Final: Spirited Away

Going through Tests 

In life we are all go through tests to get where we want to be or achieve the goals that we want to achieve. Throughout the movie Spirited Away, Chihiro, the main character was put through numerous of tests to get her parents back. In the beginning of the movie Chihiro had an unwilling spirit. She never wanted to move to this new town, wasn't too thrilled about meeting new people and going to a new school. Once her parents turned into Pigs, she was willing to do anything she could to save her parents from being slaughtered. Chihiro went through things that she never thought she had to go through and most of all she learned to follow simple directions and not question people all of the time.

Chihiro was in this japanese town with people that she didn't know. She was surrounded by monster like creatures. Chihiro wasn't really wanted their neither. Where she was, Humans weren't allowed, so Master Haku told her everything she needed to know in order to survive until she can get her parents back and she was obedient and followed his orders. She was told to Beg Yubaba, the Witch to give her a job in the bathhouse and she did just that. After begging to Yubaba, the witch finally gave her a job, made Chihiro sign a contract and renamed her Sen. Sen had to do hard work that she never done before. She had to wash a this big bath in the bath house and when spirits came in to cleanse themselves, she had to clean them. The first test she was put to, was to clean this very large spirit while everyone in the bathhouse watched. While working she managed to clean the big spirit with the help of an invisible spirit that only she could see named "no face." In exchange for cleaning his health, the large spirit gave her a magic emetic dumpling. Surprisingly she passed the first test.

Yubaba told her servants to kill Haku and after the shikigami injured him. Sen had it made up in her mind that she was going to save him, especially after all he has done to help her. The shikigami was controlled by Yubaba's twin sister, Zeniba. Zeniba informed Sen that Haku stole her gold seal on Yubaba's order and she wants it back. Later on Sen gave Haku the magic dumpling to eat and he spat out the gold seal. When she went to Zaniba to give her the gold seal and ask her to take the spell off, Zeniba informed her that its already broken because it was Sen's love for Haku that broke it. Not only did she save Haku, but she discovered that she also had love for Haku.

Sen was offered a final test which was to guess which group of pigs were her parents and she answered none of them, because her parents aren't pigs. Sen passed the final test and her got her name Chihiro back. Haku showed her the way to her parents and told her that they will see each other again. Chihiro finally got her parents back. This movie helped her to grow up a little. It helped her to be obedient and follow directions, it also brought out the hero in her that she probably never was there. This movie was a good way of showing people that in life we are going to be put to different tests and it is up to us to pass it and learn from it.

Photo Credit: Anime Vice

Final Draft

Campbell & Sister Souljah: "The Monomyth" and the Coldest Winter Ever

The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah is a novel that is very engaging and interesting because of its realistic subject matter. The main character, Winter was basically born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Her mother named her Winter because she was born in one of the biggest snow storms. Her father builds a huge empire and her mother never worked a day in her life. She always had all the money, fine jewelry and the best clothes. Winter was always spoiled and had a huge problem with money management. She always spent a lot of money on materialistic things and never seemed to have a problem with it. Not until her father got locked up, she realizes that she needs to manage her money. After Winter’s father is arrested, she develops into a warrior hero although her journey inevitably leads her to jail.


 Winter, which is a hero in this novel, had to go through all the trials and tribulations in order to really get to know who she was. Most importantly she learned how to take care of herself and not have everything given to her. Joseph Campbell's Monomyth is basically about the hero's journey and the steps they take to get to the end. In Joseph Campbell's Monomyth he has the departure, adventure and the return of the hero. This monomyth is a pattern found in many different chronicles ("Monomyth"). The departure is when you're separated from something or someone. Then there is the adventure is when basically the journey. During the adventure you discover new things, run in to new people and most of the time you struggle during your journey. Then lastly you have the return, where most of the times you return back to where you were and try to change things around or you want to go somewhere different. Either way when you return, you come back changed or wanting to change. Sometimes you come back as a new person.
Separation
 Winters father, Santiaga was arrested the night of her birthday. The police raided the entire house and took everything that was held inside of it including clothes, jewelry, cars, drugs and even broke into their safe and took all the families money. They arrested everyone but the mother and the children. All winter could think about was the money and how were they going to survive without Santiaga. Winter kept thinking to herself about what would her father do in this situation; he would plan and not panic. She thought about selling the furniture in her house to generate cash flow or maybe even sell the entire house before the feds come and raid it. She asked her mother what she thought about her idea and her mother didn't care about anything else but talking to her husband Santiaga. She was so attached to him that, he's the only person she thinks about. She told Winter "Whatever your father says, that’s what I’ll do"(p.96). Her mother couldn't even think for herself. Since Winters mother was always sad because she recently got shot in the face and now her husband got arrested, Winter had no choice but to be strong for her family. Winter figured she and her mother would go visit her father to get some advice on what to do.


