Stereotypes

Being a teenager, it is easy to get blamed for anything that goes wrong. For example, if you were diving down the road and you see two cars that had gotten in a wreck and standing outside the cars were a teenager and a middle aged man, who would you think caused the wreck? Almost everybody, including teenagers, would think that the teenager caused it. This is because all teenagers are stereotyped as being excessively wild and out of control when most of the time that is not the case. This is similar to the character in Wanda Coleman’s “Sears Life.” The character has grown to dislike shopping because when she goes to a store she fells like all of the employees are watching her to make sure she doesn’t try to steal anything. She is stereotyped as a shoplifter because she is a black woman who does not look like she could afford to buy clothes. People need to learn to put stereo types aside and consider the situation before they start judging you by your age or the color of your skin.  

Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper

As we continue our tour you will notice on the right is Martin Espada’s poem “Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper.” In this poem, Espada tells a story of someone who developed a good work ethic in high school, working after school until 9 PM manufacturing legal pads. Espada says they worked “till both palms burned at punch clock.” He also says that the character in the story would “gather slits thinner than the crevices of the skin, hidden” which tells us that they were motivated to get their job done and done correctly no matter what happened. Espada then lets us know that the characters hard work paid off because they are now in law school. He says “ten years later, in law school, I knew that every legal pad was glued with the sting of hidden cuts, that every open law book was a pair of hands upturned and burning” to tell us that the character will never forget the hard work and determination it took to get to where they are.

Get To Know Me Before You Ride My Bumper

In Jorge the Church Janitor Finally Quits by Martín Espada, Jorge the janitor feels like he is undervalued and underappreciated. When Jorge says “No one knows that I quit tonight, maybe the mop will push on without me” he is telling us that he quit his job because no one appreciates his work and they will probably not even notice that he is gone. If I made a bumper sticker to represent this story it would say “Get To Know Me Before You Ride My Bumper.” This phrase could convince people that they should take the time to get to know someone instead of just taking advantage of them.  

Que es Poesia?

¿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 ask as the wonder
of your gaze falls upon my eyes

What is poetry? If you ask me
You are poetry

Cardinal

“What happened” I asked as opened my eyes and noticed that everything was blurry. I heard my mom begin to answer the question with sorrow in her voice. I prepared to hear something bad, but nothing on earth could have prepared for what my mother was about to say. “There was an accident on the way home from the golf course” she explained.  “Your father collided with a drunk driver. He didn’t make it.” I remember that night three years ago like it was last night.  I don’t remember anything about the accident but I remember what happened before it and the brief conversation I had with my mother that changed my life forever.

                I was practically a celebrity at the age of 15 in Denver and people were always telling me I was a golf prodigy. My father and went to the golf course that Saturday and stayed a little longer than usual because there was a storm coming the next day and I wouldn’t be able to practice. My dad was especially pleased with my performance that day and he decided to tell me his aspirations for me as a golfer. He explained how he grew up near Stanford University’s golf course and dreamed that he could someday play there, but he was forced to give up playing before he had the chance. He told me that he would really like for me to keep my grades up and keep working hard at golf so that one day I might have a chance to play there  That was the last conversation my dad and I had before the collision.

                One month later, I was lying in my bed with a broken wrist from the accident. I looked around and saw all of the golf posters on the walls and full trophy case in the corner. I thought of my dad, about that night, and about what he had told me. “Stanford” I said to myself. I decided then that I would do everything I could to make my father’s dream come true. I talked to my mother the next morning and shared with her everything that happened before the accident for the first time. I then asked her if we could move somewhere with a climate that would be better suited for golfing. After much discussion and debate, we decided that would move to Austin, the capitol of Texas.

                In Austin, I quickly rose to the tops of the local golf ranks and soon after that the state ranks. Since Texas was a much more competitive golf state, I was quickly receiving a lot of attention from colleges all over the nation. Florida, Oklahoma State, Texas, Syracuse, they all wanted me but wasn’t interested in them. I was waiting for Stanford but for some reason I hadn’t heard anything from them.  I decided that if they weren’t coming to me, then I’d go to them. So my mother and I packed our bags for Palo Alto, California, home of the Stanford Cardinal. They hosted a tournament every year to make sure they weren’t missing out on any big recruits. I won that tournament and shortly the award ceremony I was approached by a man with a red S on his chest. He introduced himself as the head golf coach and simply said “how’d you like to be a Cardinal.”

