Taking A Stand

Taking a stand means to stand up what u believe in, and putting yourself into the position to stand up for that belief. It is also to stand up, even though there could be consequences to bring you down. Many people in the world today take a stand for many things they believe in. One group of people are the ASPCA, (The American Society For The Prevention of Cruelty To Animals) they take a stand to help, and save the lives of animals who are abused, mistreated, or unhealthy. Tom Robinson does take a stand for himself, better than most people would have done. Because of the society, racism played a big role in the court case in the book To Kill A Mockingbird, it made it very hard for Tom Robinson to really defend himself. Along with himself, he was defending the reputation of the African American people in Maycomb. In the court room, he naturally took a stand to even be in the courtroom, in front of everyone in Maycomb to defend himself. Tom eventually got killed from running away to escape jail, after being proven guilty of the rape of Mayella Ewell. Afterwards believing that he had no chance to escape the conviction he tried to escape jail. He was shot 17 times.  If Tom Robinson hadn't run to escape jail,  he would've been killed by being lynched, or mutilated. I believe that Tom Robinson was going to die anyway, yet if he hadn't run he would've stayed alive longer.


Joshua Briggs
Pd 7
English

Incidents Of A Slave Girl 4

While reading, the word Pain just kept popping into my head. As reading the troubles Linda had to engage in to get her children into saftey, it really made it hard not to imagine it. Arranging them to be sold to you is very clever. Many slaves didnt even have money to pay for thier children to be, with or without them. One quote that I found interesting was on page 125. "Slavery was a great moral, social, and politcal blessing; a blessing to the master, and a blessing to the slave" (Jacobs 125). I really disagreed with this. Slavery was not a blessin to anyone, or anything great. I was reading Chapter 40, where Linda realized that Mr.Flint was once again trailing her. With the help of Mrs. Bruce she escapes to New England.  I found this very interesting to me that Mr.Flint was still chasing after her. I also felt very good that Linda escaped once again. This really helped me realize when Linda says "It is always better to trust than to doubt" (Jacobs 112). Without trusting people like, Mrs. Bruce, her Grandmother and etc. she would've never made it to where she made it. Honestly, the book was very excellent. It gives me a new perspective on African-American History, along with African-American people themselves.

Joshua Briggs

Incidents Of A Slave Girl........ 3

As I was reading, a couple things really interested me in Harriet Jacobs' writing. She was describing how scared and terrified Linda was of the saftey of her children. It was always on her mind. "A streak of moonlight was on the floor before me, and in the midst of it appeared te forms of my two children" (Jacobs 110). This was really interesting to me, becasue that vison showed how much her kids were on her mind. Especially the fact that she had a vision of it, really was interesting. Because I honestly don't believe in things like that. Yet, for some reason I actually feel that Jacobs wasn't lieing. Another thing that really was interesting to me was when Mr.Flint was talking about Linda. "She shall be my slave as long as I live, and when I am dead she shall be the slave of my children" (Jacobs 112). This really was very shocking to me, yet I wasnt't surprised at the same time. I am aware that things happened like this in those time. Slaves actually were slaves for their Master's children. After reading, I just stared at the words, re-reading it. Mr.Flint, really was attached to Linda. I also belive that he was determined to have her back in slavery.

Joshua Briggs

Incidents 2

In the book titled Incidents of A Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, she describes the system of slavery as horrible. In the book, Harriet talks about how some women had children from the horrible abuses of the masters, and others. The law that surprised me the most was when Jacobs' states "She had forgotten that it was a crime for a slave to tell who was the father of her child". (Jacobs 12) To me this is extremly wrong. Slaves were being used as property, physically and sexually. A freedom that people have nowadays is the freedom of speech. I find it very interesting that citizens of America actually believed that they were following the law when they regulated these laws.
Another thing that shocked me in the book was the passage about Benjamin (Linda's Brother). Benjamin fought his master, which was very bad for slaves to do. The punishment for doing that was being whipped, and or death. Benjamin did want to do exprieince that."No I will not stay. Let them bring me back. We don't die but once". (Jacobs 19)  He seemed very scared and  commited to life in the North. Overall these things are strange to me because they are rare in our time period.

