Click here to view my presentation

Paton Describes South Africa

                In the book “Cry, The Beloved Country” Alan Paton goes into great detail when he describes the land in South Africa.  He focuses on the land because it is symbolic to the story and overall message in the book.   Paton uses the land to symbolize many things in the book such as the struggle that the black people went through as they were looked down upon by their white leaders and fellow citizens.
             Paton starts out the book by describing rich and fertile land that can sustain life and provide for the people.  This symbolizes the white men and their land and how what they have is rich and pure.  Paton then begins to describe land that is bare and unlivable.  Where women scrape the ground to find food and people are in a constant struggle to survive.  This symbolizes the black people and everything they own.  They have very few rights and are given next to nothing to help them survive.  They are discriminated against by the white people and treated like they are not even human.  Throughout the book, Paton explains to us the struggles and hardships the black people of South Africa faced every day. 
            Another example of Paton describing the land and using symbolism is when he is saying almost the same thing in the start of the second book.  The difference in the two chapters is that in book two, Paton is putting more detail into the valleys instead of putting detail into the hills like he did in the first chapter.  He does this because he is describing the land that our new character, James Jarvis lives on.  Unlike the land that Stephen Kumalo lives on, has rich grass and ground that not too many cattle have fed on.  This symbolizes the differences in life that the two characters face.  Stephen Kumalo has a much harder life and struggles more than Jarvis.  Jarvis’ life is a little easier and he doesn’t have all the struggle that Kumalo has. 
            I think that Paton believes that using symbolism while he describes the land is very important.  I think this because the land that people live on can tell a lot about the way that they live and the lives that they lead.  For example, the land that the black people lived on was desolate and unlivable.  This tells us a lot about how black people lived compared to white people.  The black people were limited by the white people and were forced to live lives that we today would think is unacceptable.  The white people however, had land that was fertile and sustained life.  Paton uses symbolism perfectly in the way that he connects the way white people live with the land they lived on.  Their land was some of the best in the country and they lived lives that some people could only dream of. 
            In conclusion, I think that Paton uses symbolism very well with the way he describes the land.  He connects it to the peoples lives with their land.  He also perfectly describes the black people compared to the white people.  This book is full of brilliant symbolism and wonderful description of white and black people in South Africa.

Nature

I believe that nature has a big impact on life.  I believe that nature contains elements that can change our perspective on life and how we live it.  Nature is arguably the most powerful force on the planet; it can move mountains and create oceans.  If it can do all of that, why wouldn’t it be able to make an impact on life?
            Through personal experiences, I have proved to myself that nature can change your life.  When I was little, my grandfather would always tell me to get in the truck and he would drive me around the farm telling me about the trees and the crops.  For a long time, I hated hearing about all of the crops.  However, one night he showed me all the crops that were ready to be cut.  I never thought I would want to be a farmer before that, but after that night and after looking at the trees and rice, I realized I wanted to be a farmer.
            Many famous people also believe that nature has a powerful effect on life.  Albert Einstein once said, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”  Another famous quote would be one from William Shakespeare, “And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.”
            What Einstein means is that if you ever question something or you are ever having trouble understanding something, then you just need to take a break from life and look into nature.  Even Einstein himself did this numerous times.  Shakespeare’s quote means that even the most simple and common objects in nature can contain wonderful things.  This shows us that even the smartest people on earth can use nature to help them through life.
            In conclusion, nature can help us decide our career or even inspire famous scientists and play writers.  Nature is something almost everyone takes for granted even though it can make their life much easier.  Nature has made a major impact in my life and I believe it can do the same for others.

Mother's Christmas Sausage Balls

Ingredients:
Baking mix
Sharp cheddar cheese
one pound of breakfast sausage

           

Preparation:

Take a large bowl and mix up baking mix, sharp cheddar cheese, and one pound of breakfast sausage.  Mix it together and roll it into balls. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for fifteen minutes at three hundred and fifty degrees. 