                My dad would have been so proud of me that day. All of my hard work and commitment toward the sport was for him. I fulfilled his dream and joined the Stanford golf tem the next year. Now every time I’m on that same golf course he grew up by, I’m playing for him.

Classroom Comfort

Most classes we take are filled with students who are trying their hardest, not to learn but to stay awake. That is why a teacher who keeps you entertained while helping you learn is usually a favorite among the students. For me, that teacher was my eighth grade Spanish teacher, Ms. Rogers. I liked her because she was different than any other teacher I had ever had before. She treated us like we were adults instead of the children we were. In many ways she was like Ms. Ferenczi from the story “Gryphon.” Both teachers used different methods of teaching to hold our attention. For example, Ms. Rogers used a sarcastic tone with students who didn’t seem to be focused, causing the rest of the class to laugh. Then, everybody would be back on task and learning. Ms Ferenczi made the classroom more welcoming by drawing a tree on the board so they would feel more comfortable. Both of these teachers were popular with their students because of the efforts they made in the classroom.     

Blind Vision

It is easy to say that the story “Cathedral” is about a blind man that befriends someone that didn’t like him when they met. However, if you look closely it is about a blind man who teaches a visually unimpaired man how to see for the first time. Bub is a troubled man who is in the midst of a struggling marriage. He spends his nights getting high and drinking by himself. His relationship with his wife is almost inexistent. In fact, she has a better relationship with a blind man named Robert, who she used to work for. When Robert came to visit Bub and his wife it caused Bub to make some changes in his life. The major turning point for Bub was when he and Robert were talking about cathedrals and Bub was reminded that Robert had never actually seen a cathedral. Robert then asked Bub to draw one with him with his eyes closed. When Bub did this it helped him realize that there was more to be concerned with in life that fulfilling his own wants. This was the moment when a blind man taught someone how to see.    

Burning Barns and Sharecropping

Sharecropping is an agricultural process in which a landowner allows someone, a tenant, to use their land if they share a portion of the crops that were grown on the landowners property. In some cases the tenants are more like slaves. They will live on the land that they are using and the landowner provides them with clothing, shelter and supplies. In William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning”, Abner Snopes and his family find themselves at one of these farms because Abner caused them to essentially be kicked out of their old town. At this new farm they are living, Sarty, Abner’s son, was asked to clean one of the landowners rugs. This made Abner very upset because he felt like the only reason the landowner had the rug was because his tenants made it possible for him to afford it. Since Abner felt this way, he intentionally damaged the rug to the point where it could not be fixed. When the rug was returned to the landowner he was outraged that Abner would act out in that way. He punished Abner with twenty bushels of corn and that was eventually reduced to ten bushels. However, Abner should have gladly taken the twenty bushel penalty because he was lucky to not be kicked out of another town for his actions.

Martha in Cross' Mind

Martha helps Cross get through the war in many ways. Two of the most prominent ways she does this is by reminding him of beauty every time he thinks of her, and she helps him by giving him something to look forward to when the war ends. When Cross thinks about Martha, he is almost always reminded of how beautiful she is. This helps Cross by letting him escape from the brutality and ugliness of war. He also frequently thinks about getting home to see Martha. This is good for Lieutenant Cross because it can help him focus on getting out of the war as safe and as soon as possible. However, Martha can also have negative effects on Cross. Sometimes he daydreams about her and loses track of what he is doing, which can be extremely dangerous during a war. Cross eventually burns his letters from Martha because he believes that thinking about her can be too much of a liability to him and his squads safety.     

Letter from Mom

Daughter,

I know after all these years you must still be wondering why I pushed you so hard to be a prodigy while you were a child. It isn’t because I was never proud of you or because I was ashamed of who you were. I only wanted you to be the best version of yourself that you could possibly be. I thought that the best way for you to do this was to pick something to do and work hard at becoming the best at it. I realize now that it might have been more successful if you chose what you wanted to do instead of me choosing it for you but I did not understand that then.  It thought that the more I pushed you the more you would want to work at becoming great at whatever you were doing. I also wanted to let you know how proud of you I was the night of your piano performance, even if it did not seem like I was. I hope you have forgiven me for pushing you so hard to do things that you didn’t want to do and I hope you will be happy with whatever you do for the rest of your life.

