The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

I decided to read the black cat by Edgar Allan Poe. In the beginning the author seemed as nice and normal as anybody. But as the story proceeded, the author began to show many signs of Dark Romanticism. You don't see it until he starts his addiction with alcohol. He starts to become angry and seems to not be able to control it. Its almost as if another person takes over, like the devil. He starts to take his anger out on the animals and soon his wife. Although he never did anything to his faithful, beloved cat. His cat was his favorite animal of all and he seemed to love it more than his own wife. Until one night when it seems that he finally snapped and somebody else took over his body completely. He walked into his house after a night of drinking and thought that his cat neglected to agknolgedge him. This through him over the deep end and he took the cat up by his neck and cut the cat's eye out. This is a sign of Dark Romanticism because what good hearted person would commit such a violent act to an innocent animal? The Transcendentalists believed that everybody was pure and that there was no evil in the world, but this story shows how the Dark Romanticists felt about people. Their main belief was that people could be corrupt and evil because without evil, there is no good. By doing all of these awful things to the cat, like killing it in the end, the author is showing that Dark Romanticism is real and it lives on.

Which side am i on?

Honestly, its hard for me to decide. I do believe that all people are a part of God and that you can hear God speak to you through your intuition. But on the other hand, I know that not all people are good. I guess i would lean more towards the beliefs of a Transcendentalist because in my opinion, all people are created with the expectations of being good. As people grow older, God looses control of everybody. I think this is his choice, he gave all his children the right of free will. This means that you can do what you want, when you want to. When people get older, most seem to loose their way and loose sight of God. Though he is still there talking to you through you intuition, most tend to block him out. Maybe the devil is talking to them and telling them what to do or maybe they just dont know whats right and whats wrong. But im not sure if that makes a person bad, all of Gods children are equal in his eyes so why would he look at one child as bad and one as good. I still dont know what I believe but that should explain how I feel.

writing four: the golf cart capital of the world

Michelle Snavely
Lit/Comp 11
Mr. Siegmund
1st block

Peachtree City, Georgia: The Golf Cart Capital of The World

My research paper is on my hometown of Peachtree City. Some call it the bubble because it is known that not much happens here, but it is known to many as the Golf Cart Capital of the world. As you read this you are probably thinking what in the world is this girl talking about, but it is a true fact that Peachtree City is well known for its Golf Cart transportation.
According to "The Christian Science Monitor", Sun City, Arizona was the reining golf cart capital. It is home to thousands of older golfers. The difference between these two cities is that Arizona is home to golfers, but in Peachtree City the golf carts belong to the teens. These teens are not using these golf carts to go play golf, but instead they are using these mini-cars as a means of transportation. There are over 9,000 registered golf carts in Peachtree City with over 100 miles of tarred golf cart paths. This path is known as the "children's highway."
This tarred path is a lot easier to maintain. Most roads wear within 2 years and have to be repaved constantly. Golf cart paths however, only need to be repaved every five years or so. This is because golf carts don’t go nearly as fast as regular cars so the roads are not worn down as much. The paths are also a lot smaller; they are about the size of one regular car. This is not a problem because when a golf cart driver comes into contact with another golf cart going the opposite way, they just go around each other by getting their right hand wheels into the ground right outside of the path.
This means of transportation is becoming a trend around America. This is because of its great efficiency. In most places cars are the main source of transportation. This however, pollutes our air and is slowly killing our ecosystem. Golf carts are battery operated and are a much better way of getting around, while still helping our ecosystem. They have even made a new type of golf cart called a GEM car made by Chrysler. This car is actually allowed on streets reaching speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. The battery in the golf cart lasts about 12 hours and if you plug it in at night, it is ready to go in the morning with a full battery.
Another good thing about these golf carts is that the age to drive a golf cart is 15. You only have to have your permit to drive by yourself. This is great practice for those trying to obtain a license. This is also helpful to the students who have to drive themselves to school. At each school there is a section dedicated for golf cart parking only. This is the same for restaurants and shopping centers. It is also very helpful in the fact that the paths are completely separate from the roads. This makes it safer and keeps the roads less congested.
The golf cart paths also are big short cuts; they cut through neighborhoods, shopping centers, and they even have tunnels and bridges to maneuver around the road. To make sure that things are staying safe and that nobody is breaking the law, police now have a right to drive their cars on the paths. Many policemen ride bikes and even golf carts to keep everything under control. The most common things that people get pulled over for on a golf cart is either DUI or driving on the streets.
Golf carts however can be dangerous. They don’t flip easily but it does not take well to ditches and because there are no doors, it is very easy for somebody to fall out an hurt themselves. It takes skill to learn how to drive a Golf cart safely and it takes a bit of experience. It is not hard to drive these vehicles, but some people like to go off roading and these mini cars are not made to do that. The only thing I would suggest to make these means of transportation safer is to make new laws on what you can and cannot do with a golf cart.
In my opinion, golf carts should not only be used as a way to get around the golf course. More cities should consider this new development and take into account what a transformation this could make on their city. They are also very enjoyable and something that can be done with the whole family.

