Truth and Reality

   The word truth cannot be defined in one true definition. There are many ways of looking at it; multiple ideas have developed all over the world of what is true and what is not true. In the past few weeks in class, we have been reading "The Things They Carried" a book by Tim O'Brien in which he talks mainly about his and others personal experiences in the Vietnam War as well as before and after feelings about it. As you go farther in the book, he discusses that a true war story has no moral and sometimes must be changed for one to believe or understand it. He brings up that some of the stories he had written he changed and added onto so that you would feel the intense feelings that he felt in those situations.


   We also watched an interview in which Tim O'Brien read the story titled "Ambush" from his book. He again explained that many of the things either didn't occur or were changed greatly. In the story he starts out with talking about his daughter Kathleen asking if he had killed anyone. He goes on to tell that had been watching a trail behind some brush for the enemy. He saw a soldier coming on the trail and without thinking he had thrown the grenade and he couldn't stop staring at the body afterwards. In the actual event, a group of soldiers had gone on an ambush and shoot some of the soldiers coming out of the village, but they only only killed one and he doesn't even know if a bullet from his gun killed him. He never even looked at the body because he had already seen so many and was to afraid. O'Brien also has no daughter named Kathleen. He went on to explain that the reason he had changed it so much was so that the reader would feel the guilt which he felt about the man's death. The line which he mentions from Picasso states "Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth. This supports his point in that his stories may not be completely truthful, but show you the reality of war.
    When I watch movies or read books that are nonfiction, I often don't think about that it isn't real because I become so absorbed in the story line. Also sometimes when watching a movie or reading a book based off a true story, I wonder, did this really happen, or has it been added to make the story better or more clear? Although I will never know, the question still remains in my mind, but as I have read this story I begin to realize that sometimes the truth must be changed so that the reader understands what the writer was trying to get across.

Why take the time to read?

 When I was young, I found many of the chapter books I read to be boring and long particularly at the start of the story when things were being explained. As I got older, school required you read more and more chapter books and it became harder for me to focus on reading the books we were given. Shortly before the Winn-Dixie movie came out, my Mom bought me the book for me. I decided to attempt reading it since the picture of the dog on the cover caught my attention and I was pulled into the book from the first page. I started in the middle of a scene which made want to know what would happen next. This book got me more into reading and helped me realize that reading can be a fun activity if you take the time to find the right book and read at your own pace. 
 
 I now enjoy reading because I have learned that it helps take your mind off of the burdens and pressures of life. When reading you get to use imagination and creativity in thinking up how the characters might look and the setting in which different scenes take place. Another exciting element of reading is when the story reaches a point where it grows close to the climax and the story grows tense and you desperately want to know what will happen next. I especially enjoy reading when I get to these parts in a book because it fires up your imagination and is exciting. For these many reasons I like to read.
  
 Often people refuse to read simply because either they find it boring to read words, misunderstand the story, feel they don't have the time, or they have had bad reading experiences. I feel like this at times, but when I really get into a good book such as Because of Winn-Dixie, reading can be a very thrilling and at the same time relaxing experience.

Looking towards the Future

 Many of us have an idea of how we want our future to turn out and have goals and achievements to make before we can reach that point. In my future, I hope to go to college to get a good education and through that education gain a good job with higher wages. A job like this would make living and paying for things easier and less stressful and would give me time to enjoy the pleasures of life as well.
 Although with today's economy, it is more difficult to find a higher wage jobs and things are becoming more ans more expensive. It is harder to afford an education and it is becoming much more competitive among students. In the book Nickel and Dimed Barbara describes the hardships of life as a low wage worker, when she as a writer leaves her job temporarily and tries living off low wages for a certain amount of time. She talks about the struggles she goes through, trying to find jobs and less expensive apartments and then trying to gain enough money to pay for all her basic needs. She also talks about the other worker's situations in life and how they often are living with family or friends because they can't pay for rent on their own. Often the low wage workers have unfair wages for all the work they do and sometimes are disrespected. Many of these low wage workers want to go to college for a better job, but can't afford it because it is so expensive and they most likely couldn't save up enough for it.
 Some of the things she talks about may also affect our future. The expenses of college is one of the barriers that may make it harder for me and other people to finish college. Often I hear about students who decide to not go to college or don't want to and figure they'll be able to earn enough at a low wage job, but they don't realize the many problems they will face in the future. That is why it is important to focus on your education in high school and go to college so that you don't have to deal with the problems which people in Nickel and Dimed and even in today's society have to face.

