Boring Orange

In the short story The Mask of the Red Death, by Edgar Allen Poe, different colored rooms were used to symbolize different stages of life. The color orange was selected by Poe to represent the stage of life from about 21 years of age to about age 50. Of all of the rooms, this one made the least amount of sense.

An analysis of the seven rooms proves that all of the other colors have some meaning, but orange. We only know what ages it represents because of the gap between green and white. If one ponders the meaning of the color orange and middle aged adults then they will deduce that there are few connections. People of this age have a lust for life; gold may have been a good choice. They are spontaneous or sometimes angry: maybe red. Did Poe blend the two colors to make orange? Probably not, he might have just been daft. It may be close to red or gold, but it isn’t either one. Was Poe off his rocker, or was he just as uncertain about what color to use as the rest of us? No one will ever know.

The people I know who are between 21 and 50 seem to be happy. I think I heard that in south-western Russia orange is the color of happiness. Connection? Possibly. Then again some of these people are angry that they are getting older. Red is the color anger, another possible connection. When I think of these people, orange defiantly doesn’t come to mind. Poe was a heavy drinker, maybe his decision about the use of orange was made when he got home from the bar one night. Who knows? One thing is certain, of all the colored rooms in The Masque of the Red Death, Orange was the most pointless.    

Supertramp with a wild side.

The book Into the Wild by John Krakauer is a story of adventure and the pursuit of happiness. In this book Chris McCandless travels North America in search of fulfillment in an unconventional way; he roams the continent as a tramp enjoying the landscape and culture. Along the way he makes many friends and sees places that change his life. This book is great for anyone who likes tales of adventures and wilderness survival; I personally enjoied it.

O.Henry

• O. Henry is the pen name for William Sydney Porter.
• He was bourn in Greenboro North Carolina.
• After he was fifteen he lived in Texas for his early life.
• However trouble with the law made him relocate to Honduras.
• After 3 years in Honduras he returned and was arrested.
• While in jail he started writing to make money for his daughter.
• In 1902 he moved to New York City.
• He wrote many published stories about New York life.
• He was an alcoholic, sometimes drinking two quarts of wiskey daily.
• In 1910 he died of Cirrhosis in the Liver. 
• www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ohenry.htm

Edgar Allen Poe Unit

Edgar Allan Poe Website Questions
1.Provide the following biographical information: birthdate; birthplace; death date. Poe was born on January 19th, 1809 in Boston. He died on October 7th in Baltimore.
2.What tragic childhood events influenced his writing? When Poe was a child both of his parents died in the same year. This probably influenced his grim writting.
3.There are 13 theories on what caused Poe's death. List five of them. 1. Diabetes, 2.Rabies 3. A Toxic Disorder 4. Epilopsy 5. Dipsomnia
6.What famous military academy expelled Poe in 1831? In 1831 Poe was expelled from West Point.
7.Who did Poe marry? How old was she? Poe married Virginia Clemm, who was 13 years old.
9.What is "Murders in the Rue Morgue" the first of? This was a detective story, the first of which that is considered to be written in a modern format.
10.When was "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat" written? Both of these stories were written in 1843.
11.When was "The Raven" published? "The Raven was published in 1845.
12.Check out the Poe photo gallery. Which picture looks most like the Poe you envision while reading his stories? Of the twelve pictures, the 8th is the one that I envisioned him as.
17.Who is the Poe Toaster? The Poe toaster is an unidentified person who leaves a bottle of alcohol with a rose in it on Poe's grave once every year.

information from http://www.poestories.com/ and http://www.poemuseam.com/
In my life I haven't done very much with Poe. When I was little my older cousin told me the story "The Pendulum in the Pit". It scared me a bit. That was my only previous Poe experience.

Quarter 2

Time for round two of my english blog. It was so boring that I set it on fire to make it better. That is why it is called the burning english blog. This quarter is going to be better than the first, because it won't be as depressing. The flames are only on the top of the blog because that is the only part that is worth reading.

