Thankful for a Classmate

My English classes have always been my favorite, mainly due to the English teachers at Whitney Young. They all have been able to maintain a very calm and relaxing environment in their class. This year, my Brit Lit class is my first class at 8am, which made me think that common, tranquil atmosphere might be more of a disadvantage since I am still half asleep at 8am. Thanks to one classmate though, I have been able to keep my eyes open and actually participate in my early morning class. Mathew Patrick is my Brit lit savior.
Whether he knows it or not, Matt's energetic personality is what inspires me to stay awake in my first period class. I'm not quite sure how one manages to have so much energy at 8 o'clock in the morning, but he does it effortlessly. So I admire him and I am thankful to have him in my 1st period class.

Macbethish acts: worth it or not?

Macbeth shows us how in order to get something we want in the world, you have to be willing to sacrifice something whether it be your freedom, innocence, or even the friendships that you have with others. In Macbeth's case, it is concluded that in order for him to become king, he must kill the current king. The murdering of a good king sounds crazy to Macbeth and he says he doesn't want to do it unless he would not have any consequences to follow. He finally puts his cowardness aside and proceeds with the murder.
While in the moment, killing seems like something worth doing, I don't believe it is. Macbeth ended up feeling the need to kill more people due to his paranoia of people finding out. At this point I think it would be appropriate to call Macbeth a murderer and in my opinion, that's not a title I'd want, especially not while long. I do not think Macbethish acts are worth doing even if you were to gain what you wanted for years or forever. It's not worth the guilt, the title of a murderer and the loss of many great friendships.

"From the Crown to the Toe, Top-Full of Direst Cruelty"

"From the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty", a line Lady Macbeth brings to us in her soliloquy. It's quite a confusing line because why would anyone want to be filled with wickedness? Lady Macbeth is an interesting character, in my opinion. She really gives the play some edge. She tells her husband, Macbeth, that he is too soft for what he wants. If he wants to be king, he needs a little evil in him to achieve that goal. Macbeth has a totally different approach on the situation. He believes if he's meant to be king, it will happen. Lady Macbeth however takes matters into her own hands. In the quote above she tells us her desire to be filled with cruelty so that she can justify her motive of doing what she needs to do in order for her husband to be crowned king.
Lady Macbeth seems to want the royalty title more than her husband, but unfortunately she doesn't have much control of his inheritance of the king's crown. So instead she tells her husband he must kill King Duncan. If she could she would I'm sure. Her strategy was to portray a very happy and tranquil atmosphere so they could fool the King into thinking they were harmless. Once they lured him into their home, they would kill him so that Macbeth would finally be King. Macbeth so far doesn't seem to be 100% supportive with the plan, which proves Lady Macbeth's opinion of him being weak and feminine.

No New Tale to Tell

The Pardoner's Tale does an excellent job demonstrating how one should not easily trust another no matter how much of a bond or common interest exists between you and that person/group. In the Pardoner's Tale, three men are brought together by the common desire of wanting a glorious title. They try to find death and earn the right to say they have defeated what most people fear. This goal of theirs made them think they could trust each other because ultimately, they needed each other in order to find the death. However, they become distracted when they think about all the gold that will be left behind when they do indeed kill Death. They soon turn on each other because of greed and realizing they each want all of the gold to themselves.
Greed is a highlighted idea in this tale. It shows you how greed is normally the root of all evil. The three men originally sought out to take care of each other, but once the idea of having a whole sack of gold to themselves came to mind, they threw all that out the window. In the case of the tale, the men were so greedy they thought of murdering as a solution to who would be left with the money. The irony is they all end up dying in the end. I guess the message in that ending was if you commit evil acts, there will be consequences to face. Although this is a tale, therefore fictional, greed over money is an everyday thing. Greed is actually the source of a lot of bad traits and evil acts and I believe that's what the author wanted to convey.

Modern Day Grendel

Grendel can sometimes be perceived as an evil monster whose only desire is to bring dismay among the townspeople. But after reading the book Grendel and learning about his background, I realized that he didn't know any different because that's how he was raised. He was raised to be evil and think that destruction was acceptable and what he was supposed to do. So it makes us wonder, is he less of a monster because he doesn't know any better? Should he not be looked at as evil since his upbringing is what caused him to act this way? Honestly, I think it does make him less of a monster.
In today's world, people raise pitbulls to be fighters. They train them to annihilate other pitbulls and nothing else. As a result, the pitbulls only know to destroy; they don't know how to love or be around people, let alone other animals. So many people are terrified of pitbulls when it's really not their fault they are the way the are. Grendel is very similar to these animals in the sense that he was born into a world where being evil was expected from him due to his ancestry.