writing three: life after i graduate

Michelle Snavely
Lit/Comp 11
Mr. Siegmund
1st block
Writing three

Life After I Graduate

Lately, all I have been thinking about is what I am going to do after I graduate. Many things come to mind and I am still not completely sure what it is that I want to do. I am starting duel enrollment at Athens Tech on January fifth. Duel enrollment is when you can attend high school and also go to collage to achieve collage credit. This is what is really going to kick off my experience in the real world because it is going to give me a taste of what it is like to be in collage and to be on my own. I wont be completely on my own because I will still be living with my dad but I will have to do my homework on my own and find my own way to class.
I have decided to start taking classes for the social work major. I really want to go into social work because I really want to work with children who have lost a parent. I feel that I could really help these people because I know how it feels to loose a parent. My mom died when I was nine and it was a really tough experience. I don’t know what I would have done without my therapists and friends who kept me going. I would like to later switch my major over to psychology because I feel that that would give me more one on one time with the children.
My classes at Athens Tech are going to be after school. If I decide that I don't want to go through with the social work major I would like to switch to accounting, most of these classes go along with the accountant major. I have just started my classes and I really like college. I am taking intro to microcomputers, which is a lot like computer apps, only we are taking the class on Windows 2007. Intro to microcomputers is a mandatory class for most any major. My teacher is really nice and it’s kind of cool being the youngest student in the class. On the first day, some of the students were even asking me how to do certain things on the computer.
Another thing that I am starting to do to help myself grow is a program called young dawgs. This is an internship at the University of Georgia. I am going to intern at an accountant's office to see how much I like it and if it will work out for me. I plan to switch over from Athens Tech to either UGA, University of Michigan or Auburn University.
Like I said before, I would really like to go into psychology and learn to help children who have had to deal with harsh grief. These schools have the best psychology programs in the country and it would be an honor to attend any of these Universities. The classes that I am taking at Athens tech for social work are all classes that I will need to take to be a psychologist.
I am currently looking for a job so I can have more experience when I start my career. This will be a long process that I am excited to get started on. I have looked at jobs in the mall, at the movie theater and at many restaurants. The only problem that I am encountering is that I am only sixteen and according to most of these jobs I am too young. I am currently trying to get a workers permit so that could give me more leverage to show them that I am qualified. What they do not understand is that I am wise beyond my years. I am graduating a whole year early and I pretty much had to raise my little brother by myself after my mom died. I know how to take care of myself and I definitely know how to keep a job. Hopefully I will be able to prove this when somebody gives me a chance.
After I graduate, I plan to move out and live on my own. I know this will be a tough experience but I feel it is necessary if I want to prove to the world that I can take it on. More importantly I need to prove to myself that I can do anything I put my mind to. In conclusion, I have many things to do before I graduate high school. I also have a plan for after I graduate. I will already be enrolled in collage and I will have some experience in what it is that I want to do with my life.

Transendentalism

In the essay "Nature", the author shows many signs that he is talking about transcendentalism. His whole outlook on life is the same as the transcendentalists looked at life. They believed that the only way to talk to God was through solitude or nature. They also believed that everybody shared a sole and that Got spoke to us through our intuition. In the essay he used things such as childhood, solitation, and a sense of peace.

In the first paragraph, the author is talking about being alone but not feeling alone. He says that "I am not solitary while I read and write, though nobody is with me." I think he feels a sense of God being with him when he is alone. That maybe when he is writing God is giving him inspiration and showing his thoughts through him. This shows transcendentalism because he is talking to God through solitude. This means he doesn't need to be around people to feel close to God, but he feels even closer to him when nobody is around.

In the essay"Self-Reliance", the author also shows signs of transcendentalism but in a different way. Transcendentalists also believed that God spoke through the work of his people. That the work that was being done was the work of God being made through people's intuition. This also goes alone with individuality. Transcendentalists also believed that everybody should be independent because God gave you that talent. God gave you the power to do everything yourself and that other people where there to do the same.

In the first paragraph, the author says "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;" To me, he is talking about being independent and that you cannot be like everybody else because if you are then you are not doing what God indented you to do. You have to rely on only yourself for this is God's will.

The first sentence of "Resistance to Civil Government" is one that really caught my attention. The author says "That government is best which governs least." Transcendentalists believed that there should be no government, that the people should run the country and that the government was just a waist of time and money. This sentence shows their beliefs right off the bat. He is saying that the government is at its best when it is doing nothing and letting the country run itself the way it should be run.

