Every September, it's back to school for high school students. Everyday, life skills are plummeted into your brain. "How?" you ask, Cheating of course. Stealing tests, copying answers and even texting friends for answers. What else would your parents want there tax paying money used for. What is high school even for? It doesn't teach you anything. Sure, I might be able to factor polynomials or right a decent English paper but what life skills has high school taught me? High school is about exploration, having fun and stretching your moral decencies. You need to live free in high school; parties on the weekend, sports, and late night gaming sessions with the boys. Why study and miss out on high school experiences, when you can copy and cheat off of someone last minute that has already done the work.

Come on come on
I see no changes. Wake up in the morning and I ask myself,
"Is life worth living? Should I blast myself?"
I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black.
My stomach hurts, so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch.
Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero.
Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares? One less hungry mouth on the welfare.
First ship 'em dope & let 'em deal the brothers.
Give 'em guns, step back, and watch 'em kill each other.
"It's time to fight back", that's what Huey said.
2 shots in the dark now Huey's dead.
I got love for my brother, but we can never go nowhere
unless we share with each other. We gotta start makin' changes.
Learn to see me as a brother 'stead of 2 distant strangers.
And that's how it's supposed to be.
How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me?
I'd love to go back to when we played as kids,
but things change, and that's the way it is.

[Bridge w/ changing ad libs]

(Come on, come on) That's just the way it is. Things'll never be the same.
That's just the way it is. aww yeah...
[Repeat]

I see no changes. All I see is racist faces.
Misplaced hate makes disgrace for races we under.
I wonder what it takes to make this one better place...
let's erase the wasted.
Take the evil out the people, they'll be acting right.
'Cause mo' black than white is smokin' crack tonight.
And only time we chill is when we kill each other.
It takes skill to be real, time to heal each other.
And although it seems heaven sent,
we ain't ready to see a black President, uhh.
It ain't a secret don't conceal the fact...
the penitentiary's packed, and it's filled with blacks.
But some things will never change.
Try to show another way, but they stayin' in the dope game.
Now tell me what's a mother to do?
Bein' real don't appeal to the brother in you.
You gotta operate the easy way.
"I made a G today" But you made it in a sleazy way.
Sellin' crack to the kids. "I gotta get paid,"
Well hey, well that's the way it is.

[Bridge]
[Talking:]

We gotta make a change...
It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes.
Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live
and let's change the way we treat each other.
You see the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do
what we gotta do, to survive.

And still I see no changes. Can't a brother get a little peace?
There's war on the streets & the war in the Middle East.
Instead of war on poverty,
they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me.
And I ain't never did a crime I ain't have to do.
But now I'm back with the facts givin' 'em back to you.
Don't let 'em jack you up, back you up, crack you up and pimp smack you up.
You gotta learn to hold ya own.
They get jealous when they see ya with ya mobile phone.
But tell the cops they can't touch this.
I don't trust this, when they try to rush I bust this.
That's the sound of my tune. You say it ain't cool, but mama didn't raise no fool.
And as long as I stay black, I gotta stay strapped & I never get to lay back.
'Cause I always got to worry 'bout the pay backs.
Some buck that I roughed up way back... comin' back after all these years.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat. That's the way it is. uhh

[Bridge 'til fade]
Some things never change.


     The theme of the song "Changes" by Tupac is about how people have to stop the racism and concentrate on more important world occurrences like "Instead of war on poverty, they got a war on drugs so the police," have a reason to give black people problems.. Tupac uses many poetic devices to create this song. One device that he uses is allusion. He alludes to Huey Newton and the Black Panthers. Huey Newton told the black community that it was "Time to fight back," and get equality with white people. Tupac says "We ain't ready to see a black President." This shows irony in the song,seeming how the U.S. has a black President, Barack Obama. The fourth device he shows is onomatopoeia in the last verse. "Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat," is the sounds of a gun firing off. Tupac uses figurative language quite often in the song. Tupac says he "Made a G today," meaning he made 1000 dollars by selling drugs on the street. The song is a narrative. The song is sung about what he sees and experiences. He uses the poetic devices to show us that we need to change our thoughts and priorities to make the world a better place.

Bingo! A men yells from across the bingo hall. I look at the elderly man across from me. I look into his deep, blue, and dead eyes and they look as if his soul had been sucked out of him. He was not pleased losing that bingo game; he was so close to winning. His wrinkles rolling over each other as if they were harry caterpillars trying to roll down his face. As the caller yelled for a new game, the man gently stroked his grey, ash like mustache in disgust.

