My Mad Dream of an Essay

Remember that time you ate that spicy [turkey] just before you went to bed on the night before the big [Holocaust]?  Oh, that weird dream you had about the 2016 presidential election.  When you woke up you couldn't quite remember the [fabulous] details, but after reading "On Self-Reliance" and "A Sound of Thunder" it's all coming back to you now.

The dream started badly.  You were in line with your family at a [Mall] waiting to be sent to [the dentist].  Everywhere you looked there were posters of president-elect [Amapola], looking like a crazy [penguin] who could eat a whole [trashcan].   

Suddenly, there was Ralph Waldo Emerson telling you, "[imitation is suicide]."  You realized that you have something to contribute to the world so you decided to [dance].  But it wasn't easy.  First you had to put on a fancy [tea pot] and [dog bowl] and then you had make a [guitar] to go back in time to the [beach] so you could convince people to learn about the candidates and the [poverty].

But right there in the [movie theater] there was a giant [Santa Clause] and it started [poke] ing at everyone.  People started to [scream].  You grabbed a [nutella] from a nearby [bathroom] and yelled [don't let anyone control your life].  Everyone stopped and listened, so you kept going.

(Haa....this did not make sense at all.)

Now the Speech/ Essay

In the book "A Sound of Thunder", we learned how one little action or thing can affect our future. For example, when Eckels made his choice to go to the past it led him dead in the story. I understand how big choices in life can influence our future such as colleges and jobs, but how can a small choice affect our future ? Like choosing what I want for lunch, does that really make a big impact in my future ? Small actions such as picking up a sticker from the ground, does it really influence my future ? After long thinking, I came to a conclusion that small choices in life does make an affect in our future. When I first made it into the volleyball team in Junior High, I was on the zone. But when it came to the volleyball games, I would get really nervous to the point where I would make excuses to my coach for me not to play the games. Some people told me,"Then why'd you join the volleyball team if your not going to play a game ?". You have to understand that volleyball is my main sport, and back then I've always dreamed to get into a volleyball team. So me making it in the volleyball team was one of the accomplishments I made in my life, I am not going to back down that easily. Anyways, when I would feel down and nervous, my friend encouraged me and cheered me up. She would have this smile on her face while giving me a pep talk and that helped me a lot. During the games when my friend could tell I was nervous, she would pat me on the back. That small gesture changed my mindset and gave me confidence. So yes, one small action can change your future or someone else's future. Me being a total wimp to play the first few games,  people tried to tell me to stop playing. Just like Emerson's essay "On Self- Reliance", don't be discouraged by others. Believe in yourself and keep doing what you love. Doing what you love will lead you to a successful life and also a happier life. So remember, one small "Thank You" or "Nice Job" can change your mindset and also someone's mindset and can change the mood out of everyone's lives. Enjoy the little things.

Emerson's Child

Let's say that Emerson went to High School in present day, what would you think his stereotype would be ? I think that instead of him being that typical studious nerd, I picture him more as a High School dropout. Why you ask ? Well you see, since Emerson is really big on showing creativity, not following others, and following interests, he would drop out of High School to pursue his dreams to do what he wants to do.
           If Emerson was here today and gave advice for students in High School, he would
suggest that we should take classes that follows our interests that will later lead us to success. If we take classes that interests us, we are more eager to learn and the motivated we are. For example, you're an artist. Take art classes! If art is something you really love to do, then take a class that will increase your knowledge about stuff you did not already know. Emerson believes that everyone is their own genius and has something great to express , but we wouldn't know our special talents until we express them. So he would also suggest that we should try new things. Trying new things allows us to step out of our comfort zone and extend our understanding. Emerson would tell us something about letting ourselves be free so that we can pursue our dreams. Striving to learn and to grow is the attitude Emerson wants all of us to have.
          We all know that Emerson hates when society pressures us or forces us to do
something that we don't love. Emerson is against that. So if he were here and was introduced to the school system today, he would be infuriated. If he goes to each class, and sees students being bored, stressing out about grades, and not being happy, he would sue the school system. It basically goes against on Emerson's argument. Kids nowadays can't express themselves because of society pushing them to do something they think we should do. He would view our school system as bullshit since we're doing something that does not interest us at all which then leads us into blocking our originality and creativity.
           Since Emerson is big on not following the crowd, after High School, he would
give us advice about following our interests. He truly believes that if we follow our interests, our interests will lead us to success. Emerson would want us to be happy, and I admire Emerson for that. That we can do whatever we want, say whatever we want, think whatever we want, as long as we are happy. What matters the most is happiness. I feel like Emerson would say something like "If you're not doing what you love, if you're not happy, then what's the point in living ?".
            In conclusion, if Emerson sees the world we live in today and the kids dealing
with pressure, he would give us suggestions or advice such as not following the crowd because it kills off our originality, to express ourselves and be creative, and to follow our dreams because following our dreams will lead us to a successful and happy life.