 Once Winter arrived to her father’s visit, she shared with him her ideas and he agreed. He also told her to try to catch up with one of his workers, Midnight because he's has fifty thousand dollars of his. When she got back home from visiting her father, the housekeeper told her the BCW came and took her three baby sisters because they're underage and in a house with no legal guardian. Winter's life quickly started to fall apart, because every day since her 17th birthday there was something new. Her father got locked up, her mother voluntarily told the police to lock her up, BCW came and took her sisters, the feds arrested the majority of her family and most of her father’s workers except Midnight and now she's all by herself, so now here is where there is a big separation, because now she doesn’t have anyone to turn to. The BCW finally got a hold of Winter and placed her in a group home called "The House of Success."
Journey
 Once Winter arrived at the House of Success she was introduced to discipline and curfew, of course she didn’t like it because she never had to go through this. "If you came in after 11:00 pm, your forfeited your passes for the rest of the week. If you were late three times in thirty days, you permanently lost your evening 'opportunities'"(p. 191). This was all new to Winter and the challenge for her was "making something out of nothing." Somehow she had to make some money while she was in there because the sixty-dollar stipend they got every week wasn't good enough for her. Just by observing the girls in the group home she decided she would provide the girls with what they need and help them understand what they needed. Winter provided different services like selling clothes, giving beauty tips, doing their hair, nails, make up and even giving them facials. Every week she would write down a list of things everyone needed and her friend Simone from Brooklyn, would go and pick it up and deliver it to the group home. Both Winter and Simone made money with this side hustle. When Winter got her weekend passes, she would hang out with her friend Simone and Simone would fill her in on the latest news of Brooklyn. Simone informed her that Winter's mother turned into a crack-addict, her Aunt B turned into a prostitute and her father, Santiaga was sentenced to life in jail. Winters entire family had their individual hustles going on.


 One thing about Winter was that she never wanted people to know her business, especially her family’s business. She always let people find out themselves. She always felt that she was better than everyone and probably would feel embarrassed if she told her business. Especially since she always had everything a girl could ever want, she would never tell someone her downfall. Winter was a pathological liar and didn’t trust anyone. At the House of Success when girls asks Winter what’s wrong with her, she always makes up a little lie to keep them out of her business. Winter received a letter from her father and started crying, and one of the girls, Rashida wanted to console her but Winter brushed her off as if nothing was wrong. Rashida got upset and expressed her feelings to Winter. “Why do you always act like you’re so cool like you’re in control of every little thing? Why can’t you just admit when something isn’t right so someone could help you?” (212). Of course Winter played it off and told her that those are happy tears that are falling from her eyes. Winter just couldn’t help it, she was a constant liar.
Return
 Towards the end of the story, Winter met up with an old friend, Bullet and got caught up in the criminal lifestyle. Bullet put everything in Winters name including their new apartment and a car which they rented to transport cocaine and guns. Since Winter was sitting in the car she rented, she was considered guilty and had to serve fifteen years in prison, even though none of the things in the car was hers. These events show how history repeats itself. Winter had to attend her mother’s funeral in a prison jumpsuit and in handcuffs. Winter saw her little sister Porsche there and noticed that she was as beautiful has she was when she wasn’t locked up. Winter noticed Porsche had fallen into the same trap that she was in; Winter wanted to warn her sister about life but then thought to herself that Porsche would just have to learn her own just like she did. This is the return part of the monomyth because this shows how winter was a different person than when she started. Before the journey Winter was dependant on her parents for everything and at the end of the journey she learned to take care of herself and became more independent. She came to realize that the only person that could look out for her was herself.


Citation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth

Sistah Souljah. The Coldest Winter Ever.1999.Print

DIRTY DRAFT

The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah is a novel that is very amusing. The main character, Winter was basically born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Her mother named her Winter because she was born in one of the biggest snow storms. Her father builds a huge empire and her mother never worked a day in her life. She always had all the money, fine jewelry and the best clothes. Winter was always spoiled and had a huge problem with money management. She always spent a lot of money on materialistic things and never seemed to have a problem with it. Not until her father got locked up, she realizes that she needs to manage her money. Her life went downhill and she used all the hustling tricks she learned from her father to survive. Her mother turned into a crack addict and she and her siblings were separated and placed into foster care.

Winter, which is a hero in this novel, had to go through all the trials and tribulations in order to really get to know who she was. Most importantly she learned how to take care of herself and not have everything given to her. Joseph Campbell's Monomyth is basically about the hero's journey and the steps they take to get to the end. In Joseph Campbell's Monomyth he has the departure, adventure and the return of the hero. This monomyth is a pattern found in many different chronicles ("Monomyth"). The departure is when you're separated from something or someone. Then there is the adventure is when basically the journey. During the adventure you discover new things, run in to new people and most of the time you struggle during your journey. Then lastly you have the return, where most of the time you return back to where you were and try to change things around or you want to go somewhere different. Either way when you return you come back changed or wanting to change. Sometimes you come back as a new person.

