No to Jim Crow

The Jim Crow laws were created by Southern and white politicians to try to restrain blacks from receiving power in their society. Once the blacks were freed from slavery following the civil war, the fear among these politicians was that blacks and whites would flip roles, so they tried everything in their power to stop that. As a result these laws have lasting effects, some still impact today.

Nobody should be treated differently in society because of their skin. One of these laws even applied in death, a black person could not be BURIED in the same graveyard as a white person. That's ridiculous.

MLK was the voice of the sufferers of the Jim Crow Laws. In his Letter he wants change from the status and wants blacks to have the same opportunity and treatment as white people. This defies the Jim Crow Laws and for good reason. For once, somebody was taking action against irrational fears that were established a century ago.

Thoughts on the Weekend Packet

We were assigned a packet of short stories to read over the weekend, and I chose to write about the first two because they both stood out for me.

William Kennedy- Kennedy's writing captures the struggle of writing. Every good writer needs a better editor. Kennedy shows the three types of editors in my mind. 

First, there's his mother: the "oh this is wonderful because I love you" editor. They will accept any piece of work, because the writer can do no harm in their eyes. Most mothers fall under this category. 

Next he describes the Banjo Teacher. The Banjo Teacher said "Very good" instead of his typical "very very good". This is the sugarcoating editor. They will praise the writer but offer subtle hints to work on it, so the writer doesn't have their ego bruised.

Lastly, Kennedy goes to his father with his work "Eggs". His father criticizes it to the point of saying "is this what you learned in school?". Kennedy does a good job describing the narrative between him and his father, with back and forth responses. Kennedy's father is the best editor, one who cares about his writer enough to let them know when their writing needs actual revision.

The thing I can take from this Egg related short story is that, my work could always use revising and it's best to find a good editor for that. Somebody who cares about you enough to let you know you suck.

Pat Conroy: This short story differs from Kennedy's due to its serious tone. Conroy captures emotion with his word choice of growing up with fighting parents. Throughout the story the reader is struck with shock. For example Conroy includes "the miscarriages were the lucky ones". Conroy does a good job of getting to the reader in short and concise sentences. "Blood got on me, my sister." is a powerful example. 

The last line of the story really drives it home in my opinion. "My father made a mistake. He was raising an American novelist and an American poet-and we wrote it down." That line continues the trend Conroy had through the whole story of impacting the reader with as little as possible. 

Why I Write

   Dating back to my days in elementary school, writing has always been one of my favorite subjects. Writing allows anybody to express themselves and share their voice and has so many different outlets to choose from.

   As a journalist for the Trojan Tribune, I write to inform. I write brief one sentence paragraphs that quickly wrap up a series of events, so the reader can be informed of what's happening fast. It is the duty of a journalist to find out what happened and provide it in this context. Speed and efficiency are the key components of journalism writing.Opinion pieces are also a part of Journalism that I enjoy a lot. Taking a current event and showing people your own thoughts is refreshing in contrast to only reporting the facts. 

    I also write to prove a point. I am one of those kids who enjoy the classic 5 paragraph essay and FRQs. Writing a persuasion piece is fun for me because while I'm writing it, I'm putting emotion into my work and becoming an expert on the topic as I go. Knowledge is power, and writing spreads that power.

       Although I don't write in my free time, I enjoy it when the opportunity comes along. I'm not always good with my words, and writing allows me to speak precisely what I want to say. You can't revise a conversation as you go along and I often say something that I didn't mean to. Writing allows me to display my thoughts and correct them as I go in order to get what I want people to hear. Speaking doesn't always do that. And that's why I write.

Blogging

I've never blogged before, in fact I've always been hesitant towards it. I never understood the interest in reading about people talking about themselves, and I didn't think anybody would be interested in reading about my life.

However, it's the beginning of senior year and I am definitely more open to change then I have ever been. I'm looking forward to this school year, and catching whatever life throws at me. Now is the time to take chances, and participate in things you wouldn't expect to. One of my biggest fears in life is regretting not trying something and missing out on something that could have been great.

So in a small way, this blog is a risk for me. It's going against everything I stood for, but I'm open to it and I'm looking forward to the opportunity it's presenting.