English- Halloween Not Just a Holiday for Kids

Ever wonder how Halloween got started? Well, you might be surprised to know that it did not used to be a holiday for kids. The word "Halloween" actually comes from "All Hallows Evening" which was the name of an ancient Gaelic festival that marked the end of the light part of the year and the beginning of the dark part. The Scottish believed that on this day, the line between the living and the dead was thinnest and the dead returned from the Otherworld to walk among them. They believed both harmless and harmful spirits returned, so the harmless ones were welcomed and celebrated, while the harmful ones were scared off by people who dressed up as monsters. This is how costumes came to be such a big part of Halloween. In the United States, Halloween is now considered a day for the kids, but there are still many countries where this day holds a much deeper meaning and it is for families and friends to spend time together.

English- Denied

In New Orleans this past week, an interracial couple was denied the right to be married by a justice of the peace. When asked about why he did this, his reply was "I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way. I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else." He went on to say that he has a strict policy to not marry interracial couples because he believes these couples are forcing hardships on their future children. The couple from the story, Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay, was appalled, as they should have been. Beth is white and Terence is black. They are planning to file a discrimination complaint. When I read this story, I was very surprised that these types of things are still happening today.

Memory: It's a Funny Thing

I believe it is important to pass down memories so nothing is ever forgotten. Memory is a funny thing with my grandmother, Mimi, who is now 92 years old. She can’t remember what you just said to her five seconds after you’ve said it. She can’t remember what she ate for dinner by the time she is putting her plate in the sink. She can’t remember what year it is. She usually can’t even remember who I am. She often asks where her car is, though I don’t believe she has driven in my lifetime. Basically, she has the memory of a goldfish.

But, I will never forget the time when she was sitting at the kitchen table with my sisters and me, teaching us her elementary school song, a song she learned 85 years ago. She tells us about our great-grandfather who went to Hester Park on the lower east side in Manhattan to sell pants during the Great Depression. She tells us about how in 1918 there was a deadly flu epidemic in the US and when she had it, her mom sat with her by the oven for heat. Mimi can tell us all the neighbors she had growing up and the songs she learned in school. She can tell us who played for the Yankees in 1936. But she can’t tell us what she just ate for breakfast.

Mimi doesn’t remember much now, but in her lifetime she has remembered the things that are most important. I hope that one day I will be able to pass on my memories and experiences from life to my grandchildren. I believe that the only way to learn about the future is through the past and the best way to do that is to pass on what we know.


Word Count: 300

English- Can TV actually make you smarter?

After reading both of the articles, Watching TV Makes You Smarter and Thinking Outside the Idiot Box, I was torn between which one I agreed with. I decided that I agree with both of them for the most part because TV could make you smarter, but it really depends on what you’re watching. There obviously isn’t a lot of thinking involved if you’re watching something like The Girls Next Door. However, the TV show mentioned in the first article, ER, could technically “make you smarter”. Like the article said, a lot of what is going on is implied rather than said, so watching this show does require some thinking. I also think the first article was well-written and the author did a good job taking a side that most people don’t consider. How often do you hear people saying that TV actually makes you smarter? Hardly Ever. I thought the author used a variety of examples that his readers would be familiar with from The Sopranos to The Day After Tomorrow. Although at the end of the article I wasn’t totally convinced, I still thought it was well-written and it really made me stop and think.

American Studies- A Cause Worth Fighting For #2

You see them everywhere. Everyone knows what it is and what it represents. The well-recognized pink ribbon has been a representation of awareness for breast cancer since it was first introduced in 1991. Today, our culture has taken the pink ribbon and turned it into a symbol of fighting causes. The history of the pink ribbon actually began before 1991, though few people know it. Penney Laingen was actually the first person to use a ribbon as representation for fighting a cause in the early 1970s when she tied yellow ribbons around trees in her town to show her desire for her husband’s safe return from the war in Iran. Many people followed in Penney’s footsteps, making yellow ribbons a representation for the safe return of soldiers fighting in foreign wars.

Then in 1991, Susan G. Komen handed out pink ribbons at the Race for Breast Cancer Survivors in New York City. This, of course, started the phenomenon of the pink ribbon representing breast cancer awareness. But today people have branched out and pink in general is now this representation. There are some grocery stores that hand out pink tote bags if you donate money to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. There are some baseball players that use pink bats on Mother’s Day to promote awareness. On March 31, 2009, an entire ice rink was painted pink for breast cancer awareness night.

But it’s not only pink and yellow that have become symbolic in our country. Every ribbon has a color and every color is fighting for a different cause. Blue fights against child abuse, red fights again AIDS, white fights against violence on women, etc. Our culture has taken the simple ribbon round the old oak tree and turned it into the nationwide symbol for hope, awareness, and a cause worth fighting for.


New Word Count: 304

American Studies- A Cause Worth Fighting For

You see them everywhere. Everyone knows what it is and what it represents. The well recognized pink ribbon has been a representation of awareness for breast cancer since it was first introduced in 1991. Today, our culture has taken the pink ribbon and turned it into a symbol of fighting causes. The history of the pink ribbon actually began before 1991, though few people know it. Penney Laingen was actually the first person to use a ribbon as representation for fighting a cause in the early 1970s when she tied yellow ribbons around trees in town to show her desire for her husband’s safe return from the war in Iran. Many people followed in Penney’s footsteps, making yellow ribbons a representation for the safe return of soldiers fighting in foreign wars.

Then in 1991, Susan G. Komen handed out pink ribbons at the Race for Breast Cancer Survivors in New York City. This, of course, started the phenomenon of the pink ribbon representing breast cancer awareness. But today people have branched out and pink in general is now this representation. There are some grocery stores that hand out pink tote bags if you donate money to the Susan G. Komen foundation. There are some baseball players that use pink bats on Mother’s Day to promote awareness. On March 31, 2009, an entire ice rink was painted pink for breast cancer awareness night.

But it’s not only pink and yellow that have become symbolic in our country. Every ribbon has a color and every color is fighting for a different cause. Blue fights against child abuse, red fights again AIDS, white fights against violence on women, and green fights against neglect of the environment. Now there is even a pink and blue ribbon that fights against abortion. People have ribbons all over their bumpers and the color and shape always mean a different cause to fight for. Our culture has taken the simple ribbon round the old oak tree and turned it into the nationwide symbol for hope, awareness, and a cause worth fighting for. And now, in the midst of breast cancer awareness month, you will see an abundance of pink that all started with the little pink ribbon.


Word Count: 369

English- The Chowder Festival

This weekend I am going to Long Beach Island in New Jersey. I go here with family every year on the first weekend of the month of October for the Chowder Festival. Long Beach Island is a small beach town on the Jersey Coast that I have fallen in love with. The Chowder Festival is a celebration of the final weekend of the season. All the stores have huge sales so it is a great time for shopping. There is also a huge contest between all the different restaurants on the island for who makes the best chowder. I have family who live on Long Beach Island so that is how I first discovered this. Now I go every year and I am very excited to go this weekend. I am going with my cousin and I can’t wait.