Forever 21

I browse the racks searching for clothes
The place smells of new shoes and credit cards
All the mannequins are dressed so nicely 
The air tastes like stale crackers as the cashier checks someone out
Desire sounds like the beeps from the register
The dress draws me in closer as it quietly screams "Pick me!"

So Typical

            In Mary Carr’s “A Blessing from my Sixteen Years' Son” the mother is starting to come to terms with her quickly growing son. In most parent child relations, the parent realizes that one moment will most likely be the last time they will be able to do a certain thing with their child. In “A Blessing from my Sixteen Years’ Son” it was that the mother was able to tuck her son into bed for the last time, probably ever. My mother and I have gone through very similar things, maybe not with the tucking in, but with other last times. This year is especially full of those moments, with me going off to college next year. Just a few weeks ago my mother and I had one of these moments. Christmas time is full of family time, one of my mom and I’s favorite Christmas activity is decorating the tree. As we were decorating it this year though, we realized that it would probably be the last time we decorated it together for a while at least. Its moments like that and the one in “A Blessing from my Sixteen Years’ Son” that you realize how much your family truly means to you.

Take a Tour of "Wheels"

            As you look deeply into the poem “Wheels” by Jim Daniels you see that Daniels is speaking of his brother, and how he had pictures of all the cars he has had. He describes the picture and what is going on in it. At the end of the poem we read that there was no camera to save him, possibly indicating a terrible event. If you just glance at the poem you will notice that it has a lot of line breaks, making the poem very thin, all hugging the left margin. You will also notice that the author says each automobile by name. The last few lines of the poem are separated from the rest of the poem, also possibly indicating a life altering event.

Jorge the Church Janitor Finally Quits

"More than just that Guy that Cleans for You"

If I had to come up with a bumper sticker for Jorge it would say "More than just that Guy that Cleans for You", because he is sick of people just not even acknowledging  his presence. He is sick of getting categorized and judging into being this person that the only job they can get is the janitor position that he has. He says that no one will even notice he is not there any more after he quits. He does not want people to categorize him like the do to him now. He wishes that people did not act the way they did towards him, he knows they think that he is just a janitor and he cant really do anything else, but he wants people to see through that and see that he is more than just the person that cleans up after everybody.

¿Qué es poesía?

¿Qué es poesía?, dices mientras clavas
En mi pupila tu pupila azul.
¡Qué es poesía! ¿Y tú me lo preguntas?
Poesía eres tú.

What is poetry? You say,
While staring with your soft pale blue eyes.
What is poetry? And you ask me?
Poetry is you.

Comfort in Fear

            She looked at the clock, it read 3:42. Had it really only been three minutes since the last time that she checked? Something must of gone wrong, Madison thought, something always went wrong. As she sat in the doctor’s office she noticed the plain white walls, which were like every other doctors office she had ever been to. But something about this one was different, these white walls made her feel sad, or maybe she was just feeling anxious.

            It was the first time she had been sick since she moved to Seattle from Redondo Beach. She moved there on a whim. She couldn’t take the sadness that followed her at her prior home. Every where she went, she was known. People looked at her and knew that her dad was the one that was murdered. It followed her every where, even two years later. So she had to leave. She transferred from UCLA to University of Washington, packed up, and just left, leaving her mother and younger brother. She liked it there, no one knew her as the one with the dead father, and no one felt the need to say they were “So sorry for her loss”, as if they knew what it was like. But here she had a great job, and great friends, even if she did miss her mom and brother. She was where she belonged.

            “Madison Cook?” the nurse said to the room full of people. Madison stood up and began walking over to the nurse.

“The doctor has your results.” She said in a calming voice. Madison followed as the nurse walked her back to a brand new plain white room, but this one wasn’t crowded with people. She sat up on the bed waiting for the doctor to come in. Fortunately it took no time at all before the doctor came in to read her the results of all the blood work and tests that she had taken.

“Hello Madison, my name is Doctor Jones.” He said to Madison as he looked down at his laptop.

“Hi, Dr. Jones” Madison said quickly in reply. He was handsome, she noticed, and surprisingly young, probably not much older than she was.

“So you are here today to see the results to your tests, I see.” He said in a low voice. Madison nodded, still wondering his age.

“Well I have some bad news for you; your white blood cell count is extremely low. This could be caused by a multitude of things, but we want to keep a very close eye on it, so we are going to have you come back in in a week.” Doctor Jones said in the most comforting voice Madison had ever heard anyone use.

