Edgar Allen Poe

     The short story, "Fall of the House of Usher" written by Edgar Allen Poe has many psychological aspects that add to the Gothic elements. For example, the description of the house itself helps foreshadow that something terribly bad is going to happen. The outside of the house is described as being dark, and gothic. It even has eye-like windows and he starts to see a sad face on the house. He is personifying the house and the giving it a sad life. It definitely connects with the Usher family, since they are all intermarried with one other, they have many genetic problems. The inside of the house also resembles the outside and Usher's condition is linked with the house as well. The house also seems to be effecting Roderick's mind as well. Another psychological aspect in this story is the sister supposedly dead and after they bury her under the house, he feels a presence in his room and a thunder storm is added to create tension. While he is reading Roderick a novel about a knight clawing himself out of his grave, he starts to hear noises coming from the house. This signifies that the sister is doing the same exact thing while he is reading.

A Media War in Egypt

     With there still being protests taking place in Egypt, the article "As Clashes Continue in Egypt, A Media War Breaks Out" founded in NYTimes.com and written by David D. Kirkpatrick, discusses how a whole new type of battle broke out this Sunday in Cairo. The battle consists between the Egyptian's own state-run media and the independent media on whose to blame for the violence that is recently taking place. Human rights advocates are blaming that the Egyptian government has ordered a campaign of distortion specifically to cover up violence done by the military. The biggest problem now brought up because of this war, is the support of the public. Since there in no public support on either side, there is no final decision made whether the newly elected parliament will control of the government and the new constitution or the military instead. New videos shown on Egyptian television have presented the military shooting protesters within very close range that ended up as being fatal. Despite the fact that former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is gone, there is still much violence and chaos left in the country. Unfortunately, most of the killings and beatings are being done by their own military. Based off of this article, it is obvious it is going to take a while until the government and life in Egypt become stable.

The Raven

     The Raven is dark poem written by Edgar Allen Poe and the poem's name itself is already scary since Ravens are the color black. The poem fits in the idea of Gothic poetry because of the setting, which takes place in December, during winter at midnight and in a palace. In the poem, someone is knocking on the door, but when he opens no one is there. The second time he is trying to relax himself by saying it is the wind hitting the window and this is building up tension. It is also very Gothic because Edgar Allen Poe mentions a woman named Lenore, who is assumed to have died violently. Throughout the poem, he realizes that there is a raven outside the door and he thinks that it is saying "nevermore". At first he thinks that it will leave because everybody else and even hope has left him, but it still stayed. After, he links the raven to Lenore and he feels that there is someone with him. This is also considered to be supernatural and since he is talking to the raven, this shows psychological torment after Lenore died. The raven is associated with something bad and because it is not leaving, he will always remember how she died and he will never be able to move on.

Quality of Air in Western Skies

     The article "Quality of Air? That's as Murky as Western Sky" is from NYtimes.com and is written by Kirk Johnson. Lately, there have dust storms all over the Western side of America and is now starting to effect the water faucets in Los Angeles, the public health in Utah, and even tourism. Due to global warming and climate change. more and more stable soil is now starting to loosen up. Researchers are saying that because of off road vehicles and the drought's impact, it is starting to cause dust to rise up and move around. The dusts main source is said to be coming from the Colorado Plateau. Over the last couple of years, the number of winter dust storms have increased, which affects the rate of melting snows into the Colorado River. This is very dangerous because that is the main water source for more than 20 million people. Also, dust storms carry chemicals too, such as iron oxides. This article is extremely important because dust storms are just one of the many risks that come from global warming and from a simple climate change, many people's lives can be put into danger.