Winters father, Santiaga was arrested the night of her birthday. The police raided the entire house and took everything that was held inside of it including clothes, jewelry, cars, drugs and even broke into their safe and took all the families money. There were fifteen cops inside and twenty cops outside of the house. They arrested everyone but the mother and the children. One of the feds said that it'll be a long time before they see Santiaga anywhere besides behind bars. All winter could think about was the money and how were they going to survive without Santiaga. Her mother only had seven hundred dollars to her name and Winter had nine hundred and fifty dollars to her name. Winter kept thinking to herself about what would her father do in this situation; he would plan and not panic. She thought about selling the furniture in her house to generate cash flow or maybe even sell the entire house before the feds come and raid it. She asked her mother what she thought about her idea and her mother didn't care about anything else but talking to her husband Santiaga. She was so attached to him that, he's the only person she thinks about. She told Winter "Whatever your father says, that’s what I’ll do"(p.96). Her mother couldn't even think for herself. Since Winters mother was always sad because she recently got shot in the face and now her husband got arrested, Winter had no choice but to be strong for her family. Winter figured she and her mother would go visit her father to get some advice on what to do. The police arrived to their house and wanted to ask questions, her mother immediately got upset because she figured that they're not going to stop harassing her family. Winters mother failed to cooperate with the police and told them to arrest her.

 Once Winter arrived to her father’s visit, she shared with him her ideas and he agreed. He also told her to try to catch up with one of his workers, Midnight because he's has fifty thousand dollars of his. When she got back home from visiting her father, the housekeeper told her the BCW came and took her three baby sisters because they're underage and in a house with no legal guardian. Winter's life quickly started to fall apart, because every day since her 17th birthday there was something new. Her father got locked up, her mother voluntarily told the police to lock her up, BCW came and took her sisters, the feds arrested the majority of her family and most of her father’s workers except Midnight and now she's all by herself, so now there is a big separation. The BCW finally got a hold of Winter and placed her in a group home called "The House of Success." At the end of chapter nine, Winters Aunt B turned her into BCW on her because refused to give her money that she didn’t have to give. Her aunt also stole the rest of Winters life savings, 2500 dollars was all that Winter had left. Winter would soon be 18, so she only had to be in the House of Success for 330 more days.

 Once she arrived there, she was introduced to discipline and curfew and of course she didn’t like it because she never had to go through this. "If you came in after 11:00 pm, your forfeited your passes for the rest of the week. If you were late three times in thirty days, you permantly lost your evening 'opportunities'"(p. 191). This was all new to Winter and the challenge for her was "making something out of nothing." Somehow she had to make some money while she was in there because the sixty dollar stipend they got every week wasn't good enough for her. Just by observing the girls in the group home she decided she would provide the girls with what they need and help them understand what they needed. Winter provided different services like selling clothes, giving beauty tips, doing their hair, nails, make up and even giving them facials. Every week she would write down a list of things everyone needed and her friend Simone from Brooklyn, would go and pick it up and deliver it to the group home. Both Winter and Simone made money with this side hustle. Within twenty one days Winter made twenty five hundred dollars and never left her room. Winter finally learned how to make her own money without having someone always giving it to her. When Winter got her weekend passes, she would hang out with her friend Simone and Simone would fill her in on the latest news of Brooklyn. Simone informed her that Winter's mother turned into a crack-addict, her Aunt B turned into a prostitute and her father, Santiaga was sentenced to life in jail. Winters entire family had their individual hustles going on.

Simone was seven months pregnant and needed to slow down her eighth and ninth month, which would affect Winter's cash flow, because Simone was the only person Winter had left. All of Winters friends from Brooklyn turned on her. Winter tried visiting her father to get some guidance on what to do next, but he refused the visit. Her whole attitude completely changed, she cried and slept for several days. She became temporarily depressed. She didn’t eat, drink nor left her room, until the security from the group home demanded her to get up and pay a psychiatrist a visit. She told the psychiatrist a lie as to why she was feeling the way she was to get out of the visit. One thing about Winter was that she never wanted people to know her business, especially her family’s business. She always let people find out on their own. She always felt that she was better than everyone and probably would feel embarrassed if she told her business. Especially since she always had everything a girl could ever want, she would never tell someone her down fall. Winter was a pathological liar and didn’t trust anyone.