Alcoholism Research Paper

Will H
10/03/10
Alcoholism Research Paper
To stop the spread of Alcoholism imposing restrictions on alcoholic beverages and the uses of them will not be effective. Instead, groups like Alcoholics Anonymous who help alcoholics recover and educate the general population are more helpful. Imposing restrictions will create a scenario like prohibition in which there were more negative effects than good effects. It will also be a burden to responsible drinkers.
Alcoholics Anonymous is a global group that helps Alcoholics. Dr. Robert Smith and Bill Watson created the organization in 1935. The group uses a 12 step method to fix a problem that they consider to be spiritual. There are 2,000,000 followers in 10,000 groups in 150 nations and territories all over the world. Membership to every Alcoholics Anonymous is absolutely free, so it is available to anyone who can access it. There are also related groups that help the families of alcoholics and teenage alcoholics. “Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is perhaps the best-known and most successful alcoholism recovery program.” (Alcoholics Anonymous. Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia.)
Although Prohibition was created to stop the problems that alcohol created it turned out that it did nothing but augment them. Illegal alcohol produced during the years of prohibition was much stronger than alcoholism produced before. The amount of arrested drunk drivers grew by 81% during prohibition. The sales of alcohol for sterilization quadrupled from 1923 to 1931. During Prohibition “One New Jersey businessman claimed that there were 10 times more places one could get a drink during Prohibition than there had been before,” (Thorton.)
Along with the problems becoming worse more people started to get hurt. The crime rate grew by 24%. Suicide rates went up by 78%. Deaths from poison alcohol went from 1,064 in 1920 to 4,154 in 1925. "The production of Moonshine was taken on by an army of armatures and often resulted in beverages that could harm or kill the consumer," Mark Thorton. (Thorton)
Despite all of this evidence that things like prohibition are not helpful at all, in fact they create more pain and problems, some people think that restrictions on alcohol would be a good thing. The World Health Organization created a new set of restrictions that they think will help put a cap on alcoholism. Inflating the price of alcohol via taxes is part of their plan. They want roadside check points where any drivers can be checked, even if there are no signs of drunkenness. The limits for alcohol breath content would also be much lower. “The average for a drunk driver killed in an accident in 2008 was .19. That's more than twice the current legal limit. Lowering it will do nothing to address the problem of hard-core drunk drivers,” (Sarah Longwell.) These and other restrictions like restricting alcohol commercials are all part of the World Health Organizations supposed cure to alcoholism (Longwell).
It seems that if alcohol restrictions weren’t effective before then there is no reason why they would work now. They will just create more problems like they have in the past. Now not only are more restrictions pending on many regions of the world, but the group Alcoholics Anonymous has come under attack for its method of treating alcoholism. A recent article attacks the 12 step method used by Alcoholics Anonymous. It is hard to believe that such a successful group with millions of followers could be considered unsuccessful. In the 1920’s and 1930’s Prohibition was enacted. Its purpose was to eliminate the many problems that alcohol created. Instead more problems were created. Today alcoholism is still a big problem. Some people think that more restrictions will help to fix these problems, but they won’t. They just create more problems and become a burden to 120,000,000 drinkers in the United States that are responsible when they drink.
Instead of imposing more restrictions on alcohol to end alcoholism and alcohol related problems, groups like Alcoholics Anonymous who help alcoholics recover and educate the public about them will be more effective. Unless we want to duplicate the outcome of Prohibition this is our only option.

















Works Cited

"Alcoholics Anonymous." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2010. Grolier Online. 19 Sep. 2010 .
Longwell, Sarah. "WHO's Plan Would Punish Responsible Drinkers." Buffalo News (Buffalo, NY). 09 Jun 2010: A.6. SIRS Researcher. Web. 15 Sep 2010.
Thorton, Mark. “Prohibition’s Failures: Lessons for Today.” USA Today (Farmingdale). March 1992: 70-73. SIRS Researcher. Web. Sep. 2010.

Thornton, Mark. "Prohibition's Failure: Lessons for Today." USA Today (Farmingdale). March 1992: 70-73. SIRS Researcher. Web. 27 Sep 2010.
• Much stronger alcohol was produced during prohibition
• “The production of moonshine during that period was undertaken by an army of amateurs and often resulted in beverages that could harm or kill the consumer.”
• Toxic Alcohol related deaths went from 1,064 in 1920 to 4,154 in 1925
• “One New Jersey businessman claimed that there were 10 times more places one could get a drink during Prohibition than there had been before.”
• Illegal producers and sellers of alcohol during prohibition followed no regulations, restrictions, or limits.
• Alcoholic medicine sales doubled from 1923 to 1931.
• Alcohol for sterilization sales quadrupled from 1923 to 1931.
• The amount of suicide grew by 78% during prohibition.
• The crime rate grew by 24%
• The amount of arrested drunk drivers grew by 81%

"Alcoholics Anonymous." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2010. Grolier Online. 19 Sep. 2010 .

• “Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is perhaps the best-known and most successful alcoholism recovery program.”
• Dr. Robert Smith and Bill Watson created the group in 1935.
• 2004: 150 nations/territories, 100,000 groups, 2,000,000 followers.
• “AA defines alcoholism as a disease as well as a spiritual problem.”
• The AA uses twelve steps to stop alcoholism.
• AA theory is an alcoholic has no power over alcohol and needs a supreme power to stop alcoholism.
• AA theory states that an alcoholism isn’t fixed in a person. The alcoholic must never drink again in order to get over the disease.
• Membership to AA is free.
• AA also works to educate people to stop the stereotypes of alcoholics and alcoholism.
• There are divisions of Alcoholics Anonymous that are specifically for the family of an Alcoholic.

Longwell, Sarah. "WHO's Plan Would Punish Responsible Drinkers." Buffalo News (Buffalo, NY). 09 Jun 2010: A.6. SIRS Researcher. Web. 15 Sep 2010.

