The Bolshevik Revolution and "The Twelve"

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The Main Themes

Amongst many of the themes of this novel, three stand out. These three themes are segregation, the love of a parent, and fear of the unknown. Segregation is seen all throughout this novel. There are different freedoms for different races. The love of a parent is also seen by Kumalo's long search for his son. Another theme is fear of what lies before them. Kumalo goes to Johannesberg without any knowledge of what may happen when he gets there.

Segregation is the most reoccuring theme I saw in this novel. The novel is set in the time of the Apartheid, a time in which Africans, in their own country, had fewer rights than the white men. Paton uses the constant struggle of living as an underprivileged black man to further exaggerate the purpose of the writing of the book. 

The love of a parent is another major theme seen in the book. This is shown all throughout the book while Kumalo is searching for his son. Kumalo goes through endless measures to try and find Absalom. The love Kumalo has for his soon is never-ending. Kumalo also stands with his son despite the awful actions Absalom has taken. He stays with him and tries to help him despite what Absalom has done. The readers can see his everlasting love. 

Besides segregation and the love of a Stephen Kumalo, fear of the unknown is another main theme. Kumalo goes into Johannesburg not knowing what he will find. He goes because he thinks good things will come out of it, although he is very frightened. He may not know what will come out of it, but he hopes for the best. 

There were many prominent themes of the novel but the main ones were segregation, the love of a parent, and fear of the unknown. Segregation is seen all throughout which results in native crime. The love of a parent is seen as Kumalo goes through many heartbreaks for his son. Also, Kumalo faces fear of the unknown as he travels to different towns searching for his relatives. These were the prominent themes seen in "Cry, the Beloved Country."

Music is the Key to Happiness

I believe that music brings happiness to life. Throughout my life, music has always been my "happy place." Music brings so many crazy emotions. That's always what I turn to when I'm mad or upset. It can always make me happy when I'm upset, and I believe it can do the same for many other people.

 Music has some crazy power that automatically makes everything better. Sometimes it's like a songwriter wrote that song just for you. My favorite types of songs are the personal ones; the songs that speak to you. Those are the songs that make everything better. The personal songs make you feel like someone actually knows what you’re going through. It helps you get through any situation.

 Also, some music takes you to the place that makes you feel the best. It makes you forget about all the worrisome things taking place in your life. It takes all stress and distractions away. The upbeat and loud music makes you forget about everything in the world. Calm songs also make me feel pretty great. They can either put you to sleep or make you take a second and think about life. They can make you think of all the good and pure situations in life, instead of all the awful ones.

 Not just listening to music makes me feel better. Also, playing music brings so much happiness to me. I have played piano, guitar, and French horn since I was little. Every time I play, I get in the best mood. Instruments make me so happy. Hearing the soft notes come out of the instrument is absolutely beautiful.

 I realized that music makes everything better when I was in my room crying one night. I don't remember what happened but I know I was really upset. All of the sudden I had an urge to listen to music. I got on Itunes and started listening and I automatically started to smile. I don't know what happened. It made me feel so much better instantly. Something inside of me changed that day. And now, I am sad for no more than 2 minutes. The music always cheers me right up.

Music gets me so excited. It can make you eager, anxious, and overjoyed. When I play softball, I get so excited when I go up to bat, and I hear my favorite song. It gets me so pumped up and it makes me want to try my hardest to get a base hit. Music just makes me so happy. It makes everything better. This is what I believe.

Grandma's Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients:

 
 

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup peanut butter

 
 

Preparation:

 
Place two cups of sugar and half a cup of milk in a pan. I can hear the sound of my grandmother humming as she was turning on the oven. The humming was as beautiful as a bird. After boiling the ingredients, add one teaspoon of vanilla. She would always say "Vanilla makes everything better," and she was completely right.
 
We repeated this tradition every Christmas. Most kids looked forward to Christmas for all the presents but not me. I looked forward to the amazing fudge that I knew we would have. The whole family loved the fudge we made. They thought that it was the best food they had ever tasted. Maybe they exaggerated a little, but I didn't notice back then. It was the best of the best to me.

Sometimes she would let me mix and cook everything (with her supervision, of course.) And sometimes she wanted to do everything, but I didn't mind at all. I loved to watch her in action. She looked like a pro. I could only dream that someday I could cook as well as her.
 
Then we added the peanut butter. That made the fudge come together. It was looking so delicious. That was the main, and my favorite, ingredient. She would then stir the ingredients. By then, she would always start complaining about how her arm hurts. "Why can't you do this part?" she would jokingly ask. She would continue to go on and on about how cooking was such hard work. I would always agree with her, even if I thought differently. The last thing I wanted to do was make her mad at me. To me, she was the smartest person in the world.
 
After the ingredients are mixed well, pour them into a greased pan. This was the part she would actually let me do. I was very careful not to spill the mixture. It was like a trophy to us. I spilled it once and she wasn't too happy with me, but she knew that it was an accident. For some reason, Grandma never seemed to make any mistakes. She probably did, but didn't let me see. It wouldn't have changed my view of her at all. She would always be perfect to me.  
 
Now it's time for the worst part: waiting. It was so tempting to just dig in right then. The fudge was mouth-watering. It felt like forever before the delicious-looking fudge finally cooled down and we got to dig in. Forever finally came and Grandma cut the fudge and gave me the first piece. It was amazing, as always. Every time I eat this fudge today, I think about all the good times and memories Grandma and I made together. The fudge I make today, will never be as good as it was when the greatest grandmother in the world made it.

The Mysterious Man

"The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the most interesting stories I have ever read. It kept me entertained and interested the whole time. I never once got bored. I would recommend this story to anyone.

How strange would it be if you found a drowned man that had qualities that weren't normal? This man was tall, big, and very handsome. On top of that, nobody knew who he was! Strange things usually keep people interested and that's how it was for me. I was excited to see what was going to happen next.

This story made me think about what I would do if I was put in the position of the women in this story. Would I be nice enough to tend to the drowned man? Would I be able to handle all his different qualitites? I don't think I would be able to. I don't think I could do what these women did. They were very courageous.

The way things happened in this story was very odd. Most people would freak out if they saw a dead man. The kids, women, and men didn't. In a way, they acted like it was normal. Most people today would not act like it was normal, because it's not. This story was very interesting and my time was well spent while reading it.

Genes Cause Obesity

Studies have shown that how much you exercise does not necessarily decide what you weigh. There has been many different experiments and tests that were done to try to figure out why some people gain more than others if eating and exercising the same. Scientists everywhere do not understand why some people gain more. They are doing everything they can to figure out why this happens.

Researches recently found out that there is a gene in mice that acts in the brain and controls how quickly calories are burned. Scientists figured this out while running tests on mice. The scientists deleted the gene in some of the mice's brains. They left the genes in other mice. What they found out was shocking.

The mice were consuming the same number of calories as lean mice, but they were gaining weight. Some scientists believe that some humans have the same gene and maybe that is why they are overweight. People have always thought that genes had something to do with weight and now those people are proven correct. Weight can be inherited.

So far, only one person has been found to have a disabling mutation with that gene. That person is severely obese. People have long thought that your weight has to do with self-control. Having self-control has a little to do with your weight but it is mostly your genes that control your weight. If your parents are overweight, then it is in your genes to be overweight. Exercising and eating right will not make that much of a difference.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/19/health/overweight-maybe-you-really-can-blame-your-metabolism.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&hp

Annotated Photo