How being an immigrant shaped my life......

This was the reading I felt defined an American for who they were, not because of of where they or born or how they have adapted to the culture here. This woman carried many traditions with her throughout her life and I feel she should be considered an American.

People come to America from other countries for a better life, and that's why she came. Her family moved because of the start of World War II. So that alone should qualify her. But she goes farther, as she continues to celebrate her heritage while residing here. That's what America is. It's simply a very diverse place where many different races, ethnicties, and cultures clash together and live among one another.

She and her family are Jewish who fled Germany before things got bad for them. Being the committed people that they were, and not giving up their beliefs, they remained Jewish and proud here in America. Just because there was only a minority of Jewish people, did not persuade them to convert.

This is what being an American means. Residing in this country, while holding onto your cultural beliefs to make America a 'melting pot'.

How boring would it be if everybody was Catholic or something? No thoughts beyond that.....No 'what ifs?' as to questioning religion. Not even being totally unaffiliated with religion...

King Still King?

Is Martin Luther King Jr. still influencing our society? Of course, the King is still King. He has made such an impact on our society many years ago, and we still see the effects later on. In my opinion, he and Rosa Parks did it all. They opened the doors for the narrow-minded people. Way back when, when Rosa Parks sat in a white person's seat, they started something so revolutionary, that it stuck with America through the generations. This is....de-segregation. They have started us on a never ending path of un-segregation. This path goes on and on forever, as we hope to stay like this. Here in 2011, I think we can agree that we have done pretty well to stick to the ‘path’.
The King is still the King because he took charge. He took charge the way a leader should. And he is still remembered today because of that. He is also famous for his ‘I have a Dream Speech..’. The King is still King because of his ability to talk to the people. If he was truly a king, the people would feel more connected to him.
Obviously, even in today’s society, we want someone who will listen to us, somebody who understands our lives. As my last statement, just a recap of what I’m talking about…….
The King is still King because what he did is still with us today.

Krik? Krak!

Children of the Sea had to be my favorite reading so far. It was interesting but still defined. As a reader, I thought it was the best example. This is because, by telling a story like this, you go into detail to  the point that you know everything that's going on...or most of it anyways. As opposed to a poem or short passage like some of the other readings, this longer passage told an almost complete story. Another way that this was an effective way of writing, is the fact that the entire story was a series of letters from a man to a woman. I'm pretty sure neither of them ever received any of them, but they keep writing to each other faithfully. I thought it was horribly romantic. The horrible part about this, was the impression it left on the reader at the end. It leaves us to think that the male character dies at sea when the female hears of another shipwreck discovered. That is also where the letters end. But thinking about this, the corrupt government would prefer for the people of their country to believe that they did become shipwrecked in order to try and prevent others from trying to escape the country. The relationship between the father and daughter also somewhat improves. She goes from thinking of him as selfish and mean, to a man who gave everything he had for her. Which is exactly what he had done.