Presentation on "The Twelve"

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Cry, The Beloved Country

           Even though Kumalo really never had a negative point of view, most times he always wanted things to be positive instead of negative because of his life style.  He had a realistic personality because even today people try to live life the way that God wants them to. In the book he also played apart as a realistic parent because most parents are going to be there for their children through thick and thin.

           One way Kumalo was negative was when he stated, “This is a bitter journey”. He starts to suffer hearing that his brother had lost faith in the church. In Chapter 5, “what God has not done for South Africa, man must do” is what John, Stephen Kumalo’s brother said. This gave Kumalo a negative mindset, but he soon started being positive. He starts to understand the life of Johannesburg more and more. He then realizes why they had so much crime and poverty. He started being positive once he said, “I am a Christian”.

            Kumalo wanted people to do right, especially people that were close to him. He was very upset when he had heard that his son killed a white man. He was confused about what was going through his son, Absalom’s head as he committed a murder. He didn’t raise his son to do harsh things. “Why did you leave the work that I got for you?” is what Kumalo asked his son. He wanted Absalom to stay with the work that he gave him so that he would do right and not be in any trouble while he was gone away to Johannesburg. He expected his son to do right while in Johannesburg, but turns out his son didn’t do as told. His son let their family down.

            He experienced a lot throughout this journey. Personally, I believe it became a positive outlook on Kumalo’s life. He was changed man and he had better understandings about situations. He was very apprehensive at first and did not know exactly what he would be getting himself into, just like a normal journeyman. After some hardships, his realization came to him. So far this journey has been a learning cycle, placed with many obstacles and lessons. “So they closed with hymn and prayers”, also “thanks to Mrs. Lithebe for her kindness to these people” shows that he had lots of positive people around him. When you’re around a positive atmosphere, you seem to be positive also. His final result is change.

            In conclusion, although Kumalo really never had a negative point of view, he wasn’t perfect so there were some negative points in his life. He was positive and negative for two main reasons. First, he wanted people to do right and for situations in life to work out for the better. But most importantly, this journey changed him and he learned how to handle many situations that he never thought he’d have to handle. This shows the comparison of Kumalo being realistic in the book, “Cry, The Beloved Country”. We as humans have to do that every day of our lives.

Fly High But Don’t Forget To Visit Me

“Granny, I knew that one day you had to leave, but I never figured it’d be so soon. Tears of joy filled my eyes; warmth filled my heart when I knew you didn’t have to suffer anymore. Memories in that little brick house replay in my mind. All the things we’d do everyday made me reminisce.”

The pick-up line “We’ll be back with A.N.T. Farm! Don’t go anywhere!” screamed in my ear as I watch Disney Channel. I knew then a commercial had appeared. I glanced at the TV and that was when I saw something that made me go into a daze.

Beep, beep, beep! As my sister and I awakened we smelled the bacon smoke with a mixture of golden, honey biscuits. In my mind I wondered what was beeping, until I finally realized it was the smoke alarm!  We ran into the kitchen as fast as we could and to my surprise, there she was.

“Granny, why are you up cooking alone?” I said.

“I gotta feed you, Baby! You need some meat on your bones.”

I cracked a smile and said, “Well, granny, you know I’m already plump enough.”

She giggled and said, “Girl, get in here and eat!”

Vroom! The cars sounded as they passed us because of my granny’s slow driving. Honk! That’s the sound I kept hearing repeatedly when we turned into the store’s parking lot. She always pressed her brakes for entirely too long just to slow down and turn. That’s when embarrassment struck! I’d duck down into the seat just in case any of my friends were there to see me in the car. Laughing was the last thing on my mind at that point, but now I laugh all day about it.

We’d go in the store and get groceries for the night’s dinner. Then we would go home and have fun eating and talking with a little jokes to crack up on also.

“Whew! Girl, your husbands gonna love you!” she’d say as I massaged her feet. She loved for me to soak them and put lotion on them afterwards. They would be so swollen that they looked like they were about to burst. But when I was finished, she would feel so much better.

“Terrica!” my sister yelled waking me up out of my daze.

I sat for a second and then I realized it was true that I was missing you. Memories, memories... what am I going to do without you?

How I Learned To Read

When I was a young girl my mother and teachers taught me how to read. My twin sister, my mother, and I would sit around and read together. Reading would be very fun with my mother and sister because we would take turns reading page after page. There would always be lots of joy and laughter when we read because we would crack many jokes about the books. Who'd every think that reading many books would be interesting?

Reading while I was a child influenced me to read as a beginning teenager also. I used to always grab a book and read for fun. Most time I had no choice because there was this program called "AR". At school it was always for a grade. You would read many books and when you were done with one, you would take a test over it for a grade. I used to love the enthusiasm I had when I would grab a great, prodigious book and finish it because I'd always want to take it home and reread it over and over again. Then, when it was time to take a test I'd know the answers like the back of my hand!

Well many things change when you get older, you know? Now, I could care less to pick up a book and read it. Sometimes I can settle for less and choose a book that best interest me. Most of the time it's a mystery book or a book that is deeply filled with drama. Those types of books catch my attention more than a book about a pony that raced with other ponies! Yuck, right?! I'd absolutely fall asleep, dreading to read such a thing!

When I do read, many books progress my vocabulary. Lots of words I've never heard of are always popping up on me in an interesting book. Most times I see words that I don't know and I automatically think, "Wait a minute, I've got to look this word up and see what it's about!". I try to increase my vocabulary everyday. Whether it's by reading a sign, a commercial, or something close to those natures.

Reading is very important in life. If you couldn't read, you probably wouldn't make it far in life. You wouldn't understand what many people were trying to tell you or anything! Who ever knew that such a small idea to look at many words at one time would be so useful in life?

The Thoughts of Being Different From Others..

In Marquez's story "The Hansomest Drowned Man In The World"..

Wouldn't you think that even the most handsomest person on earth would be treated the same as others? Being handsome or even ugly shouldn't separate you from everyone. Even if "The Handomest Drowned Man In The World" couldn't fit in a regular bed or couldn't fit normal sized clothes, he still should have been loved the same.

People figured Etseban, "The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World", must've been perfect with everything he did. When in reality, no one's perfect. We all make mistakes, right? Women thought he was more than their men could ever be. Whether or not their men looked like Esteban, they still could've worked as hard as the women fantasized he did.

When actually summing all the information about Esteban up, others figured he was treated bad and must've had a bad life. While caring so much, changes could've been made to give him the best "past" life. Even though giving a "drowned man" a perfect afterlife would be weird. He was larger than an average person, so life could've been a struggle with finding neat clothing for Esteban. The women could've sew him clothes big enough for him. The men could've built a bed large enough for him.

In life experiences a actual human wouldn't be too long for a normal bed. With being a human, would you ever think that "giants" are real? Some things are can be so unreal, but could also be true. What if there came a real alive man that was just absolutely perfect and wasn't an actual human size? We as human-beings would just not accept that it was unbelievably true.

In the end shouldn't we all accept each other? No matter what shape, size, or color. We as people should stop judging each other and get along as ONE.