The Kentucky Cycle

Last week, we started reading/acting plays from The Kentucky Cycle by Robert Schenkkan.  On Wednesday, I acted the part of Dragging Canoe, and did a less than impressive job of reading his Cherokee lines. My Great-Great Grandmother (a Cherokee) probably would have not been satisfied.  Anyways, I was not at school on Thursday or Friday.  I read the next two plays over the weekend, and noticed one thing in particular...

The "Rowen Watch".  This watch has been in all three of the plays that I have read.  The only other thing that has accompanied the watch throughout all three plays in Michael Rowen.  Now that he is dead, however, he will not be in any more plays, other than perhaps a memory of him.  I expect the watch to keep traveling through the plays.  I wonder if we talked about the meaning of the watch on Thursday or Friday.  What does the watch mean?  Is it merely something valuable that the characters want, or will it be revealed to have a hidden meaning?

An American Dream

I was not at school last Friday, which was when our class received a packet titled "American Dreams and Nightmares".  Since I did not get a chance to read it and speak my thoughts in class, I thought that I would share them in a blog post.  The first question asks us to state our five goals/dreams in life. Here are mine (in order of when they would happen):
1) Get accepted and attend a good college
2) Get a job that I enjoy
3) Get married
4) Have kids
5) Raise my kids to be good people
The next question asked us to identify which dream is most important to us.  For me, it was a no brainer.  I chose number five.  I may have a lovely wife, a high paying job that I enjoy, and great children.  But if when I die my kids aren't able to live good lives as good people, then I will have failed.  My parents have done an incredible job raising me.  I am very privileged to live with the amenities that I have, and the economic freedom that our family has.  I feel that when I am an adult, it will be my duty to follow in my parents' footsteps and raise a new generation of children, who will then in turn raise their own children, etc.  I want to leave a mark on this world when I die, and the best way for me to do that is to leave several new human beings who are ready to help the world and tackle any problems that may come their way.  I personally feel that no matter how great of a life one lives, it is meaningless if one cannot somehow leave something behind to further help after one's death.

Social Class Markers

Earlier this week, we discussed things that marked social class.  Mr. Bolos showed us a video of a class of his analyzing the Kennilworth train station. Students commented on a huge variety of things, from what newspapers were being sold to what cars were in the parking lot. Ever since there were mentioned, I could not help but notice aspects of my surroundings that may hint at social class.  When I took a trip to downtown Chicago this weekend, I noticed some major differences, that could be class markers.  First off were merely the sides of the streets.  In the North shore, nearly every road has grass by its side.  In downtown Chicago, on the other hand, the only vegetation that can be seen on the sides of roads are the trees that are planted in holes in the concrete sidewalk.   Another class marker are the shops that are on the sides of the road.  In downtown Wilmette, some of the shops are Lad and Lassie (clothes), The Crystal Cave (glass sculptures, plates, etc.), and CJ Arthur's.  None of these shops are part of a chain, and all are expensive compared to what I found in Chicago.  McDonalds littered the streets of downtown Chicago, and nearly every restaurant was an inexpensive chain restaurant.  One final thing that I noticed was this: the duration of a yellow light on traffic signals.  I noticed that yellow lights last significantly longer in the North Shore than they do downtown.  Maybe they are longer in the North Shore to prevent accidents, and shorter in Chicago, to prevent traffic jams.  I am honestly not sure, but I just wanted to get this out there.  Do you think yellow lights are social class markers? Also, please share any other class markers that you may find

Retaliation for Bin Laden's Death

I know that by now, this is old news.  But for those of you who have been living in a hole for the past two weeks, Osama Bin Laden died on May 2nd.  When this news hit, mixed emotions spread throughout America.  Some were ecstatic about the death of this monster.  Others acknowledged that he was a cruel person, but did not celebrate his death.  Others felt a sense of closure; many innocent Americans who died on 9-11-2001were now avenged.  Others were worried about possible retaliation from Al-Qaeda.  As for myself, at first I felt relieved that he died.  However, now that the initial shock of this death has passed over, I feel worried. Al-Qaeda has already threatened to retaliate against the US.  To learn about this threat, read this article.  Also, I am worried about what might happen to further anger Al-Qaeda.  For example, take the video game Call of Duty Black Ops.  In this game, there is a mission where the player assassinates Fidel Castro.  Here is a YouTube video which shows this scene (caution: even though it is a video game, it is still gory).  After Black Ops was released back in November 2010, Cuba was furious.  An article was published in a Cuban news paper, and the article said that Black Ops "glorifies the illegal assassination attempts the United States government planned against the Cuban leader."  The article went on to say that the video game "stimulates sociopathic attitudes in North America children and adolescents."  I fear that other video games and television shows may follow in Black Ops' footsteps, and have Bin Laden as the target rather than Castro.  Cuba only published an angry article, but I fear Al-Qaeda will want blood if millions of American kids are killing Osama in a video game.  I hope that other Americans realize how serious this situation is, and that if we keep celebrating Osama's death, things could get ugly in the near future.