During this school year I came from a regular prep class straight to AP class which was one of the hardest thing I have done because everybody had so much knowledge compared to me, but anyways i couldn't even do a correct essay which now i know why I always failed the writing STAR. AP English got me actually got me to see how college is going to be like and made me try for the first time in my life in school. The main thing really helped was actually opening my mind to other people opinions rather than just saying I'm right and you're wrong. Even though MR.THOMAS made us write countless essays it actually helped greatly and  a teacher I won't forget.
1) The most difficult essay to write was the persuasion essay due to how do persuade someone to understand your opinion when we humans are stubborn.
2) The essay that I found easiest was the analytical essay since I have the most experience with that one.
3) The novel I enjoyed the most is actually The Great Gatsby because is so much contradiction.
4) The novel I enjoyed the least was In Cold Blood because honestly I couldn't really read it and actually want to read it.
5) I would like to say I'm very blessed to actually have you as a teacher because I seen the other AP English teacher and I think I wouldn't have survived in that class honestly and the first day I was going to leave the class because I didn't get anything, but you insisted me to stay and I think that's one of the best decision I made cause I know I wasn't going to learn anything if I was in prep class.

The things we carry

We all carry many things, whether it's physical or emotional, but we all have something or some things that make us who we are

For example, I can't live without my shoes, i feel like it's a staple to my wardrobe as well as a staple to myself in general. Throughout school I've been known as "that Asian kid with the shoes", which I don't mind, In fact, it satisfies me to know that I'm characterized by something that I'm extremely fond for. It wouldn't be so drastic if I lost all my shoes, of course I'd be sad, but they're only material things. If I lived without them for most of my life and survived, I can surely do it again.

At the moment my goals are to attend the Art Institute of Houston, I honestly don't think higher education is possible for me, I've slacked too much in my high school career, but if possible, that would be my 1st choice, photography interests me to the point where I wouldn't mind doing it for a living. In a bigger picture perspective I want to make my parents proud of me and provide for them like they have for me.

My father is certainly a fountain of inspiration for me. My mindset to get income comes from him, he went from going to work on a bike to having 3 cars. Like I said before, they're only material things, but the fact that he went through this transformation symbolizes success for me.

I would describe myself as happy-go-lucky, carefree, and energetic. I'm satisfied with that, as for what others think about me, I'm sure I might annoy people, but just as much I pester people, there's people who actually enjoy my company, and that also satisfies me. I think this free spirit personality allows me to express myself in ways other people are afraid to.

In terms of memories, all that comes to mind is being "disciplined" by my parents(for those who don't get it, it's a euphemism for whoopings)  For example I used to kick strangers when I was little, my mom "disciplined" me and I grew out of it. It was this and many other cases of being "disciplined" that shaped me to be respectful to adults. I have many friends who were never corrected for their errors, and their free reign led to their demise, I'm grateful that I was corrected for these errors, because who knows where I would be without it.

Culture

      As you're growing up you are at a situation where you are to want to stand out of your culture and just be yourself ,but it isn't that easy because it goes hand in hand with respecting your parents. For me my family is very proud to be a Korean so they want me to be more like them. There is still a way to honor your culture and still can express yourself..

      I came to Houston when I was only 5 so I never got really experience to learn or read Korean I grew up to speaking English ,but I still try to talk to my parents in Korean even if I don't use the right terms of words or even sound disrespectful because i don't know the right words to use for instance i'll try to tell my dad would you like some drink or something ,but it comes out as like if i'm talking to my friend and my dad really hates that ,but he understands that i'm not trying to disrespect him.

     I became really into the hip-hop culture from the way I dress and how I express my self as a person. My parents till this day they still hate how I dress because its not how they dress where they want me to wear sharp clothes like a clean polo and no ripped pants, but the main one is sagging they truly deep down want to just not want to be seen around me because i look like a "thug" so when it comes to going out with the family I dress the way they want me to ,but I still wear my kicks because my shoes are my identity it sets me apart from any other person.

     Another American culture I adopted and embrace is skating, it breaks racial barriers, there is no Asian, Hispanic, Black, only the identity of being branded a skater, and i love the freedom behind that. I can be myself and still represent my family without looking like a stereotypical Asian.

     

     Most horror movies and horror stories are very simple and easily detected when it comes to what is going to happen next but, not for Edgar Allen Poe in " The Fall of the House of Usher " He uses distinctive details where it plays with your mind like you think you know whats going  to happen but, then you realize the whole time you didn't know. If I were to create a haunted house story I would use Poe's tactics 

     Poe uses imagery in ways such ways where it makes you feel like you're in the story rather than just reading a book because when you're reading you want to picture the details of the story, which is shown in Poe's writings as he describes the details of the ways the trees move to the sounds that are created by even the way a person walks.

    In most horror stories you know who killed who ,but in House of Usher who would have known that Roderick killed his own sister see these are the type of things where it just blows your mind. This is another way it gets the reader's attention and makes them keep wanting to read.

   The scene creates a dark and mysterious setting it's one of the things that should be in a horror movie or a story it's the thing that gets everything intense where your in the edge of your seat or gripping onto the book.

   Last , but not least the conclusion as they finally flee out the mansion and Roderick is dead the mansion crumbles into the ground they realize everything they witnessed is now gone and no proof of what happened.

This shows what happens now? Many times the ending it's always the innocent person wins ,but in this story it's a different twist even though they survived the story didn't end the way it should have.

  

   The U.S seems to have a huge interest in horror and the occult. It's usually seen as a means of entertainment through film, music, literature, and television. Many authors and producers capitalize on our obsession, just so proving the fact.

   The 80's brought a wave of punk music, the movement was very anti authority. One of the staple bands of this era were The Misfits. Perhaps one of the reasons they were one of the bands that left a legacy among the many was because of the subject matter of the songs, from infanticide to just general horror. They were under the sub-genre horror punk with good reason. Their image and subject matter influenced incoming bands.

   The ouija board dawned as early as the late 19th century. It came from the cultural phenomenon of spiritualism, the belief that we could talk to the dead. Even in early America we had a interest in taboo subjects, it's weird when looking in retrospect, how this was advertised as a game during that time, and now it seems as if we're opening the underworld.

   As Americans we ask ourselves if this is a bad thing, in reality, it's just what defines us as being inhabitants of the U.S, just like other countries have their own set culture and beliefs. That's all it is, American culture. It's evident from the Salem Witch trials all the way to horror television shows and films.