List
Animals I would like to be reincarnated as:
A Bear:
– They are the kings of the forest. Do any animals mess with a bear? No.
– They’re big, and soft. Who wouldn’t like being big,soft and cuddly.
– They’re pretty mellow. They just kinda roam around, might eat a berry or two, a leaf, maybe fish a little, or wallow around a campsite and snuff a few potato chips.
– They’re pretty independent. They like to keep to themselves and do their own thing, but they don’t mind company.
– They have superpowers. Okay they don’t have superpowers, but they have an extremely heightened sense of hearing and smell.
– They’re powerful and fast. If the bear species was embodied by a celebrity, it’d be Sylvester Stallone
A Parrott:
– They can talk, AND fly. They are the superman of Kingdom Animalia.
– They’re sassy. You’ve seen what these things can say.
– They get a dope crib. They get to live in a house with heating and air conditioning and they get to watch T.V
– The cuisine. I’ve seen those suet cakes for birds at my work and they look darn delicious.
– Humans aren’t trying to kill them. In fact, it is quite the opposite.
– get your own personal playground.
–
A Giraffe:
– They can be really nosy. (the long neck helps a little bit)
– I’ve never seen one get eaten on the discovery channel.
– You don’t have to hunt. If trees could run, oh if trees could run.
– You get to stand in the sun all day.
– I read on the internet that giraffes are “tall, good looking and successful”. http://animalinyou.com/profile.php?a=giraffe
– They are elegant and graceful.
A Liger:
– They exist.
– They can breathe fire.
– They speak Latin.
– It is the combination of the two most formidable animals on earth.
– Nobody knows whether you exist in the wild or not. Or so we think……
– They have interracial parents.
– Jesus rides one in the bible.
– Napoleon Dynamite breeds them in his basement.
– The human embodied Liger is Kesha. The party doesn’t start until the Liger walks in.
– Their diet consists of elephants and fear.
– They play poker with bigfoot every Thursday.
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Shakespeare
Although Shakespeare’s a pretty famous guy, he’s not exactly the most liked by high school students. I don’t think he’s too bad of a lad, but there are things that I like and dislike about his plays. One thing I like is how deep and intertwined his plots are, and how there are many subplots and sub-subplots which tie into the major plot and make the play a little more juicy. One thing I do not like about Shakespeare is that I don’t understand anything he writes. If we did not read it allowed in class and have it explained, then I would have absolutely no clue what was going on. I tried to read Othello by myself in grade 11 and gave up on the first page I’m pretty sure. A thing I like is how clever his use of language is once it is explained to me and I understand it. I also like how he’s pretty funny sometimes and very vulgar. Another thing I like is how violent his plays are, this quality makes them exciting. I didn’t feel a particular connection to any of Shakespeare’s plays, but my favorite won that I have read in school is Macbeth. One play that I haven’t read but would like to know more about is Hamlet. I have heard that Hamlet’s tragic flaw is that he procrastinates, so I feel like I would connect with this character on a deeper level. I think they have stood the test of time because he uses the English language like no other, and was an inventor of words and phrases and concepts that have been unmatched by anyone since. He is like the Albert Einstein of language.
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A cathartic experience
A significant experience in my life happened about a year ago. On June 10th, 2012, I was in a major car accident. I was driving myself and three of my friends home after a day of paintballing in Milton, and we were following my other friends brothers. We stopped at an intersection to turn left, and there was a car on the opposite side of the intersection turning left as well. After my friend’s brother made his turn, I peered around the car opposite to me and saw no oncoming traffic, and proceeded to make my turn. I don’t know if I didn’t look thoroughly enough, if I was distracted, or if the sun was in my eyes but the next thing I knew we were skidding off the road. We had been t-boned by an oncoming Cadillac. The moment that we were hit, the windows exploded and I was thrown to the left. My ears were ringing and I was disoriented but I had not been injured. My friend in the passenger seat and my friend on the driver’s side backseat sustained minor injuries, but my friend who was in the backseat on the passenger’s side had many pieces of glass in his face and was rushed to the hospital once the ambulance arrived. He was hospitalized for 4 days, and visiting him there was tough. This was definitely the scariest moment of my life and I will never forget it. The police determined that I was at fault for the accident and charged me with failure to make a legal left-hand turn. It could have been a lot worse because they could have charged me with reckless driving so I am very lucky for that. Looking at the damage done to my car afterwards it’s a miracle that we are all alive, and I believe that God put his hand on my car and saved us. This event changed my life because before it happened I was always skeptical of the existence of God. How could I believe in something when I had never seen any concrete proof of its existence? Well now I do have concrete proof, and I do have belief that there is a God. At the time it happened I felt pretty crappy and guilty but my friends were really supporting and understanding and helped me through it. It also made me feel very lucky to have the life and opportunities I have, and that I have such great friends. I feel like I’ve changed a lot after the accident. I noticed that right afterwards I was a lot more awkward and didn’t know what to say in social situations. A positive change that has come from it is that I think that I treat people with more kindness and respect. It’s also made me realize how important the people I love in my life are to me.