Winter hadn't heard from Simone in a few days and finally she got in touch with her. Simone was locked up for boosting clothes and the bottom line was that she needed Winter to give her $1500 for bail. Winter didn’t want to give Simone her last, because she knew for a fact their Simone had either did something stupid with her money or had the money stashed for the baby and just wanted to use hers. Anyway she thought it was a lose lose situation and she knew Simone wasn't going to pay her back. So when Simone finally got out of jail, she got five girls to chase after Winter. They didn’t catch her at all, but she decided she had to leave the House of Success, because Simone knew where she would be and when she would leave. Winter wound up staying a Sister Souljah's home for a while until she turned eighteen.

At the end of the story it shows how history repeats itself. Winter had to attend her mother’s funeral in a prison jumpsuit and in handcuffs. She had to do fifteen years in jail for getting caught with drugs. Winter saw her little sister Mercedes there and noticed that she was as beautiful has she was when she wasn’t locked up.  Winter noticed Mercedes had fallen into the same trap that she was in; Winter wanted to warn her sister about life but then thought to herself that Mercedes would just have to learnon her own just like she did.

Notes

Separation: Winters father, Santiaga was arrested the night of her birthday. The police raided the entire house and took everything that was held inside of it including clothes, jewelry, cars,drugs and even broke into their safe and took all the families money. There were fifteen cops inside and twenty cops outside of the house. They arrested everyone but the mother and the children. One of the feds said that it'll be a long time before they see Santiaga anywhere besides behind bars.

All winter could think about was the money and how were they going to survive without Santiaga. Her mother only had seven hundred dollars to her name and Winter had nine hundred and fifty dollars to her name. Winter kept thinking to herself about what would her father do in this situation, he would plan and not panic. She thought about selling the furniture in her house to generate cash flow or maybe even sell the entire house before the feds come and raid it. She asked her mother what she thought about her idea and her mother didn't care about anything else but talking to her husband Santiaga. She was so attached to him that, he's the only person she thinks about. She told Winter "Whatever your father says, thats what i'll do"(p.96). Her mother couldn't even think for herself. Since Winters mother was always sad because she recently got shot in the face and now her husband got arrested, Winter had no choice but to be strong for her family. Winter figured she and her mother would go visit her father to get some advise on what to do. The police arrived to their house and wanted to ask questions, her mother immediately got upset because she figured that they're not going to stop harassing her family. Winters mother failed to cooperate with the police and told them to arrest her. Once Winter arrived to her fathers visit, she shared with him her ideas and he agreed. He also told her to try to catch up with one of his workers, Midnight because he's has fifty thousand dollars of his. When she got back home from visiting her father, the housekeeper told her the BCW came and took her three baby sisters because they're underage and in a house with no legal guardian. Winter's life quickly started to fall apart, because everyday since her birthday there was something new. Her father got locked up, her mother voluntarily told the police to lock her up, BCW came and took her sisters, the feds arrested the majority of her family and most of her fathers workers except Midnight and now she's all by herself, so now there is a big separation.

Adventure: The BCW finally got a hold of Winter and placed her in a group home called "The House of Success." At the end of chapter nine, Winters Aunt B turned her into BCW on her because refused to give her money that she didnt have to give. Her aunt also stole the rest of Winters life savings, 2500 dollars was all that Winter had left. Winter would soon be 18, so she only had to be in the House of Success for 330 more days. Once she arrived there, she was introduced to discipline and curfew and of course she didnt like it becasue she never had to go through this. "If you came in after 11:00 pm, your forfeited your passes for the rest of the week. If you were late three times in thirty days, you permantly lost your evening 'opportunities'"(p. 191). This was all new to Winter and the challenge for her was "making something out of nothing." Some how she had to make some money while she was in there because the sixty dollar stipend they got every week wasn't good enough for her. Just by observing the girls in the group home she decided she would provide the girls with what they need and help the understand what they needed. Winter provided different services like selling clothes, giving beauty tips, doing their hair, nails, make up and even giving out facials. Every week she would write down a list of things everyone needed and her friend Simone from Brooklyn, would go and pick it up and deliver it to the group home.Both Winter and Simone made money with this side hustle. Within twenty one days Winter made twenty five hundred dollars and never left her room. Winter finally learned how to make her own money without having someone always giving it to her. When Winter got her weekend passes, she would hang out with her friend Simone and Simone would fill her in on the latest news of Brooklyn. Simone informed her that Winter's mother turned into a crack-addict, her Aunt B turned into a prostitute and her father, Santiaga was sentenced to life in jail. Winters entire family had their individual hustles going on. Simone was seven months pregant and needed to slow down her eigth and ninth month, which would affect Winter's cash flow, becausee Simone was the only person Winter had left. All of Winters friends from Brooklyn turned on her. Winter tried visiting her father to get some guidance on what to do next, but he refused the visit. Her whole attitude completly changed, she cried and slept for several days. She became temporarily depressed. She didnt eat, drink nor left her room, until the security from the group home demanded her to get up and pay a psychiatrist a visit. She told the psychiatrist a lie as to why she was feeling the way she was to get out of the visit. One thing about Winter, was that she never wanted people to know her business, especially her families business. She always let people find out on their own. Winter was a pathological liar and didnt trust anyone.