The Scarlet Letter

     My favorite moment from The Scarlet Letter would most definitely have to be on Election Day, where the audience is still staring at Hester, Chilingworth looks at her with a sinister look, and Dimmsdale finally reveals the mark on his chest after seven years. The reason why I chose this moment is because each character in this scene is keeping a secret that builds up the climax and leads us to the end of the story. I also enjoy this moment because it ties all three characters together, for example Hester is ready to leave and get rid of the letter 'A'and Dimmsdale plans to confess his sins to the people. We also find out that Chillingworth has managed to get on the trip as well and that he originally planned something for Dimmsdale. Because Dimmsdale knows that he is going to leave with Hester and Pearl, he no longer cares about what the town will think and decides to confess to everyone the sins he has committed. This moment really grabbed my attention and I especially loved how all the main characters' secrets were finally exposed. I find this moment to be my favorite because it shows that in the end the truth will always come out.

The Many Benefits of Exercise

     The article "How Exercise Benefits the Brain" written by Gretchen Reynolds and founded in NewYorkTimes.com is about new research that states how simply working out can be beneficial for the brain. Recently new research has been found in Ireland that exercising can help improve a person's memory by increasing the brain- derived neurotrophic factor, also known as BDNF levels in the brain. The experiment took place in Ireland where a group of male college students were asked to participate in a series of memory tests after exercise. In the beginning of the experiment, they had all the students look at a row of photos and names rapidly move across a computer screen and then were asked to recall what they had just seen. The first half of the students then rode on a stationary bicycle until they had become exhausted and the other half sat while watching them exercise for thirty minutes. The students who had exercised ending up doing much better on the tests rather than the ones who had just watched. Blood samples taken from each and every one of the students proved that those who had exercised had an increased levels of BDNF, which led to a significant amount of improvement in the students' memory. I believe this article to be important because it shows how simple exercise and being healthy can benefit us in many ways possible.

Dimmsdale or Chillingworth?

     Reading through the chapters in the Scarlet Letter, I have to say that the character I sympathize the most with is Dimmsdale. Even though Dimmsdale is the one who had an affair with Hester and is the father of the child, I still feel remorse for him because it is obvious that he loves Hester and Pearl with all his heart. Dimmsdale regrets not confessing the truth and standing with Hester and Pearl in front of the whole town, but later on it is made pretty clear that he truly feels guilty for what he has done to them. Throughout the story, we find out that Dimmsdale feels enormously guilty that it has even begun to effect him mentally, emotionally, and psychically. He starts punishing himself by whipping and starving himself. He even went as far as carving the letter 'A' onto his chest and constantly puts his hand over it. One reason I also sympathize with Dimmsdale is because through everything he still loves Hester and Prynne. This is shown when he holds hands with the both of them on the stand where Hester received her punishment, even though it is at night, but he still wishes that he had stood with them. Chillingworth is torturing Dimmsdale and completely disregards his wife's feelings, while Dimmsdale actually met up with Hester in the forest and decided that they are going to run away to England, where him, Hester, and Pearl would be a real family.

The Scarlet Letter

     The Scarlet Letter is written by Nathaniel Hawthorne who is the speaker and it is about a young woman who committed adultery and is doomed to where a scarlet letter 'A' on her chest for the rest of her life. At first, the audience was meant for Puritans to read because Hawthorne felt guilty since his great great grandfather was the head judge in the Salem Witch trials. The occasion took place in the 1600s even though he wrote the story in the 1800s. In Chapter 1, we find out about the prison door in which Hester Prynne walks out of. The prison door is described as being ugly and old and everyone was shocked to see that Hester Prynne was the complete opposite. It is also a paradox since the entire town is written as being happy and the last sentence of the chapter gives out the purpose of the story. Throughout Chapters 2 and 3, Prynne is forced to stand on a pedestal as public punishment while hold a baby and as she is standing she recognizes her husband who pretends that he does not what is happening.
     We also learn that despite the embarrassment, Prynne gained more experience and self-confidence. While she as on the pedestal we also find out that Reverend Dimmsdale is the true father of the baby, but because he is a priest he is not allowed to say anything. Still, while he gives his speech he is giving out hints that since he is the father, he then has to step down with her in front of everyone and he also asks her who the father is. This is ironic because he is a priest and he is the one who had an affair with Hester Prynne. In Chapter 3, when she walks back to the prison, there is a glow light from the letter and this personification because it is giving the scarlet letter life. Later, the husband pretends to be a doctor in order to see his wife and we find out that his revenge is not on Hester or the child, but it is on the father. The husband mentions as well that there were already problems within their marriage and he was old while she was still young. Afterwards, he asks her to keep their marriage a secret.

