Tristan's Exam

Tristan Yerkes

Mr. Salsich

English 02

4^th June, 2009

The Last Trickle:
An Essay on Emotion and Art

The most emotional profession there is is art. Art requires pent-up emotion to be let out in a medium. The poem The Real Work by Wendell Berry conveys the same thoughts about art and emotion. Both Sonny from “Sonny's Blues” and the poet, Emily Dickinson relate to The Real Work.

TS: Sonny held in his own emotion, bottled it up, and let it out through his blues. SD: Sonny first held in his emotions, creating a dam of feelings ready to be let loose. CM: He held them back, using drugs, alcohol, and a reclusive attitude, as his brother said, “I suddenly had the feeling that I didn't know him at all.” CM: Sonny came to his “real journey” his “real work” when he had to funnel his emotions into song at the end of the story. SD: Sonny then let his emotions flow through and transform into the beautiful music he played. CM: At the end, he played this beautiful music, he was “the impeded stream, […] the one that sings.” CM: He used this emotional music to help his brother understand him and help Sonny understand himself. CS: This music was a real work of art, the physical embodiment of Sonny's emotion, what he once controlled, controlling him.

TS: Emily Dickinson also held in her emotions, in a less destructive way than Sonny. SD: Emily Dickinson, living in total isolation for most of her life, had no outlet for her emotions other than art. CM: Dickinson barely ever left her home and almost never had any visitors, which kept her from letting loose any emotion. CM: Berry says, “The mind that is not baffled is employed” which shows that since Dickinson was not baffled by other people, she was employed in writing her emotional poetry. SD: Dickinson's impeded stream trickled through to do the real work of poetry writing. CM: Because Dickinson's emotions were so strong and different, her writing was strong and different, containing random marks and capitalization for emphasis. CM: Dickinson says things like, “I'm nobody” and then proceeds to talk about how good it is to be nobody, giving the same sort of isolated mood as her life had. CS: Dickinson's poems, emotionally charged and powerful, conveyed the “real work” of emotional flow described by Mr. Berry.

The poem The Real Work talks about the very powerful real work of emotional art, and these two very different people both do this very similar work. Both sonny and Dickinson funneled their emotions into their artwork, and in so doing, enhanced it beyond belief. They were employed in the most emotional profession of art, their impeded streams singing.

KEY:

FAST WORD

CHIASMUS

PARTICIPIAL PHRASE

APPOSITIVE

TRICOLON

HYPERBOLE

Tristan's Essay

Tristan Yerkes

Mr. Salsich

English 02

26^th May 2009

Memory Lane:

A Last Essay on the Powers of Memory

There are places I remember, I come back to, and float through, for a second becoming the smiling toddler that no one talked to. Magical places, everyone shares as time capsules of wound up memory, ready to tumble loose into the unwary mind. For William Wordsworth, these old feelings, along with new ones are discovered upon return to Tintern Abbey just as they would be if I were to return to Pine Point in the future.

In “Tintern Abbey”, Wordsworth describes how he relives all of the feelings he had in his youth and how he discovers new ones. Wordsworth may not have been in his youth anymore, “five long years” may have passed, but he still felt and saw the same things he felt and saw five years ago. Wordsworth has “thoughts of more deep seclusion” than he had when he was last at Tintern Abbey. These feelings are brought back up from Wordsworth's well of emotion and the revisit to Tintern Abbey is just a catalyst in the equation. Wordsworth also discovers new emotion on his revisit to Tintern Abbey, new things within himself. When Wordsworth says, “here I stand […] with the sense /..
of present pleasure” he refers to his current emotion, and how he feels upon his revisit. This shows that Wordsworth, while reliving his old emotions, has sub-emotions brewing that are more current. The complexity of the emotions displayed in “Tintern Abbey” are so severe, that the birth of such a poem is almost expected.

These ideas Wordsworth experiences upon re-visitation of Tintern Abbey, would also apply to my re-visitation of Pine Point in the future. I would relive my old feelings while roaming the old halls. I would observe the classrooms, and remember the stressful feelings, the anger, the pressure felt in years past, just like the feelings of joy Wordsworth relives when he walks near Tintern Abbey. I would roam past the rock climbing wall, remembering all of the hours spent thinking of clever announcements. As I drink in my old school, I would also be feeling new things and thinking new thoughts. As I look into small classroom windows, I may realize things I haven't before, like Wordsworth saw new sights in the old sights of Tintern Abbey. I would wonder how my memory lived: Did the school I remembered end up remembering me? The memories Wordsworth had of Tintern Abbey were not the same as those I would have of Pine Point, but they retain the structure of new and old thoughts.

Many old dusty vaults of thought can be unlocked by returning to old places. Just as much, shining, new, beautiful thoughts can be created when one is returned to old places. This happens in both my fictional return to Pine Point, and Wordsworth's very real return to Tintern Abbey. In both, these thoughts are celebrated.

Key:

Fast Word

Tricolon

Loose Sentence

Chiasmus

Tristan's Essay!

Tristan Yerkes

Mr. Salsich

English 02

13 May, 2009

The Middle Way:

An Essay Discussing Possession

If you hold a peach too firmly, it will be smashed; this is an idea represented by a passage by Rainer Maria Rilke, a garden stone, and my personal beliefs. Detachment can not only save the possessor, but it can also strengthen the possession.

The second passage by Mr. Rilke shows how one must embody the concept of detachment. Rilke shows how we must always let go of, or be able to let go of our worldly possessions. When Rilke says, “We do not acquire wealth by letting something remain [...] in our hands” he means that everything means much more when we let go of it. Mr. Rilke displays this concept of parting with what we own as a sort of way for us to experience the things we let go without letting them take us over. Rilke also shows how our infatuation with possessions can be our downfall. Being human, we all have trouble letting go of our paraphernalia can be very hard, but Rilke says that if we do, we will live our life to the fullest. When Rilke says, “Our hands ought not to be a coffin for us but a bed” he is suggesting that our hands, symbolism for our possession, should not cling, and be our death or coffin, but feel things, and be a bed. Rilke's thoughts really show that we own our possessions, but our possessions can own us.

A garden stone and this Rilke passage both relate, being about letting things go. The garden stone must let beautiful things pass by it, and not hold onto anything, just as the Rilke passage says. Every day, people and animals step on the stone, acknowledge it, use it, impart some of themselves upon it, and then leave it. The stone is “letting everything pass through [its] grasp” so that it may have “carefree ownership” of the beautiful things in life. If a garden stone cannot be easily stepped onto and off of, it does not do its job, and is replaced. Rilke says that “Once out of our hands, however, things ought to move forward, now sturdy and strong” it's the garden stone's job to make sure the things that step onto it make it on, and if it doesn't, this becomes its failure, its downfall, its “coffin”. The garden stone must hold its role, let things pass by, enhance them, and do its job flawlessly or else suffer repercussions. The Rilke passage is suggesting that we must all lay like the garden stone, and serve as a helper to others, bringing them into our grasp, and letting them pass through, stronger.

Rilke's passage says that garden stone must make things stronger, and my belief is that this holds true for people as well. Many people in our world hold personal possessions, comfort, and gain close to themselves, people should not fritter away their comforts all to themselves. In the Rilke passage, Rilke says, “We do not acquire wealth by letting something remain and wilt in our hands” this shows that we should not hold on to things for too long. If people hold on to things long enough, they start to ruin those things. If people learn to let things go, they can, in a way, own the things. When we hold things too closely, we aren't able to see them from far away, and cease to recognize their beauty. By not owning these things, we own them. My beliefs are quite similar if not the same to Rilke's, we agree about ownership, we agree about greed, and we agree about possession.

