Shades of Hope ❤️

Hope is a very powerful four letter word, one that can allow a person to persevere through his/her’s biggest struggles in life and strive for greatness. Without hope, one lacks a key component in achieving his/her goals, as hope is the root of all dreams that become a reality. Hope comes in many different forms, but above all it comes from within, and that is the meaning of the metaphor “shades of hope.” My ultimate goal in life is to succeed as a psychologist and be ultimately happy. The road to becoming a psychologist is a long one, and as with any dream, there are a few setbacks that make it an unpredictable journey, which is why my vision board does not have a distinct direction. Whenever you are chasing after a dream, there are always going to be hurdles for you to jump, but you cannot let them hinder you from catching that dream; you must continue to persevere and continue to work hard. Perseverance is another form of hope, because when you persevere, there is a little person in your head telling you to hold on longer and keep fighting, and that continuous fighting is only possible when you have hope. On my vision board, a lot of my quotes center around hope and its many different forms to help provide inspiration. My favorite quotes are “what oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life”, “let your faith be bigger than your fear”, and “make today so awesome, yesterday gets jealous”. They all revolve around the idea of never giving up, making sure you make everyday count, and always striving to achieve the unthinkable. Even the tiniest beacon of hope can make the difference in how hard you work to turn your dreams into a reality. Hope is the root of all success, and comes in a variety of forms including belief, faith, perseverance, hard work, passion, and even smiles. Hope allows you to do things you never thought possible, and that is why hope is the center of everything I want to achieve in life. Without hope, you will never be able to find the strength to overcome the problems you face, and continue on your journey to greatness. Anything is possible when you have hope.

Aissata Diallo ❤️ 

Thinking in Outer Space

       When a person thinks about an echo, the first thing that pops in their head is anything but space. However, what people fail to realize is that both things are actually quiet similar. The human race sends things out there to explore, but the thing is that they only receive what they sent out. Sounds similar to echo doesn't it? Well life is the same way, a person receives what they send out into the world, whether it is good or bad. It's kind of like a deal with the universe. Only catch is to  make sure you try to make the best decisions you can make.

      The whole board is a metaphor its self, from the planets to o the obstacles on the board. Each planet is like a step that a person would take to get closer to the goal. The main goal of this is to live a long and happy life while completing each small goal along the way. The rocket ship resembles me and the two pathways, which are red and blue, resemble the two different directions my life could take. The blue pathway is the good way, while the red way is the bad route to take. Although they all lead to the same goal, only one path makes sure the smaller goals are complete. With life being as big as it is, it is important to remember that what someone gives, is what that person gets. The metaphor is a symbol for life and its like a guideline that people should listen and try out .

~ Itzanami Sotelo

Food for Thought

Enlightening Metaphor: “The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It’s what you’re made of, not the circumstances.”                

What do boiling eggs and potatoes in boiling water have to do with anything inspirational? Sometimes you have to dig deeper. To start off, these objects react differently to the boiling water. The potato went in strong and hard. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after siting through the boiling water, its insides became hardened. Same goes with us. Our character is what determines our reaction. The water will change us no matter what, but who we change into is based on how we react. We have a choice on how we react; we aren’t forced to react a certain way because were unfortunately placed into the circumstance. Life is about choices, and those choices speak about your character. The vision board has a background of a collage of foods. Why? Well to start off, all these foods have either undergone some kind of change, whether they have been softened, cooked, baked, cut up or even grown. This relates to the metaphor since it represents the idea of change. Then, there are two pathways, one named tragedy and the other felicity. A person must decide which to take. The tragedy pathway will make you weak and soft, like a potato, but, there is hope; there is an exit pathway that can help you achieve felicity. Others can handle the difficult journey to achieve felicity; those persons have overcame the difficulty of their situation; they have gone through the cold to hot change, which represents the difficulty of the obstacles. This metaphor illustrates that you can either fall victim to the circumstance or overcome it.    

                                                                      ❤❤❤Guadalupe Cervantes

Ideas about slavery that are developed through the interaction of the mistress and Douglass.

The mistress and Douglass being told off by her husband

An idea that is developed with Douglass's interactions with the mistress is that it demonstrates that slavery is not what everyone wants in the world. Some of the people feel that it is unnecessary and can ruin people's lives. It also makes people want to do things that they would not want to normally do if they didn't have slavery in the world. People are not born racist, they are raised to be racist.  An example would be when the mistress is teaching Douglass how to read. She treated him as if he was her own child, and loved him as her own child. He stated, "when I went into their family, it was the adobe of happiness and contentment. The mistress...nor suffering for which she did not [have]a smile." However, due to significant "rules" and "laws" this was not possible. With the mistress terrified of what her husband would do to her if he found out, she began to treat him like an actual slave, and then began treating him worse than her husband this. He stated, "She finally became even more violent in her opposition...resolved to better his instruction." The reason for this would most likely be to prove her point that she does not care for the child in that sense of way, and will not care for him, so instead of caring for him, she began to torture him. Slavery is an awful thing and can most definitely make people do somethings that they would not want to. Douglass states, "Nature has done...or slaveholders." With this, he means that the world is not meant to be like this, he is using this to show how slavery was man-made and it wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the judgmental minds of the citizens during this time.