Love,

Mom       

Dear Mom... I Quit

Mom,

I wanted to let you know that I quit my job as a cashier at A&P today. As I was looking at Stokesie, I thought about how he was twenty two years old with two kids and working at a grocery store. It was really turning into a career for him.  I started to worry that my life was beginning to be on the same track as his and at that point I started to think about quitting. Later, a few girls came in wearing bathing suits and Mr. Lengel decided that he wouldn’t allow that in his grocery store. When he confronted the girls about it he was rude and offensive. He also made the girls feel very embarrassed about it. At that moment I decided that I didn’t want to work at A&P anymore. I hope you will understand and support my decision.

Love,

Sammy

Teen Advice

Make good grades in school; don’t give in to peer pressure; don’t worry about trying to fit in with the “popular” crowd but always make time for friends; never be late to anywhere you are going; join some kind of group when you get into high school; figure out what you want to do in life and always pursue that dream; work hard at everything you do; make good decisions in everything you do; choose carefully who you trust; always listen to your parents because even if it doesn’t seem like it, they always know what is best for you; never pay attention to what other people think and say about you because none of it matters; if you are religious, live how your god would want you to live and never stray away from he teaches; decide your morals and follow them for as long as you live.

Kingsolvers Rhetoric

Barbra Kingsolver is known for being an extremely relatable and highly skilled writer. She typically writes about issues that are controversial to the American public. For example, in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, and Lily’s Chickens, Kingsolver writes about the debated topic of where our food comes from and if it is safe or healthy to eat it. Throughout these compositions she uses ethos, pathos and logos, among other rhetorical strategies, to send us a message to be more wary of where our food comes from. This style of writing is very successful for Kingsolver to express her beliefs on growing your own food and how easy it can be.

            Barbra Kingsolver frequently uses ethos, or credibility, to let the audience know that she does have experience when it comes to growing her own food because she, as well as her husband, grew up on a farm. However, this strategy is made successful when she tells us that she herself is not flawless when it comes to this lifestyle. As Kingsolver tells us about the big diet change that she and her family made, she does not make it seem like her way to eat should be the only way. Instead, she is humble while merely suggesting a new dietary style that you might be interested in trying. She never says “you must eat this” or “never eat that”, she is simply trying to offer you a lifestyle that she believes will be healthier for you. Kingsolver also uses humor in her writing to keep her readers interested in what she has to say because even she knows that what she is writing about can get a little boring at times.

            Perhaps Kingsolvers most effective strategy is the use of logos. While her writing can be humorous at times, Kingsolver includes numerous facts to assure her audience that the issue at hand is very serious and relevant. She mentions that one of the most serious problems with most Americans diets is the “food miles”. Food miles are the distance a product travels to the point where it will be sold. She also tells us that many foods, like apples, are imported from all over the world when it would be much more cheap and healthy to grow them right in your backyard. Kingsolver also includes facts about what kind of foods grow best in your part of the nation and how to get healthy food that may not be able to grow where you live.

            Barbra Kingsolver has made a successful career out of informing people about healthy ways to eat by making her audience feel like she is a trustworthy and reliable source. She wants to make you aware of the negative affects that unhealthy food can have on your body while encouraging you to live a healthier lifestyle. She does this effectively by carefully selecting what kind of rhetorical strategy would work best, and deciding which one would help persuade her reader the most.    

  

What Am I Eating?

A lot of people are very conscious about were their food comes from. Some people even get a little paranoid about what they are eating. But me, I don’t really care, as long as it tastes good and it won’t kill me as I’m eating it. Before I watched “The Meatrix” I did not know that animals were kept inside tiny areas where they are raised to be slaughtered. But, the companies that do this would not be allowed to sell the meat if it was unhealthy. Therefore, where the meat comes from doesn’t really bother me. I do not plan to start eating organic food because of "The Meatrix" because it is more expensive and I have heard that it does not taste the same as the regular products. I am not about to start eating more expensive food that does not taste as good because some people think it might be healthier for you.