The many faces of greed all come down to the one fact: whether you're crushing a peach, or not letting things walk over you, holding onto possessions is not the right way. This does not mean that people should all go out and give away all of their money, this simply suggests that nowadays the human race as a whole tends to hold material goods too closely. We should all find a middle way in life.

KEY:

Fast Words

Participial Phrase (opener)

Participial Phrase (closer)

Tetracolon Climax

Antithesis

Chiasmus

Tricolon

Parallelism

Loose Sentence

In my writing, I am working on fixing my careless errors, and managing my time.

I think for this essay, I did very well with the special tools, and I think that I especially utilized all forms of parallelism.

I think I could have worked on my transitions, and my introductory paragraph. Oh, and one thing I worked out was finding out what the self-assessment was finally.

I would give myself an A, and I think this was my best essay all year

Tristan's Essay!

Tristan Yerkes

Mr. Salsich

English 02

6 April 2009

“Parting is such sweet sorrow”, almost everyone knows this famous Shakespearian quote from Romeo and Juliet, but the concept of parting also has meaning in “Adios” by Naomi Shihab Nye, “Untitled” by Emily Dickinson, and my life. The concept of parting is tough, and many have to deal with it in their lives. In this essay, we will examine how parting affects these two poems and my life.

My life is full of parting, I part with friends on a yearly basis, and I started my school career by moving around a lot. My school career has been recovered from this, some may say, shaky foundation, but this just goes to show that parting makes us stronger. This strength of parting is built off of the basis of independence from common people, places and things. I say common people because everyone needs to depend on something, and my independence is just the relocating of my common dependence to constants in my life, like myself, my family, my camp, and the joys in my life. These constants regulate my dependence, the things I cannot part from, but my strength itself helps me be free, go places, and do things. The strength that allows me this freedom to part with things is basically the strength to cut earthly ties, and leave what is important to me. When I have to leave what is important to me, I do not hesitate to part, this is how I mustered up the courage to go away to my summer camp, which later became a constant in my life. I say it is courage that drives me to part from my friends, family, and homes, many would perceive this as pure heartlessness, and that I simply do not have strong bonds with my friends. The bonds I have with my friends are very strong, as many would agree, and I do not part from them for lack of caring about my friends, family, or home. I part because my dependence is elsewhere, with the constants I cannot part with, I do not need my friends at the my current home for survival, and I think many of them do not need me. In a way, my relocation of dependence may be viewed as a bad foundation for life, but my strength through parting has made me very good at balancing, whereas many have built their foundations strong, but very confined, causing their lives to topple when they have to grow. (Loose Sentence)

Despite others’ life foundations, Ms. Nye’s poem, “Adios” gives views as to how the narrator of the poem, presumably Nye, accepts parting, and uses it for strength. This strength is shown through symbolism in the second and third stanza. The symbolism is shown by the narrator telling the reader to take the parting, and the feelings associated with that parting, and make them strengthening parts of one’s life. These strengthening parts of one’s life are marriage shown as a “golden ring” one must “marry” parting and freedom, shown as “wings”, one must “strap [parting] on [one’s] back”. As well as symbolizing how you must treat that parting, showing how that parting helps you, and saying this in a strong, and insightful way, “Adios” shows that you must think of the things you are parting with to be strong. (Periodic Sentence) When Nye says, “Think of things that linger”, she tries to enhance (SAT Fast Word) the feeling of parting with unwanted things, that lie around, and “linger” so that one can understand the concept of parting better. This comprehension of parting with lingering things helps, but Nye also talks about parting with good things when she says, “Think of what you love best.” Along with making one think about good things that they part with, Nye shows how accepting the feelings associated with parting can strengthen one.

Ms. Nye’s poem expresses some of the best ways to feel about parting, but Ms. Dickinson’s untitled poem shows how parting affects one’s life. Parting affects one’s life, first in a pessimistic way. This pessimistic way is the idea of looking at the good things in life, and only thinking about how you have to part with them. The idea of only thinking about parting with good things is expressed when Dickinson says, “Parting is all we know of Heaven”, saying that “we” only know that we must part with heaven. Heaven is mentioned in the second to last line, but the last line mentions hell. Hell is mentioned in the last line, when Dickinson says, “[Parting is] all we need of hell. This is showing that parting basically is the symbolic hell, and that all we need for hell is to experience parting. To experience parting is an experience that can have many mixed and melancholy (Fast Word) feelings, many of which are shown in Ms. Dickinson’s poem.

Ms. Dickinson’s poem displays excellent points about parting, as do the other two paragraphs. Parting can be shown in many different ways, and whether it is displayed as sweet sorrow, or being shown as a strengthening force, parting has a huge impact on many people. Many have benefited from Parting, and many have suffered, but at this point, my thoughts will part with this essay.

SA

I think that I did a great job managing my time, and finally mastering periodic sentences.

I think I need to improve my transitions. (also, Mr. Salsich, I did underline all of my transitions, but the blog doesn't have underlining, so could I maybe just show you or e-mail it to you or something?)

Tristan's Essay!