College Application

Dear, Collage Recruitment Criticizer

     I am writing this letter to you to get into college. I don't know why, seeming how you will probably end up being my employee. I am the most intelligent person in the world. My name is Ayrton Mantha, but most people of known me as the man who parted the seas. The man of mysteries some call me. Stealthy as a spy, deadly like a scorpion, and as lovable as a teddy bear. I am the life of the party that I never attended. I do Ironman in 4 hours. I read the Harry Potter series in a day. Jackie Chan travels around the world in 80 days, I do it in a week.

     I am awesome. That's what people tell me. I have travelled to space in a shuttle that I designed while working at NASA. I am a man of many faces, happy, sad, even angry. I won the lifetime achievement award... twice. Nothing can hurt me. I bungee jump without the bungee. I drive without a seat belt. I mountain climb without ropes. I do not do anything a certain way. I am what I am. I don't know what a schedule is, even though I created them. Today I will swim with sharks. Tomorrow is tomorrow. I don't know what I will do the next day.  The discovery channel has a week for sharks. Sharks have a week for me.

     I am an astonishing, ingenious and captivating person, yet no college has had the pleasure of accepting me into their institution.

Character Review

OF Mice and Men, an American classic written by John Steinbeck. It portrays the adventure of two friends, George Milton and Lennie Smalls trying to make it through the Great depression. There were a few misinterpretations of characters in the movie compared to the book. George Milton, a small, fiesty, and angry man in the book Of Mice and Men. Yet in the movie Of Mice and Men, George, was respresented as more of a softy than he was in the book. In the book, George would go on and on about how dumb Lennie was, yet in the movie he would only make one comment about his intelligence and stop himself before he said another. George was not the only character that was misinterpreted by the movie. Lennie Smalls, described as a colossal human being yet, John Malkovich played him in the movie. John isn't that large of a man. In my opinion the director should have had a larger actor play the role of Lennie. The movie had its flaw's, but overall it was quite good.

Dialog assignment

     " How long you in for?"
     "Five years," stated Jamal " How bout you?"
     "3 years, i've already been here for seven," reclaimed Tom
     " What did you do?" asked Jamal.
     " Accused for killing my brother," Pleaded Tom. "I'm innocent man, I swear."
     " Wow, thats rough, where are you from?"
     "Cincinatti Ohio! The heart of the United States, the best place on the planet!" exclaimed Tom.
Jamal sat there and took a deep breath and sighed.
     Tom didnt know what that sigh meant. Questions raced through his head. Did I say something wrong? Did I offend him? thought Tom. "Whats wrong?"
     " Just you saying all that about your home made me think of mine, good ol' Brooklyn." claimed Jamal.
     Tom asked, "Have any Family?"
     Jamal answered, "No, lost my wife and baby girl in a car crash a few years back, never been the same since."
     "I'm sorry to here that," stated Tom in a low, and calm voice, showing his sympathy towards him.
     " I'm sick of people saying their sorry, It's not their fault so why do they say it!" belowed Jamal in anger.
     " We're human, that's why," said Tom with remorse, "we care for eachother." Tom felt sorry for his loss and could feel his pain through his words and the low tone in his voice.
     " It's nice talking to someone about this, most guys around here would call me a softy or something like that. Thank you for listening to me Tom, I now know you are a true friend." said Jamal with a calm, but almost like there was a hint of joy in his voice.
Tom smiled, stood up,walked away, and didnt turn back.


   

Additional scene

The lights were dimmed, shuttering. Curley and George both standing with fists clinched and sweating. Fists of steal. George yelled, "If yous goin to talk the talk yous better walk the walk," Curley runs at George. Fist ready for flailing. George is waiting for him, he's ready to rumble. George took the first hit to the face, and swings back with a good ol' one two. Curley goes down like a sack of bricks. George jumps on him, Curleys eyes were lit up like the fourth of July. His stomach was twisting with butterflies because he was so scared.  "Yous a little crazy bastard" said George.
     "It aint thee size of the dog in fight, but thee size of fight on the dog," yelled Curley as he threw George off of him like a sac of potatoes. Both got up to their feet. They squared off again. Silence came to the room.
     Round two. George ran at Curley, as he ran, he jumped up and smashed Curleys face with is mailed fist. The blow was so hard he felt like he got hit by a bus. Curley couldn't take anymore. George sweating lakes of sweat.
     "Yous done yet," George asked.
     "Ya I'm don," says Curley. "Get outta her' before the guys comes back," George made like a cheetah and left. He blew that popcicle stand. Lennie and George were never to be seen again by any of the workers at the ranch. They did pursue their dream, by getting the ranch and getting the animals. Even the rabbits.