Living on Low Wages

As we talked about in class, the United States was founded based on the American dream that everyone is created equal and should be treated equally, and that all would be given more rights and chances to be able to gain a better life. But even though our country is based off of these values, then why are so many people are still jobless, struggling to pay debt and don't have the chance to get a better job with higher wages? Lots of people have low wage jobs because they cannot afford college or can't find any other jobs available. In the book Nickel and Dimed, Barbra works hard in low wage jobs to pay off the rent and often struggles with stress from the job and having enough for meals. Many of the other workers she gets to know can't even afford to go to college to get education to gain a better job. This shows how many opportunities for a better future are taken away when they can't afford to pay for the education for a higher wage job. Another problem caused by the bad economy is the higher taxes and less amount of jobs available to citizens. This has lead some people to be desperate for a job and taking any one they can find, even if it is a low wage job.

          All of these job issues can relate to the upcoming elections of Barrett or Walker for governor. In the election for governor, Walker wants to lower taxes, make the government smaller, and wishes to get rid of the estate tax on retirement income. Already in Green Bay he has made a five-page, six-point plan that he hopes will create 250,000 jobs in Wisconsin within his first term. Barrett wants to make tax cuts mainly on smaller businesses and outlined $1.1 billion cuts to reduce the next biennial budget. These changes which they want to make may help increase jobs as well as lower taxes for people in debt and help them earn more money for education. This will also help people with the education find available jobs. 

The american dream still lives

Their is no definite definition for the american dream. Many people have different ideas of what it is. As we discussed in class, the American dream was not actually attempted to be defined until 1931 by James Truslow Adams in his book called The Epic of America. He defines it as a new place with a better life where everyone was given a chance have a new life, where you are not defined by your class or status in your country, but by your acheivments and abilities. Also in the writing of what is and american which we annoteated the author describes europe as the place where they couldn't afford to live and did poorly, and that america was a place where they flourished and could earn a living. Today there are many countries with people that have this dream of someday making their country more free like America and being given the chance to use their abilities to raise their status and make a better living. In India , people are restricted and defined more so by what family they were born into. Also in China they have no freedom of religion and their is much cheap labor their making it hard to find a good job and have better living conditions. Afghanistan also has more rules concering religion and with the war going on their, they are often  in danger. There are some people making the effort to try to change these rules sothey can have more rights as in america, but it is difficult to bring change and an effort from the people. This is also can relate to my life because at the church where I go, they are having the missionaries speak this week about how they are doing their and some of the struggles they are going through in the country they are working with because of all the laws of that country. This shows that the American dream of a better life still lives on.  

History's Destruction and Solidification of Community

Events in history can be a major part of solidifying a community and helping it grow. They can be a destructive force as well and can weaken a community. One thing that goes on today which is weakening many communities is the bad economy and all the debt that the government is in. People are losing jobs and things are becoming more and more expensive. As the economy continues to get worse people are struggling to pay their own debts and it is becoming harder to support their community. Another event which occurred among the Puritans was the Salem witch trials. Innocent people were accused of witchcraft and hanged because they would not confess. Out of fear some accused others to protect themselves from accusation and being hanged. This tore much of the community apart and put distrust among the people. Relating to that, recently a commitee was accused by Beijing when they gave a Nobel peace prize to someone they thought worked hard to bring peace. Beijing accused them because they believed they did it to tear a hole in Chinese society and to benefit themselves. These people were falsely accused as some of the people in the Salem witch trails were. Also some historic events can be harmful as well as building to a community. For example the civil war brought many people down since so many lives were taken and weakened the government and society, but it strengthened them in realizing what war is and prepared them for future war. 9/11 caused much pain to the people that lost loved ones, but brought so many hurting people together and over time they strengthened each other through the sorrow. Though historic events can tear communities apart it can also solidify them.