An earth-shattering fart

Wowzers. I almost laughed at this story because I did not expect that this reading assignment would be about time travel. This story talked about killing animals in the past *cough* dinosaurs. This story also talked about the presidential election, like what the hell ? This story is so random. I was expecting kind of like the "Right to you Opinion" or "Self-Reliance" vibe, but to come across a time travel story ? It kind of caught me off guard a bit. But despite of me getting caught off guard, this story was good. I am a huge fan of  time travel movies, like c'mon, "Back to the Future" was my shit when I was younger. So it made sense on why I enjoyed parts of the story. A part I really liked was when the time travelers made a rule to not kill any living thing such as a flower, a butterfly, an insect, etc. to avoid any changes in the future.

Emerson Presentation Day #4

1) Stephania:

• not to follow the pressure in society
• "We are all special"
• puts in  quotes that she thinks is interesting 
• her poster is titled "believe in yourself"
• listen to your heart
• "Don't be afraid to be yourself....don't hide who you are...style won't matter but your true self"

2) Fatima and (don't know the name of this person)

• presented with CD's
• put favorite quotes and explains why
• "know who you are and stay strong"
• "Greatness implies to the future."
• "My life is my life...."
• "Tryst thyself, every heart leads to that iron string"-------everyone has their own thoughts and should stick to it

3) Leydi:

• a video presentation on quotes she found interesting and how she can relate to them
• "What I must do is all that concerns me, not what people think"
• "Envy is ignorance, imitation is suicide."

4) Alexis:

• chose a a motivational speech/ song for his presentation
• "Be yourself, rely on yourself"
• control yourself
• "Don't follow the crowd" ------>  bad decisions 
• related to high schoolers who are pressured to drugs
• "Your mind be uphold, your eyes conquered" his favorite quote
• have a mindset of a kid

5) Angel:

• did a powerpoint
• "Don't follow society, don't follow the crowd, don't copy others"
• Be confident, move on
• Be who you want to be "nothing can bring peace but yourself."
• do what makes you happy 

6) ( I don't know the name of the person)

• made a CD
• had songs that implied to Emerson's ideas
• One song that implies to Emerson is "Man in the mirror"------change in society
• Be yourself

7) Cayla:

• showed a youtube video
• had quotes
• "Nothing can bring peace but yourself."
• Each picture and the quotes with it connects together
• Storm = society
• "You should look inside yourself."

Emerson Presentations Day #3

1) Adrianna, Cerenity, & Clemente:

• presented their project with a cake
• had quotes on the cake
• Their main point: accept yourself
• People tend to go for the best looking cake but in each cake, they might have different shapes and sizes, but they both are falling apart inside.
• 3 boxes has each representation

2) Paloma:

• did a painted project ( a boy and a girl in each half of the body)
• the body had picture of galaxies ( has different color and shapes)
• Everyone is different and is their own star
• "Man is his own star, each and everyone is beautiful like a galaxy
• had quotes and translated them
• "It's easy to follow the world opinion

3) Bridgett:

• presentation on his quotes
• translated his quotes
• had hers presentation on her blog
• "I must be myself"
• " Nothing can bring peace but yourself"

Emerson Parody lyrics (Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson)

I'm gonna make a change, for once in my life
Gotta trust myself, gotta learn to let go
My mind is bright
You have something great to express
You are your own genius
You shouldn't be discouraged
It's your choice, use your voice
Speak up right now
Let it out and be proud
Just be yourself and you won't regret
Step out your comfort zone, and start taking control
It's your own life
We all have ideas that will lead us success
It's our thoughts that matters the most
That's why I want you to know
I'm starting with the man in the mirror
We have the right to be who we are
And no message could be any clearer
Stop society from changing you, and start speaking what you have in mind

