"The Fall of the Usher House"

     "The Fall of the Usher House" was written by Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Alla Poe was a Gothic writer in the romantic period of American history. He literature included dark, mysterious, and suspenseful themes. The short story, "The Fall of the Usher House" includes all of these themes. In this house, lives a man named Roderick Usher, and his twin sister, Madeline.
     Edgar Allan Poe explains how the house is an old looking, mysterious house. It has cracks all over it, looking like it is about to fall. There are old trees around the remote house. The exterior of the decaying house, as well as the interior, gives mystery and suspense to the novel. The house's description can be connected to Usher's description. Usher had pale skin, and was very bony. One can tell that he does not spend much time outside, but rather stays in the decaying mansion. The description of the house shows Gothic elements because of the dark, gloomy and mysterious themes Poe added to his short story.

United States - The Hungry and the Homeless

       In the Los Angeles Times newspaper, there is an article about the hungry and the homeless titled, "Hunger and homelessness on the rise in U.S cities, mayors report" written by Michael Muskal. A survey was conducted, and mayors of twenty nine cities that participated in the survey, said that unemployment rates are increasing. As unemployment rates increase, so the rates of the homeless. 42% of the participating cities said that their homeless rate increased. Beside that 42%, a 38% responded with a decrease in homeless rates. From 2009 to 2010, the poverty rate in the United States increased by 0.8% (on a national scale).
     Today, a large number of people living in the United States are homeless. This affects everyone else that lives in the United States. With the tough times, many people are losing jobs, and losing money. This means that the amount of money in circulation decreases. That leads to more people losing jobs, which will eventually lead to a larger unemployment rate. Until the United States economy turns around, this cycle will continue, and affect many United States citizens.

Gothic Poems

     Edgar Allan Poe's, "The Raven" is an example of a gothic piece of literature. The way Poe describes the setting of the poem, dark and at midnight, gives it a gothic twist. He adds suspense, fear, and even mystery. These elements add to the theme of gothic literature. He also writes about supernatural atmospheres, the way he did in "The Raven".
     In the poem, the narrator lost Lenore, someone the reader can assume meant a lot to him. He makes a connection with the raven (who repeats the same thing, "nevermore"), to Lenore. The narrator has an internal conflict. He is trying to forget about his lost love, Lenore. The bird does everything but help him forget about his lost Lenore. This is partially the narrators fault, by making a strong connection between the bird, and Lenore. In this poem, Edgar Allan Poe showed a twist of gothic literature.

Copter Crashed Outside LV

     In the Los Angeles Times newspaper, there is an article about a helicopter crash titled, "Las Vegas tour helicopter crashes near Lake Mead, killing 5" written by Ashley Powers. The helicopter operating company called Sundance Helicopters took four tourists, plus the pilot, on a tour around Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon. The helicopter crashed just east of Las Vegas. Authorities and rescue teams were not able to recover any bodies, until the next day, because of daylight issues. They were able to hoover above the accident site, to confirm there were no survivors, but after that, left the "cleaning up" for the next day.
     Sundance Helicopters has been involved in at least four other crashes since 1997. Authorities plan on staying at the scene for several days to swipe out any kind of evidence they may be able to find. Investigators say they may need to use DNA sampling, dental records, or even fingerprinting to confirm the identities of those who were aboard the AS350. Many reports and investigations will have taken place to help prevent further crashes. The sad incident on Wednesday, December 7 should be very carefully reviewed so similar accidents do not happen.

Favorite Part From Novel

     The novel The Scarlet Letter is a very interesting novel. Hester Prynne, a married woman, sleeps with the town priest. After her husband finds out about this, he tries his hardest to hurt the town priest, Dimmesdale, in any way possible. Dimmesdale really suffers from this and has to deal with Chillingworth, Hester's husband, indirectly and slowly killing him. He has a great amount of guilt on his back. My favorite  part of the novel is towards the end when Dimmesdale reads his revised sermon and feels more alive than ever.
     Throughout the whole novel, Dimmesdale was suffering the indirect pain Chillingworth was putting him through. At the end of the novel, it is as if Dimmesdale "broke free" from the pain Chillingworth put him through. Ever since Pearl was born, Dimmesdale had been living with guilt and unrevealed secrets. After his sermon, he did not feel sick at all. This is my favorite part because of the great relief that Dimmesdale had at that moment. Much of his pain and guilt had been taken off his back and replaced with strength and power.