Miguel Santos Period 6 February 10, 2011 ANTHEM ESSAY “The meaning of man’s ego.” Ayn Rand is known for believing in individual rights and egoism and opposing against collectivism such as communism, fascism and socialism(as well as some others). In her story of Anthem tells about the society of which people lived an life controlled by the government, until the main characters decides to escape (though not at the same at first) from this and live on their own, independently which results into a self discovery for them as they learn things that was forbidden by the government’s strict policies. The theme illustrates the story because it’s about being independent and being in charge on your own like a leader rather then being a follower. By being independent, you’re learning and discovering things that are new to you, just like how Equality and Liberty learned how to be on their own and using the word, “I”. How the theme illustrates the characters is self discovery. Once they were able to escape the hell of their society and into the woods, they were open to a whole new world as they find new land. They find a house and upon looking around the library, there they see the word, “I” and it’s in that moment where egoism comes in to play a major for both of them because they see the value of its expression. Eventually, both the characters renamed themselves to assume their newfound identities. Liberty names Equality, Prometheus the “Unconquered” while Equality names Liberty, Gaea the “Golden One”. In a way, the theme also explains how that once the characters escaped, they realized at that moment that they were free and they didn’t have to do anything they were told to do and they start to feel more confident because of this as well as having a new understanding of the world that surrounds them.

Miguel Santos 44 B.C. INTERVIEW Q: Who are some of the known conspirators of the assassination? A: Cassius and Brutus Q: How do you feel about our emperor being assassinated? A: It is very upsetting to lose such a great emperor. Q: Why do you think Caesar was assassinated? A: Because the conspirators feared that Caesar would overthrow the Senate in favor of a tyranny. Q: How and where was Caesar killed? A: He was stabbed to death several times at the theatre of Pompey. Q: Do you think Caesar deserved to be assassinated? A: No, because he was a well respected man.

Introduction: Here are the four so called semi-long, semi short chapters layered out of every single class of my high school career. It’s sort of a mashed up, roll of emotions and genres filled with facts and expressive thoughts. You got the comedy, the horror and of course, the drama. There’s laughter, cries and everything in between. Everyone has gone through the experience as I did but of course, it’s not particularly the same story. This is the story of my life in San Gorgonio High School. Author’s Notes: Due to technical and physical difficulties, I cannot recall, relive, and remember every moment of every year and I will try my hardest to remember the best that I can. There might be insults that I’ll say but know that they are all of no offensive meaning interpreted towards them. In other words, no offense. To them, I mean. Chapter One: Freshman I was 15 years. Like all freshmen, I was nervous and excited at the same time. I had seen all my friends from my schools and even the ones that I haven’t seen in forever. By that time, I was more relaxed but still nervous. It took me a while to find my schedule and when I did, it looked like this: 1) P.E. – Mr. Clark 2) Cadet Corps – Lt. Ryan 3) English – Mr. Carranza 4) World Geography – Mr. Amos 5) Physical Science – Mr. Reisenhoffer 6) Algebra 1 – Ms. Martinez Freshman year marked the first time I actually had P.E. since elementary school. In Serrano middle school, for both years I was in cadet class and so for my second period, at least by then I have had two years worth of experience, which is no big deal. The rest of my schedule looks like easy cake but it’s the teachers I was wondering most about. I was greatly disappointed when I saw that we had no lockers, except in gym. I’ve seen in media that all high school has lockers but unfortunately, San Gorgonio is not one of them. First Period Let me tell you something. I’m not exactly a fan of it but only because of the fact that for some oblivious reason, teachers are mean. I’ve seen it in movies, shows and books and I never thought it is actually true in real life which sucks because no offense, but Mr. Clark isn’t exactly an easy teacher to get along with but nevertheless, the activities that we did over the year have been easy. In fact, for the rest of the half year, we just went swimming. I ended up getting a “C” which is fine by me but seriously, I thought I deserved more than that. Sure, there are times that I don’t do every activity-like soccer, and such-but still, I have done everything I was assigned to do. Second Period Cadet is basically just like a military version of P.E. It requires no discipline. Does it make you strong or army strong? Sarcasm. Like first period, I’m