"Soldier is Convicted of Killing Afghan Civilians for Sport"

     The article titled "Soldier is Convicted  of Killing Afghan Civilians for Sport" is written by William Yardley. The article is mainly about the unfortunate event that took place in Afghanistan just last year. An American soldier, Calvin Gibbs who is also a staff sergeant and twenty six years old as well, was found guilty of murdering three innocent civilians in Afghanistan basically for sport. He is also accused of trying to get the rest of the soldiers to commit the same type of murders against Afghan citizens. Gibbs was also recently found guilty for assaulting another soldier and even managing to steal a tooth and fingers from a dead person. Five soldier was were also accused of the same crime, all explained that Sgt. Gibbs was to the one had planned scenarios and  purposely planted grenades and bombs near the victims to make it seem as if it were a combat situation.
     During his trial, Gibbs lawyer proclaimed that those fiver soldier were doing what their sergeant order them to do, and in return they get lenient sentences and that their accounts could not be trusted. Despite this, Calvin Gibbs is still being charged with the murders and is even accused of stealing dead body parts and using them as tactics to intimidate the soldiers. The reason I find this article important and relevant because it is truly disturbing how anyone could purposely murder innocent civilians and  try to cover it up by saying they were armed with weapons, when they had planted it there themselves. I find disgusting that he would even consider taking body parts from a dead man and using for his own selfish purposes. This article also shows how people can be cruel and racist towards others mainly because of what race they are from. This is also shows how an Army could do something such as this.

The Seven Deadly Sins

     It is said that there are seven deadly sins in this world. These are lust, sloth, wrath, greed, gluttony, pride, and envy. Out of all these sins. the one I probably commit the most is sloth. The reason I chose sloth is because I have a tendency of procrastinating and leaving work to the last minute. I most especially procrastinate towards major homework such as projects and tests. For example, if a teacher assigns a project that is due three weeks later I usually do not get started on it until only a couple of days before or until the night before the due date. If I lived during the Puritan times and was branded with a scarlet letter S for being a sloth than I would most definitely feel embarrassment. I would also feel shame if I had to walk around town with people staring at the letter and knowing exactly why I am wearing it. It would also be the most difficult to do everyday chores and feel people staring at me wherever I may go and thinking the same exact thing. Overall, being branded with a letter for a sin I have committed for the rest of my life would really be a horrible feeling to have.

"Huswifery"

     The poem Huswifery is written by speaker Edward Taylor and is mainly about his wife and how she passionately shows her love and affection to his husband. In the beginning stanzas, Taylor mentions that his wife specifically shows her love by spinning the wheel in order to make him clothes. The reason he mentions spinning the wheel is because she spends her time weaving a bunch of cotton into a beautiful piece of cloth. The audience of the poem is not written to his wife, but to God about his wife and he is showing his gratefulness. The occassion takes place in Puritan times and the purpose is to inform and explain about his wife and the time she spends for him. The subject is also his love towards God and his wife. The tone is appreciative and especially grateful for the type of wife he has.

     Edward Taylor is directly speaking to God in his poem and he mentions how as a wife she is doing what she is supposed to do. There is also personification in his poem because he resembles a robe she made for him, as a "Holy robes of glory" since she put so much work and religion into it. Parts of this poem violates the rules of Puritans because Puritans normally wear simple clothing and she made a cloth that was a heavenly color. Also, he himself feels holy every time he wears the clothes she made for him because of all the time and effort she put into making them. He is feeling holy through her chores. This poem also follows the Puritan values because he talking to God and is constantly mentioning religion throughout the poem.

