Who Are The New People?

Kelly Maciel
ENGW 1101
Professor Young
18 February 2016

Who Are The New People?

So many people are introduced throughout the book The Good Lord Bird! It's honestly so hard to even catch up! Though, five new people catch the eyes of the readers, having unique personalities that make them stand out from the rest. 

The infamous Reverend Martin is back, but it's not for anything good! The Reverend is literally in a scene, and within less than a page, he already kills poor little Fred! 

He then goes into Osawatomie and burns down the houses and kills all the Free Staters. HONESTLY, what kind of Reverend is this?! (Also forgot to mention the fact that he was drunk during this demolition of Oswatomie). Honestly, from the dialogue, the Reverend seems very hardheaded. To him, theres no room for explanation. As soon as you're the enemy, you stay the enemy. Which is pretty much the major reason he killed Fred!

"But that feeling of that ice cream running down my little red lane in summertime weren't nothing compared to seeing that bundle of beauty coming down them stairs that first time. She would the hat off your head" (144). 

This beauty that Onion is talking about is Pie. She's got brown skin, high cheekbones and BIG brow eyes. She was taller than Onion, and moved with such class. She's seen as a strong woman, standing up for herself. She's also very observing, catching things that are slightly off. Onion states, "White fellers on the prairie, even white woman, didn't pay two cents' worth of attention to a simple colored girl. But Pietas the first colored woman I seen in the two years since I started wearing that getup, and she smelled a rat right off" (145). 

Miss Abby is a lady known to wearing tons of makeup. Onion states, "That woman was so ugly, she looked like a death threat" (147). Though she might be ugly, she's still feisty! As Onion tries running away by hiding under Pie's bed, Miss Abby goes after him. She's not a super nice woman though. Granted she does take care of the girls in the house, she's still super vulgar. She literally cursed Pie out just because of a scarf!

Crazy little Sibonia, constantly stating, "Pretty, pretty, yeller, yeller!" (160). She's described as feebleminded, and Onion doesn't take quite a liking to her the first time. Not after her throwing mud all up in his face! Though, she was a mysterious woman. One moment she acts all crazy, the next she's completely serious, deadly even. Sibonia, although first coming off as ditzy, is actually a strong and intelligent woman. She was practically deadly. She states, "Don't stretch your mouth to nobody about this, especially Pie. If you do, I'll know about it, and you'll wake up with a heap of knives poking out of that pretty neck of yours. Mine's be the first" (166).

Darg is described as a monster of a man. Though, Onion has to comment that "that fool was ugly enough to make you think the Lord put him together with His eyes closed, guessing" (169). He's in-charge of the pen, where all the slaves stay. He catches Onion there, and starts talking to her. From the first conversation, you get the major idea that he's a huge pervert, seeing as he's already asking for a li'l sugar from Onion. 

Reading Log Questions #1

Kelly Maciel
English 1101
February 4, 2016
Prof. Young

Reading Log Questions #1

"Feather of a Good Lord Bird. Now, that's something special" (25). The first time The Good Lord Bird is ever mentioned in the book, it's seen as something mystical and special to the reader. The second time it is mentioned, it comes off as an angel, something that comes from the heavens itself. Fred states that "it's so pretty that when man see's it, he says, 'Good Lord'" (33). The Good Lord Bird represents the good thats to come. Those who actually see it for what it is believe it to be a mystical and beautiful being, they see more than what's actually on the surface. As of now, Henry only see's the bird as any random being, but its possible that farther down the line, Henry's eyes will open up to the beauty of this amazing creature. 

Due to his travel's with Old John Brown, Henry has been going through starvation. He truly would eat anything and everything just to have some food in his system. So, when Old John Brown hands Henry an onion that was "dried, dusty, covered with feathers, cobwebs, lint, and other junk from his [John Brown's] pocket," (23) he takes a huge bite of it. He had eaten John Browns good luck charm! After that, he had gained the nickname, "Little Onion."

No matter what the circumstances are, Henry continues to live a lie. He tries to find a rationale reason on why he continues to do it and states, "Truth is, lying come natural to all Negroes during the slave time, for no man or woman in bondage ever prospered stating their true thoughts to the boss" (30). He believe's that since he is in fact an american american, it makes it more justifiable that he is lying for so long. Though it still does not make him justifiable. He believes that if he tells the truth, he was going to do all the things that the other men have to do, and that scares him. Though, he should not have to live a lie just to survive.

See you next time! 

Lying - Do it (Sometimes)!

Kelly Maciel
English 1101
January 31, 2016
Prof. Young

Lying - Do it (Sometimes)!

Everyone lies, its a natural thing that many individual do. Some people even lie without noticing that they're the ones that are lying. Don't get me wrong, lying is a sucky thing, but sometimes its a thing that needs to be done. 