Winter hadn't heard from Simone in a few days and finally she got in touch with her. Simone was locked up for boosting clothes and the bottom line was that she needed Winter to give her $1500 for bail. Winter didnt want to give Simone her last, because she knew for a fact their Simone had either did something stupid with her money or had the money stashed for the baby and just wanted to use hers. Anyway she thought it was a lose lose sitution and she knew Simone wasn't going to pay her back. So when Simone finally got out of jail, she got five girls to chase after Winter. They didnt catch her at all, but she decided she had to leave the House of Success, because she Simone knew where she would be and when she would leave.

Bog 9: Overview of Critical Approach

Joseph Campbell's Monomyth is basically about the hero's journey and the steps they take to get to the end. In Joseph Campbell's Monomyth he has the departure, adventure and the return of the hero. This monomyth is a pattern found in many different chronicles ("Monomyth"). The departure is when you're separated from something or someone. Then there is the adventure is when basically the journey. During the adventure you discover new things, run in to  new people and most of the time you struggle during your journey. Then lastly you have the return, where most of the time you return back to where you was and try to change things around or you want to go somewhere different. Either way when you return you come back changed or wanting to change. Sometimes you come back as a new person.



Monomyth- Wikipedia

Blog 8: Critical Approach

The critical approach that I chose to use for The Coldest Winter Ever is Campbell(Monomyth), because I thought it was the most logical. This approach goes best with the story. I want to talk about the main character, Winter's departure, adventure and return, because I want to show the audience how she completely turned around from being so money hungry to being greatful and resourceful. She was born into a family with money and never worked a day in her life until her man supplier, her father got incarcerated and she had to go through a lot of stuggle in order to realize that there is a end to every empire.

Blog Entry 7 (Choose a Novel)

The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah is a novel that I am very interested in writing about, because the story is very ammusing. The man character, Winter was basically born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Her father build a huge empire as a drug dealer and her mother never worked a day in her life. She always had all the money, fine jewlery and the best clothes. As soon as her father got caught, her life went downhill and she used all the hustling tricks she learn from her father to survive. Her mother turned into a crack addict and she and her siblings were seperated and place into foster care. This story is engaging and touching and i would love to talk more about this story in my furture blogs, because there is much more to learn.

Archetypes

The positive chracteristics of the archetype altruist would be caring, willing to sacrifice, generous and being conscientious. The negative characteristics of being an altruist would be controlling, instrusive, guilt-tripping others and being a martyr.

The picture above is a scene from Tyler Perry's, I Can Do Bad All by Myself. In this picture is Taraji Henson, a teenage girl and her two little brothers. I chose this picture because in the movie the 16-year-old girl always looked after her little brothers while her mother was out on crack. In this picture she looks like a girl who is not happy about her life and has a lot of attitude. Her little brother with the blue shirt looks like an happy child. The darkskinned brother looks lost in this picture. In this picture, there is a big house behind them where a happy family would live, however this family doesnt look well-balanced, in fact they look unstable.

There are many different types of altruist; there are altruist like mother Teresa who was like a a missionary. Mother Teresa was a saint who gave her all, she had a heart for children and it revealed in her actions. She gave food to children in need and to poor countries. She was always there to nuture the children and that made her an altruist. There are also alturist like Jesus Christ who actually laid down his life so we can be saved. Jesus was beaten, scorned, tortured and took all of this cruel and unusual punishment just so we can live. Then there are those altruist like Oprah Winfrey who just loves to give and has a giving heart. She bought her best friend a big house and car. She gives to the poor and actually made a Leadership Academy for all girls in South Africa. She truly has a big heart and it shows in her actions as well.

Alturist usually has a choice in their journeys. They have a choice to leave and get away or stay or stay and deal with the situation. Most of the time they wind up staying and handling the problem at hand. Altruist are people who not only gives, but sacrifces. They sacrifice their time, family, friends and mostyl their life just to help someone. In Tyler Perry's, I Can Do Bad All by Myself, the Teenage sister didnt have to stay and look after her brothers, but she chose to do it anyway. She sacrificed her entire life to practically raise her brother while her mother was on drugs. She didnt have a childhood at all. She knew her little brother was suffering with diabetes and her other brother had astma. She didnt everything she could to get the insulin her little brother needed becasue without it, she knew he would die. She's only 16-years-old taking on motherly tasks. This is some of the responsibilities an altruist taks on.