"Economy Alters How Americans Are Moving"

     While going through articles in NewYorkTimes.com , one caught my eye which is "Economy Alters How Are Moving" by Jennifer Medina and Sabrina Tavernise. The following article is mainly how the downfall of the economy has recently affected where Americans are now choosing to live. In the past, many economic drops that have happened have always affected the migration patterns of hundreds of American citizens. This is no different, except that researchers are now saying that homeowners are stuck in situations where they cannot sell their houses and are worried that they would not be able to find jobs in other cities. According to new research by Census Bureau and the Internal Revenue Service by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire has shown that although migration is slowing down, there has been a shift from the Northern states to Southern states.

     This and other new data by the I.R.S also show that there has been a migration from states, such as Arizona, Florida, and Nevada. Majority states such as this have been hit with the recession and are now losing population. It's also mentioned in the article during economic hardships, it gets extremely difficult for the population to move towards states whose own economy and employee rates are increasing and in the number of residents as well. I find this article important because for one it shows how every few years when there is a downfall in economy, Americans tend to migrate towards more favoring states. This article also shows us that migration in America goes along side with the economy and is especially common in American history. With the recent drop in economy, many people are moving more to the South, where there are more jobs available and maybe in the future they will once again migrate somewhere else.

"Letter From Birmingham Jail"

     In this week's blog post, I have decided to my article on Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail". The speaker is of course, Martin Luther King Jr. and the purpose of this letter to inform the audience, which were the writers of a newspaper article, and to also persuade and explain to them why the article they have written is misleading and utterly wrong. Another reason he wrote this letter was to meet with the writers personally and this shows that Martin Luther King Jr. sees them as equals. He wrote his entire letter from jail and mentions that it is longer since he is in jail. The occasion is April 16, 1963 in Birmingham Jail and the subject is about civil rights and freedom. Throughout his letter, Martin Luther King Jr. kept his tone calm and encouraging, but in the end he became more emotional. In writing his letter, he also has many repetitions, restatements, and parallelism, such as "we were here..." and "before the pilgrim...". He also makes an allusion towards the Declaration of Independence and the Plymouth.
     The main reason why he wrote this letter was because a newspaper had written an article about the Whites attacking the Blacks and basically showing that they are supporting what is wrong, instead of what is right. Martin Luther King Jr. also wrote a paradox about this attack, which was that the police are using violence to gain social justice and in other towns there is nonviolence because there is segregation. This is also considered emotional persuasive because he influences the reader. He especially influences the reader by his efforts under circumstances. Even though he is in jail, he is still fighting for civil rights when he could easily not do anything. One other important aspect of his letter is that, Martin Luther King Jr. says that they will reach freedom, its only a matter if time and he is confident that one day there will be freedom. He starts his letter with logos and ends it with pathos.

Speech Presentations

      In this weeks speech presentations I enjoyed listening to every single one of them, but the one presentation I thought gave the most information was Haroutiun and Micheal's speech project. Their project was on Franklin D. Roosevelt's speech about the attack on Pearl Harbor, which occurred during World War I by the Japanese army. The reason I think their presentation provided more information was because they were able to pinpoint many of the literary devices and rhetorical devices from within the speech. They had also written down a couple of points about Franklin D. Roosevelt's biography in the beginning of their project. Throughout their presentation, they had also written down important points about the speech and had even provided a short video and a few audio clips of certain parts from his speech for the entire class to hear.

"Rajaratnam Is Sentenced To 11 Years"

     While scrolling through NYTimes.com, one particular article caught my eye, which is titled "Rajaratnam Is Sentenced To 11 Years", by Peter Lattman. The following article is about a hedge fund founder, named Raj Rajaratnam who was recently arrested for inside trading. He also received the longest sentence ever for this kind of fraud, which is eleven years. The billionaire was the former head of the Galleon Group Hedge fund and Judge Richard J. Holwell fined him with an amount of $10 million and also ordered that he forfeit $53.8 million. Before his sentence, Rajaratnam was put on a two-month trial during May, in which the jury convicted him of fraud involving securities and also conspiracy. He was originally arrested in October 2009 and declined to speak at his own trial.