Self Reliance Rhetoric

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an accomplished novelist and essay writer. In his famous essay titled ‘Self Reliance” he uses many rhetorical strategies like pathos, tone, and metaphors to appeal to the readers emotions, convey how he feels, and to clearly explain what he is writing about. “Self Reliance” was written in 1841, around the time of transcendentalism, so Emerson could express his feelings on individualism and being true to oneself.

            The second paragraph of Emerson’s “Self Reliance” shows all of these strategies. He starts by saying “There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that 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, 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.” In this sentence he uses pathos and a metaphor to explain how he feels about individuality. The first example of pathos in this paragraph is when he says “he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance.” By saying this he tells us that if you were to be jealous of someone for any reason it would be foolish because you should not be concerned about what other people have and focus on being the best individual you can be. He restates the same idea when he says “imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion.” Emerson then uses a metaphor to further explain his idea when he says “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.” He is saying that who you are should only be a result of what you wanted to become and not a result of what others have molded you to be. He goes on to say “the power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.” Emerson uses pathos in this sentence to make you feel like you can be whoever you want to be as long as you are true to yourself. He then uses even more pathos in saying “not for nothing one face, one character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none. This sculpture in the memory is not without preestablished harmony. The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray.” He tells us that we can still be inspired by the ideas and accomplishments of others, as long as we don’t strive to be just like the person that inspires us. Instead, we need use our inspiration to set goals for ourselves to help mold us into the person we want to become. Emerson then says “we but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents.” He is telling us that we do not always express ourselves to the extent that we should because we are often ashamed in our beliefs. Emerson seems to write this sentence with more authority than the others. By doing this, he strongly conveys this idea which he obviously thought was very important. Throughout the rest of the paragraph Emerson uses pathos to drive home some of his main ideas about individualism by saying “it may be safely trusted as proportionate and of good issues, so it be faithfully imparted, but God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace. It is a deliverance which does not deliver. In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope.”

            Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self Reliance” essay is still considered one of the most popular and influential essays ever written. This is because readers feel like they can relate to his ideas because of his usage of emotion, tone, and accurate metaphors. These strategies make Emerson one of the most successful American writers of all time.

             

             

Emerson Needs a Friend

Ralph Waldo Emerson



 I’m looking for a friend who I can…

            Share my thoughts with

            Write poems with

            Go to plays with

Religious views: I believe that all things are in some way connected to God, making everything divine in its own way. I used to be a minister but people thought my religious views were getting away from the traditional Christian views so I decided to leave that job and do something that was more fitting for my beliefs. I think that slavery in this country should be abolished because it violates human laws and if we do not get rid of it then we are getting rid of freedom.

I want my friend to be someone that I can always be honest with no matter what the circumstance may be. If I can not be truly honest with a friend at all times then they are not a friend at all. I should not have to carefully think about what I am saying to a friend in fear that they might disapprove of it. Instead, I should hope that a friend would let me know if they disapprove of a thought because if they tell me otherwise that is just as bad as dishonesty. If a friend is ever hurt by something I should say, I hope that that they would not dwell on it but rather tell me that they were hurt and forgive me for whatever it was that hurt them. I would also hope that this friend would expect the same things in return from me. It can not be a true friendship if only one person attains these qualities.

I have always said “a friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.” Friendship is one of the most important aspects of our lives, without life would be nearly impossible. Without it, there would be no one to be honest with, no one to trust, and no one to share our thoughts with. We should all be thankful for our friends because they are a gift from God. A friend is someone who listens to you, understands you, loves you, and embraces you even when you can’t do the same for yourself. Friends have no limit on age, beauty, or the circumstance in which you met, as long as they will always be there for you they are a friend. They will always tell you when they think that something you are doing is wrong, and praise you when you are doing something right. Friendship is one of life’s simple joys. Knowing that someone will be there to talk to you if you need it or maybe to just listen to you when you need to talk somehow makes life easier to live.   

Emerson's Enthusiasm and Effort

            “Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved” was once said by Ralph Waldo Emerson. However, I feel that the opposite is true and that you cannot be enthusiastic about anything unless you put some effort into it. The best way I can relate this to my life is by comparing to the three seasons of high school baseball that I have played.