Madison didn’t say anything, she didn’t move, she just stared blankly at the doctor. She knew what low white blood cell count meant, it meant leukemia, her grandmother had died from it, but she never thought she would get it, never in a million years. She wanted to cry, but she couldn’t, not there, not in the plain white room of the doctor’s office. Madison got up to leave, she wanted to get out of there, and she wanted to run away from all of her problems. She wanted to go see the one person that she knew could make her feel better.

“If you have any questions you can call anytime you need,” the doctor said as he wrote down his phone number, “And make sure you make another appointment at the front desk on your way out” He said as Madison took the note from the doctors hands and rushed out of the room.

When she finally got home there was a note on the island in the kitchen from her roommate, Katie. “Out shopping, hope everything is OK” it read. Madison crumpled it up and flopped on the couch. She grabbed her phone and immediately dialed Alex’s number. Alex was her best friend and boyfriend, he could make her laugh no matter what, and she definitely needed to laugh now.

“Hello” Alex said as he answered the phone.

“Come over” She said in response. Then the phone went silent and she knew he was on his way.

“Record time” Alex said as he opened the door.

It was record time, good thing because she needed him now. She ran into his warm arms and squeezed him tight. She didn’t say anything; she didn’t feel the need to say anything.

“What’s wrong?” Alex asked, as they walked over to the couch, Madison still squeezing tight to him.

She began to cry. She couldn’t hold it in any longer. Alex was confused, but knew not to push it, not to remind her of whatever had gone wrong. He was just there for her to be her big teddy bear, he stroked her arm. She looked up at him, into his loving eyes and stopped crying, she no longer felt the fear of the possibility of her having leukemia, but felt perfectly happy. For the rest of the day Madison laid in Alex’s arms saying nothing, doing nothing. She felt safe with him; she wished it could stay like this forever.

Memorable Teachers

            In the short story, “Gryphon” the students of a fourth grade class have a very interesting substitute come and teach their class for a few days. Ms. Ferenczi was a fresh and new person in the town, something that none of the kids were used to in their little northern rural town. The children don’t really know how to react to Ms. Ferenczi’s strange teaching style, but at first they seem to like the change. Although as the story progresses her style becomes weirder and weirder. One thing that never seems to happen in Ms. Ferenczi’s class is that it never really seems to get boring. This reminds me of my sixth and seventh grade teacher, Mrs. Hoskins. Mrs. Hoskins taught history and always knew how to make it fun. She and Ms. Ferenczi are similar in that way, but also in the way that they both are a little strange. Mrs. Hoskins would always wear the craziest outfits and had the strangest room decorations, but that was one of the things that made her class fun and interesting. We never did the same thing twice and she let us use our imaginations while we learned instead of teaching such a strict curriculum. Mrs. Hoskins, like Ms. Ferenczi, is a teacher you just can not forget.

The Secret of the Cathedral

            Throughout the story “Cathedral” it is evident that the main character, Bub, has gone through some very traumatic events through his life. These things have led him to become this very disconnected person that just doesn’t connect with anybody, not even his wife. When his wife has a friend of hers, who is blind, come into town, Bub does not really know how to react. Instead of smoking that night, Bub has a break through with Robert. When Robert tells him to just close his eyes and draw a Cathedral, suddenly a new world was opened up to him. Instead of what Bub thought would happen with the blind man, something completely different happened for Bub. He connected with Robert more than he had connected with anyone in a long time. Bub had changed from a completely closed off, standoffish guy, to more of a open man with just the help of the blind man.

Abner and Share Cropping

Share cropping is the act of a landowner and a tenant farmer, where the farmer is provided with credit for seeds, tools, living quarters, and food, who work the land. This affects Abner in more ways than one. Because he and his family partake in share cropping he knows that he is not providing for his family as great as he could be providing for his family. This makes him feel like he is not doing all that he can to make his life for his family easier, but that he is actually making the life hard for his family. Also the aspect of share cropping that forces the tenant farmer to rely on the land owner does not sit well with Abner. In the story we get the feeling from Abner that he is somewhat of a large man with an even larger ego. Having Abner needing to rely on someone else to help him provide for his family is not good for Abner. Although these things do not make up for the things that Abner does through out the story it gives us an insight to a possible reason for why Abner does the things he does.