     Although, Rajaratnam received the longest sentence for insider trading there was still a possibility he could  have actually received a sentence from up to nineteen to twenty four years under federal guidelines. During his trial on Thursday, prosecutor Reed Brodsky said that he deserves a larger penalty for his crimes, but Judge Holwell lowered his sentence because of health factors. Rajaratnam has diabetes that could eventually lead to kidney failure and decided that jail would be more of an extreme experience for him since he has a serious health condition. This article really grabbed my attention because it seems to me that after the economy began to drop, more and more top business men are being caught with fraud. Now a days, it also seems that this is beginning to spread throughout a number of companies and becoming a threat to society as well.

My Five Virtues

     After taking a look over my life in the past two days, I have come up with five virtues that I find to be extremely important for me. These five virtues are order, sincerity, motivation, education, and perseverance.
Each of these virtues have different meanings that I find essential.

The five virtues are:

1. Order- Staying organized helps to keep our plans and time managed more easily.
2. Sincerity- Be honest with others, but not in way where you are hurting them.
3. Education- Always learn new things and keep up to date in current events.
4. Motivation- Always try to have something to look forward to be doing and challenge yourself.
5. Perseverance- Never give up and always keep trying to be better.

     In the past two days the most trouble I had is probably working on motivation. Especially because of the cloudy weather yesterday, I felt lazy and the warm clothing I was wearing made it difficult getting myself to simply stay awake. Last night, after finishing my homework, all I was in the mood for was lying on the couch and watching television. Sometimes, I went on my computer and surfed the web. It really felt like one of those days where you simply want to be lazy and not do anything for the rest of the night. I know I probably could have done other better activities in my time. Hopefully, the next time it is a rainy day, I'll find a way to motivate myself to study a little extra for my classes or maybe read a book.

"Straw into Gold"

     In this week's blog, I have chosen to do it on Sandra Cisneros's autobiography, "Straw into Gold". The speaker, Sandra Cisneros begins the introductions to autobiography in France, while she is there to attend school. Cisneros puts much emphasis on her heritage since it is a great part of her life and background to many of her stories. We are able to understand this in her autobiography and as we read on we learn that although she her heritage is Mexican, she is in fact born in Chicago. Cisneros grew up in a family of six brothers and as a tradition she was expected to get married before she left the house, but instead she went against her culture and left in hopes of becoming a writer. In the end, Cisneros was successful and says in her autobiography that it was because of her parents why she was a successful writer. She inherited a sappy heart from her father and her intelligence from her mother.

     Cisneros focuses her introduction mainly on her successes and achievements. One of the examples she gives is when she was asked to cook corn tortillas. She had never cooked Mexican food before in her life, but she tried to do her best and didn't give up. She compares this experience to an allusion of a fairy tale. She's being asked to do the impossible, but in the end she becomes successful. Cisneros also compares to another time she had to write her MFA exam and had felt the same feeling that it is impossible, but in the end she had once again achieved success. Overall, Cisneros wrote about self-achievement and despite how impossible a task might seem, with a little hard work you can turn straw into gold. The subject of her story was her successes and the purpose was to show them to the reader, who is the audience. The occasion is her life and her tone is full of pride.

Benjamin Franklin

     In 1771, Benjamin Franklin began to write the first section of his own autobiography when he was sixty five years old. An autobiography is a life history written by the person who experienced it first-hand.  The specific section we are currently focusing on, is the time that Franklin had an epiphany about how he expects to live for the rest of his life. The speaker is Benjamin Franklin, when he was just seventeen years old and decided that he wanted to do something better with his life. The occasion is his life and takes place in the year 1723. The subject in his autobiography is moral perfection  and it mainly deals with self-improvement. The audience is for anyone who is willing to read about Franklin's life and his accomplishments. Benjamin Franklin provides us with a record  of his many achievements and an understanding of his exraordinary character. Throughout his entire writings, his tone is informative, descriptive, and practical. This is different from many other stories becuase he is not writing to persuade, he is simply writing for whoever would enjoy reading it.

