Jim Crow Laws

        First off, don't tell me I'm the only one who thought Jim Crow was a real person! While reading through these laws I was not at all shocked or mortified because it is what I expected. However, I also expected there to be a few laws saying that whites could do something while colored people couldn't, but there was not. Instead every law simply stated that this building was seperated and so on. There were quite a few laws that I found especially harsh or just strange. For example, for different races to be in the same restaurant there must be a wall at least seven feet tall seperating the two groups. Another law stated that a white baseball team is not allowed to play within two blocks of a playground devoted to a different race. We have come so far in terms of this law because today if seems as if half of our professional sports players are of another race. A law I found strange is that circus entrances and ticket booths must be seperate for each race (apparently they had a lot of circuses in Louisiana). The other law I found peculiar is that buildings for teaching the blind must also be segregated. First of all, the students are blind so they probably do not care if they are in a room with someone of another race (seriously, how would they know?) Secondly, I can't picture them having enough blind kids to open up a different building for each race (but who knows, I could be wrong).
           Intermarriage seemed as if it was the most strict law, and also the most common. A white person was not allowed to marry a colored if they were one-eighth or more of African descent. (I heard in Social Studies that humans originated and evolved in Africa, but I'm sure if someone used that as an excuse back then it would not go over well.) They also mentioned in a few laws that whites and Mongolians were not allowed to marry, and I was not sure if that was to be taken literally or did it refer to anyone of any Asian descent. We have also come a long way in terms of this law, because we don't just tolerate other races, but there is a great percentage of interracial marriages in the U.S.
            Another law said that textbooks were not to be shared between races. It takes me back  to kindergarten when everyone had cooties! The law that disturbed me the most was that white convicts and colored convicts must be seperated in prison. It's puzzling as to why whites were still considered better than blacks even when they were both in prison for of committing heinous crimes. This is like saying a white person can do no wrong, which in a way is what people stood for during this time period.

I thought you were supposed to sleep on weekends!

                Unlike the rest of my blog, this post has nothing to do with AP Composition. I'm sure everyone is dying to know what I did this weekend, so I'll tell you. It was fairly hectic because I had a horse show. The minute I got home from school on Friday I packed my show stuff and my mom and I drove to Washington County Fairgounds. We took a little pit stop on the way at a tack shop to do some shopping for "horsie stuff" (I have realized lately it's almost as fun shopping for horse stuff as it is shopping for clothes, well kinda...). We arrived at the fairgounds at 4:30, and although I planned to do my practice ride right away some things didn't go according to plan, so I ended up riding from 5:30-6:30. After that we braided his mane (it makes him look all fancy!). We made sure he was all settled in for the night and then we left, arriving back home around 9:30. Saturday I woke up before 4 and we were at the fairgrounds at 5a.m. My first ride was at 7:15, then 7:45 and again at 3:45. I spent the time in between volunteering because I need hours for my Equestrian Club. Afterwords there was an awards ceremony, and I placed 4th in one thing and didn't place in another (I didn't expect to so I wasn't upset.) It was a fairly crazy weekend with the show, homework, going to the barn to clean all the stuff from the show and cleaning my room (that last one doesn't sound that time consuming but you obviously haven't seen my room). I'll try to post some pictures from the weekend (but don't get your hopes up I have no idea how to!)

A fashion blog I found!

Kendieveryday.blogspot.com

Kendi is a girl in a small town who started her own fashion blog. Her outfits are very unique and show you it's okay to mix patterns and colors! I love her blog and you should follow it as well!

Why I Write

       Although Didion is inspired by Orwell, her purpose for writing is completely different. Didion wrote, "I knew I couldn't think, all i knew was what I couldn't do. All I knew then was what I wasn't, and it took me some years to discover what I was. Which was a writer." Later she states, "I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means." Didion writes because she enjoys learning more about herself, and unlike Orwell, the public, politics and what is taking place in the world does not seem to affect her or her writing.
       Orwell however wrote, "Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written directly or indirectly against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand. It seems to me nonsense, in a period like our own, to think one can avoid writing of such subjects." Orwell seems to write about what he already known and wishes to inform his readers. He gives his opinions on politics and the world, and writes about what angers or frustrates him. Orwell is deeply affected by the era he lives in and his work is greatly influenced by that. "I wasn't born for an age like this," Orwell claims. Although he tried at one point to stray away from writing there was something pulling him back.
       I write simply to be creative. I don't make a living out of writing, nor do I write because I feel like it is the only thing I am decent at. I don't write about politics or write because I don't know the answer and wish to to learn that answer while discovering something about myself. I simply write for the joy and satisfaction of putting my ideas down on paper, with the hopes and intent that someone will find as much pleasure in reading it as I did in writing it.

Do What You Love and Love What You Do

    In "Superman and Me",Sherman Alexie, a young boy living on an Indian reservation grows up to write novels, short stories and poems. He redefines what it means to be an Indian on a reservation when he states, "I was certainly never taught that Indians wrote poetry, short stories and novels. Writing was something beyond Indians." Although he had never been taught to write the poems and stories he does, he has a passion for it and because of that visits school systems to teach creative writing. I found it interesting where he said he was going to be a pediatrician. Why didn't he become one? I think it was because he feels as if he is still part of the classroom of Indian kids, and he knows they need his help. He wants more of them to be introduced to creative writing at a young age like he was and eventually help out the entire Indian population. Although he had no training, he grew up in an environment where he was constantly surrounded by books and story telling. Growing up no one shared Alexie's interests, but that didn't seem to bother him. Now he has the opportunity to teach writing and teach them why he finds creative writing so fascinating.