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Poem
“The Trees”- Rush
“There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the Maples want more sunlight
And the Oaks ignore their pleas
The trouble with the maples
(And they’re quite convinced they’re right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light
But the oaks can’t help their feelings
If they like the way they’re made
And they wonder why the maples
Can’t be happy in their shade?
There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream ‘Oppression!’
And the oaks, just shake their heads
So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
‘The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light’
Now there’s no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet,
Axe,
And saw”
I chose this song because it has been one of my favorites for a long time, and because I think it works really well for this assignment. I like it because it has some really good imagery throughout and it also has a strong message. Growing up I always thought this song was about the racism towards African Americans in the 1800’s and 1900’s and how they fought for equal rights, but after examining the lyrics further they could also be about the oppression towards women and how they fought for equal rights, the fight between Native Americans and the Canadian government, or how the government controls the population. You could make your case that this song could be about any of the four social conflicts I’ve listed or many others, but I still believe that it is actually about the fight between Caucasians and African Americans. When I listen to this song I picture a big, dark forest with tall oaks fighting many smaller Maple trees with arms and legs and the Maple trees eventually overwhelming the Oaks and claiming victory. I get this image because Rush uses lots of literary devices and imagery. They add symbolism by calling Caucasians “the Oaks” and African Americans “the Maples”. By calling Caucasians “the Oaks” they are literally saying that they are bigger and stronger than African Americans (the Maples), which can be translated to the social conflict and mean that Caucasians have more power over African Americans and can control them. Imagery is also very prevalent in this song. When it says “For the Maples want more sunlight and the Oaks ignore their pleas”, it means the Maples want more rights and freedoms and to be able to grow and prosper, but the Oaks just ignore them and push them aside. When it says “But the oaks can’t help their feelings if they like the way they’re made and they wonder why the maples can’t be happy in their shade?”, it means that Caucasians can’t help it that they were the superior race at the time, it’s human nature to want power and want to keep it so why would they just give it up? And they wonder why African Americans just can’t be grateful for what they have and not be greedy. This is obviously a very ignorant point of view with the way African Americans were enslaved and treated, and I believe that all people are people and that everyone should have equal rights and equal opportunity but that was not the belief many Americans had at the time and some still think that way. The song goes on to say that the Maples banned together and formed a union and won themselves a law that gave them equal rights, and it says “And the trees are all kept equal by hatchet, axe, and saw”. This shows that instead of being Oaks and Maples they are now all just trees, and that they are kept in line by “hatchet, axe, and saw”, which I think means that they are kept in line by the government which will hand out harsh discipline if the law of equal rights is not kept. I have read many interesting interpretations of this song on the internet ( like how it is about the struggle between Canada and the United States, the Canadian separatist movement in Quebec, Communism vs. Socialism, and many others), but Neil Peart, drummer and lyricist for Rush said himself that “It was just a flash. I was working on an entirely different thing when I saw a cartoon picture of these trees carrying on like fools. I thought, ‘What if trees acted like people?’ So I saw it as a cartoon really, and wrote it that way. I think that’s the image that it conjures up to a listener or a reader. A very simple statement.”
Sources: http://www.lyricinterpretations.com/Rush/Trees
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As high school comes to an end and I begin the last semester here at Christ the King I am filled with many different emotions. Some of these emotions are welcomed with open arms but others I wish could be ignored and forgotten, unfortunately that isn’t possible. The emotions that are welcomed are the excitement of prom and graduating with my friends, which I have been envisioning for a long time. Also the anticipation of going off to university, where I’ll be able to be independent, meet new people and have the amazing university experience that everyone is always talking about. Being able to dream about what your life is going to be like and thinking of things you would like to accomplish has been a favorite past time of mine lately and will continue to be as this last semester begins. Also, having some direction and something to work towards to keep me motivated will help me throughout this semester I believe, and give me some satisfaction that my hard work will pay off in the long run. And lastly, no disrespect to high school but I wouldn’t exactly say that I’ve had the time of my life for the past four years, and I’m kind of looking forward to it being over. An emotion that isn’t welcome is the anxiousness of waiting for that first acceptance letter. I can see many sleepless nights to come this semester and my hope in being accepted is dwindling. Constantly thinking of whether I’ve made the right choice and whether what I have applied for is really what I want to do for the rest of my life hasn’t really made things any easier. The whole idea of university is really overwhelming and scary most if the time too. What if people don’t like me? What if I fail my classes? What if the “experience” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be? These are just some of the questions that never leave the back of my mind. The pressure to do well and the work load this semester aren’t pleasant things either, and I’m ALWAYS tired so getting work done can be challenging sometimes. Possibly the most overwhelming thing of all is that this is the time in people’s lives when you start determining who you are in life and what kind of person you are going to be, and finding the courage to do the things I think are right and be the person I want to be can be a battle. With all the ups and downs of this last semester, my goal is to spend as much time with my friends as possible and enjoy my last few months as a high school student.
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