Marthas Meaning

            Amidst all of the hard ship and war that has fallen around Lieutenant Cross the only thing that he can think about is Martha. To Cross Martha represents home and his life away from the war. The pebble, picture, and the letters are constant reminders to him of her and everything that she represents. Martha also is motivation to Cross. She is motivation to Cross because she is the representation of home, and of all the women and people that he, and all the other soldiers are fighting for. Cross sees Martha as peaceful, soft, and feminine and all the good things in life which helps him escape all of the gruesome things that are happening all around him in the war. At the end when Cross decides to burn all of the letters from Martha with it he is loosing sight of what he is truly fighting for. He thinks that by getting rid of this vision of Martha and everything that she means to him, his home, and his life before the war, he will become a more focused soldier and less emotionally attached to the world he left behind.

Family Connection

In “Everyday Use” you get the feeling that family is important to Maggie from an early point in the story. She values the bond that she has with her mother and the ties that she has with her family history. One of the ways she shows this is through the quilt. The quilt represents their family history, and their family heritage. It is also a symbol of their culture. The fact that Maggie knows so much about this quilt shows her connection with her family, and shows how she cares for her family so much. The way that Dee only wants the quilt to hang up and display it in her house shows how completely out of tune she is with her family. Even though she is trying so hard to “connect” with her culture and where she came from she is actually completely overlooking the true place she came from. Maggie does a much better job of making connections with her past than Dee does, and Maggie is not trying to make connections, she just does it naturally.

I am Sorry Mom

Dear Mom,

I am so sorry for everything that I did; I know that it was harsh. I’m sorry that the things I did and said to you hurt you, but I need you to know that I had to do them. I had to do them to become who I truly wanted to be and not who you wanted me to be. I am sorry that I disappointed you so much in your life; I know that you lost everything in China and that you just wanted me to succeed and excel in life. I do thank you for giving me all of the opportunities that you gave me, I wish I had truly tried in all of them. I want you to know that I appreciate how much you cared about me and how much you wanted me to find something that I was good at. I love you very much.

Love,

Your Daughter

Dear Mom

Dear Mom,

I did something the other day, something rash and sudden, and also kind of stupid. I quit my job, now I know what you are going to say, that it was irresponsible and that I need that job, but there are other jobs out there for me to get, and I will get one of those jobs. But you should be proud of me for the reason I quit, plus I used grandmas’ favorite saying, fiddle-dee-doo, it was great. The reason that I quit though was because of my boss. He is a real stickler you know, there were these three girls that came into the store to quickly pick up something really quick for their parents, but they were wearing their bathing suits. My boss got quite mad at them so I quit, to be their hero. Don’t worry though I will be getting a new job soon so you don’t have to be mad. I just wanted to let you know that. Well I love you and hope things are going well with you.

Love your Son,

Sammy

For the Young Soccer Star

Always wear your shin guards in games; always play your hardest; never give up; when slide tackling for the ball always put one leg behind you; never let the other team score; always use your laces when shooting; don’t act like your too cool for your team; always bond with your teammates; never be a ball hog, no one likes a ball hog; always help when someone needs it; always be open on the field; create space when you pass the ball; when playing up, never get caught off sides; never lift your foot up while throwing in the ball; never touch the ball with your hands when you are playing on the field unless you are the goalie; if you are goalie always pay attention to what the other team is doing; always mark your man, and when you do not have a man, mark the open space; always envision what will happen in a play, and always plan ahead; never get to cocky, no one them either; always see who you are playing to; always plan ahead, and if your plan does not work make something up; always be a team player; never forget what team you play for; always remember the name on the front of your jersey is more important than the one on the back.

Rhetorical Analysis of Kingsolver

In Barbara Kingsolver’s writing, she uses many different techniques to get her point across. By the end of the piece of work, Kingsolver wants the reader to feel like they are able to do the same thing that she was able to do. One of the main things that Barbara Kingsolver does in her writing is that she uses a lot of humor in her pieces and books. In Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, the beginning of the book starts out with an anecdote, describing her and her families first steps to the year they were about to embark on. She uses humor as she describes that their first stop was at a gas station to get some fossil fuels and junk food, just to through a little bit of irony to what they were about to do for a year. In Lily’s Chickens, Barbara Kingsolver also uses humor in the beginning, and throughout the essay. One part of her humor is this “To be five years old and have some other life form entirely under your control- not counting goldfish or parents- is a majestic state of affairs”. This adds humor because it is saying that the five year old has control of her parents. Another thing that Kingsolver does is that she does not scare off her audience, she makes herself relatable. The same thing that was comical in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle also shows that Kingsolver is relatable. She is showing that even though she was able to finish this amazing task of living off of the land for a year, she, and her family, still like these junk foods, and that way she is just like us and our families. This also allows Kingsolver to gain credibility because she is not attacking the audience, and making them feel bad for it, but she is making herself seem more like us, which readers like to hear. Kingsolver also does not separate herself from the audience, she saws things that include her and the audience in one big group instead of blaming and telling the audience that they did something wrong. Instead of doing that she includes herself with the audience which also helps her gain her credibility and makes her more relatable. Kingsolver also uses a lot of pathos, ethos and logos to create more effective writing. The logos in her writing also gives her more credibility by stating true and correct statistics and facts, while the pathos of her writing appeals to the emotions of the reader, and the ethos of the writing gives it a more real, and personal touch. Kingsolver uses all of these different techniques to make her writing effective and really reach out to the reader, and truly getting her final message to the reader.