Truth

The Shaper has an interesting role in the book, Grendel. His words contribute greatly to the pride the Danes have of themselves because he gives them this idea that they were glorious in their past and they are glorious now. However, most of the "history" the Shaper sang about was false and inaccurate. But this is who the Danes believed; the things the Shaper told them was the only thing they knew, therefore they didn't question what they knew was the truth.
Throughout the entire book though,  the truth was often manipulated or not fully told. Even omitting the truth is still allowing people to formulate a false perception. It's very easy to believe someone you love or believe a source that is being provided to you from someone who has your best interests. A perfect example of this in Grendel is the whole purpose behind writing Grendel. The book is supposed to give readers a chance to understand both sides of the story. When reading Beowulf, many readers form the conclusion that Beowulf is the good guy and Grendel is the bad guy. It's easy to assume this since you don't have the other story, just how it was easy for the Danes to believe the Shaper when he portrayed them as wonderful beings. By reading the book Grendel we see how the Danes aren't as heroic as they make themselves seem to be. If anything they are more barbaric and monstrous than Grendel. Ultimately, it's safe to say that what you're being told is not necessarily the truth or all of it.

Modern Day Beowulf

Beowulf was portrayed as a hero who fought off a great monster, Grendel, in order to protect his family, country, and serve God. Beowulf was more of a person while Grendel was a creature, far from a human. In today's society, we consider our soldiers our heroes, however, soldiers are still fighting their own species. So who is more similar to Beowulf than soldiers? I believe Martin Luther King comes very close to a person with heroic traits and he was also a person who had to fight a horrid monster, a prejudice society.
Of course a prejudice society is more of a metaphorical monster, but a monster nonetheless. Martin fought for the rights of his people and although he didn't use weapons, he still won the battle of racism and equal rights with his words. In my opinion, Martin Luther King Jr. had a tougher battle than Beowulf. His challenge was to change the minds of a HUGE society of white people, while Beowulf had to fight one enemy. Both heroes fought because they believed God wanted them to take action and protect their country as well as their families.

Me

My name is Iliana Elias, Ily for short and I just had a birthday September 4th (yay!). Out of my three years at Whitney Young, my favorite classes have always been my English classes. I've always loved how liberal the class was - yes, there were assignment rules, but at the same time you were allowed to express your own style. Improving my writing skills is a great interest of mine so I'm hoping to learn new techniques and also use British Literature as an influence for my writing.
Aside from academics, I played basketball my freshman and sophomore year on the JV and varsity team for Whitney Young. This year I decided to go a different route and get into cross country and track. I love it so far because I appreciate the independence of the sport. I think all sports have a mental toughness factor, but running in particular focuses a little more on this area. You have to do it for yourself at the end of the day.
Music has consistently contributed to my happiness. My taste in music dips into so many different genres. I like everything from India Arie to Kendrick Lamar. My all time favorite artist however, is Lauryn Hill. There is not one song by her that I didn't like. I feel like all her music is genuine and raw.
I am the middle child of 5 kids. I have an older sister, 22, an older brother, 23, and two younger brothers, ages 12 and 14. My family is probably the most valued group of people in my life.

Don't jump!

Earlier today was the annual Shamrock Shuffle. The only thing anyone fears on this day is the possible soreness in your muscles you feel the next day. But today, people feared for a man who attempted to jump off the state street bridge into the Chicago river. The police were able to safely remove the man, but the Shamrock Shuffle had to be rerouted.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/19330082-418/man-threatening-to-jump-off-bridge-reroutes-shamrock-shuffle-run.html

In this article, we don't know exactly why the man wanted to pursue something so dangerous but we do know that this is a struggle against danger. This man came a couple seconds away from ending his life. There has to be more to his reasoning. Maybe he believed his life was difficult or that he didn't belong in the world. Either way, it's crazy to know that some people are so stressed that they choose to end their own lives. It was also in the eye of the public. I feel like this was done on purpose because there's no way he didn't know hundreds of people would be running by that day. Maybe in the back of his head he secretly wanted someone to stop him. I hope the man is okay and isn't diagnosed with anything severe.

C'mon Bulls

This article is about our injured-battered Chicago Bulls. They currently have four of their key players out due to injuries and their most important player doesn't have an official return date. The bulls currently have a 6 game losing streak.
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/sports&id=9032323

The Bulls' future doesn't look too bright with four of their star players out. Everyone pretty much said the Bulls without Derrick Rose won't get anywhere and so far it has been proven true. I think the Bulls are struggling a lot with being mentally tough. They can't let something like this bring down their performance skills, they need it to tell the players that are still healthy to step up to the plate.
Of course the Bulls knew losing Derrick Rose would make things rough, but they have to know how to tweak their game to match the scenario. I hope the Bulls can pull through now that it's getting closer to the regular season.

