Creed and Woobees:

"...I didn't care, the sounds of my guitar made me calmer, somehow. Guitars are like 'woobees'.." [page 185]

A woobee is from when you're little or when you're older, something that made everything better when you had it with you. Something that you looked at, held, listened to, saw that made you feel safer or less upset or made you happy. Torey needs to calm down at this point in the book because he's getting so worked up over everything that's been happening with Bo involving Chris Creed. 

I used to have a woobee when I was younger, and it was my blankie. I still have it in my closet but I don't really use it anymore. I have a new woobee for myself now that I'm older. I have a bear that I have to sleep with every night and it helps me fall asleep. It used to be my Aunt Kathy's bear but I took that when we went to her apartment to clean it out. 

TBCC: Chapters two and three

"How could people live their whole lives with their kid and not know this?" [pg. 25]

Torey is talking to himself about Chris Creed and his parents. He's pretty much saying that how could Mrs. and Mr. Creed not know who Chris was or how he felt this whole time he lived with them. It sort of ties back to how they think of their son Chris. They always thought he was so normal and had friends or was just a happy kid. But for their whole lives they didn't know he was so unhappy and wanted to run away or possibly kill himself. This stood out to me because the importance of knowing your children and knowing what they're going through is really important, as you can see.

Chapter 23: Graduation Speech

I feel that the graduation speech would have been a lot different if the speaker was African-American and not Caucasian. The Caucasian seemed to be talking down to the African-American students, making him seem superior to them. It was sad though because their response was putting their heads down, or not speaking up to what he said. If the speaker was African-American like the students, I feel that the speech would be a lot more uplifting and encouraging. I think that Harriet Tubman would make a great speaker for the students rather than that Caucasian man who talked down to them. Her speech would be something like .. 

"Hello students. My name is Harriet Tubman, and I'm an African-American, just like you guys. I know what you've all been through. I've seen all the cruelty and discrimination in this world like you have. I've been discriminated against, and wished I was something more beautiful than who I am before too. 

I'm here to talk to you guys and tell you not to think that anymore. If you've ever been discriminated against, look passed it. There are so many people out there who try to put us down because of what we look like, and how we're "different". Well to be honest, we aren't as different as they say we are. We've achieved a lot of the same stuff, possibly even more stuff.

There are many sports athletes, inventors, speakers, writers, and more that have been African-American who have achieved so much in the past and present. When someone is putting you down, you shouldn't give in and give up. You have to think about what's fair to you as an individual and remember that we're all the same, no matter what "color" we are. We've all achieved the same things, some better than others, but we've all achieved something and made a difference. We shouldn't be labeled on who we are, but what we do as a person. 

The next time someone puts you down, remember this. You aren't different, they are. They're the cruel ones, and they're the ones trying to make things different for us. We're the change we need to see in the world someday, and one day, things will be different. You just need to have hope, and believe that you can make a difference."

Chapter 19: Serena Williams

Serena Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan in 1981 and is now the 7th tennis player in the whole world. She grew up with 4 other sisters, one of them being murdered in Los Angeles, California in 2003. Serena got her first grand slam in 1999, with four straight years of grand slams until 2003. Unfortunately, in 2003 she suffered from a knee injury that made her sit out for 8 months.

"I've always said that I'm insatiable." - Serena Williams.    

This relates to the book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings because the athlete in it loved what he did. And for Serena, when she was out because of her knee, she went right back into playing when she got back in. It was like a lot of motivation for the thing she loves. That relates to the book because he loved what he did, and he was the best at it. He beat Caucasian's at it, which surprised a lot of people since he was so motivated.                                                                                                                                  

Chapter 17 & 18: After the "Retreat" & The Revival

"The idea came to me that my people may be a race of masochists and that not only was it our fate to live the poorest, roughest life but that we liked it that way." - Page 121.

I chose this quote because it stood out to me, before we talked about it in class; kind of. This quote really ties in with the book and the African-Americans. It shows how hard an African-American's life is, and how it used to be too. It's showing how the African-Americans are 'masochists', meaning people who like pain, or endure pain in their lives. It shows how the African-Americans are so used to being put down, beaten, and scorned that they're used to all the pain. That they'd rather feel the pain, then have people pity them. 

I chose this particular quotation because it was easy to find a connection to the book and the African-Americans. It really stood out because when it says ".. my people may be a race of masochists .. we liked it that way," I got really confused. I got confused because why would you like to feel pain, and live a life like that? But then I realized not only are they used to it, but they sort of have to get used to it. It's pretty sad when you think about it, and how much pain African-Americans were/are put through.

Double, double, toil and trouble.

If I were the fourth witch, I'd put this into the potion:

A gooey booger and a bloody lip,

with moldy skin and a grandma's hip.

Ramasco's waste and a pile of poop,

with my neighbors dead dog and toenail clippings soup.

A box of fingers and a hairy monkey,

with 50 teeth and a grandpa that's chunky.

A case of B.O and a rotten plumb,

with a dirty diaper and a little kid's thumb.

Act III - Story Time

In the play Macbeth, a lot of bad things happen. The main character, Macbeth is turning into a mean person. It's not that he wants to become someone bad, it just seems like the crazy things are taking him over. His wife, Lady Macbeth, is very mean and pretends to be friends with someone just to use them for something she wants. Like say you're coloring a picture of the rainbow, and you need the Red to make the first line. As soon as your finished using the Red, and you don't need it anymore, you just put it back from where you got it. That's like with Lady Macbeth with people though, which is very bad. So, when these three Frankensteins come and talk to Macbeth and his friend Banquo, they tell them that they can see into the future. Frankensteins tells them that they both will become Kings! But that will only happen when King Duncan, the man who is King now, stops being King. When Macbeth tells his wife what the Frankensteins told him. When she hears this, she gets very excited. She wants Macbeth to become a King as fast as he can, so that she can become special too. But since Lady Macbeth is a mean person, she decides to try to get King Duncan to not be King anymore. A lot of things happen, and Lady Macbeth finally gets King Duncan to not be King anymore. She does this by hiding him in a very dark closet for the rest of his life, not being able to come out. Macbeth feels really bad for King Duncan, but Lady Macbeth's meanness makes Macbeth forget about it.