Barbara Kingsolver's Garden

Although I am not an avid or advanced gardener, I have had my fair share of gardens, small as they might have been. When Barbara Kingsolver spoke of how her and her family lived off of mainly their own, or locally grown food, I was amazed. From my little knowledge of gardening, I know that taking care of a garden is a hard task, although living in Texas may have made it a little more difficult. I was so shocked that Kingsolver and her family were actually able to basically live off of their land. When I had my garden with my dad, the only thing we actually were able to grow were tomatoes, and there were slim pickings of those to say the least. The basic reason that I wanted to have a garden was to have something that my dad and I could do together, not to have fresh food. Living in the day and age that we live in, I thing we forget where our food truly comes from, which I why I was so in awe that Kingsolver was able to accomplish this task.

Rhetorical Analysis of Emerson

            Ralph Waldo Emerson was an avid writer who had many topics to write about. In one of his most famous works, “Self Reliance”, he uses many different tactics to develop his writing to become effective. “Self Reliance” was written in the 1800’s. “Self Reliance” was also written during the time of transcendentalism which explains a lot of its messages that Emerson speaks of. Throughout the essay Emerson uses many different strategies but many of these include his style, his tone, and his emotions, or pathos, and his metaphors he brings into his essay.

            Beginning in the second paragraph, Emerson uses pathos a lot. When he says “envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good” It feeds to peoples emotions, people do not want to think that imitating someone or something is, in Emerson’s mind, suicide. It gets to the people emotionally because they do not want to think of these things the ways that Emerson thinks of them, they also feel down about their envy they feel, or the imitation they have done. In “Self Reliance” Emerson also says this metaphor, “The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray. We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. ” This metaphor can seem a bit confusing when first read, the reader may first think, “what does an eye have to do with self reliance?” Though when thought about in the context of the text, it actually has a lot in common with it. It speaks about how that you were given your own two eyes to see, to have your own views, and those views are yours and only yours, and they are original to each and every person. While if you take someone else’s views then your views are no longer the same, they are no longer original. Another thing that Emerson does to emotionally get to the reader is by including God in the essay. When God is mentioned in any essay it automatically catches the attention of the audience whether that is supposed to happen or not, because God and religion is such a touchy subject with most people.

            Continuing on to the second paragraph, Emerson again uses pathos to make his writing effective. In the first sentence pathos is especially used. “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” This not only uses pathos by speaking to the emotions of the readers, but it also uses tone. In this sentence Emerson uses a different tone, a happier, more exaggerated tone. While also using the “Trust thyself” to feed on the emotions of the readers. Also by Emerson saying “every heart vibrates to that iron string” he is using a metaphor that makes the tone of the paragraph become very happy and upbeat because of the reference to music. As the paragraph continues on it has much more pathos, referring to the fact that you should accept your place in society instead of being envious of someone elses place. “Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being.” In this sentence from the essay the style that Emerson uses is different, he uses parallel sentence structure by saying “working through their hands, predominating in all their being.” In doing this Emerson adds emphasis to that part of the sentence, and therefore also adds more pathos to his essay, because the readers feel something more to that part of the sentence. As the paragraph progresses Emerson uses more metaphors and pathos to make his essay more and more effective. In the last few words of the essay, Emerson uses the words “Chaos and the Dark” by using these words the tone of the paragraph seems to change a little bit to more of a mysterious tone, simply because of those two words. Though the two final words change the tone of the last sentence of the paragraph remains the same upbeat, happy tone it was.

            Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the most influential writers of his time, and he did not get to become as influential as he was by using normal writing. His writings fed off the emotions of his readers and his metaphors, tone, and style all helped him become so influential. By reading Emerson’s essays, writings, and poems we learn how simple things used in the correct manners can make pieces of writing much, much more powerful.