     Benjamin Franklin realized at a young age that if you wish to become better, you also have to work it. As a result of this he created the thirteen virtues, which are temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility. To work on becoming better at each of these virtues, Benjamin Franklin also created a sort of a chart to help him keep track of how much progress he was making. Each virtue had a different meaning, for example temperance meant not to eat or drink to point where we are full and feeling lousy, but silence meant not to waste any time talking about irrelevant topics, but instead talk about subjects that are beneficial for everyone. One other aspect of his virtues is that people may also define them differently. Benjamin Franklin wrote three other sections in autobiography later in his life, but he was only to write up until 1759.

France...

     One of the best countries to go for a visit is France. Paris, the capital of France, is known as one world's famous tourists sites and thousands of people visit France every year, whether it's for a businees trip, honeymoon, or a family vacation. The best part of France is that you can even go visit other bordering Eurpoean countries by train, such as Italy and the Netherlands and return back to France at the end of the day. The first time I entered this country was in the summer of 2005 and I still remember all the amazing historical sites that we visited, especially the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is best known as being one of France's most attractive monuments. It is made up of three floors and you have the option of using the stairs or the elevator. On the second floor, is a fancy restaurant and right next it a small souvenir shop. Not to mention, you can see the entire city of Paris. The best part of France is at night, when the Eiffel Tower's lights are all lit up and you can even gaze at them while your eating dinner on the river.

My Favorite Ice Cream Flavor

   Probably one of the greatest ice cream flavors in this world is chocolate chip cookie dough. I find this flavor to be one of the best because it has vanilla, cookie dough, and chocolate all in one ice cream. Who doesn't like chocolate in their ice cream? During our childhood we all have endured ourselves with different flavors of ice cream and up until now there is still the flavor chocolate chip cookie dough. To me, this specific type of ice cream and has somewhat become a part of my childhood. Every time I take a bite out of it I feel like a kid again and reminds of my days when i was only a child. Whether it be in a bowl or in a cone, chocolate chip cookie dough will always give me that same warm  feeling. Chocolate chip cookie dough is the best to eat when on a hot sunny day. Why would you eat anything else? This is a combination of the best ice cream flavors, chocolate and vanilla put into one flavor and topped off with pieces of cookie dough for a little bit of a extra sweet taste.

"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

     Written and preached by Jonathan Edwards, "Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God" is more or a less a sermon given mainly for the purpose to persuade the colonists into being better Christians. It can also be said that this was a speech that took about six hours in a small tent, crowded with colonists. Although, the tone of the speech was meant to be persuasive, Jonathan Edwards gave his speech in a calm tone and rarely made eye contact with the audience. He distanced himself purposely from the speech and that way the colonist's attention was on the imagery of God's wrath. Throughout the entire speech, Edwards focused only on the consequences of not being a good Christian, rather than the positive aspects of being one. The main reason Edwards did this was because he believed that the best way to persuade the colonists was to overcome them with fear. In his speech, Edwards was able to achieve this by using persuasive techniques, such as emotional also known as ethos and imagery. One of the many examples he preached is that we are all hung on a string over a pit of Hell and the only reason we are alive is because of the mere pleasure of God holding us up. 