Tristan Yerkes

Mr. Salsich

English 02

29 April 2009
Random Acts of Kindness:
An Essay Comparing Different Views on Kindness

Nowadays, you don’t see too many young men helping old ladies across the street, but kindness still exists, and I will explain its relevance in Winter Dreams by F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye, and my own life. Kindness has different meanings in each of these, and these differences themselves, are different, themselves. I will explain in this essay how the differences between these stories and my life are different.
T.S. The portraiture and thoughts of kindness in each of these pieces of literature and my life are very different, but the difference may be most profound between Winter Dreams and “Kindness”. S.D. Between these two stories, Kindness has a completely different image. C.M. The portraiture of kindness in “Kindness” is one of a gentle human characteristic hidden in the folds of emotion, whereas kindness is portrayed in Winter Dreams as a silly notion that gets Dexter into trouble in the end. In Winter Dreams, Dexter tries to be kind to Judy but gets nothing in return, whereas Judy is not at all kind, but gets all of the benefits, later, when they are older, the tables turn but the two characters take on each others roles. S.D. The thoughts about kindness helping both the giver and the recipient shown in “Kindness” are not reciprocated at all in Winter Dreams. C.M In “Kindness”, it is said that “Kindness […] ties your shoes [\..] and sends you out into the day” portraying that kindness can keep the giver running, and help out. C.M. In Winter Dreams, Dexter is the original kind person, but ends up never being with Judy, but then later when Judy tries to be kind to Dexter, the same thing happens. S.D. In “Kindness”, Nye says that kindness is something that must be learned through experience, but Winter Dreams shows kindness as something that is only motivated by want. C.M. In “Kindness”, Nye says that you must, “Travel where the Indian […] lies dead by the side of the road. [\..] You must see how this could be you.” C.M. In Winter Dreams Dexter only is kind to Judy because of his love, or want for her, and Judy is only ever kind to Dexter because of her want for his money, and forgiveness. C.S. In both of these, you can look at kindness in a different way, but these two stories take that to the maximum, and express both extremes.
T.S. The extremes between “Kindness” and Winter Dreams is great, but similar differences are seen between “Kindness” and my own life experiences. S.D. “Kindness” once again portrays ideals of kindness as sort of a mysterious human emotion that has to be coaxed out, but my life experiences have taught me differently. C.M. So far in my life, I have seen many instances of kindness, but most of them, the ones that aren‘t really kindness, have been clearly purely for the giver’s self-satisfaction. C.M. in “Kindness”, true kindness is portrayed as being only for the benefit of others, similar to my life experience. S.D. Nye shows kindness as something that must be learned through experience, but my life has taught otherwise. C.M. I have learned that those who are only kind to better their own reputation are not really kind, and so premeditated kindness such as that in “Kindness” is not actually real. C.M. Those who are spontaneous about their kindness do it, not from the heart, not because they thought about it, but because that is just what they do. S.D. The kindness in “Kindness” at one point keeps the giver running, but experience from my life has taught me that this is not true kindness. C.M. In my life, I have learned that those who use kindness as a sort of throne to sit upon, and feel smug are not actually being kind, but rather just trying to make themselves better. C.M. This sort of kindness is shown in “Kindness”, keeping the giver running, and happy about themselves. Kindness takes different forms, and my views show one, opposing view over those of Ms. Nye’s poem.
T.S. My views on “Kindness” may oppose Ms. Nye’s views strongly, but I think that there is no real kindness portrayed in Winter Dreams. S.D. The “kindness” shown in Winter Dreams is just Dexter trying to make himself happy. C.M. It may seem condescending (FAST WORD)to say that Dexter was just trying to help himself by being kind, but the only reasons behind Dexter being kind to Judy were selfish. C.M. Dexter loved Judy in such a way that it was almost an obsession; when Judy was happy, Dexter was happy, so Dexter sought to make Judy happy, not for her gain, but for his own. (LOOSE SENTENCE) S.D. Judy was also “kind” to Dexter near the end of the story, saying she wanted to be with him after all. C.M. Judy was just being a HEDONIST (FAST WORD) when she offered to take Dexter back, she only wanted personal gain. C.M. Judy was in a low state at that point in the book, older, less attractive, and wasting away with people she didn’t love, so when she saw that Dexter could give her a new life, she pretended to be kind to him just so that he would take her in and give her things. (LOOSE SENTENCE) S.D. The “kindness” between the two characters, Judy and Dexter is really just an intertwined battle for each to make themselves happier. C.M. Dexter just battered Judy with pleasures so that he could gain his own ephemeral (FAST WORD) winter dreams, his own pleasure. C.M. Judy, becoming less of the celebrity she was, (APPOSITIVE) needed to restart her own life, so she resorted to being kind to Dexter so he would save her from her life. C.S. The actions of Judy and Dexter may have seemed kind, but they were selfish, they were desperate, they were fake, and they were not kindness. (TETRACOLON CLIMAX)
The versions of kindness were very complex in each of these views, and so the comparisons were rich. Whether it is helping an old lady across the street, or acting kind to someone so that you can feel good yourself, kindness takes many forms. These random acts of kindness have strange, and different reasoning behind them.

Tristan's Essay!

Tristan Yerkes

Mr. Salsich

English 9

20 April, 2009

Sentimental Stories:
An Essay on Sentiment

Jedi knights, a fictional type of people who keep order in the universe, are encouraged to think without sentiment in order to make unclouded decisions. Sentiment is a word used to describe thinking with passion or emotion. In the poems and passage, acting sentimental changes other’s lives, can be quite a beneficial way of thinking, and can harm people.

T.S. This Paragraph will explain how sentiment can cause decisions to made that benefit some, while making others unhappy in all three pieces of literature. S.D. In The Garden Party Ms. Mansfield shows sentiment in the character Laura. C.M. When Laura decides to go and help the dead man’s family, she does it purely on what her emotions tell her. C.M This decision eventually helps the family of the dead man, but makes Laura’s family unhappy that she must go to the peasant’s hamlet. S.D. In the untitled poem, Dickinson writes about how she is no one. C.M. The mood of the poem suggests that this is a secret thing that’s frowned upon by society, saying, “Are you nobody, too? Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell!” C.M. This shows that Dickinson’s decision to be no one, inspired by her emotion makes society unhappy, but she benefits in the end. S.D. In “The Traveling Onion” Nye shows how the personified figurative onion makes emotional decisions. C.M. In the last stanza, Nye writes, “[The Onions] for the sake of others, disappear” showing that the onion, despite its long-lived, full life, decides to give up the stage to others. C.M. This shows an emotional decision by the onion, in which it loses the stage, but other elements benefit from this sentimental decision. C.S. In these three pieces of writing, characters make sentimental decisions, decisions influenced by emotion, and somebody benefits while someone else loses.

T.S. The same three aforementioned pieces of literature display the benefits of sentiment in general, which will be explained in the following paragraph. S.D. In The Garden Party, Laura, as well as the family she helps, also feels good about her sentimental choices. C.M. When Laura decides to help the family of the dead man, she feels good about her decision saying, “Yes, quite” when asked by her brother if her encounter was alright. C.M. Although Laura’s feelings may seem pretentious (FAST WORD), Laura’s character displays that her feelings are completely innocent. S.D. In the untitled poem by Emily Dickinson, sentimental decision-making is done by the narrator (Dickinson) to benefit themselves. C.M. Dickinson makes the decision to be nobody based on her emotions, logically she would fit in and be nobody. C.M. Ms. Dickinson benefits in the end, and is quite glad to be nobody, saying, “How dreary to be somebody!” S.D. “The Traveling Onion” displays benefit from the Onion’s Spontaneous (FAST WORD) decision to give the spotlight to others. C.M. The onion in the poem decides to give the spotlight to others, and in a way benefits itself. C.M. The onion may lose the spotlight in the end, but after it’s long, content life, the onion seems to feel better watching others take it’s place when Nye says, “For the sake of others [the onion gives up the spotlight.]” C.S. In the end, the one who gives sentiment benefits in one way or other.

T.S. Although sentiment benefits in ways, it can also cause distress and bad consequences. S.D. The Garden Party, being a somewhat enlightening and hopeful story, has surprisingly subtle unhappy elements.(S-V SPLIT) C.M. It is clear that Laura is happy in the end, and benefits from her sentimental experience with the dead man, but when she first sees the dead man, she is aghast and scared. C.M. Being a relatively sheltered child, Laura was surprised to see a dead man, when Mansfield writes, “Laura gave a loud, childish sob.” (OPENER) S.D. Dickinson’s poem, mysterious and unyielding(APPOSITIVE), displays little, but still shows that Dickinson has bad consequences from her sentimental decision. C.M. Dickinson may be quite happy about being nobody, but this does not change the fact that she must still hide herself and be somebody in secret. C.M. This is shown when Ms. Dickinson writes, “Don’t tell [that we’re somebody]!” S.D. In Ms. Nye’s poem, the onion suffers the consequences of letting others take the spotlight after it. C.M. The figurative onion in “The Traveling Onion” gives up its “spotlight” of respect and power to other, less prominent elements. C.M. This removal from a prominent position in people’s minds puts the onion at a lower position than originally held as a consequence. C.S. Although sad, sentimental decision making can lead to bad consequences, and the one making these decisions can only hope that the benefits outweigh the consequences.