Emerson Seeks Friend

 

Activities:

• Intellectual Conversation
• Edit each others work
• Share ideas about new writing pieces

I am a very spiritual person and am part of the transcendentalist movement. I would need a friend that had the same beliefs that I have, they must hold nature very close to their hearts, and believe in one omnipresent God. They would also need to believe very strongly in the power of choice, that everyone’s opinions are valid and that they should not change to meet the status quo. They must also believe in creative visualization and that they must be somewhat of spiritual people.

I want a friend that is not afraid to be who they are no matter what people might think of them. He would like a friend that is able to think for their own selves and not alter their own opinion after they hear the opinions of others. I also feel very strongly that friendship is a precious and rare thing, I would like my friend to feel the same thing, and I would want them to cherish the friendship that we share with each other. I would also like a friend that would be someone who would not judge me or my thoughts that I share with this friend. I would also want someone that has the same beliefs as me, but also someone who would be able to better myself as a person. I would want a friend that was not afraid to go after what they wanted in life, someone who was not scared off by obstacles. Also I would want someone that was not afraid to challenge society and go against the grain, against the normal. Finally, I would want a friend that was not an imitation of someone or something else, someone that was truly their selves one hundred percent of the time. 

Friendship is a precious thing. True friendship is hard to find, but when it is found it is something to be cherished, and never taken for granted. I think that friendship is something that does not need to provide material benefits or any kind of gain from it. It in its basic form is a simple bond between two people that share similar views on some things. Friendship should be effortless and non judgmental. Every man when by himself has the greatest of intention, but when placed with other men, some how their intentions get altered. I think that true friendship is what everyone wants, but few can actually ever achieve. People first have to learn how to be a friend if they are ever going to want or have a friend. Friendship should first and foremost non judging. When with a friend one should never be afraid to speak their mind, a friend should be that person that you can share anything with and not be judged for it. When with that friend it should be a safe spot where anything can be shared, no matter what it is, an opinion, a secret, anything. Friendship should also be something that people never want to loose. They should keep it so close to their heart that it is like a part of them, a part that they can not imagine living without. It should be something that is not put on the back burner or not taken care of for a while; it should always be a priority. Lastly friendship should be something that makes people better, it should be something that helps both friends become better people, helping people learn about each other as well as themselves.

Emerson and Friends

Ralph Waldo Emerson possessed many admirable traits in his day. From believing that you should be confident in your own ideas to his belief that character was one of the most important things about a person. Though Ralph Waldo Emerson’s trait that I can most relate to is that you should be able to be the “real” you when you are with your friends, and his overall view on friends.

            Emerson has said “A friend is one before whom I may think aloud.” To me this says a lot. I have had many friends that I could not be my complete self around, fearing that I would be judged if I stepped one foot out of “my place”. I know that that is not how friends should be; you should be able to be your self around all of your friends, like Emerson has said. Although hard as it might be to accomplish that, knowing that even by my best friends I can, and most times will get judged, but hey I am only in high school. Friends should be the people that you are not scared to show your full self, and be able to share your true thoughts around without fear of judgment.

            Ralph Waldo Emerson has also said this about friends, “The only way to have a friend is to be one”. This quote is also very relatable in my life. I have gone through experiences in my life where all I really needed was someone to just be there for me, and those people that were there for me became my better friends. Also another simple example of that Emerson quote is if it is someone’s birthday on facebook, but I know they did not say happy birthday to me, then I do not say it to them. It may be simple, but it portrays Emerson’s quote quite well. Also when I started high school, I went to a different school then most of my friends went to, but I expected that we would stay close. This did not happen though, none of us tried really to be each others friends when we actually had to work for it. It is like the saying the phone goes both ways, but when both ends are too scared to actually pick up that phone, it does not really work.

            Although we are just beginning to start and uncover all of whom and what Ralph Waldo Emerson was and did in his life, I can see that he was a very individual thinker. His thoughts of what friendship was and how to be a good friend still account today for friends and building relationships. His words truly do relate to my life today.

Be Who You Are

In Emerson’s famous essay, Self-Reliance, Emerson talks a lot about the importance of self worth, and the importance of being comfortable in your own skin. In his essay, Emerson says “That imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.” This is saying that you need to be comfortable being who you are, because it’s the hand that you were dealt, and it does not get any better than what you have. I also think that Emerson is saying that without hard work you are not going to go very far in life. To me this means that no matter where you are in life there is always room for improvement, but the only way you can improve is by hard work.