     Other images of wrath in which he uses is the picture that if we were to fall, there will be nothing to hold us back up and God decides when He is going let go of the string. Jonathan Edwards also explains that all our sins are a metaphor to the "great waters" and the more we sin, the greater the amount of water becomes and eventually there will be nothing holding back the flood gates. He also uses the rhetorical device, which is repetition by emphasizing on the fact that we are all nothing which Edwards also used to purposely frighten the colonists. At one point during the speech, Edwards has a shift in tone and preaches a little bit about the positive aspect of being a good Christian, but then he immediately he goes back to explaining that there is no mercy and those who are considered sinners will suffer in their own vessel of wrath. Basically, what Edwards did was that he gave the colonists a little bit of hope but then he took it away. One other imagery he uses is that we are bent arrows and on a bow and that we get exactly what we deserve. The purpose of this speech was to persuade the colonist and to also inspire the listeners. One major positive aspect he explains is that those who are listening to his sermon are given a second chance. Edwards gave this entire speech in a calm and boring tone.

"Mission Update"

         The story I have chose for this week's blog is "Mission Update", who's speaker is astronaut Steve Squyres. This particular story is about exploration in space, specifically on the planet Mars. The familiarity about this story and the last is that they are both about exploring a 'new world', but instead of writing down information to gain riches, Squyres is simply writing to inform the reader, which is also the purpose of the story. Another big difference is that he is blogging from space and is expressing his emotions and opinions about what he is experiencing at that moment. The tone he is uses throughout the entire story is happiness and excitement. This is also a first-hand account and he is blogging his narrative in modern day chronological order. His blog post  starts off with him expressing enthusiasm about seeing the Victoria Crater. One important event in this blog, is the landing of Opportunity on Victoria Crater.
         As the story continues, he writes about the rover taking picture one by one as it slowly moves to another location throughout the crater. Another extraordinary event, is when he blogs that Mars will be hidden behind the sun known as "superior conjuction" and that will cause it to be extremely difficult to communicate with NASA Officials on Earth. The occasion takes place in 2006 during the landing on Mars and they have decided that after the conjuction they will move on to Cape Verde for new pictures. At first, they had planned to explore both Cape Verde and Capo Frio, but after comparing them together they decided that Cape Verde is the better choice. The main audience of this story is the world since he isn't writing for one specific person, he's writing for everyone to see his blog. Throughout the story, Steve Squyres main subject is about the landing of Opportunity and life on Mars. The reason I have chosen this specific story is because unlike the other stories we have read, he isn't writing down information to persuade or to gain something in return. On the contrary, he's writing it all down for anyone who has the chance to read his blog and learn what goes on in the planet of Mars.

"Upgrade Urged on Children's Privacy"

        In today's world, technology has become a major part of our lives. Through the decades it has reached a point where many of us have already become dependent on it, especially young children. The article "Update Urged on Children's Privacy", written by Somini Sengupta and published in the New York Times discusses about the growing number of children using cellphones and social networking to communicate with one another. According to this article, the Federal Trade Commission proposed that certain changes and regulation should be put on online privacy considering children under the age of thirteen. The FTC has also suggested that web sites that collect information be ensured that they will protect it and hold onto it for as long as it is necessary, then proceed to safely delete it. One other major issue that the FTC has brought to light, is enforcement on social networking sites. For example, Facebook is only limited to people of a certain age, but children can easily lie about their age. Because of this, a Facebook official has informed parents that it is better to teach their children to be safe online instead of having them offline.
        I believe this article to be extremely important considering that the new generation is becoming more and more exposed to technology and are making it a part of their lives. As more children began to use the social media, the more they become exposed to online criminals and pedophiles pretending to be their age. It is not difficult at all to create a fake profile and children are being easily fooled by this. Another big concern on the internet is cyber bullying. Other children who normally wouldn't say certain words in real life find it easier to say it online, behind a computer. Cyber bullying is dangerous in many ways, such as lowering one's self esteem and in extreme cases can even be fatal. This issue continues to grow today and many actions are being taken place to handle it, including the improvement on children's safety online. Since computers are becoming such a huge part of children's daily lives it's also important to make sure they are safe and protected.

