I can see why this happens, and its all about how the unique group/ persons in any society are sometimes looked at differently and catagorized in their own community. This abuse must be put to an end fast, for if people only look skin deep and dont see the talent inside of these players, it may put of other African Americans from playing soccer.
Also, this article adds how no matter what fine you give the racist fans, they wont stop their chants.
Mr. Boyce said those punishments likely won’t be effective.
“Fans who make these kinds of monkey chants don’t [care] about fines,” he said.
If someone were to make such a rude comment in a large public, they must be deeply racist and ignore what ever punnishement they recieve.

Looking at the pictures on Mr. Wasserman’s blog of the different people who are involved with slaves gives me an idea about what I will be reading. I predict that this passage will contain instances of the sufering that the slaves went through and also the times when the slaves were liberated. This article will probably explain what the masters do to their slaves and problems and attributes of slavery. I am guessing that some of the people in the pictures were slaves who made it throught the hardships of slavery. Also, some of the other people in the pictures could be members of a comittiee against slavery and known throughout history for their achievements. Hopefully, this article will be an uplifting story aout the era of slavery and how it was brought to a stop. I know about slavery from the Abolitionists Refom in the Gala we had at school and the S.C.A. movie we watched in class along with many other things I have studies in the past. I expect to come across many instances where this article relates to Huck Finn.