April 29- May 5

Everyone loves beautiful and peaceful places. Canyons or mountains or cliffs or rivers. What do you think draws people to graffiti these places? Their actions make no sense to me. To answer this question would truly be a guess because I just don't understand why someone would want to destroy something that others find naturally beautiful. So here are my guesses. #1 They are insecure and want attention and they didn't get enough love as a baby because they felt rejected they will do anything to get attention even graffiti natural beautiful places. #2 They are selfish and care for themselves and only themselves and don't care if they are ruining something someone enjoys. #3 They are uneducated and don't have a clue about how what they are doing affects others. #4 Brain damage! They think what they are doing is art but if you graffiti something that is already beautiful-brain damage. If you are going to graffiti something do it on something crappy than you can make it look better or if it looks crappier then nobody cares. #5 They want to impress people that are insecure, selfish and have brain damage. #6 Reverse evolution. #7 They are vain and think their graffiti is artistic. Some graffiti looks cool and is artistic but not on naturally beautiful places that people enjoy. Finally #8 They were born ugly and trying to get even with Mother Nature.

April 22-28

In some cultures dogs are part of daily cuisine. In some cows are worshiped. What would other cultures look at as strange or unacceptable in our culture, food or otherwise? I think that a lot of cultures think that we are frivolous.  For those who don't know what that means it basically is something that doesn't have any meaning or value. For example, in the United States many people prefer to have pets over children.  On top of that we have motels for dogs, so people are wasting money for things that aren't really necessary.  Some cultures may worship their cows but that's for their religious believes. A lot of people more than worship their pets they treat them as their own children. They talk to them, pamper and dress them, groom them, accessorize them, let them sleep in their beds,  provide them with health, dental, and medical, give them regular checkups, and most people insure them. I believe in taking care of animals but to treat them better than you treat human beings is a little over the top. But then again they tend to treat us better then a lot of human beings do.

Perhaps a better response for this topic would have been our weird obsession with prom or all the money we waste towards prom or eating out.

April 15-21

In what situations is it wise for a friend to give advice and when should they just listen? Listening is always a safe choice and you never know if you need to give advice until after you have listened to and understand the situation. The first thing you need to decide is if they need or want advice after they have talked it though and after you have listened to all they have to say. You also need to decide if you have any knowledge or experience that would make you qualified to give them advice.  If you don’t have any knowledge or experience then it would not be wise to give them any advice. If they come to you asking you for your thought and advice you need to always make sure they understand that the decision is there’s before giving advice. Telling someone what to do can back fire if they follow your advice and it turns out bad. So it is always wise to try and give them different options and talk about different consequences both positive and negative. In the end we all need a friend to listen to us and listening is usually all that is needed. So we should give advice sparingly.

Research Paper

Jamie Johnson

Mr. Gowans

Language Arts

April 4th

In the Book by Oscar Wilde “The Importance of being Earnest,” The author writes about being earnest as a trait while referring to an individual named Earnest who in fact doesn’t actually exist. He apparently thinks that the people who feel like earnestness is such an admirable trait are naive and making a big deal about something that in reality doesn’t exist to the extent they pretend it does and is an overrated title.

Cecily and Gwendolen are in love with the name Ernest. “Cecily: You must not laugh at me, darling, but it had always been a girlish dream of mine to love someone whose name was Ernest. There is something in that name that seems to inspire absolute confidence. I pity any poor married woman whose husband is not called Ernest.”(Wilde, 67-68) Just like Gwendolen, Cecily admits that marrying a man with the name Ernest was a girlish dream. Is Earnestness such an admirable trait that they want to marry someone named Ernest and only Ernest? Most people only look at the good of the trait earnestness but with every good comes bad. Although there are good things about being earnest there can also be bad.

 Is being earnest an admirable trait? At dictionary.com, earnestness is defined as “serious in intention, purpose, or effort; showing depth and sincerity of feeling.” (Earnestness)There are some ups and downs to being earnest as there is to most traits. For one, to have someone who is serious in their intents, purpose and efforts would be nice but if they are too serious in their work they would never be home or if their intents or purpose wasn’t good then that wouldn’t be an admirable trait. For example, a criminal may be earnest in getting rich as opposed to a legitimate hard working individual. So it isn’t so much whether you are “serious in intention, purpose, or effort; showing depth and sincerity of feeling” but the direction taken because of one’s earnestness.

A lot of people confuse seriousness and earnestness. Although the synonym words for seriousness is earnestness and sincerity that doesn't mean they are the same thing. “Synonyms are words that have a related meaning to another word or a similar word.”(Examples) There are many similarities in seriousness and earnestness but there are differences as well. We are all familiar with taking something serious, meaning we recognize that it is something significant or of importance while being earnest is more of showing an intense effort in doing or accomplishing something. So to take something serious does not necessarily mean you are being earnest. Seriousness and earnestness are very similar but you can be serious without being earnest and you can be earnest without being serious.

 Earnestness may be an admirable trait but that does not mean you have to marry a person with the name Ernest, even though they may be earnest. From the book one gets the impression that Mr. Wilde thinks titles are very over rated.  Whether or not earnestness is an admirable trait or not it’s all based on your opinion. Serious people may be earnest but it’s not always the case and giving someone the title of being earnest will not make them such.

Work Cited

“Earnestness.” Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary. 8 April. 2013. Web. 10 April 2013.   <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/earnestness>.

"Examples of Synonyms." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow, n.d. Web. 4 April 2013. Web. 12 April 2013 <http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-synonyms.html>.

Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest: August 2009. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print.

