My memories, My life

Elisa Garcia
Mrs. Bosch
English 10 Honors
16 August 2007

My memories, My life

There are many people who acknowledge that their memories have shaped and continue to shape their lives. Memories are very sacred values, they give people experience from their past actions and wisdom for the future. Memories can also contain horror, disaster, and disgrace and they may not seem to be very useful but having those memories makes it so much easier to be humble and appreciate what has been earned or given. People are always learning and changing because of their memories. Memories do shape people’s lives whether if it’s in a way that is valued or not the memories shape, mold and form people into the people they become. I became who I am to this day by learning from my experiences and I know not what the future holds in store for me. Like some others I have planned my future, what I want it to be like and what I hope will happen however the experiences I may encounter may change my perspective and my life forever. There are many things which could be affected by memories, my education, career, even my family. Experiences are always changing people and memories are always affecting decisions they make. I believe that my memories are and will also affect my present and future. Ands that’s why I believe that Memories have shaped and are constantly shaping my life.

Memories are always shaping my life in a way that seems very complicated, each memory seems to affect every decision I make. And yet every decision I make is based on a memory which has affected the way I think. Experiences and memories will always be changing me whether they are my own or someone else whom I know, the memories will affect me and even those around me. I know that my memories have most likely already influenced my decision to go to college and become a veterinarian whether these decisions are influenced through my family, or what I have seen, heard, or watched, I know that my final decision to try to succeed in my life was not taken on my own, my memories helped too. My memories have had a great deal to do with most of my decisions in my life already, they have changed the way I think about my future education and in a way that I believe is better for me. A single memory could destroy or create a person’s entire future depending on how it is viewed. Memories have indeed shaped me and will continue shaping me into the person I will be until death happens to take it's toll.

Another way that my memories constantly keep shaping me in until my death is my career. My life is constantly being changed from what I want to happen to something that’s different but I can live with too. These memories that affect me neither necessarily help me nor make me unhappy. I know that my memories have most likely already influenced my decision to go to college and become a veterinarian whether these decisions are influenced through my family, or what I have seen, heard, or watched, I know that my final decision to try to succeed in my life was not taken on my own, my memories helped too. They have changed me in a way that cannot be changed back. Experiences and memories are facts about life that a person can’t avoid. They can change a person from being kind and gentle into a very rude person and vice versa. These memories that change people are not always a certain person’s experiences, these changes can also come from reading a tragic death in the newspaper to any sort of subject that stands out.

I know that my memories will always be changing my perspective on life, politics, religion, relationships, my family, and my future just to name a few and most likely I will always be changing my opinions on these subjects because of different experiences and memories. I will always try to learn and experience certain values of life and I know I will be judged by many on what I believe however people change their opinions sometimes even overnight maybe even because of one experience that puts them in a position they’ve never been in before. Each time I am put in a position like that I know that I will try to remember what I have learned and keep it in mind always so that in the future I can fight for something I believe is justified. My memories have always had a great deal to do with my life, and I know that it will keep being that way, they have shaped me into the person I am proud to be and the person I will become in the future.

Memories not only supply me with experience for the future, a good career, but they have also affected the way I see my family. The memories I have with my family are very loving memories and I have learned to appreciate them throughout the years, when I was young I thought everyone had such a big caring family as I grew I learned the truth was very different and that not everyone was as lucky as me. Had it not been for my memories of my family compared to the families of friends then I know I would not be the same person I am this moment. I am proud to be known as the wild but respectful girl of the gallegos family, and every memory that I have of my family I keep and cherish with me. I know that I when I grow up I will always remember the day my grandma chased my little brother around the house with her shoe trying to spank him and I also know that I will laugh every time. I also know that just for the reason that I remember it that it will in some way shape me into the person I have become.

Memories will always be shaping me whether it is appropriate or not, shaping me into the person I will become. My memories will not only shape me but they will shape my future and the future of the people around me, they change me through people, actions, television, and stories, and they will most likely continue changing me for the rest of my life. These memories that change me now and will continue to change me are of vary from very different subjects, and they all teach me values of life. My memories have shaped me into the person I am now and will most likely keep shaping me for the rest of my life.