not a fan of this class either. In fact, it’s probably the most boring class in my freshman year. I have my reasons but I think I speak for everybody when I say that the uniforms are not only embarrassing to wear but also, it’s kind of unnecessary, you know? What I do like about it however, is that it helps you become more motivated and have greater strength and knowledge of the corps. I got an “A” from the beginning to the end of the year. Third Period English is my best and favorite subject. Has been ever since, but do I like the teacher himself? Short answer: Kind of; So-so. Mr. Carranza is exactly a good looking teacher. He looked nerdy and bizarre. But despite this, he was a good cop, bad cop type of teacher. He was often nice and often mean but at most times, he was sarcastic. For example, when asked by his students if he had food, he replied, “Yeah, go look under the desk. There’s all kinds of flavors in there.” I wound up getting an “B”. After then, I found out that he longer teaches at San G and now teaches at a different school for a higher raise. Fourth Period By far, my most favorite class taught by my favorite teacher, Mr. Amos. World Geography is ironically, my favorite subject but the class itself was convincing enough for me to change my mind. We would watch Globe Trekker, which is a very interesting educational show because whatever country the hosts go, we would learn and observe what they are experiencing. I have first lunch as a freshman and me and my friends would go get our lunch and we were allow to eat inside Mr. Amo’s class as long as we clean up our mess. In the class, we watched whatever Mr. Amos had rented. Fun time, I tell you. Fifth Period Mr. Reisenhoffer is arguably the best teacher I’ve met in my freshman year. I’m not too big on science but he teach it in a way where we became so captivated by science. He was a young looking teacher, in his late 20s presumably but what I like about the class is that we would watch Ghostbusters and like my third period, we would learn and observe. One time, he had this electric ball looking thing that when you touch it, you get shocked. So when he asked all of us to connect our hands, we all got shocked. Sadly, he no longer teaches the class. Sixth Period Math is actually my second best subject but the truth is, it depends on what kind of math it is. If it’s geometry, I’ll hate it; if it’s algebra, no problem at all. Luckily, I got algebra 1. This is the class where I laughed a lot and the reason for that is my classmate Anthony who is a jokester. I like the class, I like the teachers (there were two, at the time: Ms. Martinez and Mr. Garcia), and I loved the math problems. This was by far the easiest class for me. I always aced in quizzes and tests. Eventually, I went on to win an award for math: having a solid straight “A” for the whole year. However, sometime in mid year, we’ve been having different subs from time to time. Until Mr. Garcia decided to take over, we learned that Ms. Martinez had become severely sick. She came back eventually but in the end, she was no longer a teacher at San G. So my freshman year was a lot of fun. It was new, exciting and perhaps, memorable. I hated that five of my six teachers were gone. Mr. Amos (and Mr. Garcia as well) remained. Overall, it was a good start to my high school career. Chapter Two: Sophomore Sophomore year is the one year I hated the most. I went from being a straight “A” student to a “B/C” student. I’m not exactly sure what happened but I knew that I had to get back up on my feet, somehow. My sophomore schedule: (NOTE: Due to the fact that my schedule had changed so many times over the course of the year, I just decided to use what I had in the end instead of what I got in the beginning) 1) Cadet - ??? 2) Geometry Standards 1 – Mr. Bancroft 3) World History – Mr. Brock 4) Geometry Standards 2 – Mr. Lee 5) Biology – Mr. Sokeye 6) English – Mr. Hite First Period Ugh, cadet again. At least we only need two years of physical education and luckily, cadet counts as credit. We had a different teacher this year and although I don’t remember his name (probably because I didn’t much for the class) he was a tall skinny asian army man. He didn’t seem like a teacher and at times, it was my classmates who were teaching the class which was complete and utter stupid. I’m not surprised he’s no longer a teacher. He was not a professional teacher. The class felt the same as last year and the only differences was the people and the location of the class. The rest is basically the same. I got a “B”. Second Period I never knew geometry was so hard! In fact, as I learned more about it, the more I started to hate it. The teacher himself was really boring as well as the class. It was a big classroom but yet, there were only fifteen students. And the weird thing is, we all sat in the back. But yeah, it’s not a helpful class at all. I don’t think I’ve learned a lot from the class. It’s sad, because he’s been a teacher for years. Not a fun or particularly exciting class. It could’ve done better though. Because of this, I ended