1. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou says the reason a caged bird sings is because it feels trapped and wants to be freed. That makes sense to me because many people believe that it's beautiful to hear the birds sing in their cages, when it honestly could be birds screaming for help, and that never occured to me. I would have never thought of this idea before we read the passage, but I understand where she's coming from and can relate it to people. (I think I'm off, but this is what it kind of reminds me of . . .) Many people can hide under a mask and seem completely fine, but beneath their smile and laughter can be someone who's suffering. Just a thought.

3. I agree with Angelou, and believe that talking about bad dreams, news, etc. can give it too much power. I mainly see this with news because rarely do good things ever surface to the general public; mainly bad things do. An example that came to mind is the Westboro Baptist Church. I feel like if we stop feeding them attention, then they would stop. I honestly believe spreading words about hate occuring around the world and in our nation isn't doing any good. Sure, we should be informed about these events and hope that History won't occur again, but I feel like words of good, kindness, and love should be shown more than words of hate. Nice is Never Out of Style.

5. I don't think I could ever stop talking. A lot of people think I'm really quiet, but I actually talk a lot (and I have a bad lisp which doesn't make it any better). I tend to interrupt people while they're talking and many people tell me that "I'm not listening," so I guess that's my downfall. I'm actually very stubborn so I feel like if I listened more then I would be open to others and learn more.

6. I'm fluent in English and Vietnamese, but I think my Vietnamese is actually getting worse over time. I learned English and Vietnamese at the same time when I was a child and I never had much trouble learning both languages. Vietnamese writing is similar to English, Spanish, French, etc. because it's latin-based. I started learning Japanese my Freshmen year and I'm in Japanese 5 right now, and it's really difficult, to be honest. I think learning multiple languages is beneficial, and I would love to learn more! I want to travel a lot during and after college, and after going to Japan this last summer, it just proves how helpful it'd be to learn more languages, especially with America becoming more diversed.