We didn't start the fire

We didn't start the Fire. No we didn't light it but we tried to fight it. Those chants rang out of many parties in the late 20th century. This song was written by Billy Joel and was released october 17, 1989. To me, this song is absolutely amazing. It has all of the potential to me of being one of the best songs ever.

The reoccurring line "We didn't start the fire" in the song means the people didn't start the problem. The song says many people and actions that took time during the time period and Billy Joel is saying the citizens in the world didn't start it. Whatever the problem, don't blame it on any person because it has been going on for a long time. The line after that states "no we didn't light it but we tried to fight it" This means that the problem during the time period that got everyone all mad is trying to be stopped. This line calls out all of the people in the world who try to help a clear problem that must be stopped. The brilliance of this song is that Billy Joel relates all the problems in the world at the time to a fire. It says "no we didn't light it." This line got me thinking and I came up with one conclusion. How do fires start? A person simply lights it and wallah you have a fire. Billy is saying that no one just simply lit the fire, and that it has been a fire that has been going on forever.

That is only half of the song though. The other half is all of the problems that everyone was mad at at the time. For example: "Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnny Ray South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, Television North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe." This is all people, places, and actions that took place at this time period. This first line, each thing here could have had a song written just about them. But Billy Joel brought them all together to say: "Hey everyone what all of these people/things that is happening was started long before them." The repetition in this fantastic song is also a factor. Eight times in the song Billy Joel repeats the same paragraph. He is telling everyone that you can't take all of your anger out on something that a person or place is continuing, you can only tell that place/person to stop.

To me, this song has no overall problem. There are reoccurring problems that has everyone hold anger in themselves towards, but there is no overall problem. Billy Joel is saying that there are many problems in the world, not just one huge one. He is saying that we as a whole have to tackle these problems as best we can. He is not saying to relinquish the fact that these people/places did these things. No, he is saying: "Hey world, lets attack the problem rather then the person so the whole problem will be terminated, not just one person being the victim of the ever so long problem" What I love so much about this song is Billy Joel makes you think every line. He could have written a song on each line in this masterpiece, but no. Joel decided to make one big song with a very catchy tune to make people realize his overall message.

The song "We Didn't Start the Fire" is brilliant. It makes the listener think about every single thing that Billy Joel says. It teaches the listener many things, and has quite a catchy tune which is hard to forget. This song for me will easily be on my top 5 songs ever. This song makes every listener think deeply about problems, and changes some peoples perspective on life.

Facing reality: a blogpost about "A Stolen Party"

The story "A Stolen Party" is mainly about where you stand in society, facing reality, and not thinking you are better then you are. In the story, the mother knows what will happen all along. She knows that her daughter will get hurt, but she wants her to feel the pain herself; so it will not happen again. Throughout the story as well, power and resistance is shown through characters thoughts, and actions. Facing reality may hurt you for a while, but once you learn the hard way that you are being used hurts the most.

In the story, Rosaura never realizes that she is being used. She thinks that she is one of the rich kids and is actually friends with Luciana. This led to her thinking that she got to go into the kitchen because she knew the house the most, but in the end she learned better. Through Rosaura, the author showed that you must realize when people are using you. Rosaura thought she was going to get a yoyo AND a bracelet at the end. This was do to her thinking she was better then everyone else. She didn't realize that she was just the maids daughter. I think that people have to realize what is going on around them. Rosaura didn't think that she was serving the hot dogs, and the cake because she was being the maid. She thought she was actually a friend of Lucianas who was celebrating with everyone else. This is what hurt her the most in the end. Señora Ines is a complex character as well. She acted as if Rosaura was another one of friends of Lucianas, but just could help out more then the other kids. I think she did this because she knew if Rosaura knew that she was being used then she wouldn't have come. This makes me think that Señora Ines just uses Rosaura and her mother and that to her family, they are just the maids. This is unfair. Señora Ines got Rosauras hopes high and made her think that she was better then everyone else, but in the end it just made her feel way below everyone else.

In the beginning of the story, Rosauras mother tells Rosaura not to go to the party. Rosaura thinks that her mother is crazy and jealous. The mother knew all along why Señora Ines invited her, to use her. I think that what Rosauras mother did was right. She wanted her daughter to know that they were not one of the rich families. She wanted her daughter to come back to her mother and say "sorry I should have believed you." I think Rosauras mother is the smartest character in the story. This is because she knows in the end what will happen, and she knows her daughter will be hurt. This relates to facing reality because Rosaura didn't realize in the end that she was seen just as the maids daughter, and in the end, its what hurt her the most.

Power is a huge part of this story. The characters who have power, and the characters who don't all act differently. Rosaura is the character with the least amount of power. She is just being used. She has no power over the other kids, her mother, and Señora Ines. I think that she also has the least amount of power because she thinks so highly of herself, while others think otherwise. To Señora Ines, Rosaura is just the maids daughter. To Luciana, Rosaura is a girl who she does homework with everyday then doesn't see her. Señora Ines has the most amount of power in the story. The author shows this in many ways. One way is she is the host of the party. Everything goes through her. Another way is she tells everyone what to do. For example: Señora Ines tells Rosaura to go bring the hot dogs to the table. The last way is she hands out all of the party favors at the end. This shows power because it says: "thank you coming to my daughters party and here is something for joining us." It shows power because she says she is chief. She has the money, and fame.

The book also shows resistance. One way in which the book shows resistance is through the "girl with the pony tail." She claims that she is Lucianas cousin and knows all of Lucianas friends. She says that she has never seen Rosaura before so she must not be a friend. This shows resistance because the girl with the pony tail resists to believe that Rosaura is friends with Luciana. Another way the book shows resistance is through Rosauras mother. Rosauras mother resists to not her daughter go to the party. This is because she knows Rosaura will learn her lesson. I think this makes her mother a smart character. In this case, resistance was the best answer to the problem. Finally, the last way that the story shows resistance is through Rosaura. Many times in the book Rosaura resists to think a certain way, and all the times it ends up bad for her. For example: when Rosaura is putting out her hand expecting a yoyo and a bracelet, she is disappointed. In the end, she gets hurt the most. The way the author puts it is saying that if anything moves, it could shatter the feelings of a young girl.

This story had many different feelings to it. It made us feel a certain way towards a character, then in the end it completely changed our thoughts of them. The overall lesson of the story is facing reality. People must realize where they stand in society, and if they don't, it will hurt them the most in the end. The story also shows power. The characters who have power and the characters who don't all act differently. The authors lesson that was shown through power is to not think you have more power then others. Rosaura learned this lesson in the end of the story. Finally, the book showed resistance. Many times, Rosaura and other characters resisted to believe something. In the end however, it just hurt them the most.