The benefits and consequences mentioned are very strong powers, and can get out off control if sentiment is misused. Many people rule their sentiment, but sometimes their sentiment can rule them. Jedi Knights, strong and dedicated(APPOSITIVE), are not allowed to make sentimental choices, whereas the characters in these three stories make their own sentimental decisions, and they end up working out.

Tristan's Essay!

Tristan Yerkes

Mr. Salsich

English 9

15 April, 2009

Little Brother Blues:
An Essay on “Little Brother Poem” and “Sonny’s Blues”

Johnny Cash was a legendary musician, who started his career as a little brother. He had an older brother who got into a horrible accident, and was only truly kind to Johnny on his death bed. The poem “Little Brother Poem” by Naomi Shihab Nye is about apologizing to Nye’s little brother, like in Johnny Cash’s childhood. Nye uses figurative language to express the themes of cruelty and consequences, sorrow, and regret shown alternatively in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”.

The “Little Brother Poem” expresses these themes through figurative writing. In the third stanza, Nye gives the theme of cruelty. Ms. Nye says in the third stanza, “You followed me and I pushed you in front of a bicycle. […] Your eyes hard on me under the bandages” this was an example of the cruel things that Nye did and later regretted doing. This quote also shows early consequences for the cruel things that Nye did. In the fourth stanza, sorrow is shown in the mood of the writing. In the fourth stanza, Nye compares herself to her brother, “You’re Wall Street, and I’m the local fruit market” this quote shows a sort of sorrow in Nye being inferior to her little brother. Another quote in the fourth stanza, “That’s fine, I’ll take differences over things that match” gives more of a sorrowful air, as Nye shows that both differences and matching things are bad paths to take. The last stanza of the poem shows regret. When Ms. Nye says, “It’s a large order, I know, dumping out a whole drawer at once” Nye uses the drawer as a symbol for all of the bad things she’s done, and “dumping it out” is symbolic for her brother forgiving her. This shows that she regrets the things she had done, and wants to be forgiven. In conclusion, a sentence in the last stanza, “I’m sorry for everything I did that hurt” contains all three of the major themes, cruelty, sorrow, and regret.

The themes expressed in “Little Brother Poem” are alternatively expressed in the passage of “Sonny’s Blues.” Cruelty is expressed in a rather different way in “Sonny’s Blues”. Alternatively (FAST WORD) to “Little Brother Poem”, “Sonny’s Blues” shows cruelty in nature, when Grace gets Polio. This cruelty has more of a “supreme power” theme than the human cruelty in “Little Brother Poem”. Sorrow is expressed in very similar ways in the two stories. In “Sonny’s Blues, sorrow is expressed when Grace‘s mother says, “And when [Grace] did scream, it was the worst sound.” This quote shows the sad mood of Grace’s mother at Grace’s cruel illness. In “Sonny’s Blues” the narrator grows to understand Sonny more, causing regret. When the narrator says, “I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen” he shows his understanding of Sonny’s situation. Later on in the story, he regrets not helping Sonny before, and wouldn’t feel this if he didn’t understand Sonny. These themes are expressed in different ways, but carry the same essential meaning.

The themes of cruelty, sorrow, and regret are somewhat pessimistic (FAST WORD), but they contribute strongly to both of these pieces of writing. These stories, being very different (PARTICIPAL), may seem to not relate, but when looked upon closer, share these three basic themes. The two stories carry the same meanings, relate to each-other, and have very complex themes. (PERIODIC SENTENCE) Whether just listening to Johnny Cash, or reading these pieces of writing, these themes are very powerful.

Tristan's Essay!

Tristan Yerkes
Mr. Salsich
English 02
7 April, 2009

The Bumps Along the Road to the Dark Side of the Moon:
An Essay Analyzing "Courage" by Anne Sexton

“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” This is a commonly known quote from The Wizard of Oz, A film about a young girl that runs away from home, and upon returning finds herself in a magical land called Oz. This film relates to the poem “Courage” by Anne Sexton, in that both are centered around courage, decision making, and growing up.
Both The Wizard of Oz and “Courage” relate to these three themes, and in this paragraph I will explain how they are expressed in “Courage” by Anne Sexton. Obviously, courage is a main theme in “Courage” displayed in all of the stages of life. In the first stanza, Sexton explains courage from early life, to old age, from “The time you first rode a bike” to when “You face old age and it’s natural conclusion”. This reiteration (FAST WORD) of examples of courage shows that courage is a reoccurring theme. Another theme shown in “Courage” is decision making, almost each act of courage is made voluntarily, with an accompanying decision. In the second stanza, Sexton talks about a “buddy” deciding to sacrifice his own life to save “your‘s”; this decision is not made by the person the poem is addressed to, but important nonetheless (FAST WORD). In the last stanza, Sexton shows one of the biggest decisions of all, the decision to “stride out” into deaths arms. These two main themes in the poem build to the theme of growing up, and maturing. The courage used in early and later life, added to the decisions made, all are variables in the equation for what the addressee will grow to become. This theme of growing up is a main guide throughout the poem, and gives a better sense of direction. With these three major themes in mind, “Courage” has messages on three different levels, with relationships between each.
Each of the three main themes in “Courage” are also displayed in a similar fashion in The Wizard of Oz in this paragraph I will examine and explain these relationships. In the first stanza of “Courage” Ms. Sexton talks about courage in an early stage, this same type of courage is expressed in The Wizard of Oz before Dorothy leaves Kansas. Dorothy has a normal life on a farm in Kansas, this small quiet life represents the earlier stages of her courage. Before she leaves for Oz, she makes small courageous acts, like running away from home, balancing on pig pens, and confronting her nosy neighbor, these are her “first steps” in the storyline. In “Courage” Ms. Sexton says the addressee of the poem “fights off bombs and bullets” this symbolism of courage used to fight is replicated in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy begin to follow a mysterious yellow brick road to get home, and finds herself fighting off an evil witch. As in The Wizard of Oz, the second stanza of “Courage” leaves the reader feeling as if the addressee is still young, and still has the innocents of childhood, similarly, Dorothy still seems young as she fights off the Wicked Witch. In “Courage” Sexton talks of how the addressee’s buddy “saved your life, and in so doing, died himself” this idea of sacrifice is carried on in The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy finds new friends that work together to save each other from the perils of the dangerous, witch-ridden road. The final stanza of “Courage” describes how the addressee of the poem “strides out” to meet death, without hiding; the same thing happens at the end of The Wizard of Oz, as Dorothy walks directly into the dangerous lair of the wizard of Oz, unfaltering, possibly sacrificing everything she had done. In both of these situations, there is definite acceptance of fate, both the addressee’s acceptance of death, and Dorothy’s acceptance of the wizard’s anger of being disturbed. In both situations, the subjects of their story went on to some place where they could enjoy the fruits of their cumulative courage. These two stories don’t match up perfectly chronologically, but they both hold the same essence of courage, and growing into an adult.
However much Dorothy was an adult at the end of her adventures, she was not the same person at all. Through courage, both the addressee of “Courage” and Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz grew and were shaped and had memorable experiences. (POLYSYNDETON) The quote “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore” expresses a feeling of having been changed dramatically in one way or another. I think that both the addressee and Dorothy, at the end of both of their adventures could say “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”

Tristan's Essay!!

Tristan Yerkes

Mr. Salsich

English 02

26th February 2009

A Brave New World:
A Discussion on New Beginnings

Bobby Pendragon emerges into New York in the year 5010 to find that America has improved into a perfect world in the last 300 years. In D.J. Machale's series, "Pendragon", Earth has become a brave new world through the virtues of detachment, unity, and love. These same three virtues, detachment, unity, and love are used in William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" as well as in our world today.

