I remember watching it happen on the news before I left for school and knowing that this was going to be a turning point for our country. Then at school we really didn't do much, the news was on all day in every class room and my class had a discussion on why people do things like that. On why people hate America. When the fourth plane went down in the field, my class got to watch the panic on the new caster's faces, I think one of them even cried. I watched when the Towers fell and herd the horror in the announcer's voice as they informed us that the Pentagon had been hit too. That may not all be totally accurate but that is what I remember happening and when my family visited New York three years ago I got to see Ground Zero and I cried again. I remember 9-11 because I refuse to forget that not everyone is as safe as I am living here. I refuse to forget what it means to be an American. I refuse to forget those who gave up their lives, and those who still do, so that WE can have the right to say what we want and be who we want. I remember 9-11 because I refuse to forget.

Ray Stevens- Thank you

Possibly the worst Essay I have ever written, but a pretty good new article

Well-Rounded Human Being

                What is critical thinking? What does critical thinking have to do with English 2010? Better yet, what does it have to do with the film “12 Angry Men”? The short answer, everything. Critical thinking is why juror number eight gets his way, it’s the theme of English 2010, and is a part of our everyday lives.

                In “12 Angry Men” juror number eight doesn’t agree with the thought that the defendant is guilty, he finds a reasonable doubt and using critical thinking he finds even more reasons. Slowly he uses his ability to think critically and his considerable skill with reading people to convince the eleven other jurors that maybe, just maybe, the defendant didn’t do it. His critical thinking skills allow him to jump from one thought to another and connect information that seems to be completely unrelated.  Juror number eight then presents this information in a clear and a concise manner that helps him persuade the other jurors over to his side. Critical thinking, the hero of “12 Angry Men”, is also the star of English 2010.

                English 2010 is a college course on critical thinking; how to do it, how to organize it, how to write it. Critical thinking is a major part of any writing that you will do; whether it is a newspaper article or fantasy story, good critical thinking skills will be what sets your work apart from everything else out there. Critical thinking allows you to step outside your own little box and think about how others will view your work; it allows you to become the reader of your own writing. When you step outside your head and look at things the way others would, readers or those on the opposing side, you give your thoughts a chance to mature and become stronger because you have taken the other half of your partnership into account. Every work of literature is a partnership; some are more noticeable than others. When you write a persuasive paper you are entering into a partnership with the opposing side of what you are supporting, when you write a sci-fi story you enter into a partnership with whoever picks up your story and reads it. Critical thinking allows you to edit and review your own work as if you were another person.  Critical thinking is important in writing, but not everyone is a writer, everyone is a critical thinker though.

                In this day and age you cannot watch the television, pick up a newspaper, or get on the internet without being assaulted by some form of persuasion. To buy this, to support that man, to live in this city, to revoke that law; everyone seems to be trying to get you to do something. Without critical thinking we, as consumers, would be unable to ferret out the truth from the near truth or the quacks from the geniuses. Critical thinking is vital to one part of every Americans’ life, politics.  In the text Current Issues and Enduring Questions, by Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau, the majority of the “current issues” are political issues.  More and more the media is being used as a way to inform the public of what goes on behind closed doors on capital hills across the country, without well-developed critical thinking skills we would have to take what we hear and read at face value. It is the right and the duty of every citizen to question what we are told, to think about things from both sides, and to draw our own conclusions independent of party affiliation or family influence. Critical thinking skills are a central part of exercising that right and performing that duty.

                Critical thinking is a part of everyone’s life and we all have the ability to become critical thinkers.  Sadly, not everyone takes advantage of that ability. Without regular use and the occasional argument, our critical thinking skills will become faulty and unreliable. Daily use through reading, writing, thinking, and imagining will keep critical thinking skills sharp and quick, making you a better citizen and a well-rounded human being. 

For Never and Always

always second to last
always a last resort

never the first option
never your first thought

always the first forgotten
always the one left behind

never your first call
never near enough to matter

always a liar
always unworthy

never allowed to think
never important

always hit down
always yelled at

never loved
never noticed

always the same

never again

17 Years

I am 17 years old and I have raised two children

 and mourned the loss of another.

I am 17 years old and I am only interested in a

relationship that will end in marriage.

I am 17 years old and I feel too old

to drink, smoke, or party.

I am 17 years old and I can cook a three

course meal for eight people.

I am 17 years old and I can balance a checkbook

and live within a budget.

I am 17 years old and I know what it is like

to go without so others may be full.

I am 17 years old and I know how to run

a household and multitask.

I am 17 years old and I have no hope

 for the future of our nation.

I am 17 years old and I was forced

 to grow up too quickly.

I am 17 years old and

I am of the broken generation.

Haunted

I am haunted by ghosts

ghosts of things
ghosts of words
ghosts of hurts
ghosts of those I once loved
ghosts of those I still do

they come at me
each one squawking
vying for my attention

ghosts of those I have hurt
ghosts of those I couldn't help
ghosts of those who hurt me
ghosts of those I lost

they whisper to me at night
they visit me in my dreams
they hold me in their unrelenting grasp

ghosts of those who lied
ghosts of those who promised
ghosts of those who whispered
ghosts of those who giggled

I am haunted by ghosts

I hope You know

I hope you know I hurt
I hope you know I died
I hope you know I cried
I hope you know I scream
I hope you know I tried
I hope you know it's all your fault

I hope you know I'll live
I hope you know I'm strong
I hope you know I'm getter better
I hope you know I'll move on
I hope you know I'm happy
I hope you know it's not due to you

I hope you know I hate you
I hope you know I love you
I hope you know I see you
I hope you know I miss you
I hope you know I want you
I hope you know it's because of you

I hope you know I am all alone

I hope you know I am better than this

I am...

I am just another broken teen.
I am just another face in the crowd.
I am just another name on a list.
I am nothing.
For nobody loves me.

The Words

i can’t ever quite catch them

i can’t keep them in my hands

i must use them once i have them

i steal them from the barbers

i trade for them with the bakers

i borrow them from the candlestick makers

i take them from your dreams

i find them in your soul

i see them in the beauty

i hear them in the silence

i buy them from the penniless

i remove them from the rich

i give them to the witless

i save them for the sorrowed

with them i weave life

with them i defy death

no more than a slave to their wishes

eternally bound to their will

Chapter in My Story

We were close We almost had it
We were everything to each other
Until it all fell apart

We lost it all
We lost the love
We lost the hope
We lost the joy

I lost the boy
Who meant the world to me
I lost the one
Who made me happy
I lost the man
Who held my heart

I have to move on
I have to be strong
I can't let this stop me
I can't let this win

So even though
We were close
Even though
We almost had it all

It's time to say goodbye
It's time to part our ways

You were a chapter in my story
This is not the end of my book
I will be more than this