American Dream

The American Dream is the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. The American Dream is important because it made modern life possible. It gave anyone that was willing to work for economic prosperity, just that. It became so important because it was something very different and unique. My dream is simply for every aspect of life to be equal and fair. I want to see every person have an opportunity to be great in life. Every person in the world is truly equal in my eyes.

ACT Reflection

For some odd reason, I enjoy taking the ACT. The reading portion is the part I struggle with the most. When I read, I like to take the time to get a full, good understanding of the passage, but with the ACT there is a time restraint. B.C. Rain did a great job with helping me prepare for the exam. The teacher give me a good foundation to build on. I was very satisfied with the environment I was placed in to take my test. Being able to take the ACT at my own school was a great advantage. Taking the exam in a comfortable environment results in a better score.
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I actually think I made between a 23 and 26. The test is not very difficult. As long as a person takes time to learn and understand the material, there will not be many problems with the test. Time always seems to be the problem for me when taking the ACT. I am going to start working on timing myself for future test. I did a great job preparing for the test. I took a great amount of time to get an understanding of what I figured would be on the exam.

If I Were To Recieve One Million Dollars

If I had one million dollars, I would definitely start an organization to help the homeless with housing. I really do not like to see people struggling. Helping people that are in need would really make me happy. I would not even be focused on doing anything for myself first, because I am not in need of anything right now. I would also provide meals for the homeless. Having a homeless shelter in every state would really make me proud of myself. Receiving one million dollars would be a great blessing for me.

Letter to the Governor

Dear Governor Bentley, 

My name is Pastor John Watts. I am pastor of the Greater Cedar Street Baptist Church and Director of Young Men on the Move, INC.  That establishes responsibility in the young men of the city.  I am a man of my word and an outstanding reputation.  The program is for young men between the ages of 10-20.  I am really dedicated to pushing the boys to higher heights and bettering their outlooks on life. As an older man of this city, I feel that it is my duty to assist the young men in wanting to be better than the adults around them have grown up to be. 

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There are many young men in the program.  As the director, I have a personal relationship with each young man that comes through YMM.  Jefferson was a member from the age of 10, all the way up to his 21st birthday.  He participated in everything that the program did. There were often times that he would call just to check on me.  He is definitely a great young man.  Throughout the years of me knowing Jefferson, I have been able to see so much growth within his character.

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To Know Jefferson is to love Jefferson. He is a young man with a great heart.  I have watched him blossom.  Governor, I am asking that you please pardon Jefferson’s sentencing.  He has so much potential!  He has the desire is not a man of very many words, but he has so much to offer.

Chapter 16 & 17 Quotes and Questions

CHAPTER 16:
     Mrs. Emma and two others went to visit Jefferson. Grant worked at the school and his students were still planning for the Christmas program. He wanted them to keep Jefferson in their minds. Mrs. Emma wants Grant to come see her, and he does go to see her. She wanted to talk to him about his last visit with Jefferson, because when she went to visit him it did not go well. He continuously kept asking her for something that she said she did not have. Grant became basically annoyed with the fact that he could not do anything to help Jefferson.

CHAPTER 17:
    After a while, Grant felt his frustration going away. He was never the type to ponder on things too long. When Grant went on his next visit, he wanted to talk to Jefferson about the stress that was on Mrs. Emma. Jefferson kept stressing the fact that there were certain things that were not on his mind while sitting on front row. There was so much tension in the cell, and both of the men began to get very angry. When Grant went to speak to the sheriff upon his request, he told him that there seemed to be no improvement in Jefferson's character. Come to find out, the sheriff was already upset from a visit that Mrs. Emma paid to him. She wanted to meet with Jefferson in the dayroom, but the sheriff said that he would have to be shackled even if that happened.

Chapter 16 Quote:
    "I do everything I know how to do to keep people like him from going there to."

Chapter 17 Quote:
  

“I don’t know when I’m going to die, Jefferson. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe today. That’s why I try to live as well as I can every day and not hurt people. Especially people who love me, people who have done so much for me, people who have sacrificed for me. I don’t want to hurt those people. I want to help those people as much as I can.”

Open Ended Questions:

  - How do you really think Grant feels?

  - Why do you feel like Jefferson is to the point where he does not really care?

  - Do you feel like Mrs. Emma is in the right when she went to the sheriff?

  - Just by reading to the point that you have read, what do you think the outcome will be in this situation?

  - What is the probable reason that Grant will not give up on trying to help Jefferson?

Quote Explanation

"It's rustic, all right. Probably the most rustic place you will ever visit."

This quote does provide details about the setting. It is basically a description of how the place looked. It allows the readers to imagine how that area is setup. Rustic means relating to the countryside. This tells the readers that the building was simple in fashion. It was not the best description of the setting, but it does give an idea. This was apart of the details. 

This quote also show conflict with the fact that she really does not like staying there. She knew that it looked nice to others, but to her it was boring. She stared at one point that no one would like staying there after a while. It basically indicated that she would have liked to stay somewhere else, but she has no choice. This is conflict within herself. It was not the fact that the house was not nice, it was simply that she did not like stay there anymore. The thought of it bothered her when someone said anything about it. 

I Would Love to go to Bora Bora

One place that I would totally love to visit is Bora Bora. It is so beautiful there. I would definitely like to go to a black beach while on vacation. I know that before I take this trip I will have to save so much money. When I go, I want to stay for a minimum of two weeks. It is a must that I have some friends to accompany me. There are so many gorgeous sceneries. Going to Bora Bora is definitely on my bucket list!