Rebecca

The flags right above are the countries that make up who I am. I was born in The United States , but my mom immigrated from El Salvador. My dad was born in Los Angeles , but his parents immigrated from Nicaragua . My mom likes to think that I am mostly Salvadorian and American , I tell her that my dad's heritage counts equally , because it brought me to where I am today. As far as being American , I was born here and I believe in most of what our country stands for and does.

Culture is defined as the beliefs,customs,arts,etc of a particular society,group,place,or time. There's no way to sugar coat the fact that Salvadorians have some of the strictest rules and expectations, meaning strict parents! I love my mom's roots and all the food that comes along with it but after 20+ years of her living here , her Salvadorian "ways" have not changed. I'm not aware of Nicaragua's culture,because I'm not really around my dad's side of the family , that why I can identify with the Salvadorian "ways" more.

I think the secret of honoring your parents' culture , is identifying yourself to them. I'm not saying go up to their faces and tell them everything that's wrong with their culture . Clear up to them that you are you , and you were born in a different time period and possibly a different country. Let them know that you are proud to be their son/daughter ,but you would like to do things differently. Explain to them that you want to learn from your own mistakes, but are still willing to accept their advice.

Growing up my mom did not give me much freedom as my other friends. I would always be upset with her, because I felt left out from my friends. In high school , I can defiantly say my mom is more open to letting me go out more and let me have my own freedom. Now I can see that was she was doing was the same as my grandma did for her and she was trying to protect me. She lets me make own mistakes and I respect whatever she decides. At the end of the day I know my time is limited with her so I value her advice, and try to incorporate it in my life.

Not forgetting where you came from and what you want to do with that is what is gonna make you Dee or Maggie . I choose to be a little bit of both , as I will remember my mother's advice , but try to live life for Rebecca.

Horror stories: for dummies

To be perfectly honest with you guys, I don't know much about Edgar Allen Poe except that he is insanely good at writing horror stories and poetry. Besides the short story we read in Mr.Thomas' class , I have read another short story by Mr.Poe, but I can't quite put my finger on the name of it. What I do know now is that both ended vague , and questioned the validity of the whole story. I challenge you as I will myself , that after reading this post, go check out one of Poe's many terrifying stories and see what all the buzz is about.

  After reading The Fall of the House of Usher ,there are a couple a things that an intelligent writer should pick up and use. Five things that stuck out to me as I was reading the story were: point of view, tone, twisted characters, symbolism, and the vague ending. With these basic literary devices I will be able to write Mr.Thomas an amazing horror story , rather than using blood and weapons that modern day "horror" stories/movies use.

First I would establish my tone by creating the setting , and also introduce my characters and add some kind of twisted mental problem just to make it more interesting like Edgar does.Who wouldn't like a mental character in a horror story? I would write the story so that the audience gets to experience and feel whats going on in and let them feel as if they were in the story themselves.Throughout the story some type of symbolism would be included that connects it back to the theme. In Tell Tale Heart, the symbolism of the beating heart is only in his conscious(so we think)and its the guilt he has.The story I would create would have a deeper meaning behind it , than it just being a horror story.Just as the story has given you goose-bumps and everything seems to be solved, the validity of the whole story would be questioned. The story would only be finished in the minds of the readers . ____evil laugh____.

After seeing countless of horror movies , there are a couple of changes I would do myself if ever given the chance. One thing that eerrks me is when people ask "Hello, is anyone there?" as if the murder or ghost is going to respond to that. You know that you're home alone and you hear a noise , of course somebody is in your house! Another thing I could change is that most movies are based on the dramatic killing scenes and the splashing of blood everywhere to convey the feeling of horror, more like disgust! I would add more twists to characters as I mentioned before. A metal patient on loose sounds way scarier than someone that's going around stabbing people,personally.