Weekend Article

Why does Zakaria think that social mobility is going down in the United States? What do you think about his conclusions?

He thinks that social mobility is going down in America because Americans are only funding institutions for the wealthy. The wealthy in America are only funding the wealthy, and the poor have no money to help their children succeed without a healthy welfare program. Which America does not have.    I agree with most of his conclusions, although I do not think that the poor should get anymore money than they already do solely through welfare. 

What is the biggest factor for getting the US back on track with the American Dream and social mobility? Why?

The biggest change that has to be made in America is a country wide public school system that is not only welcoming of all people, but also funded well. With a school system that has generous opportunities for all students and a well-equipped staff, all students will be equal, regardless of family history. 

Piano Lesson Act 1

1. Who are the ghosts of the Yellow Dog?

They are the ghosts of the people Sutter burned alive in a box car called Yellow Dog after one of them, Boy Willie's father, stole his piano.

2. How is the "n word" used so far?

In a friendly kind of familial manner, like calling someone 'bro'.

3. What is the Irene Kauffman Settlement House?

A house in a poor area where working class and upper class were brought together, in the 1880's.

4. What is Parchman Farm a historical reference to?

A maximum security prison, the Mississippi State Penitentiary, where Boy Willie has been jailed before the book begins. 

(I was absent and was allowed an extra day for this :) thank you)

Coding Assignment

The forest near them burst into uproar. Demoniac figures with faces of white and red and green rushed out howling, so that the littluns fled screaming. Out of the corner of his eyes, Ralph saw Piggy running. Two figures rushed at the fire and he prepared to defend himself but they grabbed half-burnt branches and raced away along the beach. The three others stood still, watching Ralph; and he saw that the tallest of them, stark naked save for the paint and a belt, was Jack.

TH -- Repetition
S -- Alliteration
Rushed -- Repetition
Word Choice -- Use of dark and frantic language

     No sounds or letters repeat in the first half of this paragraph, it's just frantic language and tone changes.In the last two sentences almost every word has a repeating sound. The point of this is that in the beginning everything is frantic and scary and jolting, so the language resembles that. Near the end everything has settled, everyone is standing still, and the chaos has ended. The last two sentences move freely and with a certain suavity that the beginning lacks. And at the very end, where the savage is revealed as Jack, the words suddenly stop flowing, fitting with Ralph's shock of recognizing the painted boy as his old friend. This passage is silently showing Ralph's reactions to the situation, from terror and panic to calm and slow to absolute shock.

First Blog Writing Assignment

   In key passage 6 Ralph biting his fingernails symbolizes the boys becoming savages. “They were bitten down to the quick though he could not remember when he had restarted this habit nor any time that he had indulged in it.” The boys didn’t see what they were doing when they killed Simon and Piggy, they didn’t understand the gravity of it.
   At the end of the novel when the officer comes, introducing a new point of view, all the boys all begin to cry. As if they are just realizing that they’ve been biting their nails the whole time.
   This symbol connects to the book’s theme of ‘evil not seeing evil’. When you are the bad guy in a situation you don’t consciously make decisions thinking that they are wrong, but when you look back on the situation, you can see the evil that you’ve done.