~Itzanami Sotelo

The Interaction between Douglass and Mrs. Auld

Essential Question: What idea about slavery is developed through Frederick's interaction with his mistress? How does he use rhetorical devices to convey that idea?

Mrs. Auld teaching Douglass how to read

Based on Frederick's interaction with his mistress, Mrs. Auld, it can be concluded that slavery does not always bring out the worst in people. In My Bondage and My Freedom, Douglass discusses how at first, Mrs. Auld was very kind, caring, and compassionate towards Douglass; she even began to teach him how to read. However, when slavery was put more and more into effect, Douglass was considered a slave, and Mrs. Auld completely changed. According to the text, Mrs. Auld no longer showed him kindness and love; she treated him like a slave, even worse than her husband, and no longer allowed him to read and write. If she ever saw him in a corner reading a book, she would quickly snatch it from him, like he was a traitor or dangerous spy (Douglass, 523). Despite Mrs. Auld's lack of compassion, Douglass did not speak badly of her. Douglass did not allow Mrs. Auld's slavery-based actions affect how he would always remember her. This develops the idea that not all slaves would come to hate their masters. In Douglass's case, his mistress sparked his interest in reading and education, and he would always remember her as that, even though "slavery made [them] enemies (Douglass, 526)." To convey this idea, Frederick uses rhetorical devices. For instance, Douglass uses parallelism to discuss the nice things Mrs. Auld uses to do; he said, "there was no sorrow nor suffering for which she had not a tear, and there was no innocent joy for which she did not [have] a smile. She had bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, and comfort for every mourner... (Douglass, 523)." Frederick also uses repetition of the word "censure", when he says, "I will not censure her harshly; she cannot censure me... (Douglass, 527), to make it known that he would not talk about her too badly, and Mrs. Auld could not talk about him too badly either. Ultimately, Frederick Douglass never grew to hate Mrs. Auld. He could have talked about her very unfavorably, considering how she treated him, but he did not let that get the best of him and lash out about her. Douglass chose to talk about her kindness when he first met her, and did not scrutinize her much, showing that slavery does not always bring out the worst in people. Mrs. Auld was the beginning of Douglass's education, and he continued to obtain knowledge, no matter the cost. He eventually used his power of knowledge to help prosper the abolitionist cause.

Aissata Diallo ❤️

If you do not know much about who Frederick Douglass is, watch this short video that introduces one of the greatest abolitionist of the 19th century.

The Effect of the Interactions Between Douglass and Mrs. Auld

What idea about slavery is developed through Federick's interaction with his mistress? How does he use rhetorical devices to convey that idea?

     In Federick Douglass's autobiography, My Bondage and My Freedom, there was once a "kind and tender" relationship between Douglass and his slave mistress. His slave mistress, whom taught him how to read and write, thought fondly of him and was kind enough to give him an education. But, her persona changed once she was commanded to stop educating Douglass and start treating like what he is, a slave. Mrs. Auld, his mistress, learned how to hate and despise Douglass; she treated him as an inferior. Mrs. Auld even grew to hate Douglass more than her husband; her innocence transpired to an extreme hate. Douglass conveys this by using rhetorical devices such as antithesis. For example, in order to reason the fact that Mrs. Auld drastically changed, he states, " Nature made us friends; slavery made us enemies (pg. 526)." Douglass also states, "Nature has done almost nothing to prepare men and women to be either slaves or slaveholders. nothing but rigid training, long persisted in, can perfect  the character pf the one or the other. one cannot easily forget to love freedom; and it us as hard to cease respect that natural love in our fellow creatures (page 522)."Another examples of a rhetorical device Douglass used was a simile in order to compare his situation with achieving self-education, "I have had her rush at me, with the at most fury, and snatch from my hand such newspaper or book, with something of the wrath and consternation which a traitor might be supposed to feel on being discovered in a plot by some dangerous spy (523)." All in all, Douglass argues that although Mrs. Auld was once nice and affectionate, the circumstances made her into a bitter, hateful women. 

                                                                                                  ❤❤❤Guadalupe Cervantes

                                                                                                                                   

 

Is Guilt Passed Down?

               

Nathaniel Hawthorne is an author known for writing romance and allegorical stories. Much of Nathaniel Hawthorne's writing evolves around things from his family and past, pertaining to guilt, sin, and evil. Hawthorne struggled to cope his family's lack of respect for the traditional Puritan rules, which is why the basis for most of his work is human corruption and the evilness of people. Stories like The Scarlet letter and The Minister's Black Veil, reflect the guit he felt due to the burden he had to face from his family's past. Nathaniel felt so guilty and ashamed at one point that he changed his original last name, Hathorne, to Hawthorne. Hawthorne was able to finally relieve himself of the guilt from his ancestors through his writings.

Aissata Diallo ❤️