To a stranger

     In my opinion, the poem "To A Stranger" by Walter Whitman seems like it's not just about a specific person but that there's more to it. I think that the poem was about reincarnation. Whitman didn't have a specific religion, his spirituality was said to be his own, but many of his theories and ideas came from Christianity. Even though his spirituality was based on Christianity, the writer of this article http://saulsamandashane.wordpress.com/2013/09/16/how-did-walt-whitman-feel-about-reincarnation/ says that Whitman was a believer of reincarnation. 

     For example, in this poem he says,"I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you," it seems like he has never met the stranger before but he remembers their spirit, like reincarnation. It also has a line that says,"All is recall'd as we flit by each other, fluid, affectionate,

chaste, matured," chaste meaning to refrain from sexual activity. From this line, he has some memory of the person's spirit. Maybe he and a stranger were connected some way in a past life and seeing the stranger brought back memories and familiar feelings. He definitely felt a connection with this stranger that he has felt before and it seems like there was some type of love between them. That is what I think of the poem when I read it.

Should whoever the poem is written about be content?

     The poem "How is Your Heart" is written about a man who some people might say has a life that sucks. He is a homeless alcoholic that lives with whores and wakes up in a random place with no memory of the night before. Some people would say that he should be content with his life considering his father was also a jobless alcoholic who abused him and his mother. Some people would argue that he could be content with the life he is living considering he had a horrible childhood, but I think that he should not be content with his life. He can always strive for more. There are many successful people that worked their way to the top.

     When I say more, I don't just mean money. I am also talking about healthy relationships with other people. It's human nature to interact with other people and one could say that he has never really experienced a good relationship because of his father's abuse, but just because he has never experienced a healthy relationship, but that doesn't mean he should never have good relationships with anyone.

     Having healthy relationships with people might have helped out whoever the poem was written a lot because there are many benefits mentally, physically, and emotionally. It makes people a lot happier and eases stress. Social connections with others actually increases people's odds of survival by 50%. That shows how important it is to have healthy relationships with other people. Relationships provide a level of protection and they actually make you feel richer. The National Bureau of Economic Research did a survey and found that 5,000 people thought doubling their friend group gave the same result on a person's wellbeing as increasing their income by 50%! It's not only good for us to have social connections but it's actually also harmful to not have any. Little to no social connection with others is equivalent to smoking 50 cigarettes a day, more damaging than not exercising, and twice as harmful as obesity.

     Good social connections and healthy relationships could improve the life of the person this poem is written about. Healthy relationships give people a sense of meaning and purpose that wills them

to take good care of themselves as well. There are many benefits to having good relationships with others and even health risks to not having social connections with people. If the person had healthy relationships, he could be not only content but happy and I think even with his horrible childhood, he could strive for improving his life now.

Interim report #1

Mom: What are you getting in English class?

Me:  Why don't you go see for yourself. The link to my blog is http://english10gaby.blogspot.ca/?m=1. We also have something called edmodo where we get and submit all our assignments so you can also see what I have and have not completed and you are also able to compare my work to other people in the class. I will be getting a grade when we get our report cards but for now, English will be only about learning and leaving the class better than we were before we entered the classroom instead of doing well to avoid a reward or a punishment.

Mom: Do you like it better this way?

Me: Yes, I like it better this way because I can be responsible for my own learning and I can fix my mistakes and make my work better along the way. This causes me to grow in my learning and gain skills that I will be able to use later on in life when I am forced to be responsible for myself.

Mom: Do I have to be worried about you taking responsible for your learning?

Me: No, I have been putting effort into my work and I think I am doing well in this class. If you want to see my work and compare me to other people you can check my blog like I said before.

My tattoo

     Personally, I'm not sure if I would get a tattoo. It would be cool, but as of right now I don't know. If I were to get one, it would look like this. 

     This is a tattoo of a shark swimming through water. My favourite animal is a shark so I started thinking about how I could work with that. I also love swimming and I've been doing it for as long as I can remember. It's like second nature to me and a huge part of my life. Sharks swim in water so the reason why it's a shark with waves around it and not just a plain shark represents my swimming.

     

     Sharks also symbolize many things. It can mean power and fearlessness which are traits that I would want to have for myself, but more fearlessness than power. In some cultures, people would have shark tattoos as a sign of protection. I wouldn't get a tattoo as a shield for myself or something like that, but I think it's cool that that's what other people get those types of tattoos for. 

     If I were to get this tattoo, There wouldn't be a deep meaning for where I would place it. I think I would get it on the right side of my ribs. I would want it to be there because I wouldn't want it to be visible all the time. I would like to be able to keep it hidden, but if I do something like leisurely swimming, then people will be able to see it and it's not just something I keep to myself. It would also look cool there, in my opinion.

     I'm not sure if I want a tattoo when I'm older, but if I do I want it to have meaning because it's a commitment and this tattoo does have meaning to me!

Extended Metaphor

     The movie I chose for my extended metaphor is "Shrek". I chose this movie because it's very relatable not just a to me, but probably to most of us in high school. I'm pretty sure everyone has watched Shrek, but if you haven't it's about an ogre that falls in love with a princess. His problem is that since he is an ogre, everyone judges him and assumes he's scary and mean. People just follow the stereotypes before getting to know him and it makes him a little bit cold

     I think this is very relatable not just to me or to us in high school, but everywhere in the world, too. Everywhere we go people are always judging other people, even way back thousands of years ago. People are judged by their religion, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and it isn't right. As Shrek and Fiona get to know each other more, they find out they have things in common and even start to fall in love. A lot of things happen in between but basically Shrek realizes that you can't please everyone so you might as well be yourself and I think that's what a lot of us, if not already, are learning right now. We are figuring out who we are and learning to be comfortable with ourselves.

Myers-Briggs Personality Test

      The results I got on my test are ESFP or "The Entertainer". I was actually surprised with my results because I never thought of myself as extroverted, and I even retook the test just to make sure. After I retook the test I got a similar result except instead of feeling over thinking, the next time I got thinking over feeling.

     Here are my results the first time:

     And here are my results the second time:

     I think both of my results capture parts of my personality but none of them are spot on. 

     For ESFP or "The Entertainer" I don't agree with the "highly social nature" part because I don't think I'm highly social and I don't need to be the center of attention all the time. However, I am a "here and now" type person and I love excitement and new adventures. I also don't like being alone, it makes me feel a little bit sad. If I can talk to someone whether it's texting or talking on the phone or physically being with people, I am happier. I found it funny that ESFP people dislike science fiction because that's basically the only genre of books and movies I don't like. I can also finish work efficiently like it says, and I love helping my friends with their problems and making my friends laugh. I never knew that I had the same personality type as Marlyn Monroe, Elvis Prestly and Homer Simpson! That's interesting.

"The persuader" or ESTP also had some accurate traits but I feel like ESTP people are too exciting and extreme for me. I don't think I'm always friendly and enthusiastic. I can be but sometimes I chose not to, but I can take criticism of its to better me as a person. Apparently some of my friends at school agree that I sometimes dominate conversations and I like sports and taking risks so I do have some ESTP qualities. According to this test I am one of the Simpsons because an ESPT character is Bart Simpson.

     The career matches for both ESPT and ESFP seem fun. Any job where I don't sit down in front of a computer all day is good. Personally, I think I am more ESFP, but a lot of people told me I'm more ESTP. It's funny that our perception of ourselves is actually not how other people see us as. I never thought I would be an extrovert. When I told my mom and sister they were surprised too but I got extrovert twice and I would rather be around people than be alone so it makes sense. It was really interesting to take this test!