Effects of Equality in the Constitution

Thomas Jefferson, our nation's third president and author of the Declaration of Independence, states that there should be a "wall of separation between church and state", then August 23,1963, Marten Luther King Jr. gives his “I Have a Dream” speech, and finally Alice Paul who helped establish the first women's suffrage amendment was presented to Congress in 1878, all have one thing in common, they fought for equality in the Constitution. Between the years 1787 and 1920, starting with the First Amendment and ending with the Ninth Amendment, freedoms of race, religion, and gender came into act. Equality in the Constitution has shaped this country, making it a place of freedom, and effecting the everyday lives of those who live in it.

First, on December 15, 1791, the First Amendment was established allowing freedoms of religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly. This amendment allowed Americans to right to believe in whatever they wish to, worship different Gods, and also the option of going to church or not. Because of this, America is now home to several religions and churches, which is a major feature of this magnificent country. Then again on December 6, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was established, which abolition slavery in America. This amendment became a key point in equality, because it allowed freedoms to all races and nationalities. Thus, allowing Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics the ability to eat, live, play, go to school with each other, and most importantly to be joined as one. Finally, the Nineteenth Amendment is written in August 18, 1920, helping theWomen's sufferage cause and allowing freedom among the genders. This is a huge deal in America, because it help settle a balance between the power of women and men. Also, it lead to women being able to seek career opportunities and make a impact on the world, which initially gave America nurses, women teacher, women governors and hopefully someday the first women president.

In conclusion, Equality in the Constitution resulted in religious freedom and freedom of gender and race. These rights are Shown by the Amendments which help shape the world around us and allow America to become a great place of freedoms larger than any other country. Which leads to the everyday lifestyles in this country, without these there would be no more mix races in school, the right to believe in God or not, and the right for women and girls to get an education and pursue their dreams. Equality in the Constitution has indeed shaped this country.

Bartleby

“Bartleby”

Herman Melville created Bartleby to be a satire [which is a writing that ridicules or criticizes ideas, work ethics, and even individual] that criticizes the transcendentalist ways of life, which is shown by using a sympathetic tone throughout the story. Melville shows that Bartleby is a satire, by ridiculing the way the narrator runs his office. Right after Bartleby refuses to examine the paper, the narrator, instead of getting mad and laying down the rules just “Stood gazing at him awhile, as he went on with his own writing, and then seated himself at his desk. This is vary strange, he thought. What had one best do? But his business hurried him. He concluded to forget the matter for the present…” (12). Oliver, in the Second Look at “Bartleby” , shows that Melville makes a joke of the situation, because the narrator instead of being outraged by the usurpation, he instead is overwhelmed by the idea of how lonely Bartleby must be (69). Again Bartleby is shown as a satire, when Melville criticizes the idea of individualism and living a simplified life. Bartleby, who can be considered to be a transcendentalist due to his individualism, simplifies his life so much that he would “prefer not to dine to-day...it would disagree with me; he is unused to dinners” (40). Oliver shows that Melville wrote this satire to make fun of transcendentalist life style of simplifying your life, by showing that one cannot afford such a lifeless lifestyle; that to do nothing and live within yourself is to not live at all (66). These two examples given show that Melville wrote Bartleby to make fun of the silly lifestyle of the transcendentalists and the simplified life of an individual, which makes Bartleby a satire.

Thanatopsis

Sadie Ries
Period 6
10-10-07

Thanatopsis

Death is such a strong word.
It’s a final solution,
The conclusion to our lives.
No one knows what it is like,
Although we have are own interpretations.
To me, death is the beginning.
A time to relive life,
As if never lived before.
With no recollection of the past.
When we die we will be taken
Before the death so there is no pain.
We will find ourselves
In a miraculous place.
A place full of radiance,
Love, peace, and comfort… Heaven.
All will shine with rays of light,
Rays that will dance around us
With such feelings not yet comprehendible.
We will look down on all those
With hope for the everlasting.
This place of beauty will go
On in time. Never once will
Those wish to go back
But rather gracious to be living,
Living in his home, his Castle.
The kingdom comes to hold
Those worthy of the King
All those are worthy for
The King.

Reflection: Walden

Sadie Ries
Period 6
10-8-07
Walden
When reading “Walden”, I was extremely fascinated by Henry David Thoreau’s use of different types imagery throughout the story. From the beginning to the end of the story Thoreau uses metaphors, similes, and personification to describe life, events and places.
Imagery is first revealed in the beginning of the story, when Thoreau describes how most farmers give up on the land, thinking that they have already got the best of it. Through the use of a metaphor Thoreau states that the owners, who sell there land thinking they have gotten the best of it, often do not know “It for many years when a poet has put his farm in rhyme, the most remarkable kind of invisible fence, has fairly impounded on it, milked it, skimmed it, and got all the cream, and left the farmer only the skimmed milk” (375). This is a metaphor for the idea that the farmer only takes what he sees first, but not what was invisible now, but might soon be revealed. Again, imagery is revealed by the use of a simile to show how we [humans and Thoreau himself] live “meanly, like ants; though the fable tells us that we were long ago changed into men; like pygmies we fight with cranes” (376). This simile stands for the fact that we are like animals because we work hard and fight, for a reason we do not always know. Finally, in the end of the story, personification is used when Thoreau states, “Who knows what beautiful and winged life, whose egg has been buried for ages under many concentric layers of woodenness in the dead dry life of society, deposited at first in the alburnum of the green and living tree…”(379). In this quote life is being personified as having buried an egg, but in fact life cannot have an egg, let alone bury one.
These three quotes are examples of imagery being used in the forms of a metaphor, simile, and personification, to show how farmers thought, the way people lived, and life in generally.