                During my freshman year of baseball at Colleyville Heritage it didn’t seem like I loved playing the game as much as other players did. The other players were always talking about how excited they were to play the next game and I never felt the same way about it. I told myself that I didn’t enjoy the games like everybody else because it was only my freshman year and I didn’t think the games mattered as much as they would when I was older. But, as the season progressed I noticed the others also cared more about how they performed than I did. For some reason I didn’t take pride in how I played and I couldn’t figure out why. Before I knew it the season was over and I still didn’t know why my teammates were so much more enthusiastic about baseball than I was.

            My sophomore year of baseball was a lot different than my freshman year, the games mattered more and the coaches started to pay more attention to how you performed. That’s when I realized that I needed to take more pride in the way I played the game. So I started practicing more in hopes that I would get good enough to feel excited about playing. However I did not realize that my practice habits were nowhere near as intense as some of the other players who were obviously taking the season more seriously than I was. Near the end of my sophomore season I decided that I would work much harder at becoming a better baseball player than I currently was. So instead of only practicing during the season, I worked at improving my game through the summer, fall and winter.

            When the first game of my junior season came around I was an immensely improved baseball player. After we completed our first game, I finally realized why my teammates loved the game so much more than I did. It was because they worked so hard to become better players that when they saw the results it made everything they did more fun, and that’s what was finally happening to me.

            I do not think that Emerson was wrong in saying “Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved”, however, in my case it would be more accurate to say “effort is the mother of enthusiasm, and without it nothing great was ever achieved.  

Emersons Genius

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self Reliance” essay he starts by defining genius: “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men....that is genius.” In saying this Emerson conveys that you should not be ashamed of your thoughts or ideas because there is a good chance that somebody else has the same thought. When he says “to believe your own thought” he saying that you need to put that thought into action before someone else does so and gets the credit for it. Emerson then says to trust in your thoughts and to never have doubts about them because other people are having the same thoughts and when you doubt them, you delay putting them into action. He opens his essay with this statement because it accurately conveys his feelings about the thought of the human mind.  

Was Jefferson a Hypocrite?

Many people believe that it was hypocritical of Thomas Jefferson to be such a famous advocate of freedom and liberty for men of all kind and at the same time to be an owner of over one hundred slaves during his life. Thomas Jefferson was not a hypocrite, instead he was a hard working generous person who loved people and desired to offer them the best he could.

            Jefferson once said “there is not a man on earth who would sacrifice more than I would, to relieve us from this heavy reproach [slavery]... we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.” By saying this, Jefferson suggests that slavery is vital to the growing, unstable nation and even though it might not be the right thing to do, it is necessary. He believed that not only his plantation at Monticello but the entire nation would fail without slavery. Jefferson thought that the nations economy was too dependant on slavery to abolish it during his lifetime. He also believed that he was giving his enslaved workers a better life than they would have had outside of Monticello.

            Slave life at Monticello was not as bad as you might think. Many of the workers were allowed to stay in the house with Jefferson and do the household chores while others were specially trained in areas such as nail making, brick making and cooking instead of working outside in the fields. Jefferson also tried as hard as he could to keep slave families together. He would sometimes buy a family of four or more slaves instead of the one slave that he desired so that he could keep the family together. Jefferson was quoted as saying that his slaves were “worth a great deal more” because he kept married slaves and their families together. Jefferson sometimes even explained to his slaves what their lives would be like outside of his plantation to discourage them from running away to a much harsher life. Jefferson did have six children with one of his enslaved workers named Sally Hemings. However, he freed these children of slavery because he believed that they appeared to be white enough to survive in the free world without being discriminated against.

            Jefferson also believed that slaves could not be released during the time that he owned them because they were too important to the young country’s economy. One of the country’s main cash crops was tobacco. Almost all of the plantations in the east grew the plant because it was such a huge money maker. Slaves were vital to this operation because they did everything but sell the tobacco and without them tending to it the economy would have taken a huge hit. Another reason that Jefferson could not free his slaves was because he was in debt for almost his entire life. His slaves made it easier for him to live in debt because he obviously did not have to pay anybody to do the work for him.

            In a letter to Edmund Cole, Jefferson explains to him why he does not think emancipation was necessary at that time. One of the things Jefferson writes to Edmund is "...the hour of emancipation is advancing, in the march of time. It will come; and whether brought on by the generous energy of our own minds; or by the bloody process of St Domingo, excited and conducted by the power of our present enemy, if once stationed permanently within our Country, and offering asylum & arms to the oppressed, is a leaf of our history not yet turned over." He is saying that slavery will be abolished whether they advocate it or not. This was one of the main reasons that Jefferson did not push for the abolition of slavery anymore than he did.