up with a “C”. Third Period Mr. Brock is only one of the coolest sophomore teachers I had. He is a very funny and yet serious teacher and his class applies to his personality. Though again, I’m not strong on the subject but I did learn a lot of the revolutions and historical events. We did maps and worksheets, and we did the daily “P.O.D.s” which was always fun to watch. Though I’ve always worked alone, I didn’t let that stop me from getting an “B”. Fourth Period Damn! Geometry again. Ugh. The difference between this class and my second period was that Mr. Lee was much more enthusiastic on what he was teaching which I preferred but the problem that I had in the class was similar to what I always have. One, I was working alone and two, I hated the subject. There were some times that I did okay but did I survive? Only halfway. I got a “C”. Fifth Period I wasn’t too strong on science but I find that biology was a really interesting subject. With that said, I also had interesting classmates (one whom I went on to be great friends with) and a somewhat interesting teacher, Mr. Sokeye. Mr. Sokeye was a weird teacher, not in a bad way per se but if you notice, he talks slow and he always, ALWAYS uses the phrase, “You’re feeding a dead horse.” I never understood what that meant but we always get a little laugh from it. I got a “B”. Sixth Period This is the only class I’ve always looked forward to. Why? I loved the fact that the location of the class was close to the front of the school (sarcasm), Mr. Hite was a cool teacher, and I met some really great friends. But the biggest reason why I love the class was that English is my best and favorite subject once again. No surprise I got an “A” and during the class, we read some really interesting books like Ayn Rand’s Anthem and the war story, All Quiet On The Western Front. When we read Anthem, it was so confusing and hard to read and understand. But with Mr. Hite guiding us to what’s going on, it all made perfect sense. English, along with World History and Biology, remains as the only classes that kept me sane in my sophomore year. So overall, my sophomore year? Yeah, not as great as my freshman year but at least I managed to survive. Chapter Three: Junior My junior year became a way better year than my sophomore year but, was it as great as my freshman year? Let’s find out. My Junior Year Schedule: 1) U.S. History – Mr. Lambie (now a school librarian) 2) Spanish 1 – Ms. 3) Geometry – Mr. 4) English – Ms. 5) Music Appreciation – Mr. Brandon 6) Environmental Science – Ms. First Period

Gabriel Arellano 5/01/10 Period 1 Economics During the late 1970s, an employed woman with low minimum wages and poor working conditions revolutionizes the right for better working conditions and becomes involved in labor union activities. Her name was Norma Rae. Norma Rae is the story of a woman who works in a cotton mill factory and struggles to fend off the problems and dangers in her workspace; In the beginning of the film, one of the workers appears to be deaf. This is due to excessive loud noises and later in the film, a man who has arm pains has a heart attack. Norma Rae is an Alabama small town textile mill worker and single mother of three, living with her parents. She has had in the past a series of relationships with men, sometimes married, who have mistreated her; then as the story progresses, she meets and marries Sonny. Her life is quite ordinary until Reuben, a union worker from New York, comes to her mill and tries to unionize its labor force. He persuades Norma Rae to head up the cause at her mill, resulting in severe conflict with management and potential conflict in her own relationship with husband, Sonny. In the process of unionizing, the more she worked, the less time she spends with her family which causes a conflict between her and her husband. She had also received threats and was eventually fired but before she left the workplace, she proudly hangs up a cardboard sign that said, “UNION”. As her employees look and see, they start to turn off the machines. After being recruited to the police station, she breaks down and loses hope. But despite the pressure brought upon her, she and Reuben work together once again to regain the votes of the election from townspeople and eventually in the end, Norma Rae successfully wins the election (despite that more than 300 had voted against it) resulting in victory for the union. Norma and Reuben say goodbye to each other as Reuben prepares to leave back home. So rarely have we seen movies that focus on the impact of employment rights and labor unions that applies for us as of today’s economy. Sally Fields plays the title character, Norma Rae. We see her fear, her disgust, her anger at the mill's treatment of its employees, and the passion she has for what she believes in. After being captivated by a New Yorker Reuben’s speech, she is awakened to the possibilities of life, and, what's more, everything that is wrong with the mill that seems to suck the energy and hope from those who stand there day after day trying to earn an honest dollar. The