The Tempest by William Shakespeare uses the virtues of detachment, unity and love to form a brave new world. Detachment is used as a primary catalyst in the making of a new world. While on the ship, the sailors detached themselves from their ship, saying, "All is lost!" This helped create the new world, because their great society could never be created without hitting bottom; Tyler Durden in Fight Club (1999) once said, "It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything." Unity contributes to the building of a new world by keeping everyone and everything together. The people soon to arrive on Prospero's island stay unified starting when they abandoned ship during the tempest when Antonio says, "Let's all sink with the King!" This shows that all of the people on the ship went down together, and as a result they arose together. Love acted as a powerful binding force in contribution to the rise of a new world. The main love story in "The Tempest" is between Ferdinand and Miranda, displayed many times such as when Ferdinand says lovingly, "I beyond limit of what else [is in] the world, do love, prize, honour you." This huge strength, this giant power is the core of the new civilization, the inferno that heats everyone else. If the new brave world of Prospero's island were a wall, detachment would be the clearing of the space for the wall, unity would be the mortar, and love would be the blocks.

The world right now is not brave or new, but if people detach themselves from worldly possessions, nations united to stop hate, and everyone loved our planet, we could indeed make a brave new world (LOOSE SENTENCE). Before any action could take place, all people would have to practice detachment. By removing greed and hedonists (FAST WORD), all suffering would be removed as well as distractions to misguide people from the path to a better world. Detachment from earthly possessions would also put everyone on an even playing field, avoiding the hackneyed (FAST WORD) situation of a leader emerging because they are more powerful. Unity is also essential to the creation of a brave new world. If nations had such camaraderie (FAST WORD) that they could all become one, blotting out hate and war would be much more easy. Considering how much better people act when they are all brought together under one banner, united under one cause, joined together towards one common goal (TRICOLON), national unity would be a useful tool to create a brave new world (PERIODIC SENTENCE). Love would be a very powerful core force to the creation of a brave, better world. Love not only helps to bring people together, but it also moves people. If all people loved our planet, noone would litter, global warming would not be an issue, and we could focus on bettering our world, not our world bettering us (CHIASMUS). If a better Earth were a car, detachment would be the ignition, unity would be the chasis, and love would be both the engine and the feul.

Currently, no huge movement is taking place to bring the world together, Prospero's island doesn't exist, and this essay is just a scrawny freshman's views on the world, but these small things can always amount to be bigger and better. Our world can work out of our current position, and become that shining world that Bobby Pendragon saw. If everyone just accepts these virtues, and makes them their own, this dream can become a reality.

Tristan's Essay!!

Tristan Yerkes
Mr. Salsich
English 02
18 February, 2009

One Love:
An Essay On Music

Music is powerful. On July 31st 2004, 110,000 people flocked to Boston Massachusetts to participate in a farewell concert for the band Dispatch. These people participated in the biggest independent music concert in history for one reason alone. To enjoy music.(SHORT SENTENCE) Though there are many great forms of entertainment today, music, being the best, (APPOSITIVE) beats them all and brings joy to many. (COMPOUND - COMPLEX)

TS Caliban speaks very highly of his music in "The Tempest" not speaking about anything else that brings him joy. SD He makes it clear that the island's music brings him only pleasure, and nothing else. CM Caliban makes this clear, saying, "Sounds [...] that give delight, and hurt not." CM This shows that music, unlike alcohol on Prospero's island, the other primary source of happiness on the island, has no negative side effects. SD Caliban also speaks of the wild happiness that the island's music brings him. CM He visualises fantasies, saying, "The clouds [...] would open and show riches ready to drop on me." CM This great happiness illustrates how much Caliban enjoys his music, beyond all other experiences he has on the island. SD Caliban also wishes that the music he hears would occur over and over again. CM He tells the others of this wish, saying, "I cried to [have that] dream again." CM This shows he wants to repeat it because it is that good. CS Caliban enjoys his music a lot, and so he speaks of it with great description to portray his happiness.

T.S. Like Caliban, I too enjoy music. S.D. Similarly, when I listen to any music, there are no negative effects of the music. C.M. Music encourages me and brings me happiness, when I am listening I am in the moment, in the song, above my problems.(PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES) C.M. Unlike many other techniques for self-enjoyment, music has no bad side effects; after listening to a song, I won't have impaired judgement or act detached. S.D. Music also brings huge enjoyment. C.M. Sometimes, when I am listening to music, I feel not only like I am invincible, but that I am also on top of the world, and that anything is possible. C.M. This is one of the best feelings ever, and I feel happiest when I get this. S.D. Recently, I have not had one time in the day when I don't want to be listening to music. C.M. All day long, I am either listening to a song, or singing one in my head. I always want the wild happiness that music brings me. My love of music is great, and it will never end because there are always going to be new songs.

I don't share the same taste in music as others, but I do love music as much as and more than others. Music is the best. This love is felt by me, felt by Caliban, and it was felt by those 110,000 people throwing their hands up in Boston five years ago. We all have one love, and our love is great.

Tristan's Essay!

Tristan Yerkes
English 2
Mr. Salsich
3 February 2009
“All You Need is Love:
An Essay About the Powers of and Relationships Between Freedom and Love”

America is the home of the free. All Americans have heard these words, be it in one form or other. Through the years this idea has been disputed, many have argued that America is in fact not free at all. I for one believe strongly in these words, partly because I consider freedom to be the ability to work to success, and partly because of my feelings that love makes people free.
Everyone makes mistakes. One of these mistakes might cause me confinement, in which case, I would need something to keep me sane. This something may come in the form of a sight that I would see maybe once a day. For me, this vision would need to be a source of hope, a plethora [FAST WORD] of hopeful energy that I could draw from whenever the need arose [FAST WORD]. This sight would also need to be astoundingly beautiful, something that I could look at and enjoy. If I were confined, I would like to see love every day. This could be in many forms, a couple getting married, a father sending his son to his first day of school, a brother sitting at his sister’s deathbed, anything that would convey an overwhelming sense of love. This idea is conveyed in The Tempest by William Shakespeare, when Ferdinand says, “Might I but through my prison once a day behold this maiden [I would be happy.]” Ferdinand says he will stay sane and happy in his prison if he sees the girl he loves. If I saw any type of love once a day, it wouldn’t matter what prison I was in, I would stay hopeful, and happy.
I would feel free, and to me, freedom is being as free as an American. Almost all American citizens have the right to work their way to success, and simply having that option is all the freedom I need. Some days, I walk down to a store, with a few dollars in hand, and it amazes me that I have the freedom to not only earn that money, but to go and buy a candy bar. I feel more free than ever, simply working for some cash and spending it, which is possible more than ever in America. Andrew Ryan from the game BioShock once posed the question, “Is a man not entitled to the sweat off his brow?” Mr. Ryan went on to explain how all of the different government systems said no to this question, he was of course talking about the rationalities of building an underwater metropolis, but his ideas are important, nonetheless. Throughout the rest of BioShock, Mr. Ryan’s ideas are reiterated to the player, inadvertently saying that true freedom only comes when one can receive fruits from one’s labor. I agree fully with this philosophy, that freedom is the idea that one is entitled to the sweat off one’s brow. I have not always truly appreciated how great our nation is, but I do and it makes me feel more free than ever.
I feel free now, but what would become of me if I were sent to some society where I were locked up for being Jewish? I would be perfectly fine if I could see love everyday. I am as free as an American. To be free Lynyrd Skynyrd needs to be a bird, Andrew Ryan needs to build an underwater utopia, and many need to legalize illicit substances, [TRICOLON] but I am cool as a cucumber to stay in America, milking the benefits that the great red, white, and blue has to offer.