·         “The World Health Orginasition has set its sights on your pint glass. It has decided that alcohol belongs alongside AIDS and influenza as a critical global issue, and that combating alcohol abuse requires harsh new restrictions on even the most moderate of drinkers.” Sarah Longwell.

·        

·         Increasing taxes on alcoholic beverages.

·         Reduced Breathalyzer test limits for breath tests.

·         Increase in breath test road blocks. All vehicle operators should be checked, even if there is no sing of drunkenness.

·         Breathe testing at random.

·         “…ads for beer conceivably would be verboten under the new regime.” Sarah Longwell.                   

Other facts

·         National Institute of Health studies indicate that over 90 percent of alcohol consumers are responsible.

·         .19 is the overall average for the fatalities of drivers who were drunk.

·         Over 120 million American citizens drink in a reasonable manner.

Questions about Alcoholism

1. Why is Alcoholism more common on Indian Reservations?
2. What makes Alcoholism Genetic?
3. How effective is rehabilitation/ treatment for alcoholism?
4. What are some treatments for alcoholism?
5.What is the best way to prevent alcoholism?

Acoholism

9/13/10

1 Alcohol Addiction

2 Alcohol on Indian Reservations

3 Alcoholics Anonymous

4 Intoxication

5 DUI

6 Drug Addiction

7 Withdraw

            Alcoholism is one of the core issues in the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. In this book three of the protagonist’s friends/ relatives are killed because of alcohol and many more have problems with drinking and Alcoholism. Alcoholism is an addiction to alcoholic beverages. It is a big problem on Indian Reservation, like in the book. Alcohol has bad effects on many parts of the body. On Earth 140million or more have a dependency on alcohol.  This topic, alcoholism, is a serious issue in almost every part of the world, even in the town where I live.

  picture from: http://mattkaiser12.wordpress.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholism

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian


By Sherman Alexie



The Book

1. The main character is a poor, but cheerful Spokane Indian named Arnold “Junior” Spirit. Despite his life’s misfortunes he remains optimistic through out his experiences.



2. In the beginning of the book Arnold begins High School on the reservation and quickly looses hope in his future. After being inspired by his math teacher he goes to a school off of the reservation and the middle is about what happens to him there. In the end of the book Arnold copes with the death of three of his family members and friends, but he also finishes his first year at Reardan High School.

3. Arnold faces plenty of problems and bad experiences in one year, but he manages to continue with his life. The moral of the book is never give up.



The Issues

1. One of the biggest issues in the story is Alcoholism. Arnold’s Grandmother is run over by a drunk driver while walking home from a powwow. His dad’s friend is shot while fighting over who should get the last sip of wine with a drunk man. His sister passes out from drinking in her trailer and dies when it burns down and she doesn’t get out.



2. One event that stands out is on Arnold’s first day at the Indian Reservation High School he gets the same book that his mother had. Arnold’s hope is crushed. After high school his sister just moved to her parent’s basement and stayed there. Arnold feels just as hopeless. These two events show that underfunded reservation schools just escalate the problem of reservation poverty. It makes the reader sad to know that this is happening right now.

September 3, 2010

Dear Arnold,

My name is Will. I live in Maryland. Over the summer I read your novel: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie. I worked on our family farm, visited Virginia, and went to summer camp in Maryland.

I thought the novel overall had a good storyline and was well written in most parts. It seemed like your year at Reardan High School went well overall, even if the beginning was hard. I was sorry to hear that your sister, grandmother, and dad’s friend all died. You took their deaths well and used humor to distract you from the fact that they were gone. You also realized that you had to keep going to get anywhere in life, and you did.

Throughout the novel, you seemed almost cheerful all of the time. The way the author made you sound was strange because you were so upbeat about everyone you loved dying. This is something that the author may have done wrong; however, you might just be able to cope with loss very well. Regardless of that you were a very realistic character and had an interesting story.

Alcohol and racism were social issues in your book. Also just fitting in at a new school was hard for you. Despite the fact that you were so different form everyone you, still managed to fit in and have a good year eventually. At the same time, you were dealing with so many problems at home. When reading the book, I often wondered how you kept going through everything.

One thing I got from your book was that alcoholism is a problem in many Indian reservations. People have no hope and drown their troubles in booze. Then that just creates more problems and adds to the feeling of hopelessness even more. All three of the people you loved who were killed were in some way killed by alcohol. Alcoholism is a problem all over the world. Even here  I see a lot of drinking for one reason or another. People drink because they’re happy, drink because they’re sad, or for any other emotion. That’s one thing the places we live have in common even though I don’t live on a reservation. Come to think of it, there isn’t a reservation in my state. Alcoholism is almost impossible to stop. The most you can do is to try to keep the next generation away from it.

Many parts of life are hard, especially for some people more than others. Yours has been particularly hard; however, you just have to remember that whatever happens you can’t give up. When you’re depressed drinking is giving up; we both know what happens after that.

Write back,

            Will