greatest strength of the film is in one particular scene, perhaps the most famous, when Norma stands on top while holding a sign that simply said, “UNION”. What I liked about the movie was the characters. Each one was superbly well written. Sally Fields and Ron Leibman did an outstanding job. I loved their personalities. Sally plays a character who slowly evolves from an aimless girl into a mature woman who finds a depth and strength that helps her take control of her life and find the confidence to lead which was the “power” she never knew she had and it was all thanks to Reuben, played by Ron, the assertive union organizer from New York who awakens Norma's intellect and propels her into uncharted territory by helping her and guiding her in the ways of what is right and what should be done. In other words, she became independent. Meanwhile, Beau Bridges as Norma Rae's gentle and often erratic, understanding dependent husband stands by his woman despite his not completely comprehending or appreciating the changes that are underway in his wife's character. The only thing I didn’t like however, although it isn’t highly relevant, was the southern accent. Particularly because it was quite difficult to understand thoroughly what they were saying. But despite this, the dialogue was understandable. This is a human story; A tale of real courage, determination, and human will. It doesn't sell politics or make out that unions are the answer to everything; instead it shows through a great story arc and shows that one person's moral compass can make a difference. One of my favorites scenes was the one following Norma Rae's arrest, in which she returns exhaustedly home from prison at night, awakens her three sleeping kids, informs them that their “Mama's a jailbird” and that they're going to be hearing all kinds of stories about her. She admits that she made mistakes, tells each child who his or her father is, and gives each a photo of their dad which she had tucked away. All parents must face that at some point their children will come to realize their mom or dad isn't perfect, and nowhere is this more dramatically shown than in this particular scene from Norma Rae.

Gabriel Arellano 04/10/10 Period 1 Economics Sign Language Outline I. My interest in Sign Language: Sign language is a type of language in which you use visually transmitted hand movements to convey meaning. It can be a combination of any body movement as well as reading “lips”. II. History Starting from the 17th century in Spain was when a Spanish Priest named Juan Pablo Bonet published deaf education. Since then, his writings has influenced many sign languages. Two centuries later, there’s Charles-Michel de l'Épée, a philanthropic educator known as “Father of the Deaf” because he opened the first school for the deaf which expanded to the United States. Ever since then, there had different kinds of sign languages. III. Rules To understand sign language is very easy, as long as you pay attention and observe. It’s all about the hand gestures and its position. If you were a translator, you would have to translate what the person is saying and if there’s a word that you can’t sign or you don’t know how, just spell it out. IV. Tools There are several ways other than signing to help communicate with those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Hearing aids and notepads, for example. If you were watching a movie or a show, you can put subtitles. V. Economic Vocabulary a) Service – Very helpful when a deaf person is in need or when you’re needed to be a translator. b) Technology –Hearing aids, subtitles for when you’re watching something, or if you wanted to learn, you can check out tutorial videos on the internet. c) Partnership-It’s a good idea for when you have someone who is more experienced to help train you and assist you. It’s also essential that one would become the speaker while the other translates, therefore working together as partners. d) Profit-Particularly in hospitals and events, sign language is useful to doctors and nurses to communicate to patients and in events, same thing for speakers to audiences. e) Utility-Sign language is useful anywhere, anytime, much like a service. f) Entrepreneurship-The more knowledge of signs, the better you’ll know what to say and do. g) Substitution Effect-I don’t wear hearing aids, and the best way for me to hear or understand something or someone is to be seated in front, ask if the person can wear a mike, read overhead/powerpoint presentations and so forth. In this case, for most deafs, they prefer anything that makes them comfortable. h) Voluntary Exchange-As long as you know what you’re signing about and that it’s understandable to who you’re signing to, it’s just like a regular casual conversation. i) Labor-Signing can be tiring. Some sign fast, some slow. Especially the fast ones, for example, when you’re translating, you can’t always remember every word the person is speaking and that can be troubling. j) Elasticity-Satisfaction is important when you’re signing the right words. Otherwise, they’ll be confused.