Tristan's Essay

Tristan Yerkes
English 2
Mr. Salsich
27 January 2009
“Ask a Man In For Life, if He Would Take Another Chance:
An Essay On Confinement of Ariel and Caliban In William Shakespeare’s The Tempest”

Confinement is a word with a relatively simple definition: restriction or limitation within the boundaries or scope of something. At first glance, this definition seems pretty clear-cut, but in The Tempest by William Shakespeare, confinement takes on several different roles in the lives of Shakespeare’s characters. Caliban and Ariel’s situations are both defined by confinement, are very different, and also very similar.
Confinement can take many different forms, and in Ariel’s case, she makes a choice that results in her undetermined confinement. Ariel makes the choice to not perform Sycorax’s evil tasks, resulting in her confinement. Prospero retells this decision when he says, “For thou wast a spirit too delicate to act her earthly and abhorr‘d commands.” Ariel made this decision, accepting the probability of her punishment, and so, her confinement. Originally, Ariel had no certainty as to how long she would spend imprisoned, but when Sycorax died, she knew it was for life. Once again, Prospero reminds Ariel of the witches death, saying, “[Sycorax] died and left thee here.” Prospero is perfectly accurate when he says Sycorax “left thee here”, showing that Ariel then had no one to release her, and no hope of becoming free. One may say that Ariel was “confined” with the understanding that that confinement was a death sentence unknowingly self-bestowed upon Ariel when she chose to not perform Sycorax’s evil deeds.
Ariel has her own situation, but Caliban also has a situation he has to deal with. Being horribly disfigured,[OPENER] Caliban was forced into slavery by Prospero. Caaliban led a life on Prospero’s island, lurking about, performing Prospero’s deeds, and lamenting the loss of his witch-mother Sycorax. Caliban did not choose this life, unlike Ariel, he never made a decision that led to his confinement. Caliban had been enslaved for most of his life, beaten, and treated like scum. This treatment sucked away what little hope Caliban ever had of escape or release. Caliban had to live his life this way, disagreeing with his enslavers’ motives. [CLOSER]
Caliban had a hard life, as did Ariel, but they had different lives, with different types of confinement. Caliban had a life of enslaved confinement imposed upon him for no reason, whereas Ariel chose to disobey Sycorax, resulting in her lifelong confinement. Caliban had, not only different reasons for his confinement than Ariel’s, but also a different type of confinement altogether. In ways, the two are essentially identical, but in other ways, they are polar opposites.

Tristan's Post!

Tristan Yerkes

English 2

Mr. Salsich

11 January 2009

Dost Thou Attend Me?:

The Use of Characterization, Conflict, and Internal Conflict in The Tempest By William Shakespeare

Shakespeare uses characterization and internal conflict on page 10 and 11 of “The Tempest” to portray how Prospero was rationalizing the act of sinking Gonzalo's ship. Shakespeare first uses characterization when Prospero repeatedly asks Miranda if she is listening. Prospero may think he is simply retaining Miranda's attention when he says, “Thou attend'st not.” but he is actually just pleading with her to not just hear what he is saying, but to agree and sympathize with him. Prospero cements this theory when he tells Miranda to listen, saying, “I pray thee, mark me” at the bottom of page 10 showing more of an air of pleading with her. Shakespeare uses internal conflict when Prospero appears swayed enough by Miranda's requests for him to stop the storm to explain why he is doing it. If Prospero had no doubts about conjuring the storm, and sinking the ship, he would most likely just kill everyone, and not pause to open himself up to vulnerability by explaining how evil Antonio is. Consequently, Prospero shows that he may be having second thoughts about the sinking of Gonzalo's ship, and he was unconsciously calling out for Miranda to keep convincing him that what he did was wrong, so that he may feel remorse. Shakespeare also uses conflict between Prospero and Antonio to show why Prospero sank Antonio's ship. Prospero says, “[Antonio] should be so perfidious!” showing his sincere dislike for Antonio, not a very well thought out reason for killing Antonio, but a reason nonetheless. Prospero also shows how they differ, telling Miranda that Antonio usurped his Dukedom. This scene is full of strong emotion, and much hate from Prospero towards Antonio, and by the end of it, Prospero has completely reassured himself and Miranda that causing the tempest was a wise choice.

Tristan's Essay!

Tristan Yerkes
Mr. Salsich
English 02
15 December 2008

I have had, being a 9th grade student, and will have many temptations. As I have been told countless times, one of the most important steps to avoiding bad decisions, is to find alternative methods of enjoyment, a natural high. I have also been told not to find the natural high, but let the natural high find me. This summer I rediscovered rock climbing. Or rather rock climbing rediscovered me. I say “rediscover” because in years previous, I had visited the local rock gym about once a month. Once I rediscovered rock climbing, I realized it was very important to me in different ways.

Rock climbing makes me happy, and I love doing it. One thing about rock climbing that I truly enjoy is the feeling it gives me. When I am hanging off of a rock face, looking down at the ground and I feel the breeze on my face, I feel like I am on top of the world. Rock climbing is so important to me, I have done my very best to pursue it during my free time. Since rock climbing isn’t that popular of an activity in Stonington, I have gone to great lengths to attain my natural high. I have traveled an hour and a half to go to a rock gym, and pinpointed all gyms in Connecticut and Rhode Island, and visited as many as I could. In addition, I started a rock climbing club at school based around a small bouldering (climbing without a harness) wall. As a busy teenager, I always need something to help me unwind, and with rock climbing, the tension in my life is reduced.

Rock climbing is important to me in so many different ways, on so many different levels. As I mentioned before, Rock climbing is my natural high. Climbing provides an alternative for me. It is much more easy to avoid temptations when I have something else to go to instead. Rock climbing is sometimes my escape as well. I will get so wrapped up in the day, that when I climb, I just seem to let go of everything else temporarily, and hold on to the wall. Many other things give me these feelings, but I think that rock climbing probably is the most prominent of them all, the one that I am the best at, and the one that brings me the most joy.

This simple activity of vertically ascending rocks has shaped my life, and is one of my favorite activities. I may not do it every day, and I may not be the best in the world, but every second I am climbing, that is how I feel. So when the temptations come my way, I’m ready with my answer. “No, thank you” I’ll say, “ I get high by climbing.”

Tristans Graphic Organizer

1st Paragraph
--> Temptations
-->Natural high
-->Recent development

Body paragraph1
-->Feeling
-->Top of the world
-->imagery
-->Determination relation (importance)
-->The lengths I have gone to (club?)
-->Put before things

Body Paragraph 2
-->Natural High
-->Escape

Conclusion
-->Temptations reference
-->What rock climbing means to me
-->Natural high

Tristan's In-Class Essay!