The monomyth I chose was Jesus Christ. As mentioned earlier, he gave up his life so we can live. He was betrayed by one of his disicples and got arrested for something that he didn't do. Being the altruist that he was, he didn't fight back, talk back nor was disrespectful, instead he just took the cruel and unusual punishment so that we can all have life. That is how altruist was revealed in the monomyth in Blog Entry 5.

Blog Entry 5

Jesus Christ is the son of God. when he found out that one of his disciples will betray him, he went up into the mountains and prayed over them. When he reached the mountains he had communion with them and told them that one of them will betray him. He also told Peter that he will deny Jesus three times and of course Peter denied it. He told his disciples to sit where they were and pray that they wouldn't fall into temptation. Jesus mentioned that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. So while he went to a city called Gethsemane and prayed, his disciples were supposed to be praying also. Jesus came back three times and found them sleeping. Jesus got upset because his disciples didn't follow simple instructions and now he felt his betrayer coming. His betrayer, Judas came with a crowd armed with swords and clubs. Judas was the disciple who betrayed Jesus in exchange for money.They were coming to crucify Jesus. This was the separation of Jesus and his disciples.

Judas told the soldiers that the one he kisses, to arrest them. So he went and greeted Jesus and kissed him and the soldiers arrested him.Early in the morning all the chief priests and elders plotted against Jesus to execute him. They tied him up and sent him to the governor. Jesus was beaten, scorned, laughed at, spat at, tortured and was given cruel and unusual punishment. Judas saw what they were doing to Jesus and regretted what he did. He confessed to the priests and told them that he betrayed Jesus and turned in innocent blood and gave back the thirty silver coins. He felt so bad that he hung himself just like Jesus. He got nailed to the cross and died there. Later on the soldiers let him down and put him in a tomb. On the third day he rose from the dead. This was one if the major adventures of Jesus Christ.

Everyone didn't believe that Jesus was the son of God because he couldn't help himself. So after he cried out to God, there was an earthquake, rocks were split into parts and the tombs were opened and many saints were risen out of the tombs. He went into Galillee as the saints worshiped him and bowed down to him. Those who were afraid he told them to not be afraid and to tell his disciples to come to Galillee. When the disciples arrived, Jesus baptized them to teach them to obey everything he has commanded of them. This was the return of Jesus Christ.

Blog Entry 4

Earl Simmons also know as DMX, was born in Baltimore on December 18, 1970 and raised in Yonkers, NY as a child. Due to a troubled and abusive childhood, Simmons became very violent. He spent most of his childhood in a group home and survived off of the streets, which led him in and out of Juvenile Detention. He found his passion in Hip Hop starting out as a DJ and moved his way up into rapping. After Tupac and Biggie Smalls, DMX was the next hardcore rapper. Everything about DMX was hard, from his muscular appearance, to his mean face and to his barking, made him who he was. He had an obsession with dogs, which is why he was always barking in his songs. What made him so unique was that he could go from rapping about the streets, to rapping spiritually and asking God to keep him out of the streets. "Lord Give me a Sign" was released in 2006 and I chose to write about this song because I know a lot of us can relate to it. There are situations mentioned in this song that we deal with daily and the way he asked God for help was very well put together ( Bullamore, Derek. (2012). “DMX (Rapper).” Wikipedia. Retrieved March 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMX_(rapper).

"Lord Give me a Sign" is basically DMX's desire to walk down the right path in life. I believe guidance is the theme of the song because throughout the entire lyric of this song, DMX is asking God for help. In the first verse, he's asking God to give him a sign as to what to do because the walk has been hard and he doesn't know what to do. As he's talking to God he's also letting him know that he feels alone and he's hurting. DMX also mentioned that’s he is soaking up trouble like rain in the dirt and when he said that, it made me think about his childhood and how he was always getting in trouble. Maybe DMX is begging God for guidance because he doesn't want to go back to how he was in his childhood years; he wants to be a changed man. Aside from guidance I think trust was also big in this song. He kept saying that he won't let the Devil take him back to the things that he used to do and as long as the Lord is in his life, then he won't have any fear. In verse two he talks about how through the trials and tribulations, Jesus is still here with him. This song is mainly about asking for guidance and trusting that the Lord will guide you.