Emerson Presentation Day #2

1) Jacqueline:

• Did a self- reliance poster
• put quotes from the essay
• had main ideas (self-reliance)
• had paragraphs and translated them
• "No one should change for anyone"
• "Start changing for ourselves"

2) Ale and Rosie:

• "Why would we be born and original if we're going to die a copy"
• Represented presentation by eggs
• We get cracked under pressure
• BE YOURSELF
• was memorable since I've never seen a presentation with food examples

3) Lilly:

• Presentation with brussels sprouts
• "Farmers believes in them even though most of us hasn't even eaten them"
• Part of Emerson because they believe in themselves even though most of the people hate them

After presentations were done Dr.Preston told us to write down "extended metaphor".

extended metaphor: refers to a comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem.

Emerson Presentation Day #1

1) Lesley's Presentation:

• picked lyrics from the recent albums of 21 pilots
• explained each lyric that related to "Self- Reliance"
• "We don't believe what's on t.v......" (lyric) relates to when we're on social media, we go along with stuff showed on there even though we don't agree.
• We do what society wants us to do

2) Samary's Presentation:

• did her presentation on posters (she loves posters0
• put ideas on what she think is important
• put her opinions and stated that Emerson is full of crap
• Agrees we should be self- reliant

3) Cesar's Presentation:

•  Did a poster on "How to be a Genius"
• included quotes and explained them

4) Katryna's and Daniel's Presentation:

• did a picture collage included words graphics from magazines that spoke out to them.
• each picture relates to Emerson
• pic of birds- people are going the same way and not their own way

My Emerson

To wrap up Emerson, the class decided that everyone should do whatever project they want. I loved this idea because each and everyone one of us are different and have different ideas. If you're and artist, you probably might create an awesome picture collage, or if you love talking in front of the class, you would be doing a presentation.

For me, I love music. So my partner and I decided to create a parody song out of "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson. I think it would be fun because the only subject that we love and have our full attention to is music.

Everyone gets to express their Emerson project on something they love to do.

Emerson for the Young Buck

I feel like with every journal topic, socratic seminars, and blog posts pertaining Emerson's essay, is very repetitive. So I'm sorry to disappoint you guys if I'm writing the same stuff over again. With that being said, here is what I would explain Emerson's essay to a 10 year old.

Emerson believes that each and everyone of us is our own genius. In other words, everyone has something great to express. No one knows your special talents, and you won't know until you express them. Don't let society force you on who you want to be, but instead follow your interests and someday your interests will lead you where you need to go. You have the right to to be who you are and you shouldn't let society decide your future for you. Stop trying to copy everyone else, because by doing that, you are killing off your originality. You wouldn't be able to know who you truly are. When we're alone, we can be our true selves and that's the type of attitude Emerson wants us to be everyday. Trust yourself and let go of the bad actions in the past and renew your ways. Don't forget, every morning you can start over. Do not try to be consistent, because by being consistent, you are blocking your creativity.  Your thoughts are more important , regardless what everyone is saying, believe in your own thoughts no matter what the popular vote is.

Emerson Said It

1) "Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles."
             -- Emerson is giving the idea of individuality, it is only us ourselves that can bring peace and harmony in this life. All the answers are within ourselves.

2)  "In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this."
             -- When we read someone else's work, we can pick out things and at one point in our thought we found it as a stupid thought. But now, we consider that thought important since it was important to someone else's eyes.

3) "We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents."
            -- Be proud of yourself and what you have. We should take care of ourselves and shouldn't be afraid to speak out our mind.

4) "Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dares not to say "I think.' I am,' but quotes some saint or sage.
            -- The self is truthful, it does not idle behind your words and actions in the past, it is unapologetic of being and for it is all the better.

5) "Men have looked away from themselves and at things so long that they come to esteem the religious, learned and civil institutions as guards of property, and they deprecate assaults on these, because they feel them to be assaults on property. They measure their esteem of each other by what each has, and no by what each is."
            -- Emerson argues that because society is built in such a way where individuals have a hard time trusting themselves, it prevents us from seeing ourselves and others. Emerson also argued that society teaches and instills within us a natural distrust of our own thoughts and ideas.