Another good sign of Transcendentalism is on the third page. The author writes "When I came out of prison-for someone interfered, and paid the tax-I did not perceive that great changes had taken place on the common." In my opinion, the author is saying that even though we pay these taxes to the government, there is no change going on. That these taxes are suppose to pay for things to make our country better and yet there is no change to be seen.

writing two: Lizzie Borden

Michelle Snavely
Lit/Comp 11
Mr. Siegmund
Block 1
Writing 2

Lizzie Borden

Most people know the nursery rhyme that is dedicated to the horrible killing of Lizzie Borden's parents. It goes: "Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks; when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty one." Not many people know the story behind this tale, but I am going to show what the rhyme means.
Lizzie Borden was born on July 19th, 1860. She was born in Fall River, Massachusetts to Andrew and Sarah Borden. Lizzie's mother, Sarah, died of uterine congestion when Lizzie was three. After two hard years, when Lizzie was five, Andrew Borden remarried to a woman named Abby Durfee. According to the girls, Abby and Andrew's children did not get along at all. Records state that “Lizzie and Emma saw their stepmother as an infringement on their inheritance. Once, annoyed by Abby's cat, Lizzie allegedly decapitated the animal.”
This should have shown right off the bat that Lizzie was a violent child. However, the marriage went on and time went by. Andrew grew very wealthy through his job, but the family still lived in a very small house close to Lizzie's father’s job. Times grew harder and the family was only growing farther apart. The documents don't really tell why things got so much harder but I think it was because Lizzie's dad was working more often. Because of this the children were left at home alone with Abby. An example that things were getting worse was that one day in 1892 there was a break-in at the Borden household, and all fingers pointed to Lizzie. As a sign of punishment, Lizzie's father went into the barn and decapitated all of the pigeons that Lizzie had been keeping as pets.
Then on August fourth, 1892 at 11:10 a.m., Lizzie claims to have discovered her father's body covered in blood on the living room couch. The maid then called the doctor and the police. Abby's body was found soon after the police arrived. She was found dead upstairs in the guest bedroom. The doctor found Andrew with eleven blows to the head, four of which crushed the skull. His eye and nose were reportable severed.
Abby had been hit from behind. According to detectives she had been cleaning and had no idea of the attack. She reportably had 18 blows to the head. Reporters said that 13 of these blows had crushed her skull. Police discovered that the only people in the house were the maid and Lizzie. Lizzie's sister Emma was away visiting a friend.
Investigators think Abby was killed around 9:30 a.m. and Andrew was killed two hours later at 11:00 a.m. This is only ten minutes before Lizzie supposedly found the body. When questioned, Lizzie told the police that she was out in the barn during the time of the murder. When the police went out to the barn to investigate, they found a thick layer of dust on the floor, proving that nobody had been in the barn that morning.
Lizzie was arrested for the murder of her parents. When the December 2nd court date came, Lizzie pleaded not guilty to the three counts of murder that she was being charged for. The counts of murder were the murder of Andrew, the murder of Abby and the murder of both. The police discovered that there were four hatchets in the basement. One of these hatchets however, had no handle and was covered in ashes. This is the hatchet that they took in as evidence of the murder weapon.
A neighbor also claimed that she saw Lizzie burning a dress three days after the murder. Lizzie claims that the dress had paint on it and was ruined, that was why she was burning it. Another witness claims that Lizzie was at the store trying to buy prussic acid, a harmful poison. The court ruled this piece of evidence out, saying that it was irrelevant. Another apparent motive is that Andrew had set a date to change his will, leaving half of everything to his beloved wife Abby.
On June 20th, 1893 the jury ruled that Lizzie was innocent. Lizzie and Emma then went and bought a house in a rich neighborhood in Fall River. Lizzie died on June first, 1927 of complications from a Gall Bladder surgery. Emma died nine days later form falling down the stairs. The Borden murder is still a mystery to this day. But who do you think committed the murder?
I got this information form two sources: http://www.lizzieborden.com/ and http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/historys_wild_women/76060/2

Midnight Sun: Stepheni Meyer

As you know Midnight Sun is only a partial draft. The author, Stephenie Meyer, decided not to finish it because it was leaked onto the Internet. This draft is probably one of my favorites out of the whole series. This is because it shows how Edward, the leading male role, felt throughout the story Twilight. You wouldn't know but he hated Bella. In Twilight you could tell that he had something against Bella, but you never find out why. In Midnight Sun it tells that he hated her because of how much he was in love with her. To him her blood was the most delicious thing that he has ever smelt. He also tells how he wanted to be away from her but he couldn't because of how in love with her he was. He noticed how clumsy she was and how prone she was to disaster. This bothered him because of how beautiful of a creature she was. He also didn't understand why he couldn't hear her thoughts and this bothered him more than anything. He wanted nothing more than to be with her but he didn't want to hurt or kill her. In my opinion this is the best love series ever made.