Joshua Briggs

The book titled Incidents in The life Of A Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, is a slave narritave about her life. Jacobs, uses the name Linda Brent without giving her real name. The book has alot of parts that struck me as interesting. One thing that intreguies me is the way Jacobs switches from two different things, from one to another so very rapidly. At one moment she would talk bout life, and then she will quickly switch to the death of her mistress. I found that very interesting. She made me believe she has no remorse for anything that happened, no emotion, no feeling. It is scary and interesting at the same time.
Another thing that intreugiued me about Jacobs' writing was the tone of Jacobs' words in the book. When she talks about her mistress' death, she acted as if it had no effect on her. "When i was nearly twelve years old, my kind mistress sickened and died" (Jacobs 5). Jacobs had a very calm sound to her voice, yet her mistress was important to her it had an effect on her. If i could ask Harriet Jacob's any question from reading the first few chapters, I would ask do you
act as if there is no emotion for anything in your tone, to help you cope with what happened?

Joshua Briggs

Reality Vs. Ideal (Blog #1)

School today is very interesting; there are so many things that intrigue me about school. Since I am as freshman at Blair High school, I still don't know what to expect. Many things are working for me though. For example the ability to get to my classes on time, that is very interesting. Blair is a very big school, and it is unlikely to get lost once in a while. I think my teachers are a very big help for me. The first week of school, I would ask my teacher how to get to my next class, me and the rest of each freshman lined up in the class. In Middle school they would always say when you get in high school they aren't going to be how easy we are one you. Each day I realize that, as I get back some papers and realize how I did, (knowing I can do better) I ask the teacher if I can re-take the assignment, the teacher smiles and says “This isn't Middle School Things that really don’t work for me is getting to lunch. Wow, it is very crowded just to get lunch. Then afterwards to find a seat is a journey. Another thing that I really dislike is the fact that my gym class is right after lunch, I always feel like I am going to regurgitate. One thing that does not work as well is the amount of buses to come for my bus stop. There are way too many people trying to get on the one bus transporting us to school. I noticed that if u are the last 3 or higher then you are standing. Miraculously, I’ve only stood once, on the first day. Then I noticed that if you want a seat, you must keep moving, and try not to worry about being nice. I keep myself motivated to get my seat by telling myself, “Well I know this person won't give me their seat if they had the last one". I know it sounds harsh but that’s just how it is. The role of administrators and teachers are very important. Like I said before, the teachers are doing a good job of treating us like "high schoolers". The administrators are doing a good job as well. I've went to my Counselor once or twice before to have help for some important things. From my experience from them, I guess they are doing their job, from what I’ve seen. Socializing is very common in Blair. From my experience, I think it is very frequent in Blair. It's not even then end of a semester, and I’ve met so many people. More and more people are getting to know more and more people each day. I enjoy that in my school. I really enjoy Blair even though there are multiple things I don’t agree with.
  School should be a place where kids can learn and educate themselves, and also feel safe, and wanted at a school. Some people have hard times in life, and they rely on school to be where they express how they feel, whether it be positively or negatively. If it were up to me I think I would keep Blair pretty much the same, except for some things. I would have three lunch periods; I think that would decrease much crowded spaces in the lunch room. Also, if I knew people literally have to run to the bus stop for a seat I would send two buses to the spot. I know that that would probably cost a little bit more money, but I would start fundraisers, and or bake sales to raise money for it. I would also start making the morning periods ten minutes to twenty minutes longer. I feel that the morning periods are a little short. I would also let students listen to music in the hallways, even though some do. I don't know if that is a rule or regulation, so I would make it one just in case. I would change when gym class is, I don't even like my gym period for the simple fact that it is directly after lunch. If it were my choice, I would keep the teachers as the same. Sometimes change isn't better, so I wouldn't want to risk that. I honestly like the Blair building, so I think I would keep it the same. Most kids would say that they would want the classes to be 30 minutes or less. To be honest with you I think the class periods should remain the same. I enjoy Blair High school, I wouldn't change a lot from it, sometimes change isn't better.
   Sincerely,
Joshua Briggs (Jay-Man)

Jay-Man's Comments

My Blog is about a young boy who is in Highschool.... yeaaaaah