Reality vs. Expectations It’s a typical day. Your alarm goes off, you wake up and you do your morning ritual: take a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush your teeth and off to school you go. You want this to happen like you expect it. You only realize however, you overslept, you skip breakfast, forget to brush your teeth and you quickly find the clothes you see to wear. You become mad at yourself because this was not what you had in mind. This is a phase called Expectations vs. Reality. Everyone has gone through this phase at least once. It can apply to anything, anywhere of daily life. On one mind, you have the expectations. This is when you expect something to happen or what you want to happen. On another mind, there’s reality: the actuality of your expectations. Let’s say you take a test knowing you’re going to ace it only to find that you failed. That sucks. Another example would be going on a date. You’re nervous; you think it’ll be a disaster. It’s concluded that it actually went well as you thought it wouldn’t. Which is a good thing, right? An alternative name to this is called Reverse Psychology, persuasion technique involving the advocacy of a belief or behavior that is opposite to the one desired, with the expectation that this approach will encourage the subject of the persuasion to do what is desired: the opposite of what is suggested. So, they’re almost the same but the difference is that you can be able to control reverse psychology by telling something or someone the opposite of what you want them to say or do, expecting that they will do the opposite of what you say. Examples are presented everywhere in books and media. Having been inspired by one of my favourite scenes, (500) Days Of Summer gave me the inspiration when a particular scene where two panels are separated in half with expectations on one side and reality on another. In expectations, main character Tom goes to a party and wins back his ex-girlfriend, Summer. In reality, he doesn’t win her back, he finds out she’s engaged and he storms out, frustrated. I think that if everything does go as planned, it’s just merely coincidental and luck. If not, well, you can’t always get you want. Whatever happens happen.

Many people have said that twitter is boring and that there is no point to it. Be that as it may but I was able to get an advance copy of a graphic novel for free. A graphic novel is like a comic book but with nicer paper, bound in longer and more durable formats assembled and printed as books. Hope Larson is regarded as one of the most promising young female cartoonists of the 2000s. If that’s true, her latest work Mercury is her breakthrough achievement. I’ve never been to Nova Scotia, but graphic novelist Hope Larson made me feel as if I had been there, with its detailed black and white interior illustrations and cultural references to coffee shops. The story focuses on two girls, tied by blood and separated by time. Set in the fictional town of French Hill, the year is 1859, Josey Fraser meets the mysterious brooding Asa Curry who has a secret ability to locate gold. She becomes enamored by him, much to the dismay of her overprotective angry mother. In the same town 150 years later, Tara Fraser is dealing with the aftermath of her home burned down. She resides with her aunt and uncle while her mother is someplace else, working. Tara has been home schooled but later returns a student where she meets Ben, a boy who looks similar to her. Tara wears a pendent previously worn for generations, but soon it becomes more then just a necklace.

Gabriel Arellano February 22, 2010 Period 3 English Mary Shelly vs. Hollywood The interpretations between the descriptions of the novelization and the movie are obviously different. In Mary Shelly’s book, she describes the monster as having yellow skin and long black shiny hair whereas in the 1931 film adaptation, the monster has (although presented in black and white) green skin, a flat head with bolts from his both sides of his neck. In the story, the monster was intellectual. In the movie, he was not. In the image of the Frontispiece edition, the illustration shows exactly what was described: Tall, strong and having long black hair. The illustration also seems to show some sort of emotion from the monster as you can see that he looks puzzled, confused, and or hurt. In the movie image, the monster is also accurate to being tall and strong but however, he has a flat head and bolts from his neck which was not included in the book. You can also tell by the look of his face that he lacks any emotion (although he actually does in the film) . There are other differences between Mary Shelly’s and Hollywood’s view of Frankenstein. They both have the same qualities but they don’t share the same details. I believe Mary Shelly’s monster is better then Boris Korloff’s monster because not only is it original of her own work but it shows more characteristics of the monster of the novel because it furthermore explains his side of the story (based on his point of view) and it shows his strong emotions about how he feels.

