The Things I Carry

The things I carry go deeper than physical items just like the soldiers in The Things They Carry. I carry my friendships, problems, and goals on my shoulders each day as well as tangible items.

The one item that cannot leave my side is my cell phone. My cell phone is constantly near me at all times. I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing. I feel like I have to be connected to my family and friends, and this is why I panic if I cannot find my phone.I also love social media sometimes and I try to keep up with my other friends this way. Music is also my escape and all my favorite songs are on my phone. I listen to music through my phone in my car, art, and at home. I carry my phone.


I also carry my dream and goals with me everyday of my life; however, some more than others. My dreams help me get through my day, and also manage to weigh me down and realize how much I want to accomplish. I carry the weight of going to a good college, becoming successful, being happy, and so many more I could not even manage to list them all. I want to be happy and successful and this is something I think about everyday. I carry my dreams and goals.



My relationships with my friends and family are another thing I carry. My friends and family help me get through my day, and are constantly in my thoughts. Samantha is my confidant and best friend. She helps me get through life and she is the one person I can do nothing with and have the best time. I am glad we are friends because she helps to lighten the things I carry. My mom is the other person in the world who just manages to brighten my day with the simplest of words. She is one of the many people I carry with me. I carry my family and friendships.


Who am is something I carry with me all the time. I would say the three words that describe me are structured, understanding, and ambitious. I am a very structured and organized person. I like routine and having organization in my life. It defines who I am, and it is a large part of how I live my life. I am understanding as well which means I am the type of person who can relate or forgive people even if they do something wrong or upset me. I try to make sure I am understanding because I feel it is important to think about how others are feeling. If we do not put ourselves in their shoes we cannot judge a person because we do not know what they are going through. Finally, I ambitious. I like to try new things sometimes and I have high goals and standards for myself. I do not like to settle or just be content with something I want to make sure I am committed and I love what I am doing. I carry my personality.

I think what defines me the most are my memories, and the mistakes and events that have occurred in my past. I try to learn from some and others simply just shape who I have become. My past friendships have also deified who I am. One memory that stands out and has stuck with me though is when my grandfather died. I wasn't that close with him, but I had known him since I was a child and it made me realize how short and sweet life is. I was on vacation in Canada with my family when we got the news. We missed the funeral because we were out the country. I feel like I never got to say goodbye to him and I wonder sometimes if I should have made more of an effort to be closer to him. I felt like the fact I missed the funeral of someone I had known since birth disconnected me from him and made reality sink in. Now I am able to appreciate my other grandparents so much more because of this though and that is why this memory has shaped who I am. I carry my memories.

My Heritage and Who I Am

My heritage is a large part of my life and who I am. My mom is half Swedish, half Lebanese and my Dad is half Swiss, half Egyptian. I come from so many different countries, and sometimes I feel like it makes it hard to find roots in all of them. My parents teach me about certain traditions and customs. My grandparents also influence me, and they teach me about where I come from. Some traditions my parents teach me I will take with me, and others I will not. I am not Dee or Maggie I try to be both and find the gray in my cultural heritage.

I was born in Sweden so sometimes I feel the strongest connection to this culture.I make saffron bread with my mom every year around Christmas time, and I plan to do this when I grow up.I celebrate my Swedish heritage through food and cultural items. I also will eat Swedish meatballs and cook classic dishes. I also own Swedish items like my Dala horse which reminds me of my heritage and is important to my culture. I will not continue the Sainta Lucia tradition which my mother did as a child. I manage to maintain some of my Swedish culture because my mom manages to blend it into my life.

My Lebanese heritage is also important and my grandfather tries to remind me about where I come from through Lebanese history and food. I eat many dishes and I try to cook Lebanese food with my grandfather. My great-grandfather was also a painter so many of his paintings can be seen in my house which I feel is a strong connection to my past. I have never been to Lebanon though, and many of the holidays and customs I don't know or follow.

My Swiss culture is seen in me through my need to be punctual and my OCD nature. The swiss are famous for their clocks and punctuality. I also have been to Switzerland so I have connected with the culture. When I was there I could see my Swiss side come out.My grandmother who is 100% Swiss visits every other month, and she teaches me about where I come from and how she grew up. My dad honors his Swiss heritage and this helps me connect to mine even if I don't follow majority of the Swiss customs.

I am also a quarter Egyptian. I have never been to Egypt so I don't feel the strongest connection to my heritage there. I have some family in Houston who are from my Dad's side so they speak Arabic and I hear the language.










I feel like I am the typical American. I am informed about my cultural past, but I only follow a few of the customs. I feel like I am more of an American than my parents, and therefore I am not Dee or Maggie I am a little of both. I try to make sure I know about where I come from, but I manage to be my own person and follow and do things a little differently than my parents and grandparent.s

Poe and the Haunted House

All scary stories have concepts and characteristics they share that make readers feel scared and afraid. For example, in The Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allen Poe uses a dark setting, a personified house, a lonely character, someone rising from the dead, and the element of mystery regarding the speaker's state of mind. All of these are elements that I would use in my own haunted house story.

First, I would copy the dark, eerie setting that any person would get the chills from reading. Starting from line one this darkness is seen when he states, "During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year." This is one of many examples of the dark and dreary setting of the house of Usher.

Second, I would use the personification of the house like Poe. The house of Usher is haunted, and this can be seen when Madeline is ill, dead, and then comes back to life. Also the house was described to have a fissure going from top to bottom that in the end led to the destruction and collapse of this haunted house. The house is therefore not only visually collapsing, but the people inside it are dying too. 

Third, I would use the sense of loneliness throughout my own story. Like in haunted house movies today where the characters get separated in the house; Poe uses Roderick as the lonely character. Roderick is the last surviving line of the Usher family after his sister and lover Madeline dies. This sense of loneliness adds to the ominous tone of the story. 

Fourth, I would have someone or something rise from the dead like Madeline did in The Fall of the House of Usher. When a character comes back from the dead the whole story seems to change. Further, it adds to the suspense of the story and may really scare the reader. I believe that copying this idea would not only scare the reader, but it would also connect the being back to the haunted house.

Fifth, I would add to the mystery of the whole story with an ending leaving the reader unsure of the whole story to begin with. Poe did this seamlessly by having the house fall apart at the end and then having the reader question the sanity of the speaker or the possibility it was all just a dream. The use of this technique would enhance my story and leave the reader with questions and uncertainties.

Finally, two things I would do differently however would be I would set a specific time on when the events were supposed to be occurring as well as I would add more characters to my story to extend the length of my story. By setting a time on the story the reader would know when it is happening and what the setting was like, but they would not know where exactly the events were unfolding. Also the use of more characters would allow for more depth, and I could possibly add in a character who would betray all the other ones.

In conclusion, a few of the haunted house elements I would copy from Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher would be an eerie setting, a personified haunted house, a lonely character, someone rising from the grave, and an ending that leaves the reader questioning if anything actually ever happened.