Many people lie about little things, which is really not needed. You shouldn't lie to someone about yourself. You should always say the truth, and if someone doesn't like you for the truth, then they aren't needed in your life.

It is permissible to lie to save your life or the life of someone else. Extremes like that make it okay to lie! Below is from a scene from the show Grey's Anatomy, where Dr. Miranda Bailey lies to a shooter stating that she was a nurse to save her life. 

Its also okay to lie just to protect someones innocence. For example, telling little children that santa, the tooth fairy, and the easter bunny are real.

And everyones favorite, "Where do babies come from?"

These would be the ideal times that people would lie. Anything else other than these are inexcusable. Theres close to no reason to speak countless lies just to make yourself feel any better. 

What About Me?

Kelly Maciel
English 1101
January 26, 2016
Prof. Young

What About Me?

Getting to know someone new is always strange and awkward. You try to learn all of the little things about them before getting to know all the big things. You do this just to obtain a general idea if this person is the type of person you would actually want in your life. So, just begin this whole blogging experience, I'm going to begin telling you all the little things about me.

I currently do not play a sport. Though when I was younger, I did participate in soccer (though it was more because my parents forced me).

For fun, I sometimes make videos. During High School I was apart of a program known as C.A.S.T. which in term is basically stating that the class consisted of television production and video editing. Once I was in Senior year, I ended up becoming one of the best video editors in my class. During Senior year I was in charge of the Class of 2015 Video Yearbook, putting in long hours to make it perfect. Though, now I'm in college, and Video Editing is not what I want to do with my life, I just take it up as a hobby. When something worthy comes up to record, I pull out of phone and record it. 

Lies come naturally to some people. Sadly, I am not those people. When thinking about all the lies I told, I couldn't think of anything that was so ridiculous and outrageous that would stand out. Then it hit me!

The most ridiculous lie I ever told was to some guy. He kept calling me and texting me to hang out but I was just too busy and not at all interested. So I told him that I was busy packing, because I was moving to Denver in a few days. I told him that things would be difficult and that whatever he wanted wouldn't work out between us. I then proceeded to, finally, block him from every social media account, just so he wouldn't find out. Truth is: I've lived in the same house for 12 years. I told this lie mostly because I just wanted him to leave me alone, and it actually worked! Haven't heard a word from him since. Don't even know if he knows I still live in Jersey.

Truthfully, I am a horrible writer. I never plan for what I am going to say and how I am going to say it. I usually end up sitting in front of laptop and begin writing down all the words that come to mind, allowing everything to flow. Usually, for me, when I do happen to have things planned out, my writing seems to just be worse.

My early years of writing experience were horrible. It was all about making outlines and being taught the wrong things over and over again. Once I came into college though, my writing experience became so much better. I actually began to learn from my mistakes, because Professors would actually take the time to teach. In High School I would just be told I was wrong and that would be the end of it. Though, in this course I would like to strengthen my critical thinking skills and to also improve my writing. Theres always room for improvement! Though truthfully, there isn't anything in particular that I wanted to learn this semester, its just the improvement I'm aiming for.

It's crazy how hard it is for individuals to pick up a book, sit down, and read it. It just happens to be a rare thing these days, but I am an avid reader. During winter break I read The Eye of Minds by James Dashner and Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira. Both very good books. Though my favorite books would have to be:

• 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• Looking For Alaska by John Green
• Divergent Series by Veronica Roth 
• The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

Social media is NOT my strong point. I go through all of my social media accounts everyday, religiously. Though I may be on social media, reading through everything, there are the very rare occasions when I actually post something. I own a Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and Tumblr (hopefully thats all for now). 

So many people have their own definitions of hero's. Some believe Hero's are strong, mysterious men that jump in the face of danger just to save a helpless person. A person who would jump in the middle of traffic and stop a speeding car!! 

Definitely not.

That would be a great way to describe a hero if actual superhero's existed because they're the only one's who can actually take that impact. Though my definition of a hero is an individual who puts other people before themselves. To myself, a hero is caring, understanding and visionary. An everyday hero should forever be proud of their accomplishments.

Sadly, failures are apart of life. They happen all the time and they're heart breaking each time they occur. I have failed a lot in my life. However, when thinking about the most recent thing I failed at, it happened to just be my Contemporary Mathematics class last semester. It was a very difficult course and with a lot of hard work, I ended up getting a decent grade in the end. That experience taught me that I can't slack off. I need to work hard to obtain good grades and a good GPA. It would be horrible to walk into class with an "I don't even care" attitude. That always makes things worse. 

Truthfully, it is extremely difficult to rate yourself. You always end up giving yourself the highest markings. Though, if I were to rate myself as a writer, I would give myself a B. Why? Well, mostly because my writing, for the most part, is good. Though, it can still always be better. B allows for improvement. 

And with all of that, we can now leave. 

See you next time!