Back in July, I was fortunate enough to attend the Hollywood Bowl concert with lineups including Death Cab For Cutie, The New Pornographers, and lastly, Tegan and Sara. Tegan and Sara are 30 year old songwriting Canadian duo from Calgary. Their 2004 breakthrough album, So Jealous established them as an indie force to reckon with. They have since become omnipresent in pop culture, thanks to several TV Shows, most notably Grey's Anatomy which featured seven of their songs. Their latest album, Sainthood is definitely a step away from their 2007's admirable The Con. It has a more electronic feel to it, but reminiscent of their earlier albums. Now with their sixth album, Tegan and Sara have become more mature and balanced with music more structured and lyrics more understanding. It seems that Tegan writes about unrequited love ("The Cure", "The Ocean") while Sara writes about being in love ("Arrow", "Sentimental Tune"). But that's really beside the point. Tegan and Sara have a way of writing in the teenage perspective and making melancholy beautiful. Their first single, "Hell" (co-written by a member of AFI) is a danceable heavy loaded rock song. "The Cure" is Tegan's best song and is clearly an influence of The Cure's "Lovesong". "Northshore" is two minutes of explosive strummed out guitar freak out that aims to please with bitter rants of "Don't!", which Tegan declares, "There's something so sick about this/ My misery is so addictive." Sara's best song would be "Alligator", with a sound similar to early Madonna, but music jazzy and light accompanied with cutesy piano. Tegan reveals in "The Ocean", "Well I know what I want, and what I want's right here with you." With lyrics like these, they're destined to become headlines for Myspace. The album closer, "Sentimental Tune" and "Someday" are standout tracks. "Sentimental Tune" is Sara's second best song. Sara claims, "You hate the tenderhearted torch song/ You catch a flame to my sentiment, my sentimental tune (oh!)." It's the kind of song that girls will adore. "Someday" is possibly about Proposition 8, due to the twin's sexuality. But nevertheless, the song is about speaking and standing up for yourself. Tegan and a backup chorus give shout outs to the listeners to "Speak Up!/ Move Up!/ Reach Out!". Sainthood is not a perfect album ("Paperback Head" is my least favorite) but it is more stable and textured that instead, it's a good album with remarkably good songs. Along with Metric's Fantasies and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' It's Blitz!, Tegan and Sara prove to be another girl band of 2009 with a notable album. In the song "Someday", Tegan insists she, "might do something I'd be proud of someday/ Mark my words, I might be something someday." Either I'm waiting that someday or that someday is now. Needless to say, Sainthood deserves to be in the winbin. A twitter reference, mind you.

Gabriel Arellano English Oct. 5, 2009 Per. 3 Beowulf and the Last Battle The reason of the last battle was something to do with a missing cup. A missing cup by which was stolen from a slave that belonged to the dragon. The dragon then sees that the cup is missing and goes out in a fury. Beowulf’s plan was to return it. In the opening scene of The Last Battle, comes a quote from Beowulf, “I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles. I am old, now, but I will fight again, seek fame still, if the dragon is hiding in his tower dares to face me.” What he means by this is that even though he’s old, he is still willing to take up the challenge of being a hero again, destroying the darkness once again if and only if the dragon will be willing to fight him. After his speech, he starts to say goodbye to his people. At first, he tells them that he will not use any weapons or armor because the dragon bears none but that because of the dragon’s fiery flame, he is not ashamed to use it. He also tells his people that he is proud of what he’s done and he is feeling very confident. As he is preparing for battle, the soldiers too want to fight beside him but however they are afraid and only one brave soldier, Wiglaf, comes along. As they arrive to the cave and head for the entrance, suddenly there came a loud roar and covering smoke. And thus, the battle had begun. The battle starts out as the dragon starts breathing out fire everywhere, burning all that is touched by it. Beowulf does all he can to shield himself from danger, fighting back whenever chance he gets. But no matter what, his companion was besides him, helping him effortlessly. As the dragon flies away and then turns back, the dragon soon swoops down towards Beowulf and Wiglaf, letting out another flame of its breath. Beowulf again shields himself but this time, the shield was melting. And as it was melting, Beowulf comes to a realization where he believes that his most trusted weapon had failed him.Wiglaf recalls a moment about being in the mead hall and just celebrating about how we should repay him “when the time came, kindness for kindness.” Beowulf as well as Wiglaf raises both of their swords, the dragon seeing their courage, and forcibly striked the dragon’s skin by which the dragon becomes in pain and starts breathing fire everywhere. Beowulf falls back, being in severe pain and suffering severe wounds. Before he dies, his dying wish was have the treasure be buried with the dragon instead of giving it to his people and instead have the people to build a tower monument for him. Beowulf becomes cremated and his dying wish becomes fulfilled.