The Things I carry

Physical- The one physical item I carry with me absolutely everywhere is my cell phone. I feel like I’m constantly texting, so without it I feel cut off from civilization. I use it to communicate with friends and family, and to use instagram and twitter of course. I also use it to listen to music, which is totally necessary. Without it I would feel lost, it is one of the most important physical things I carry.

Dreams/Goals- My ultimate goal is to be successful and happy with a family, and live comfortably doing something I love.  Obviously I want to go to a good college, A&M specifically, and do well there.  These goals motivate me to try hard in school and try my best at everything I do.  I carry these goals in my mind daily.

Relationship- The most influential and inspiring person in my life is my mother. My mom is who I keep in mind when I think about my dreams and goals, because I hope to accomplish what she has. She went to University of Texas Dental School and became a dental hygienist. After doing that for a while, she decided to start her own dental employment agency, and her business has grown to be the biggest dental employment agency in Texas. Not to mention, my mom pretty much gets to choose her own hours. This has inspired me to dream big and be very ambitious. Also, she is extremely caring and I am very close with her. I carry my mom with me in everything I do.

Personality- I would describe myself as ambitious, cultured, and indecisive. I am ambitious because I have big goals and I am extremely determined to become successful. I want to do just as well as my mom if not better. I am cultured because, as I described in the last blog post, I come from a very diverse background. Also, I travel around the world to interesting places every year and learn about how others live, which fascinates me. Lastly, I am indecisive. For example, it took me about 10 minutes to think of this last characteristic. I still have no idea what I want to do with my life and I struggle with small, everyday decisions. I carry these personality traits and they are pretty apparent.

Memories- The most important memories to me are with my family. They are centered around all of the unique places I go every summer. Traveling is very important to me. I love experiencing new things with my parents. I hope to continue to see as many places as I can throughout the rest of my life. These memories define me and I carry them in a special place in my heart. 

The Third Option

For some people it can be hard to both establish their own identity while continuing to honor their family’s culture. In this day and age, in America at least, it seems to be less of an issue. It is common for people to have the best of both worlds in this sense. It certainly is possible. We get to make choices to establish just who we are in society.

Personally, I come from a very diverse background. I am American (of course),German, English, Italian, Scottish, Irish, Spanish, Mexican, and Dutch. It can be hard for me to pinpoint one particular culture to celebrate, so every year my parents try to take me somewhere with ties to my heritage to help me appreciate where I’m from. I’ve been all over the world and have seen a great number of the countries that were home to my ancestors. Furthermore, a large portion of my mother’s family was from Mexico and Spain, so she taught me Spanish as a second language when I was a child and I am fluent. It is very useful and I am proud of it. Additionally, my mother always celebrates this culture by cooking traditional dishes.

Another way I celebrate my heritage is through my practice of Catholicism. Both of my parents were cradle Catholics and have passed it down to me. I am currently going through the process of being confirmed into the Catholic Church. We celebrate all of the Christian holidays like Easter, Christmas, etc. I do not celebrate any other holidays that are significant to my culture; this is how I establish my own identity. Our family is usually out of the country for the 4^th of July, but we are proud Americans that celebrate it wherever we are.

I am not particularly torn between two cultures so I do not have a big issue with tying my cultural backgrounds together. I establish myself as an individual through the music I listen to, clothes I wear, and hobbies I practice. I think that it is possible for everyone to express his or her cultural background while still being unique. There is a 3^rd option; we don’t have to choose one way or the other.

Imitating Poe's Techniques

Creating a haunted house story seems like a simple task, but no one could create a masterpiece as chilling as those of the master, Edgar Allan Poe. It has been common for modern authors and screenwriters to mimic his creepy techniques. He keeps his readers on their toes and craving more. If I were faced with the task of creating a haunted house tale I would undoubtedly imitate Poe’s skills.

The primary strategies I would copy from Poe are the following: presence of a naïve narrator, personification of the setting, vague ending, minimal gore, and perverse sexual behavior. Throughout his story, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Poe exemplifies these skills. Some of these techniques are what make Poe so unique. He pioneered many techniques in this genre. Some movies nowadays rely on excessive gore and detail to make their stories scary. Though those tactics can be truly bone chilling, I don’t find them to be quite as effective.

I would use the naïve narrator technique to increase suspense and to keep the reader on their toes and engaged in the story. This ensures that the reader has to really think about what’s going on by withholding important information. Another strategy I would imitate is the personification of the setting. Poe’s story is the first to make the physical house itself the ghost. This creates an eerie, unsafe feeling, especially when the house crumbles at the end. This leads me to another technique I would imitate, a vague ending. At the end of the story the reader is not entirely sure of what exactly happened to all of the characters.

The less significant things that I would copy from Poe are minimal gore and perverse sexual behavior. In the short story, Poe never describes murder or the death of Roderick’s sister. In other works, it is extremely common for the murder scene to be intense and sickening. This technique keeps the death mysterious and allows the reader’s mind to wander. The last technique I would copy is rather disgusting; it is the inclusion of perverse sexual behavior. In the story it is implied that Roderick’s sister is more than simply his sister (GROSS). This revolting quality is something that makes the story even more twisted and creepy. With these techniques, my story would be truly frightening.