"Lord Give me a Sign" is about DMX's desire to change. He asks God for guidance because its been quite a struggle for him and he doesn't know which way to go. "Lord give me a sign! I really need to talk to you Lord, since the last time we talked, the walk has been hard"(Verse 1, lines 1-3). He's also letting God know that he has been hurting inside and doesn't want to go back the what he use to do as a child. "And I'm still going through it, pain and the hurt, soaking up trouble like rain in the dirt"(Verse 1, lines 7-9). His disparaging childhood caused him to become very violent and hateful. Being passed on from home to home built up a lot of anger and caused him to conduct in violent activities, later on he was sent to juvenile prison. DMX isn't trying to go back to his child hood days, he wants to change and somehow the Devil is trying to tempt him, but he trying hard to not let that happen. "Devil I rebuke you for what I go through and trying to make me do what I used to"(Verse 1, lines 14-15). DMX is informing God that he want's to build a closer relationship with him, because it's obvious that he believes the Lord would protect him. "Show me what I got to do to bring me closer to you"(Hook, lines 7-8). DMX is expressing to God that he really needs him in his life. "Let me take your hand, guide me. I'll walk slow but stay right beside me"(Verse 2, lines 17-18).

Earl Simmons, "Lord Give me a Sign" is a spiritual Hip Hop song expressing his feelings to God. He's talking about his desire to change, he's acknowledging the fact that he did mess up when he was younger, but he wants to walk down the right path this time. DMX is also trusting that the Lord will stay by his side and that "No weapon formed against him shall prosper, and every tongue that rises against him in judgement thou shalt condemn. For this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their righteousness is of him, saith the Lord" (Intro, lines 2-5).

Poetry Symbolism

Earl Simmons was born in Baltimore on December 18, 1970 and raised in Yonkers, NY as a child. His troubled and abusive childhood made him become very violent. He spent most of his childhood in group home and survived off of the streets, which led him in and out of Juvenile Detention. He found his passion in hip hop starting out as a DJ and moved his way up into rapping. After Tupac and Biggie Smalls, DMX was the next hardcore rapper. Everything about DMX was hard, from his muscular appearance, to his mean face and to his barking, made him who he was. He had an obsession with dogs, which is why he was always barking in his songs. What made him so unique was that he could go from rapping about the streets, to rapping spiritually and asking God to keep him out of the streets. "Lord Give me a Sign" was released in 2006 and I chose to write about this song because I know a lot of us can relate to it. There are situations mentioned in this song that we deal with daily and the way he asked God for help was very well put together.

Throughout this song, there are a lot of symbols and symbolic actions. Right in the introduction of the song on the third line he quotes a line from the Bible saying that, "No weapon formed against me shall prosper and every tongue that shall rise against me in judgment, thou shalt condemn." The entire introduction is actually a scripture in the Bible, Isaiah 54:17. In verse one DMX uses walk as a symbol to represent his attempt to do better. Later on in verse one on line nine, he says thats he's "soaking up trouble like rain in the dirt." In lines fourteen and fifteen DMX says "Devil I rebuke for what I go though and trying to make me do what I used to" as a symbolic action. In verse two, line eight he says that "the spoken word his stronger than the strongest man," referring to Jesus's word. There are a lot of symbols and symbolic actions throughout this song lyrics and I just named a few.

When DMX says "No weapon formed against me shall prosper and every tongue that shall rise against me in judgement thou shalt condemn," he uses weapon to represent any and everything that is negative towards him. The denotation of weapon is any instrument or deice for use in attack or defense in combat, fighting or war as a sword, rifle or canon. He also uses tongue as a symbol to represent the speech that comes from human mouths. The denotation of tongue is the faculty or power of speech. As DMX talks to the Lord in verse one, he tells him that "Since the last time we talked the walk has been hard." He uses walk to represent his attempt to do better and be a better person. The denotation of walk is to advance or travel on foot at a moderate speed or pace. One of the symbols DMX used was really interesting to me. In verse two, line seven and eight he says "or hunting with the word that cuts like a sword, the spoken word is stinger than the strongest man. Word is a symbol he uses to represent the Bible or Jesus's words. He's saying that nothing can beat or go against the word of God because it is that strong.  He said that the word of God is so strong that it carries the world. You wouldn't need to need to use weapons because the Bible cuts like a sword. The denotation os word is a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation that functions as a principle carrier of meaning.

"Lord Give me a Sign" is basically DMX's desire to walk down the right path in life. I believe guidance is the theme of the song because throughout the entire lyric of this song, DMX is asking God for help. In the first verse, he's asking God to give him a sign as to what to do because the walk has been hard and he doesn't know what to do. As he's talking to God he's also letting him know that he feels alone and he's hurting. DMX also mentioned thats he is soaking up trouble like rain in the dirt and when he said that, it made me think about his childhood and how he was always getting in trouble. Maybe DMX is begging God for guidance because he doesn't want to go back to how he was in his childhood years, he wants to be a changed man. Aside from guidance I think trust was also big in this song. He kept saying that he won't let the Devil take him back to the things that he used to do and as long as the Lord is in his life, then he won't have any fear. In verse two he talks about how through the trials and tribulations, Jesus is still here with him. This song is mainly about asking for guidance and trusting that the Lord will guide you.