"A Journey Through Texas"

       "A Journey Through Texas" is a a first hand account of the travels in the Americas by the Spanish written by explorer, Alvar Nunez Cabaza de Vaca. Cabaz de Vaca is the speaker of the story and as he continues to travel in this new area, he is writing down all of his experiences and the surroundings he is seeing in his journal. The purpose of this journal is to gather information and to also inform the Queen of Spain about the land there and in return gain money and gold. Since he is the one narrating, the story is told in chronological order. It begins with him being led by two Native American women on their way to another Indian tribe. For the most part, the tone is informative and descriptive, but the tone soon changes as he becomes angry at the women. After finding out that the women did what he said because of fear, he began to feign his anger in order to have a certain control over them. Later though, the tone seemed to change back to being informative. The main subject of the journal was exploration and knowledge.
      Throughout the journey, the Indians started to catch the diseases brought by the Spanish and began dying. Cabaz de Vaca used this to his advantage and wrote down emphasis on God because Spain's state religion was Catholicism and also wrote about the importance of religious values. He wrote how he and the rest of the exploreres prayed to God and the Indians' illnesses began to heal. This was also an important part in the story because it showed that the Spanish were already influencing the Indians. Eventually, they reached a new Indian tribe and he noticed that this certain tribe has permanent houses and ate normal food. He especially took note how friendly and helpful they were. This became new and important information because it would show the King and Queen that they were building trust with the Native Americans. Later, they continued their journey and ended up in a another tribe that had great quantities of resources that could be useful for the Spanish. Overall, the story was non-fiction and based only on history.

"Anti-cancer Virus Shows Promise"

    The following article "Anti-cancer Virus Show Promise" is written by James Gallgher and loacted in BBC News.  An outbreak in recent studies has show that a particular virus, known as JX-594 has the ability to target cancer cells and replicate within them. Scientists are now creating a modified version of this virus into a vaccine and already begun conducting experiments. A small trial was taken place on twenty three patients where they were injected with the engineered virus and it proved a medical first for scientists. The results showed that the virus selectively targeted tumors leaving the healthy tissue unscathed. According to Professor John Bell from Ottawa, that this is the first time a viral therapy has shown to directly select tumors and consistently replicate.Research has also showed that much like the smallpox vaccine is used to treat millions of people, this vaccine can be done as well in the same manner. Although, the research is still in its early stages, scientists are still optimistic that this experiment would turn out successful and hopefully change the way cancers are treated in the future.

     I believe this article is important for societies around the world and for future generations to come. In today's societies, one of the main diseases that we face today is cancer. Several treatments have been created and improvements are constantly being made, but unfortunately no cure has yet been found. The virus itself is not a cure, but studies are constantly showing that it is preventing the growth of tumors, even the hard-to-treat cancers. The most important characteristic of this virus, is that the infection only selects tumor of all kinds and leaves the healthy tissues alone. Studies are still being conducted on this new virus and experiments are currently being conducted, but hopefully one day scientists will be able to create a successful and safe vaccine in the future. I also find this article to be extremely helpful and provide us with an abundant amount of information on what advancements are being made in cancer studies. If the experiments keep showing promising responses to the patients, then chances will grow larger and new oppurtinities will be made. Continuous research on this virus will one day bring a successful vaccine and future generations will one day be prevented from cancer by a simple shot.

My Favorite Book

My favorite book is definitely Kite Runner for many reasons. Firstly, I love how the author wrote it in simple words, but has deep meanings into it also. The narration throughout the book had an emotional tone to it and made me feel like the story was happening to me. I also love the characters in the book, especially Hassan because no matter what happened he was always a good friend and loyal to Amir. Kite Runner is also my favorite book because it can be related to real life, such as when Amir made mistakes when he was a child and how his dad lied to him about Hassan. I also love this book because of all the emotions each characters express and how the author was able to make them feel as if they are real. This book is also my favorite because even though many parts were very emotional it ended with a happy ending. My favorite part in the whole book is Hassan's letter to Amir because of how throughout the years Hassan was still like the loyal child he was back then.