Tristan Yerkes

Mr. Salsich

English 2

4 December, 2008

“The Chain Gang:
An Essay on a Quote From “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens
“If you were to die now, what would you regret about your life?” Brad Pitt says this as he and Edward Norton are speeding down the highway towards an oncoming tractor trailer in the movie “Fight Club” All the men in the back seat have an answer “Paint a self-portrait.” “Build a house.” The man in the front seat can’t decide. The truck gets dangerously close. Everyone has regrets about their life, and even if we aren’t faced with impending dooms enforced by Brad Pitt, we will all eventually recognize these regrets, and try to come to terms with them and live our lives. In “A Christmas Carol”, Marley doesn’t recognize how much he has missed in life when he, like all of us should live our lives.
TS: In “A Christmas Carol” Marley wears a chain that is supposed to show his incomplete life, we all wear some sort of chain, and we need to break that chain by living our lives. SD: Marley’s chain is “made of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses” signifying that he has bound himself by the limits of his business, everyone today has this chain in some form. CM: These chains can be broken by letting go, by hitting bottom, by acknowledging that at some point you don’t own your possessions, your possessions can own you. SD: Incompletion is a simple word used to signify that we haven’t done something until it is finished, until it is complete; Marly’s life had much incompletion, yes he had survived, but he hadn’t lived. CM: Some simple incompletion can build chains, but the importance of the incompletion in relation to the building in the life-binding chain has nothing to do with one’s peers, but with how they feel about the incompletion. CM: If I were to stop this essay here, and walk away to go do something else I would not have a heavier chain because Mr. Salsich would give me an F, but because I would deserve an F, if Charles Babbage had quit figuring out the Vigenere Cipher, he wouldn’t be incomplete because of other’s opinions, but because ha had wasted forty years doing it. SD: In “A Christmas Carol” Marley was obsessed with his worldly goods, and with sitting in his office, festering within the wall of worthless money he had built, bound by that chain of business that proved nothing except for that he hadn’t lived. CM: We all need to let go of our possessions, to know that they were unimportant to the business of mankind. CM: Scrooge had to come to terms with this to achieve both freedom from material, but also a charitable demeanor. SD: Some, like Scrooge and Marley, would think the practice of letting go pointless, but the fact remains that in retrospect, material possessions are the things that don’t matter. CM: The relationships that we share with our fellow human beings should be valued before anything else, and the first step towards this is putting people before things. CM: If people in general start living through their possessions, mankind would be nothing but a bunch of vegetables obsessed with how much money they have. CS: Scrooge and Marley were both surrounded by materials, incomplete events, and the chain that we all wear, but that can be easily avoided if one just lives their life.
Living one’s life endears all of the thinking of Christmas, and rather than focusing on how people enjoy other’s company, Scrooge chooses to focus on how one loses money on Christmas. If I were faced with an oncoming Truck, who knows what I would say, but after writing this, I am going to think long and hard about it. Marley faced Scrooge with a tractor trailer, and now Scrooge must give him an answer. By the end of this story, I hope that Scrooge will “Walk abroad his fellowmen, and travel far and wide.”

Tristan's Essay!

Tristan Yerkes
Mr. Salsich
Honors English 02
19 November 2008
“Green and Yellow:
An Essay About Heterosexism and Stump Olsen’s Talk”

"That's gay." This statement, while commonly used, is also derogatory. This statement, being derogatory, is very offensive to most gays, so when teenagers say, "That's gay" lightly, they really don't know how much pain and suffering these words cause. Ms. Olsen mentioned this when she came to talk to us about heterosexism and Youth Pride. Heterosexism is bad, and homosexuals are just as good as heterosexuals.

Even though people should be tolerant of others’ sexualities, they aren’t always, and when they aren’t, Ms. Olsen and youth pride are there to help. Ms. Olsen has the personal experience needed to have a complete understanding of how the kids who come to youth pride feel and are treated. “I would rather be called a […] than a lesbian because of how the term lesbian has been used against me” said Ms. Olsen, showing how badly she had been made fun of in school, talking of how she had been beaten up, shoved in lockers, and spent every living moment praying the bullies would "Beat the gay out of [her]." Today, things are much better, but still pretty bad, and with Ms. Olsen’s worst case scenario, she can understand how kids being made fun of at any level would feel. Ms. Olsen and Youth Pride also have the right feeling, without forming a cult, Youth Pride has become a close-knit community mainly because of the openness of everyone there. As Ms. Olsen talked to us, she wasn’t withdrawn, she wasn’t held back about anything, but most importantly, she wasn’t faking it. This attitude was great, and it helped us all open up with our questions and comments about the topic as it probably helps many other teens open up about their sexuality. Youth Pride also lets in teens, any teens. The fact that all teens are allowed in at Youth Pride makes it so much more helpful to the community, because not only do homosexual teens get educated, but “straight” teens can also glean understanding from visits. This acceptance of all teens also acts as a way to keep homosexual and heterosexual teens together, not forcing them apart or spacing them out. What Youth Pride does is great, and if there were more places like it, the world would truly be a better place.


Heterosexism is the very bad belief, with shaky foundations, of heterosexuals being better than homosexuals. Most heterosexist people have one basic flaw, they are scared of difference, making them scared of homosexuals, causing them to consider homosexuality as wrong. This belief is demonstrated countless times in human history, with the enslavement of colored people, the holocaust, 9/11, and the list keeps going. All of these events have been for specific reasons, varying, but all with the underlying concept of difference being wrong. Heterosexists may also be heterosexist because they were raised that way. In these cases, it is hard to decide who is at fault, while you cannot blame the person in question entirely, you still partially blame them for not seeing the light. With this situation, it is best to just try to help these people see how wrong their ways are, and to try to guide them away from that hate. Some people are heterosexist because of their religious views, and how they think that religion dictates how sexuality should be handled. This is one of those sticky situations when peoples rights collide, when the best that can be done is to decide which right is more inalienable. Love is inalienable. No matter what anything or anyone says, I think that love is the one most noble, most inalienable right anyone can have. Heterosexuals really, honestly have no acceptable, legitimate reason for how they feel, and if any of them were to lay down the facts and take a good look at them, they would feel like fools.

Heterosexists really don't have too much sense, but they can still hurt feelings of gays and make them feel horrible. So when people say, "That's gay" I just want to say to them, "So what? Does that make it bad?" I think that just because people love a different gender, they shouldn't have to wear a green tie and yellow handkerchief (Green And Yellow, GAY) to keep their preferences a secret. My heart beating, my head swimming with thoughts, I left the room that we listened to Ms. Olsen with a new perspective.

Tristan's Post!

Tristan Yerkes
Mr. Salsich
English 02
12 November 2008

A Land With Emotion:
An Analytical Essay on "The Way to Rainy Mountain"

Why does the land seem to have emotions? Sometimes the land may seem solemn, with brittle twigs, cold hard surfaces, and bleak horizons. Sometimes the land may seem happy and jubilant with warm weather, bright clear blue skies, and blossoming plants everywhere. Many moods can be shown in the land, and in "The Way to Rainy Mountain" N. Scott Momaday represents her grandmother's and his different moods.

