Answering "The Call of the Wild"

Dogs snarling. Teeth baring. Growls echoing. Jack London illustrates the dogs' fights with a clarity I've scare encountered. His novel, The Call of the Wild, has been my favorite assigned novel in class this year.

Jack London's Buck, though a dog, was an easily relatable character. Buck learned quickly how to survive in the brutal wild of the Yukon. I remembered my own changes as I entered the savage high school I now attend. Buck kept you rooting for him through the whole novel.

Jack London's style was very compelling. His descriptions of every aspect were full of clarity and vividness. They were exact and appealing without being flowery and fussy.

The Call of the Wild was a book that could aimed be toward both genders. It was full of violence and danger and thrill for the restless, antsy boys. Girls could just as easily fall in love with the loyal, loving Buck.

I would recommend The Call of the Wild to anyone-girl or boy, child or adult.

The Tragic Tale of Antigone

Juliet=Antigone?

It always begins with feuding families and forbidden love. Reading Sophocles' Antigone, I couldn't help but notice the blatant similarities between this play and of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. 

Having previously read Bill Shakespeare's play, the plot of Antigone seemed very familiar. Haemon and Antigone's opposed relationship was near identical to that of Romeo and Juliet's. Also, both twosome committed suicide to deal with the toils proposed by their families. 

Unlike Romeo and Juliet, Sophocles was written in a language much easier to decipher and comprehend. The language gave way to the time period through 'pop culture' references of the age through myths and legends of the people. 

While often moving, I would not recommend Antigone for leisure reading. The work is too short to connect to the characters and is lacking the compelling romance of Shakespeare's ever living classic.

The Art of Persuasion

"Please? Please! May I?" the young girl pleads. It was just like what I did to get my sister Hannah out of trouble when she yelled.

I went in with a strategy formed in my brain. I had to make sure I was respectful to my parents at all times. First, I told my parents that I understood where they were coming from with their punishment. Then, I nicely asked if I could make a revision. Hunt was granted the privilege of an "alone" date at the movie theatre many years before Hannah and I. I asked if he could go with a group to chaperone the couple. I also asked if they would take away Hannah's grounding for berating Hunt. she yelled at Hunt not our parents. Hannah did have a right to be angry after all. She was upset that she was being babied while Hunt- two years below her- had more freedom. I told our parents to apologize to Hannah for hurting her feelings and that all of them should explain themselves and move on. My strategy to change my parents' mind was a lot like the one Haemon used to change Creon's, his father, mind in Antigone, written by Sophocles. Haemon also built up his father's confidence-as evidenced by lines 644-647.

"Father, I am yours, and as you have me,

You guide the best course for me to follow

No marriage will ever be more important to

me than justly carrying out your precepts."

When I went in complimenting my parents' punishment for Hannah, I mimicked Haemon's plot. Haemon, too, respected his father's authority-as evidence by lines 697-699.

" I don't how I could say you don't

Speak correctly,  but sometimes another

Man's opinion is also right."

When I discussed my discretions with my parents' sentence, I too used my manners and a respectful tone to make my tries for releasing Hannah more prone to success. 

My efforts to save Hannah from her unjust punishment were a success. My parents followed through with my advice, and they did not think I spoke out of turn. Hannah was happy with the results, and Hunt was not angry with his freedom being suddenly limited. My plan worked because I kept a respectful tone to my voice. I asked permission to edit my parents' verdict and used manners through the whole discussion. It also worked because I compromised. I didn't say everything my parents said was rubbish, and I based my opinions on Hannah's feelings and thoughts.

My parents were more willing than Creon, but it still took effort and thought to sway them. In the end, however, I won them over.

Sophomore Year-Thus Far

My sophomore year at Batesville High School has been a year of firsts.

It began with a first day at high school which was both thrilling and terrifying at the same time. I was elated with the feeling of being older, more mature. All the while, I was scared of what my teachers would make of me and what the upper classmen would think as the 'newbies' entered the door. I walked doe-eyed through the hall searching for the room number of the upcoming class and a familiar face who might know their own way around and could help me.

It was a year of first struggle with friends. My year was full of tears as we all adjusted to how we were changing just as those all around us were. Where did we stand anymore?

It was year of first trust as my parents finally saw me as old as I saw myself. I wasn't a baby anymore. They believed that right along with me.

It was a year of new technology with a new blog started. 

It was a year of finally being proud of my work. 

It was a year of first independence.

The semester ended with my first license-a first real freedom. I thought I felt big entering the front doors in August. That day was nothing compared to how I felt driving with my sister to Sonic for a sorely needed Dr. Pepper. 

The year is only half through. I know many more firsts are promised to me. 

After all, this has been a year of change.

You've Got a Friend in Me

Through out one of his many plays, William Shakespeare weaves the theme of friendship throught his many stanzas and lines.

By reading Julius Caesar, I can honestly tell you dear old Bill Shakespeare taught me quite a lesson. Marc Antony was a loyal and genuine friend to the murdered Shakespeare. At the final battle between Antony and Brutus and Co., Marc Antony triumphs. I believe this to be a reward for his dedication to Caesar.

"That I did love thee, Caesar, O, 'tis true!" - Marc Antony

Act 3, Scene 1, Line 213

Antony professes his love for Caesar

However, many of the conspirators in the plot to kill Caesar lay dead at the play's end. I take this to be a punishment for such betrayal. While no one killed them, they died at their own hand.

"Caesar, thou art revenged

Even with the sword that killed thee."- Cassius

Cassius had his servant stab him.

The Antony of Today?

It is well known that Mark Antony, a proven public speaker, possessed a multitude of leadership skills. In a single speech delivered at Julius Caesar's funeral, he rallied a crowd of plebeians. Turning them away from new found allegiance to Brutus, he spoke with enough fire to stir a sloth.

"Have patience, gentle friends. I must not read it.

It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you.

You are not wood, you are not stones, but men.

And, being men, hearing the will of Caesar,

It will inflame you; it will make you mad.

'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs,

For if you should, O, what would come of it?"

-Mark Antony

"Read the will! We'll hear it Antony."

-Fourth Plebeian

Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 150-159

This portion of Mark Antony's speech at Caesar's funeral illustrates the turning point in the attitude of the plebeians formerly revering Brutus Cassius.

Possessing the same skill, Barack Obama could easily be compared to Mark Antony. If you were one who listened to Senator Obama's , it is easy to 'hear' that the president-elect is a talented speaker. And as made clear by his election, the senator shares the same leadership skills possessed by Antony himself.

Can You Hear Me Now? How About Now?

Just like the Verizon wireless TV commercials, it is often hard for us to hear what others are trying to tell us. In Sean Covey's book, The 7 Habits for Highly Effective Teens, Habit 5, entitled "Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood", made me evaluate my own listening skills. Hanging my head in shame, I must admit that I am often guilty of turning half an ear to those trying to talk to me.

My listening deficiencies often leave assignments as knotty as many of Einstein's formulas. As I read this chapter, I realized just how often I found myself using the poor listening skills noted by Covey. 

For example:

Spacing Out: I often find myself daydreaming in class, as many of us do. When I emerge from Dreamland, I often realize I have missed key points of a class lecture.

Pretend Listening: When I mumble "uh-huhs" and "sures" on the phone, I am pretend listening when really homework or the addictive Facebook has stolen my eye.

Advising: My sister, one I care so deeply for, often comes to me with her toils and troubles of the eighth grade. But rather than sympathize and try to remember where she is coming from, I force my own ideas and advice down her throat. I forget that she really needs me to just listen. She will figure out what is the best course for herself.