Jefferson: The All American Hypocrite

Throughout Thomas Jefferson’s life, he advocated that freedom was a natural given right of mankind, but yet he was one of the largest slave owners in Virginia. In many aspects of Jefferson’s life he did do things to help the overall bettering of our great nation, slavery was not one of those things. Through the eyes of Thomas Jefferson emancipating slavery was not something to be done in his lifetime, but for that of someone else’s.

Thomas Jefferson once said, “No defender of slavery, I concede that it has its benevolent aspects in lifting the Negro from savagery and helping prepare him for that eventual freedom which is surely written in the Book of Fate”. Not condoning the acts of slavery, but also not belittling it. Most people would say that in the way of slavery, Thomas Jefferson was a hypocrite, and those people would be correct. Thomas Jefferson preached for freedom, even stating in the United States Constitution that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Which is one of the most well known quotes from the constitution, and the constitution is the foundation on which our country was founded on. So how could the author of those lines have been such a hypocrite? One of the largest slave holders in Virginia, Jefferson took full advantage of slavery, the exact opposite of what he preached. In 1784 Jefferson said this about slavery, “That after the year 1800 of the Christian era, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said states”, explaining that slavery would be an issue for someone else to fix, not him.

Jefferson may have defended the fact that he owned slaves by the fact that he treated his slaves better than most other slave owners did, considering the time period and where he lived. Though that still is not an excuse, owning slaves, no matter how they are treated is still taking all freedom away from that person. Although Jefferson may have treated his slaves “nicely” for the time, allowing some to live in dwellings, and giving them slight amounts of freedom during times when he was away, like letting them work for profit. He also would have considered the fact that he allowed certain slaves to master different skills, including cooking, nail making, blacksmithing, and sewing. No matter which way you look at how Jefferson interacted with his slaves, it doesn’t change the fact hat he still was a slave owner, and no matter how many mediocre “freedoms” they were given will change that. Jefferson also claimed that slaves would not know what to do with freedom if they were given it, and in 1789 he said this about it, “As far as I can judge from the experiments which have been made, to give liberty to, or rather, to abandon persons whose habits have been formed in slavery is like abandoning children.”

In 1770 Jefferson said "Under the law of nature, all men are born free, every one comes into the world with a right to his own person, which includes the liberty of moving and using it at his own. This is what is called personal liberty, and is given him by the author of nature, because necessary for his own sustenance." The statement Jefferson gave is a complete contradiction to what the basis of slavery is. Jefferson may have said that “all men were born free” but what he believed is that all white men were born free. In his life time, he made few, if any attempts to stop slavery. No one knows if Thomas Jefferson endorsing the emancipation of slavery would have done anything, but we do know that it wouldn’t have hurt the cause. I think he just did not want slavery to be abolished, not blaming it on his time period he lived in. He and everyone around him used slavery too much.  

Overall Jefferson’s statements about the freedom of mankind, and “all men are created equal” don’t match up to the actions that Jefferson did. He claimed that he didn’t support slavery, but was one of the biggest slave owners in Virginia. Even when Jefferson died he did not free all of his slaves, proving once and for all that did in fact actually support slavery, not oppose it.

Works Cited:
http://thinkexist.com/quotations/slavery/4.html
http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/quotations-slavery-and-emancipation

A Tatted Up TJ

People, in general, get tattoos to show something that they are passionate about, something they are proud of, or in memory of something important. When most people think of Thomas Jefferson, one of the first things that come to mind is that he was president and that he wrote the Declaration of Independence and that he was president of the United States. For those reasons, I think that Thomas Jefferson would get an American flag or something along those lines as part of his tattoo. Also Thomas Jefferson is so passionate about his architecture and Monticello, and how he designed the house. In honor of that I put two common architecture details on his tattoo, two columns with the triangle at the top. These features are very prominent in both the design of his house and the design of the University of Virginia. So by including a structure and feature common in architecture and the design of buildings, one can understand that Jefferson was very much into, and very passionate about architecture. The final aspect I put on Jefferson’s tattoo was a music note. Although music notes are very typical tattoos for people to get, mixing the aspect of the architecture and the music note it almost resembles a quote Jefferson had, comparing architecture to music. Thomas Jefferson was also very passionate about music, playing the violin quite greatly. This tattoo for the most part sums up the three, possibly four things that Thomas Jefferson loved more than any other things. These being his country, his architecture and Monticello, and his music.