More Gang Violence in Chicago

Just this past week, baby Jonylah Watkins was shot 5 times alongside her father who was shot several times as well. Both victims underwent surgery but unfortunately the infant didn't make it and was pronounced dead March 12. Her father remains in the hospital under serious, but stable condition.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/chicago-baby-jonylah-watkins-dead-shot-times/story?id=18710150

This story honestly breaks my heart. Once again, the struggle against gang violence is prevalent. Her father is known for gang affiliations, which is the assumed reason for this attack. The gun violence in Chicago is unbelievable. We are now at the point where hearing about a shooting is normal. The fact that a baby was killed due to gang violence is beyond my point of comprehension. Babies are humans at their most innocent state who only make choices like "Should I cry to let mommy know I'm hungry?" not decisions of whether or not they want to affiliate themselves in gangs. This baby was just as innocent as Hadiya Pendleton. They were both children who did not decide to involve themselves with gangs but  by chance, happened to die from gang violence. I just want to know when gangs will realize it's not worth it. It's not worth giving the city a bad rep and it's not worth ruining their lives as well as ending lives.

Another Loss for Whitney Young

On March 8th of this year, Whitney Young boys varsity basketball played their rivals for a second time this season and had to face yet another loss. This game was a tough and important game-it was the sectional game that would've left them 3 games away from the state title. The Whitney Young boys were devastated after losing to Simeon for the second time this year. They were hoping to send their seniors out with a ring, but unfortunately their hard work wasn't good enough compared to Simeon's work ethic. The boys are out for the season but they plan to bounce back next year.
http://www.maxpreps.com/blogs/maxwire-national-blog/vcDAlX64dEWvg_k1zV7sdQ/friday-playoff-rundown--simeon-slams-whitney-young-in-illinois-4a-playoffs.htm

The boys demonstrated what it's like to face one of the most hated struggles: when your hard work just isn't good enough. My favorite quote of all time is "I hate to lose more than I love to win" and it clearly applied to the boys this past Friday. The boys ended the game in tears and almost made me cry with them. It's hard to experience so much success and then fall short or lose it all. I hope the boys show that this season only made them stronger and they reach higher achievements next year!

Restaurant Closes After 17 Years of Being Open

Recently, the neighborhood Cuban-Mexican restaurant, Cafe 28, had to sadly close its doors. The owner, Rick Miranda, explains that they simply were not getting enough business which made this past year very difficult in terms of staying open. At one point, they had to forfeit their liquor license due to being behind in fees. Miranda does hope to reopen and maybe relocate, but for now it looks like Cafe 28 will no longer be in service.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/stew/chi-cafe-28-to-close-feb-25-but-hope-remains-20130222,0,1212469.story

For a business to be successful, it must have a steady amount of customers. Cafe 28 struggled with keeping their doors open because of many obstacles which led to slow business. For example, the construction nearby probably prevented local customers from wanting to walk over to the restaurant and it probably limited the amount of available parking. It saddens me when business have to close, and in this case, a business that has been open for almost two decades! There are so many jobs being lost along with this closing like all the cooks, waiters, bussers, hosts, and the chef. I hope they are given another opportunity to reopen their phenomenal business again sometime in the future.

The Real Problem in Chicago

Lately there has been a lot of talk about gun violence in Chicago and although there has been a lot of shootings, Mary Schmich believes there is a more accurate term to call all the violence. She said it is called gang violence and there's a bigger issue to why gang activity is so high right now. She believes the gang activity is a cultural problem and that a lot of uneducated, poor people are raising fatherless children who turn to gangs as a form of "family". Schmich calls out the political and activist elites for not caring about the true issue and pointing the finger to the guns.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-02-18/news/chi-20130218-ihlenfeld_briefs_1_gang-problem-gang-violence-killings-gun

The struggle in this article isn't necessarily the guns, but the fact that politicians aren't giving attention to the less fortunate communities. If people in poorer neighborhoods had equal opportunities (this can include better schooling, better resources, better park facilities, etc) they'd probably stay out of gangs and not feel the need to fill that emptiness of being respected by those who are more fortunate.
Mary Schmich brought up a good point, in my opinion, of how the title "gun-violence" is an inaccurate category. It makes it seem as though all types of social classes are walking around Chicago shooting guns when in reality, majority of the poeple shooting are the same people who have been known for gun violence, gang members. Although neither "gang violence" nor "gun violence" is a desirable label that comes to mind when you think of Chicago, it is important to know the difference.