TS: Throughout "The Way to Rainy Mountain" Momaday describes the land of his people in different ways, linking together the mood of the land with the mood of whomever he is talking about. SD: The weather is very important to the Native American people, as Momaday mentions on the second page when he talks about how his tribe worships the sun. CM: On the second page, Momaday mentions the sacred sun dolls that his tribe acquired from the Crows, who also shared their religion. CM: These religious beliefs are closely related to the weather, which could signify Momaday's referencing to the land's condition in relation to the condition of it's people. SD: On the third page, Mr. Momaday speaks of the highland meadows in July, describing them to be grand and "[to] cause the vision to reach away." CM: The way Mr. Momaday presents this description gives off the air of being something big and great, like some huge artifact that nobody has seen for thousands of years. CM: This mood is directly followed up by Momaday stating, "[The Kiowas] had come to the place where they must change their lives." CM: This condition of his tribe certainly is grand and important. SD: On page four, Momaday describes houses on the plains, saying that they were all worn away and the plains had the power to suck all life and color out of whatever was there, he says this right before and after remembering his grandmother. CM: This placement of his description could have been to say that his grandmother had had her life sucked away by the plains, had her color grayed by the onslaught of wind and weathering, and been left colorless and worn through. Mr. Momaday is trying to restore that color by remembering her and sharing his memories. CS: Through all of his essay, Mr. Momaday is constantly making references to people and their land, which is one reoccurring theme that helps with the mood of the story, smoothly transporting the reader.

After reading "The Way to Rainy Mountain" I was affected greatly, and I can attribute that mainly to Momaday's excellent writing and his ability to hold my attention with an iron fist that doesn't waver throughout the whole essay. If, in this essay Momaday had been describing bright happy green fields the whole time, I would wonder exactly what was going on, but his blend of emotions provided me with exact emotions in relation to the story. Other than the nuances of Mr. Momaday's descriptive writing, the whole story had a general mood of something great being lost, and that's exactly what happens with his grandmother. We know why the land seems to have emotions, but not only that, but how they affect people, and how they can represent how people feel.

Tristan's Essay!

Tristan Yerkes
Mr. Salsich
5 November 2008
Subtle Detail:
An Essay on the Importance of Re-Reading in “The Garden Party”
Why do people re-read stories? Some re-read because they enjoyed the original read so much, some re-read because they missed something the first time they read the text, and yet some re-read just because they have nothing else to read. Regardless of why one re-reads, whenever they do, they find new things. No matter how good someone’s memory may be, they will always miss some detail, detail that can prove very important to the story. This phenomenon is perfectly illustrated in “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield.
Minor details can be evasive to an unwary mind, so sometimes re-reading can recapture those details and apply them to glean new information. One minor detail that I failed to fully grasp the first time I read “The Garden Party” was how perfect the scenario was for a garden party. This is shown in the very first line of text when Ms. Mansfield says, “The weather was ideal. They could not have had a more perfect day for a garden party.” (Mansfield, 1) This little detail, though it seems unimportant, actually shows why Jose and Laura’s mother are reluctant to cancel later in the story. Another easily missed minor detail in “The Garden Party”, is the want for Laura to fill her mothers shoes. This is shown when Laura attempts to copy her mothers voice when speaking to the marquee workmen. This little scrap of information, though small can show reason as to why Laura takes heed to her mothers advice so easily, and backs down from cancelling the garden party. One last little detail would be Laura’s desire to befriend the workmen in place of her rich upper class friends. This one sentence on page three, “Couldn’t she have workmen for friends rather than the silly boys she danced with?” (Mansfield, 3) suggests changes in Laura’s attitude toward her own class. This is important because throughout the story, Laura shows want to detach from the rich upper class life she leads.
It is apparent that re-reading can uncover unfound details in the text that can make one rethink parts of a story completely, not just in “The Garden Party”, but in almost all texts. In almost all situations, it is a good idea to re-read a text just to see why people in it did what they did, or thought what they thought. These key details are easily read, picked up, and analyzed to help gain understanding of how a story is put together.

Tristan's Essay

Tristan Yerkes
Mr. Salsich
English 2
20 October, 2008
Remember to Appreciate:
An Essay Discussing Appreciation in Zora Neale Hurston’s, “What it Feels Like to be Colored Me.”

Sometimes we make the hasty assumption that we should be constantly appreciating those who have shaped our lives, when instead we should be living our lives to the extent intended by our predecessors. For example, and I do not mean to offend anyone with these next ideas, I find that this approach is most useful with religion. I think that if there was a god, he or she would most likely rather we spend our Sunday mornings out and about, enjoying the lives he or she gave us. I think that a possible god would not have created life, if that life was not meant to be enjoyed. Of course, this approach does conveniently get me out of Sunday school, but I find it most logical.
Ms. Hurston has similar ideas in her essay, saying that slavery, and slavery reconstruction was a thing of the past, which had underlying ideas of how she should appreciate her ancestor’s sacrifice. Ms. Hurston appreciated her ancestors, respected her ancestors, but did not worship her ancestors as some may do. Ms. Hurston clearly said in her essay, “I am off to a flying start, and I must not halt in the stretch and look behind to weep.”(Hurston, 115) In this profound allegory, Ms. Hurston basically says that she doesn’t want to slow herself down by looking back at the past and worshipping her ancestors. Ms. Hurston says that she was raised by people whose feelings were all hurt over slavery. Since Ms. Hurston was raised in such a community, it is really quite amazing that she could emerge from such a childhood with such an astounding opinion about how to appreciate the price she paid, through her ancestors, for civilization. Ms. Hurston describes her childhood with a voice of a parent talking about a pouting baby, suggesting that her community needed to grow up, and stop feeling sorry for themselves. Ms. Hurston was barely ever daunted by discrimination, and merely thought it was just another factor in her life, and she could decide how she felt about it, not necessarily agreeing with her childhood community. Ms. Hurston, in her essay, talks about how the idea of her actions getting either double the good reaction, or double the bad reaction was just exciting for her. This attitude of not considering how people thought pigheadedly of her being different suggested that she had the rare non biased opinion that helped her formulate her excellent opinions on slavery. Some of Ms. Hurston’s fellow’s opinions of how badly African Americans were treated did nothing but wedge open the already large separating gap between black and white people.

Despite the gap between our two races, Ms. Hurston and I both appreciate without worshiping, perhaps for different things, but with the same ideas in mind. I sometimes feel that I am the only one appreciating something, or that I am the only one who appreciates something fully. When I play music for others, for example, expecting them to dance with joy at the intensity of the song, I generally find that they have responses more like, "Hey, that's great, listen to this song." Not only do I get this response a lot with music, but I also find that many will respond with lukewarm appreciation when I'm enjoying a sunset, a poem, or even a work of art. Sometimes, I feel like I should be appreciating other things more than I already am. If I look at something, or hear something that I immediately judge on how it should be appreciated, I stop and think further about how I should be appreciating it. Sometimes, I feel differently about that one thing, but most of the time I feel the same way, which leaves me wondering why my first observations are so accute. I try my very best not to worship things, but sometimes I find myself really over appreciating things that need not be. When I was young, and again, these are only my own opinions, I worshipped god every Sunday, but when I actually thought about what I was doing, I decided a better way of appreciation was necessary. I sometimes got to the point of worshipping people for their arts, when really what I should have been doing was enjoying those arts. I think this appreciation in my life helps me as well as other people get a better grip of how important everything is in the scale of things.

Appreciation plays a big role in my life, and I'm sure it played a big part in Ms. Hurston's life. This helped guide both of us, helping us decide weather to live our lives in someone's shadow, or live them in broad daylight. Either way, it is important to appreciate, and to remember, but I think worshipping is a waste of time. On a finishing note, I must say, this essay really helped me discover new things about myself.


Works Cited:
Hurston, Zora Neale. "How It Feels to Be Colored Me." The Best American Essays of the Century. Atwan, Robert . Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.