            If Thomas Jefferson was hypocritical about slavery like so many people believe, he would have been violent with them and he wouldn’t have cared about keeping families together like he did so often. He did not like slavery by any means but he knew how important it was t him and the country so he chose to turn a blind eye to the cruel side of slavery and hoped people would treat their slaves the way he did until the nation no longer depended on it.  

Works Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_and_slavery

Religion and Education Summary

Thomas Jefferson had a unique perspective on religion for his time. He “put his faith in his religion” (Onuf). Although he did not want to make his religious beliefs known, he did believe that there should be “a wall of separation between church and state” (Onuf), he believed that he was a “true Christian” and he believed that his ideas would grow and spread throughout the nation.

            When Jefferson refers to the “wall of separation between church and state” he means that people should not be judged by their religious beliefs or non-beliefs. This is part of the reason that he never made his religious views officially public. For example, when he ran for President of the United States he was especially protective of his beliefs because he did not want citizens to vote for him because he was or was not a Christian. However, if Jefferson were to classify his religion he would call himself a “true Christian”. In saying this, Jefferson believed that his take on Christianity was the correct one. He eliminated parts of the bible that he did not think were true, such as the virgin birth and the miracles performed by Jesus, essentially created the “Jefferson Bible”. He once told a man named Peter Carr “to avoid religion until ‘your reason’ is sufficiently ‘mature’” (Onuf).Jefferson believed that his take on Christianity would eventually grow to be one of the most accepted religions around the world. Even though there were priests in Jefferson’s day that did not accept his theory and even called him “infidel”, he still believed that people would brake away from the “priestly” church and begin to use their reason with their religion as Jefferson did.

            Although Jefferson’s ideas did not spread like he hoped they would, he was very successful with his theory on the “wall of separation between church and state”. In fact, he was so successful with this theory that it is still used today and is still believed to be a vital piece of our government.

Thomas Jefferson Tattoo

Thomas Jefferson was extremely deserving of his accomplishments. He seemed to be most proud of his never-ending desire for knowledge and the fact that he founded the  University of Virginia. If he were to create a tattoo for himself, I believe that he would incorporate both of these things into the design. The tattoo would be placed on his right arm and it would be a book with the University of Virginia logo on the cover of it.

            Jefferson would have wanted a book to be part of his tattoo because books were such a huge part of his life. He loved books because he believed they made everyone that read them more intelligent about the world they were living in. He had multiple libraries during his lifetime and even owned upwards of 4,000 books at one point. Jefferson was even quoted as saying “I cannot live without books”.

            Jefferson thought non-religious controlled education was vital for a successful country, which is part of the reason he founded the University of Virginia in 1819. He would want this to be a part of his tattoo because it was such an important part of his life that he listed it as one of his three greatest accomplishments on his tombstone along with being the author of The Declaration of Independence and writing the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom. He was involved in everything from designing the buildings on the campus to deciding how people would be accepted into the University.

            Thomas Jefferson was a lover of knowledge, education, and books. Therefore a tattoo incorporating a book and the University of Virginia logo would be a good choice for him.  

  

    

Dear Mr Jefferson

Dear Mr. Jefferson,

                The field of architecture is something I have been interested in for some time.  As I approach the point in my life where I can now begin to consider a future career, I realize that my interest in architecture has only grown through the years.  I know that you have an extensive collection of books in the field of architecture.  There is one in particular that I respectfully ask if I may borrow.  The book that is of interest to me is called Palladian Architecture by Andrea Palladio.  I feel this book would significantly meet my needs as it would provide valuable information in my chosen career path.

                When I was in the seventh grade, I did a Science experiment that taught me the best way to build a structure.  The assignment, according to my teacher, was to “create a structure that can withstand the weight of three textbooks.”  Throughout the project, I had to experiment with several different geometric designs.  I found the trial and error required in the experiment to be not only challenging, but also thrilling.  The pride my group felt in determining the best design was immense.  What we discovered was that the best design for building a structure was to design the frame using triangles.  I was amazed at the sheer strength the triangle shape allowed.  It was during this time that I determined that architecture could be a potential career choice for me.