When I was about five years old, I started helping my mother make the sausage balls she always made to take to my grandmother’s house for Christmas.  We would get up early in the morning and start preparing the ingredients.  My mother would mix up all of the ingredients and I would prepare them to be cooked.  I would always make a mess and my mother would laugh and make me clean it up. 

The part I loved most about the cooking was watching the ingredients while they were in the oven.  I loved watching the cheese melt, the sausage cook, and the baking mix turn brown.  My mother would always tell me to not stand so close to the oven when she opened it.  Even though she would warn me time and time again, I would never listen.  This caused me to get burned several times.

We were always joking around and having fun while we were cooking.  My mother would tell me stories about when she helped my grandmother cook for Christmas.  We would also watch Christmas movies on TV while we cooked.  Eventually, my brother would come in and try to help, but he was a very bad cook and didn’t stay very long.  It was always fun helping my mother cook.

When everything was cooked and the sausage balls had time to cool off, we would try one to see if they were ready.  They always tasted good and were never under or overcooked.  After we tried one, we would wrap them up in tinfoil and go to my grandmother’s house.  Although my mother doesn’t make the sausage balls anymore, it was always fun helping her.

 

http://www.cardinalhayes.org/ourpages/auto/2006/8/22/1156300239992/The%20Handsomest%20Drowned%20Man%20in%20the%20World%20Text.pdf

"The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World"

                 "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a great story.  This story is about a dead man who washes up on the shore of a small town.  One thing that is different about this man is that he is the largest, tallest, and most handsome man the people of the town had ever seen.  The rest of the story is mainly the women of the town preparing his body, trying to figure out who the man is, and marveling at his size and appearance.

                   One thing I enjoyed about this story is how the people of the town care for the mans body so much even though they don't know who he is.  This shows the compassion these people have for all people even if they don't know them.  That is one thing I enjoyed about this particular story.

                   Another thing I liked about this story is how the author describes the drowned man.  An example of this from the text would be, "As they were doing that they noticed that the vegetation on him came from far away oceans and deep water and that his clothes were in tatters, as if he had sailed through labyrinths of coral."  This is another example of why I enjoyed reading this story.

                   At the end of the story, the women who tended to the man's body became so attached to him that they wept as his body was thrown of the cliff.  They loved the look of this man so much, they didn't even tie an anchor to his body so that he could float back to the town if he wanted to. 

                  



The Importance of the American Revolution

 

 

          The article on http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web02/index.html is about the importance of the American Revolution to the U.S.  It talks about how Americans wanted to be a part of  their own country instead of a colony.  The main point of this text however, is to inform the reader as to how America broke away from Great Brittan and became a country of its own. 

           According to the text,   "It was a war for the people, establishing the rights of rich and poor, high born and low. It was a war of the people, fought by old and young, black and white, men and women".  I completely agree with what the author is saying in these sentences.  I have studied the Revolutionary war before and I would agree that it was a war fought for the people because it was a war fought for their rights and freedom. It was a war of the people because just about everyone in America was involved in some way. The war also demanded people all over the American colonies to be seen as citizens of a country and not of a colony. 
            America finally regressed away from colonialism after the Treaty of Paris ended.  This means that once the Treaty of Paris was over, America stopped being a colony and became a country of its own.  Once this happened, America wrote a new constitution which led to many immigrants from foreign lands coming to the new land. To help with the population increase, Thomas Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase which greatly expanded America's territory. 
            The last thing that we learn from the text is that even though America based its government on the principle that all men were created equal, there were still certain groups of people who wouldn't receive the same rights as others for many years to come.  Overall, it was a great struggle for America to become what it is today.  Even though many lives were lost during the revolution, they will never be forgotten because they died fighting for the place many people including myself call home. 



My Photo Story

I like football, hunting, and fishing.  I like to write narrative stories.  I like to read historical fiction.