Chinua's Pride

Elisa Garcia
Mrs. Bosch
Honors English 10
10 August 2007


Many people have pride in their heritage,memories, language, their families and the lives around them. They pride themselves in how well their families are living, in their heritage that has made them what they are. Their memories which not only supply them with experience for the future but also give them pride in what they have accomplished, they pride themselves in the language they speak which is a part of their culture and identity, in their families that grow strong and produce future generations, and in their lives and in the lives of others. The novel Things Fall Apart manages to illustrate the authors pride of various values throughout the course of Okonkwo's downfall. Achebe's pride isn't clearly stated in every passage however from the way the novel is written it is easily concluded that Achebe has pride in his ancestry and culture. It is easily concluded from the obvious pride that is exposed when explaining the customs and rituals that create and keep alive the spirit of Umuofia. And the families that support each other. Things Fall Apart manages to illustrate the authors pride in his heritage, memory, language, family, and the lives around him by showing and explaining his cultures way of life.


The novel illustrates Achebe's pride not only through the language, memories, family and lives of others but also through the heritage. During the novel there are various passages where Chinua's pride of his heritage is exposed. These passages can be about stories that explain life, of the gods and many more some passages such as this one describe how their customs unite the people " The drums were still beating, persistent and unchanging. Their sound was no longer a separate thing from the living village. It was like the pulsation of it's heart. It throbbed in the air, in the sunshine, and even in the trees, and filled the village with excitement." (44) Many of the passages concerning the authors pride are not very direct. This particular passage reveals Chinua's pride in his heritage from the way the ancient custom of the drum creates a sense of unity within the clan. Heritage not only unites the people with it's customs and traditions it also shapes boys and girls into the men and women they become. A person's heritage is like the foundation of their entire lives and their lives are always affected by their heritage.

Things Fall Apart also manages to illustrate Chinua Achebe's pride through the language and memory. the memory and language really bring out the pride in Achebe even when the memories aren't exactly pleasant for example " perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw, Okonkwo's fear was greater that these. It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself lest he should resemble his father, even as a little boy he had resented his father's failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was Agbala. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that Agbala was not only another name for woman it could also mean a man who had taken no title." (13) The memories throughout this passage are not pleasant however it is a memory that shaped Okonkwo into the man he became and that is the pride that is given through this passage. Memories are what inform people how to act and what to do, they teach people of their ancestry and of themselves. language in this passage is not very obvious however there is something to be said about it. Language is another one of the values that Achebe has pride in, when spoken in a person's native tongue it can bring heart warming memories, it is also one of the values that creates a clan with unity because in a way when spoken it sets cultures apart and makes them their own which is why Achebe's pride is illustrated in the novel through the language and memory.

Inside of this novel there are many values which illustrate Achebe's pride, of these values there are a few which are illustrated throughout the novel, such as the values of a family and the lives of others that are shown in this passage " That night he collected his most valuable belongings into head loads. His wives wept bitterly and their children wept with them without knowing why. Obierka and a half a dozen other friends came to help and to console him. They each made nine or ten trips carrying Okonkwo's yams to store in Obierka's barn. And before the cock crowed Okonkwo and his family were fleeing to his motherland." (124") The values spoken of before are not exactly obvious however this passage was chosen because in spite of it's unpleasantness the family is with Okonkwo, when his clan exiled him he fled with family and to family that supported him. And for a family to always be there when a person needs them, that is something to be proud of, just as the lives of children that grow into the next generation is something to be proud of. The lives of the future are not mentioned so greatly but they are always there, the future leaders and the hope of Umuofia. They are the children who when they are converted to young men and women will lead and take care of their own and this is another one of the values Achebe takes pride in.

This novel which so greatly illustrates Achebe's pride is filled with values like the values of a person's heritage, their memories, language, a family and the lives around them. The pride that not only is visible but it shone in this novel was the pride of the heritage which gives a person their foundation, their memories which shape them into the men or women they become, their language which is what sets the cultures apart from one another and makes them their own along with their other customs,the family which gives unwavering support and the lives of others which are the hope for the future. These values are illustrated through actions, words, and the wisdom of others. Pride is not a rare feeling inside of a person, many people pride themselves in what they have done with their lives, others have no pride in what they have become but instead they have pride in their ancestors. Achebe's novel managed to capture his cultures struggle to keep their beliefs and traditions alive and that is another value he should be proud of.