Reader Response: The Tell-Tale Heart

The Tell-Tale Heart is about a man who is actually crazy, but denies it throughout the whole story. He then goes on to stalk, kill, and dismember an old man and he puts different part of the body in separate floorboards.
It starts out with the man describing how being nervous is a disease that has heightened his senses, making the most significant impact in his hearing. He then describes how his nervousness sent him on a quest to kill an old man. The crazy guy believes that the old man has an "evil-eye" and he is always being watched. Again, he describes himself as not being crazy. One day, he was watching the old man sleep, but he woke up, believing that he heard a noise. The crazy guy stood there and watched the old man for the next three or four hours, until he could not take it anymore and killed the old man. He then proceeded to dismember the body and hide the pieces. The police came and investigated for hours until he finally snapped and told them where the parts were, claiming that he could not take the sound of the beating heart from the old man.
The main character of the story is obviously a very disturbed and sick person. He also seems to be in denial about his psychiatric problems. Although the physical description of this character was never given, it is not hard to imagine a crazy-eyed maniac looking through a door at a sleeping old man. The emotional description that was given labeled his hearing sense as "super". He says that his uncontrollable paranoia has given his gifts of exceptional senses.
If I could make a movie of the Tell-Tale Heart, I would definitely include the crazy guy from The Shining. I'm sure that everyone remembers the axe scene and the famous,"Heeeres Johny!"He would just be the perfect person to play that part because he has already done a scene where he's looking through a door with a demented smile on his face. I think that the other people could be played by anyone as long as they fit the part. The old guy must be an old actor, and the interrogators could be anyone. I would not change much from the short-story, but I would include a much better history of the main character and I would also include WHY he was stalking the old man.

A Word That Defines Me......

INTEGRITY
-Making choices that help you be the best person you can be.
-Being strong enough to do what you know is right.
-Knowing the difference between right and wrong and choosing the right thing, even when it is difficult.
I believe that integrity defines my being because I like to do the right thing and I feel that life has it's moral responsibilities that everyone should follow. I feel like I am a leader, both in and out of school, and on the football field. Life is about moral conduct and without integrity, you will just be a follower and you will never lead your own life.

Today in History......

.....We learned about the French Revolution. We had do a huge amount of book work, but it was pretty easy and most of us got it done fairly quick. My teacher, Mr. Adams, was out "sick" today, so we had a substitute. She basically let us do whatever after we finished our classwork, so me and my friends were dancing. Everyone in the class was just looking at us like they had never seen anyone dance before. It was too funny looking around the class and seeing a bunch of blank expressions on their faces! We asked the sub to dance with us, but she was being all lame and telling us how our songs were nothing like hers. She tried to teach us how to do "The Swim" and stuff! Seeing that sub dance was hilarious. I wish all classes could be that fun!

Today in Math.....

.....We covered magnitudes, component forms, and directions of vectors. These concepts are sooo easy to understand, I could've learned them in my sleep, which I did. Really, I didn't pay any attention because my teacher is extremely boring.
Anyway, about the component forms, this basically means the difference between the X's and the Y's in the vector. You subtract X1 from X2 and Y1 from Y2. The difference will be the answer to the vector in component form. Secondly, we covered magnitudes of the vectors. Magnitudes are what you get when use the distance formula on the points of the vector. It's like squaring the two numbers from the component form, then adding them to get a number under the square root symbol. You then reduce that number, if possible. The final concept we covered was the direction of vectors. This can be figured out by first getting the magnitude of the vector. Afterward, use the difference of the X's and Y's to figure out how far you must go from the vector. The differences will also give you the units of to sides. This is when you use SOHCAHTOA to find the equation in relation to the right angle. Use your calculator to figure out the sine, cosine, or tangent.

TraCK anD fiELd

Well, it's that time of the year again. I think everyone knows what I'm talking about. Yes, it's spring and that means track and field! The sport that conditions athletes for football and almost every other sport. It takes the largest amount of mental and physical toughness, making it the core for all sports. Coaches will recommend running track to get the kind of training that us athletes need. At the start of the season, the practices are tiring, long, and tough, mainly focusing on the physical abilities, but as the season wears on, the practices become shortened drastically. This does NOT mean that they are easy. They become strenuous and start to have more focus on the mental abilities of the athlete. I hope to see you out there and good luck!

The Bone

As many of us Rancho students know, this is the Bone. As many of you may also know, Rancho has not had this at the school for a long time. Every single year, we go into the game hoping that we will win, having our hopes crushed by those pussy-cats. School spirit is decreasing drastically at Rancho, and we really need something like this to bring back the fighting spirit of the Rams!
After our loss to Vegas last year, we played Eldorado, crushing them, but then losing a game to Valley and later lossing to Del Sol in the playoffs. The presence was just not there during those two last games. This just shows how much of an impact this game has. The team had some stars and standouts on it, but they did not play as a TEAM. Shining moments and outstanding seconds seemed to define the previous players. But, football is not about moments, it's about how you play through the WHOLE GAME. We ended this season with a 5-6 record, not making it to the second round of playoffs. This year, though, feels different. The team is already preparing the season! We have started training and we've been at it for about two months now. In order to win this Bone, we will have to come together as one and beat Vegas at their own place! Early training is a great way to get a TEAM started and getting individuals to come together very long before the season starts. The great coaching staff that we will have is also a step towards being in the top spot. It is still a long way to go, but we will get there.

A Book Everyone Should Read!

Looking at the title of this book, many of us think of a man wrapped completely in bandages and wearing dark goggles. Then we realize that it is not Wells who wrote this book, but Ralph Ellison who reflects his life through the words on these pages. He describes how it was being a man of color in the early '50's and why he saw himself as being invisible. At the beginning of the book, he explains that his invisibility is not the result of some biochemical reaction or any supernatural phenomena, but because of the unwillingness of other people to see him. If you are looking to read a great book, or you really want to get an in-depth look at how life was for many African-Americans of that time, Invisible Man is the book to read.