Biography information: Wikipedia.com
Definitions: Dictionary.com

Earl Simmons also known as DMX is a hardcore rapper who started around 1998. His name was an acronym of the "Divine Master of the Unknown"(wikipedia.com). "Lord Give me a Sign" was one of my favorite songs, he wrote becasuse it can relate to all of us. So I plan on writing more about this song.

Lord Give Me A Sign lyricsSongwriters: Simmons, Earl; Storch, Scott Spencer

 Yeah, in the name of Jesus, spread the word
No weapon formed against me shall prosper
And every turn that rise against my judgment
Thou shall condemn, Lord, give me a sign

For this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
"And their righteousness is of me," said the Lord
Amen, Lord, give me a sign

I really need talk to You, Lord
Since the last time we talked, the walk has been hard
Now I know You haven't left me but I feel like I'm alone
I'ma big boy now but I'm still not grown

And I'm still goin' through it, pain and the hurt
Soakin' up trouble like rain in the dirt
And I know, only I can stop the rain
With just the mention of my Savior's name
In the name of Jesus

Devil, I rebuke you for what I go through
You been tryna make me do what I used to
But all that stops right here
As long as the Lord's in my life, I will have no fear

I will know no pain, from the light to the dark
I will no show no shame, spit it right from the heart
'Cause it's right from the start, you held me down
And ain't nothin' they can tell me now

Lord, give me a sign
Let me know what's on Your mind
Let me know what I'm gon' find
It's all in time, show me how to teach the mind
Show me how to reach the blind

Lord, give me a sign
Show me what I gotsta do to bring me closer to You
As I'ma go through whatever You want me to
Just let me know what to do
Lord, give me a sign

Please, show me some'n
I'm tired talkin' to him, knowin' he frontin'
Cryin' 'bout, "Life ain't nothin'"
But you either be the one mad
'Cause you trapped or the one huntin'

Trapped in yo' own mind, waitin' on the Lord
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/d/dMX-lyrics/lord-give-me-a-sign-lyrics.html ]
Or huntin' with the word that cuts like a sword
The spoken word is stronger than the strongest man
Carries the whole world like the strongest hand

Through the trials and tribulations, You never let us down
Jesus, I know You're here with us now
Jesus, I know You're still with us now
Keep it real with us now, I wanna feel, show me how

Please, let me take Your hand, guide me
I'll walk slow but stay right beside me
Devil's tryna find me
Hide me, hold up, I take that back
Protect me and give me the strength to fight back

Lord, give me a sign
Let me know what's on Your mind
Let me know what I'm gon' find
It's all in time, show me how to teach the mind
Show me how to reach the blind

Lord, give me a sign
Show me what I gotsta do to bring me closer to You
As I'ma go through whatever You want me to
Just let me know what to do
Lord, give me a sign

Life or death, live or die
I will never live a lie
I'm gon' get because I try
I won't quit until I die

I'm gon' make it, wrong or right
And make it through the darkest time
And when the morning comes, you'll see
That all I have is God in me
Lord, give me a sign

No weapon formed against me shall prosper
Lord, give me a sign
For this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
In the name of Jesus

Lord, give me a sign
Let me know what's on Your mind
Let me know what I'm gon' find
It's all in time, show me how to teach the mind
Show me how to reach the blind

Lord, give me a sign
Show me what I gotsta do to bring me closer to You
As I'ma go through whatever You want me to
Just let me know what to do
Lord, give me a sign
Song lyrics from:e-lyrics.com
Picture from: streetpop.com

Supernatural Beings

True Blood is one of my favorite southern vampire series. It is based on the novels by Charlaine Harris, which stars Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse, a "telepathic" waitress who lives in a small town in Louisiana which happens to be shared by both humans and vampires (starpulse.com). Sookie is openminded when it comes to vampires, particularly Bill Compton who she later on falls in love with and discovers her magical powers.

Sookie Stackhouse has the gift of hearing people's thoughts, which i find very interesting because she can tell who's true to her and who's not. Hearing voices is very beneficial and also can be a bit scary. Voices are present all day, which can interfere with the hearer's normal routines. In True Blood, her gift helped her out a lot with solving problems. She recognizes towards the end of the series that she is a fairy.

According to dictionary.reference.com a fairy is one class of supernatural beings, generally conceived as having a diminutive human form and possessing magical powers with which they intervene in human affairs.

Fairies are very broad, there is a whole background about them. When I think of fairies, I think of peace and happiness, but there are some things that I don't know.There are a lot of good things about them and then there are some bad things about them and that's what I find so interesting about fairies. You just never know.



Picture credit from: .fanpop.com