April 8-14

You have been struggling financially your whole life. You just won a million dollar lottery. Do you give any to charity? I recognize that charities are a good thing but I have some concerns. I have an uncle that is a fire man. I have listened to him talk to my parents about how people are scamming others in the name of firefighters after the 9/11 tragedy. He described how they call for donations to help families of injured firefighters but the charity gives less than ten percent of contributions to the firefighter’s families. The rest they keep for operating costs, to pay themselves for their time and expenses of running the charity. He told my parents if they call you don’t donate to them.  For that reason I would think twice before giving my money to any charity. I would gladly help out family and friends because I would know my money wouldn't be wasted or given to people that don't necessarily need it. I know I would give ten percent of my money to charity because of my religious beliefs.   Beyond family and my church I would have to do some research before I would want to donate to a charity.

April 2-7

If someone you loved was seriously injured or killed by a texting driver, would that stop you from ever texting while driving? We hear stories all the time of people getting injured or killed from texting and driving and from what I see it hasn't stopped anyone from texting and driving. I think those that texts while driving will most likely always text and drive but you never know. Most people that do text and drive think they are so good at it that they will never get into a crash.  For me personally I don't like driving so I don't drive long enough to receive a text let alone text someone back.  For me it doesn’t make a difference but for those that do text and drive I hope you will think about it and put your phone down while you drive. I hope nobody will get seriously injured or killed but if it does happen I hope it would stop you from texting and driving. From all the crashes that have happened from texting I hope you have already learned and don’t text and drive.  I am sure it won’t kill you to wait to text as it might kill you if you don’t wait.

Mar. 11-17

One quarter of a year remains before you graduate high school. What rights and responsibilities come with high school graduation? There are a lot of responsibilities that come when you graduate especially for yourself. You are now responsibly to earn your own way in life, to make a living.  To get a career and become self sufficient you now have bills to pay. You now have the right to be a property owner and with that come more responsibilities. With every right there seems to come responsibility.  With graduation you now have the right to make choices for yourself but with that right comes many responsibilities. Society has given you an education now it expects you to give back by being a responsibly citizen. That means obey the laws. That means vote when elections come. That means know the issues and candidates. That means help out your community by volunteering and serving.  Rights are just saying you have more opportunities; you have the opportunity to move, to get a family, to get more education, to choose a career but with every opportunity comes many responsibilities. Graduation is our ticket to opportunity and accountability.  One quarter left and we are seeing freedom but it won’t take long before that freedom is caught by responsibility. Rights and freedom sounds good, responsibility not so much.

Mar. 4-10

What advice would you give to the upcoming freshmen to help them be successful in high school? Consider multiple aspects of success: academic athletic, and social. Be positive at school I know it kind of sucks a lot of the time but if you are positive the day goes by faster. Do your assignments, don't mess around until the last second get them done and turn them in. School is always better when you stay on top of things because when you are always caught up you don't have to worry about grades or other school activities. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you don't know how to do it. The teachers are there for you ask them for help and they most likely will help you. Try your best to keep your grades up so you can participate in school activities and because your grades from now on out will count towards graduation. Your junior high years were practice now your grades matter. Treat others with respect both teachers and students. Follow the golden rule “treat others as you want to be treated.” It’s really not that hard to be kind and respectful to others, so be kind.  

Feb. 25 - Mar. 3

Suppose you had a black box of your life. What would it contain? Well, I hope there will never be a black box of my life because it would be kind of boring, okay who am I kidding it would be really boring. If there was it would contain that I was born in Provo, Utah and I weighed six pounds and twelve ounces. It would say that I am the tenth child born in my family with one sister and eight brothers. I grew up in Green River and attended Book Cliff elementary and I am now attending Green River high school. I love spending time with my family and friends and I also love playing and watching sports. I played Volleyball and Basketball all four years in high school and track two years so far. I was a good student for the most part or at least tried to be. I not only got good grade I also was well behaved in school. I have a good sense of humor and liked to tease others. As I said before I hope there will never be a black box about my life because as you can see it’s not very interesting.

Feb. 18-24

What is your favorite quote? Why and how has it affected your life? When asked these two questions two quotes came to mind one on a serious matter by Gordon Hinckley. "Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others...By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves." You can see how that quote can affect anyone’s life.  Observing people one can see the truth to this quote, people who are happy seem to be more worried about others more than themselves. People who are unhappy are always complaining and thinking of themselves. I am happiest when I am not worried about myself.  Speaking of thinking that leads me to the other quote I thought of by Thomas Monson. "Thinking is the hardest work anyone can do, which is probably the reason why we have so few thinkers." Which is the reason why doing this assignment is so hard since I am one of those stinking at thinking. Being a great mind you can come up with great quotes but so far I don’t know of anyone quoting me.  

Feb. 11-17

What do we need to do to encourage less fast foods and more fruits and vegetables? I believe if you grow up eating fruits and vegetables in your home and only eat out once in a while you will like to eat fruits and vegetables more than going out to eat. Have fruit trees in your yard or grow a garden couldn't hurt but if you don't have either of those you could just buy fruits and vegetables to have in your house. If you don't eat fruits and vegetables while you are young you’re not going to eat them when you grow up so its important to have healthy food in the house for your kids. Also to encourage healthier foods fast food places could start having fruits and vegetables as one of their options. Advertising could also help encourage healthier food choice. Commercials could target children to make fruits and vegetables more attractive so they will want to eat them. And finally education can have fruits and vegetables for an option for breakfast and lunch. Education could also help students learn the importance of fruits and vegetables and teach them at a young age the importance of eating healthy.