Expository Essay: How To Make Ghirardelli’s Chocolate Syrup Brownies Premium Mix

Sadie Ries
Period 6
10/6/07
How To Make Ghirardelli’s Chocolate Syrup Brownies Premium Mix
In order to make the most delicious chocolate brownies in the world, fallow these simple steps. First, before you begin preheat the oven to 325° F. Then, while preheating the oven, prepare an 8´ 8-inch glass or metal baking pan by lightly greasing or spraying with non-stick cooking spray, for example PAM. To prepare the brownie batter, next pour brownie mix into a medium size pouring bowl. Then blend one egg (yoke only), ¼ cup of water and 1/3 cup of Vegetable Oil with the brownie mix in the mixing bowl. Stir until moistened (approximately 40 strokes).
Once preparation for the brownie batter is complete, spoon batter into the prepared 8´ 8-inch glass or metal baking pan, spreading batter evenly. After the oven has heated to 325°F , place baking pan into the oven and cook for 40-45 minutes. After successfully cooking remove pan and turn off the oven . Allow the brownies to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before removing from baking pan. To remove, take the tray you are going the be placing the brownies on, flip the baking pan upside down to remove brownies onto the tray. Then, cut the brownies into 16, 2-inch brownies. Finally, eat and enjoy!!
Caution: Do not over bake. Fresh-baked brownies appear under baked but cool to doneness. Cool completely in pan before removing. Store in tightly covered container. If in high altitude, add 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour and an additional 2 tablespoons of water into brownie mix, when mixing.

The Devil and Tom Walker (Paragraph)

Sadie Ries
Period 6
10-2-07
The Devil and Tom Walker
Washington Irving, in “The Devil and Tom Walker“, uses the light hearted tone of the story to influence the characters by not allowing the reader to have much sympathy for them. For example, Tom, when think back on the Devil‘s actions, say that “He even felt something like gratitude towards the black woodsman, who, he considered, had done him kindness” (242). This shows that there should be sympathy for Tom Walker because his wife was a cruel and mean women, but instead there is a lack of sympathy because the story does not give off the tone that there should be sympathy to Tom. This also shows that we should again have sympathy to Tom that he would feel gratitude towards the devil in the first place, because thanking the devil seems like a unhealthy thing to do; but the bleak tone does not portray enough emotion for the reader to feel sympathy. In addition, after Tom denies the land jobber his request for more time, the Devil takes Tom Walker away “Dashing down the streets, his white cap bobbing up and down, his morning gown fluttering in the wind, and his steed striking fire out of the pavement at every bound” (244). This shows that Tom Walker has been whisked away by the Devil, and usually no matter what circumstance the reader would tend to feel some sort of sorrow and sympathy for Tom. Instead, the stories tone, in lack of a sorrowful emotion, causes there to be a lack of sympathy towards Tom Walker and this unfortunate event. In conclusion, Washington Irving does not allow the reader to feel it necessary to portray any sympathetic emotion towards Tom Walker, due to the bleak, emotionless tone in “The Devil and Tom Walker”.

snowbound/the devil and tom walker

Sadie Ries
Period 6
9-30-07
The Devil and Tom Walker/Snowbound
When reading these two stores, The Devil and Tom Walker and Snowbound, I was fascinated by the use of imagery and the characteristics of the “Black Man”. In Snowbound, John Greenleaf Whittier does an exceptional job at setting the scene and creating the mode through the use of imagery.
The use of imagery is first seen in the begging of the story when the narrator describes the storms approach. The narrator uses words like “Rose cheerless over hills of gray”(267), “Its mute and ominous prophecy”(267), and finally “The hard, dull bitterness of the cold”(268), to show how the arrival of the storm already has a sad effect on the environment around it. Also, how the foretelling of the storm is that its going to be cold, dreary, and depressing. Again imagery is used to show the effect of the storm “With dazzling crystals: we had read are rare Aladdin‘s wondrous cave”(269). This shows the beauty that was left behind from the dark storm, relating to some good can come from the bad.
In The Devil and Tom Walker, Washington Irving uses the characteristics of the “Black Man” to relate to the characteristics of the Devil. At first the “Black Man”, although he seems mysterious and eerie, shows a friendly fun characteristic to Tom Walker drawling him in. This resembles the Devil, who pretends to be something it’s not to drawl us in. Then again the “Black Man” resembles the devil when he tells Tom that he will become extremely wealthy if he does something for him. The Devil finds our weaknesses, Toms was money and values, are uses it to his advantage. Finally, in the end when Tom tries to escape the sin in fear of his fate in the afterlife, he is incapable to do so. These Events all show how the Devil finds are weaknesses and drawls us in, eventually getting us hooked and allows us no escape.