My Declaration of Independence?

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for me to dissolve the bands which have connected me with tests, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that I should declare the causes which impel me to the separation. I believe tests are truly intolerable, if one does one's homework, quizzes, and classwork, one should know what the material the teacher has taught us is. The student that does not know the class is the one that doesn't care, if you do pay attention you shouldn't have to take assessments which cause stress and long hours of studying to learn what has already been announced. Although I agree that tests can sometimes be good there are some that are not worth it. Some teachers may disagree but frequent quizzes work just as well as infrequent tests. I have stated my point and I will stick by it for as long as there are tests on this earth.

P.S. Like I said I believe that some tests are necessary, so teachers of the world, do not take this to harshly.

Leaders.

In this blog post I will discuss the leadership properties of two characters from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. The first poem is Arnold Spirit and the second Penelope.

Where I’m From

by Arnold Spirit (a.k.a. me)

I am from Jack Daniels

 and cold, and old housing.

I am from green forests with no horizons

 and branches so thick even an eagle couldn’t see through them.

I am from Thanksgivings with family, and friends,

 and from drinking and gambling.

 I am from my Mother and Father

 which are the twin suns around which I orbit,

 from Adams, my mother's maiden name,

 from Spirit my father's last name.

I am from no hope and extreme hunger,

from cartoons from which the world can hear my voice,

but cartoons will never take the place of food or money.

 I am from basketball and almost no friends,

 from popular who are to scared to let their feelings out.

I am from God and Warriors

two important things in my life that keep me going and slow me down.

I am from Spokane,

from Washington,

from America.

 I am from fry bread and holy Kentucky Fried Chicken.

 I am from saxophone players that would’ve been something if they got the chance,

 the truth of what we Native Americans are destined to become,

and from my mother's photographic memory.

I am from powwows with chickens,

my favorite,

 from schools with 30-year-old textbooks with our parents’ names on them,

 I even through it at a teacher (a good one too),

 and from postcards from Montana with RV’s on the front.

This is where I’m from

 and it is where I will leave on a journey to something.

Leadership Properties: Junior is a good leader because he knows how to influence people and allow them to feel empathy for him so that they become friends. He can also make people feel good about themselves.

Where I’m From

by Penelope (a.k.a. me)

I’m from Gap,

 from pine trees

 with many brothers and sisters happily living out their lives in peace.

 I’m from being pretty, smart, and popular,

 and being scared all the time because of it.

I’m from Earl,

 from racism,

 from neglect.

 I’m from Indians are bad,

 and don’t let your feelings show.

  I am from Christianity,

 the town religion, of which I believe.

 I’m from racist Reardan

where we like whites.

 I’m from pork and steak,

from fathers hiding in plain sight,

 and farming tools.

But most of all I’m from a town with people that are so wrapped up in community they forget about the individual.

Leadership Properties: Penelope is a good leader because she knows how to influence people in many different ways. She can also sway opinions which is good if she wants to be a leader because goo leaders need to know how to make convincing points that influence other people.

My life compared to the first colonists of America.

Family Life: Family life in the colonies typically consisted of many children because of most of the massive amounts of farms which needed many people to keep running. They also almost always accepted old relatives that need to be taken care of into their homes without a second thought even though there was almost no room. In my town, there are typically only one or two children in families and they typically receive a good education before they start working in their late teens. They also put their relatives into elderly homes (depending on the occasion) instead of bringing them into their house to stay for the rest of their lives if they become unable to care for themselves.

Education: The education in the first colonies was typically hired a tutor or a parent from another household, however in New England they required proper schools within villages that had more than 100 people. The New England education system, the most like mine, is still very far away from what we use today. For example , the only book they used is called the New England Primer which was used for the alphabet, syllables, and religion. Today we use multiple different books and teachers to learn what we need to learn for our years to come.

City Life: City life in the colonists times is actually pretty similar to my town. People drank in taverns and gossiped in shops. They traded furs, jewelry, and other fine items. Some of the most obvious differences though are the fact that they had open sewers, animal manure, and other nasty stuff lying in their streets (which I hope no-one still has today). They also had a lot of oil and other flammables so they had to keep water buckets outside of their homes in case of an emergency.

What do I identify with?

In the book, The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the protagonist, Junior, says that he identifies with many tribes. In this blog post, I will discuss what tribes I think I identify with. The first tribe I identify with is the gamers, those of us that like to play video games as much as possible and immerse ourselves in an alternate reality where we can be what we want to be without rules. The second tribe I identify with is the sushi eaters, the people that like to eat raw fish and crab until we almost become sick because we eat too much. The third and final tribe I identify with is the readers, almost like video games we enjoy to sit down and become the main protagonist in our own minds. I hope this allows you (the people of the internet) to know me more.