                In keeping with this interest, last summer I had the opportunity to work for a custom home builder, assisting in the construction of a two-story home.  The builder allowed me to meet the architect and observe his plans.  I noticed that the triangle principle learned in seventh grade was utilized in the plans for this house.  It was also exciting to me to notice that this same style of architecture is used at your University of Virginia where the Palladian style was incorporated.

                Thank you for considering my request to borrow Palladian Architecture by Andrea Palladio.  I feel that this book could provide considerable help to me as I begin a career in architecture. 

Sincerely,

Tanner Hollinger

Thomas Jefferson's Religion

Webster’s defines deism as belief in a god’s existence based on reason rather than on divine revelation.  Thomas Jefferson did not reveal his religion to the public because he did not want people to judge him for his beliefs.  However, many people believe that Jefferson may have been a deist based on a few beliefs that were made public.

Christianity is based on the belief that Jesus, the son of God, was born from a virgin named Mary.  Many deists believe that this could not have happened, and so did Jefferson.  He believed that since it is not possible for a human to become pregnant while still being a virgin that it was not possible for even the son of God to be born of a virgin.  To believe in a virgin birth, faith in a God that cannot be seen is necessary.  Jefferson likely struggled with the faith needed to believe this.  This is a perfect example of Jefferson’s reasoning getting in the way of his religion.  It is also one of the reasons that he decided that he would create his own Bible, but in doing so, would eliminate parts of the Bible that he did not believe in.  Jefferson did not acknowledge things like Jesus feeding a multitude of people with a very small amount of food or instances where Jesus healed the sick.  It seemed Jefferson struggled to accept the miracles that Jesus performed, and while he believed and acknowledged some parts of the Bible, those aspects that required faith to believe, he simply eliminated.

His struggle with miracles, his disbelief in a virgin birth, his own intelligence and reasoning hindering his ability to believe, all lead one to believe that Thomas Jefferson was a deist.  Although he attempted to hide this fact from the public, the evidence points to deism.

One Cool Page of the Monticello Website

     I am a huge Thomas Jefferson fan.  He is my favorite historical figure.  I discovered a website called "Jefferson's Monticello."  There is a page on that site that I found really interesting.  It is all about Thomas Jefferson and his view on slavery.  The writer of the page describes how Jefferson was so opposed to slavery and all he did to oppose it.  But....right in the middle of the page is a letter offering a reward to anyone who finds one of Jefferson's run away slaves.  It is interesting to see the letter written in the original form with its Old English spellings.  There is  also a link to a book that can be purchased about the African American families that lived on Jefferson's Monticello estate.  Check out this web site, but especially the "Plantation and Slavery" page.  You won't be sorry!   Here is a link to help you get there faster:  http://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/thomas-jefferson-and-slavery

Thomas Jefferson-I didnt realize

     President of the United States, Author of The Declaration of Independence, organizer of the Louisiana Purchase; these are accomplishments most of us know that Thomas Jefferson made.  But, did you know that he founded the University of Virginia, was ambassador to France, and was an accomplished architect?  All of these are amazing feats for one man, but perhaps the most interesting fact that was unknown to me was that he owned over 130 slaves.  I find this to be an incredible fact considering that this is the man that coined  phrases such as "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,"  and "the best principles of our republic secure to all its citizens a perfect equality of rights."  How is it then, that this champion of equal rights owned over 130 slaves?  It would seem that someone so set on providing equality for all men, would not enslave fellow human beings.  It seems to be a complete contradiction.  Although, some say he treated his slaves fairly and perhaps even provided a better life than they would have had outside of slavery, he still held slaves against their will.  So, would you consider Thomas Jefferson a hypocrite or a humanitarian?

Lost in Translation

Seeing is believing, but the problem is, you can't always believe what you see.    That seems to be the problem with texting.  "Heard you went to the party with John last night."  Is the writer of this text happy for you, mad at you, or just curious to see if you were there?  It is difficult for one to tell when all you have to go buy is words.  What is missing, is the tone.  I suggest that when texting always use an emoticon.  Simply inserting a smile, frown, or tear can let your reader know what tone is meant.  Misunderstandings or hurt feelings can be a thing of the past when texting with emoticons.  So, texting with emoticons can change your world from "lost in translaton" to "found in motivation."  :)