How can we know if we really are making the choice? It is impossibly to know whether you're making a choice. Things just happen and you can't know who's in charge. You just have live your life. It's better if you don't question who's in charge because there's no way to know, and you'll dig yourself into a deep pit or questions.

How are we to live our lives with these unknowns and uncertainties? Everyone has to just make their own way through life. You have to just assume horrible things wont happen, or you will end up living your life as a hermit or be unhappy.

Do we really know who we are and what our role is in the world? You start your life figuring out everything around you. As you grow older you start figuring out what you want to do in life and what you want to do. Eventually you figure out what your role in life is, just by living your own life. Harold thought he know who he was, just an average man who didn't have much going for him. Until one day when things he did started to become narrated. From that moment on, I think that his role in life changed and started to become a different person with a new role.

complete freewill, destiny and determinism.

complete freewill, destiny and determinism.

I don't believe in destiny, it's slightly ridiculous to think that you don't have control over anything that happens during your life. Destiny, to me, seems to be an excuse for not trying. I think that free will and "determinism" are very closely related and affect each other. You're environment can severely limit your options, or expand them. What you do with the your available resources is your free will.

Battle Royal

The scene with the prostitute and the boxing is a metaphor for the black' man's status in America. The woman represents America, she has a flag tatoo and has the American colors, and he can't have her even if he wanted. The narrator says he wants to love her and destroy her, which means he wants to be an equal part of America, but he is angry he can't be and wants to take revenge on it. The black men don't have an equal part in society, and the white men take advantage of them.

The very old man with enormous wings.

I believe the man is not a real angel, but a metaphoric one. He doesn't seem to be holy or have any inhuman powers, besides the wings. For the people whose house he landed near he brought them good luck until he left. Using the money they made from showing him off to other people they were able to become rich and afford renovations to their house. I think the meaning of this story is that you should be kind to strangers, because they can give you good fortune.

The Cathedral Option #4

During the short story the main character is cautious of the blind man. He doesn't understand him. He tries to be kind, because the blind man is his wife's friend. As the night goes on he inquires about if the man can picture a cathedral in his head. The man tells him what he knows, but that he can't really make a mental picture. The old man asks him to draw it for him on think paper so he can feel what it looks like. As they draw the old man encourages him to keep going even though he doesn't think he can draw well. As they draw together they form a sort of bond, and he begins to get a semi-understanding on what's it like to be blind. At the end when the blind man asks him to look at it, he doesn't want to open his eyes. He's says it's really something, because he is enjoying the sensation of being blind, if only for a while. They become temporarily equals and he is happy.

Final draft I believe

I believe in multitasking. It’s an important life skill and a common practice for us of the newer generation. Our parents just don’t understand that we are capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time.
A simple example of this is something many teens, including myself, do these days. We listen to music while doing our homework. For some reason, this makes our parents crazy. ‘They’ think that this decreases our concentration, and that we can‘t wrap our minds around more than one thing. For many of us, depending on the music, it helps us to find an inner peace or even just to stay awake. Some research has shown that listening to music can help people study more efficiently or effectively. In actual practice, I find that I can effectively do my homework, listen to music, instant message my friends, and play games all at the same time, with no decrease in efficiency. On second thought, maybe it’s better that my parents ‘don’t’ know this.
This simple multitasking evolves into more complicated versions. In our future being able to multitask could be the difference between being able to afford a steak or just steak flavored ramen noodles. Does multitasking pay off in the workplace? You bet it does. I, for one, don’t want to have to tell my boss that I can’t finish my report and prepare his presentation by the end of the day.
Multitasking could even be the difference between life and death. I picture my grandmother sitting in the control room of a submarine under attack. In the confusion I wonder whether she’d be able to look out the periscope, watch the sonar, and decide when and where to fire the last missiles? I know I’d be able to do it.
Okay, I understand that not everyone would be able to pilot a submarine, but really, what’s so hard about doing two things at once? When my mom is driving in a unfamiliar place, she turns off the radio. She says that she can’t focus on more then one thing at a time, but I don’t understand what difference the radio makes. Now keep in mind I’m not suggesting that it’s smart to have a rock band playing in the backseat of the car when learning how to drive, but I believe multitasking should be practiced by everyone.

I believe draft 2

I believe in multitasking. It’s an important life skill and a common practice for us of the newer generation. Our parents just don’t understand that we are capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time.
A simple example of this is something many teens, including myself, do these days. We listen to music while doing our homework. For some reason, this makes our parents crazy. ‘They’ think that this decreases our concentration, and that we can‘t wrap our minds around more than one thing. For many of us, depending on the music, it helps us to find an inner peace or even just to stay awake. Some research has shown that listening to music can help people study more efficiently or effectively. In actual practice, I find that I can effectively do my homework, listen to music, instant message my friends, and play games all at the same time, with no decrease in efficiency. On second thought, maybe it’s better that my parents ‘don’t’ know this.
This simple multitasking evolves into more complicated versions. In our future being able to multitask could be the difference between being able to afford a steak or just steak flavored ramen noodles. It could even be the difference between life and death. I picture my grandmother sitting in the control room of a submarine under attack. In the confusion I wonder whether she’d be able to look out the periscope, watch the sonar, and decide when and where to fire the last missiles? I know I’d be able to do it.
Okay, I understand that not everyone would be able to pilot a submarine, but really, what’s so hard about doing two things at once? When my mom is driving in a unfamiliar place, she turns off the radio. She says that she can’t focus on more then one thing at a time, but I don’t understand what difference the radio makes. Now keep in mind I’m not suggesting that it’s smart to have a rock band playing in the backseat of the car when learning how to drive, but I believe multitasking should be practiced by everyone.