On the third day of English class we, as a class, were told to pick an essay that we would were interested in, out of a book call 100 Great Essays. Like fate, I flipped directly to the story called “The Allegory of The Cave” written by Plato. Plato written a story to show the reader about the themes that he contemplated everyday: Enlightenment, Open Mindedness, and Truth. I had always wondered about these subjects but had never really taken the initiative and sit down and try to organize my thoughts so that I might be able to derive some clarity to the whole subject of philosophy. I now had the chance though, and I took it. On one side of the spectrum of human perception, people believe that enlightenment, open mindedness, and truth are nonsense and are false hopes; however, on the other side of the spectrum some believe that this is a necessary thought to understand and be happy. And than there is some that believe everything in between. For me though, I believe nothing, but I do feel that it is somewhat necessary to lead a good life and a happy one at that. Through reading this paper I have found that one can become wiser to learn how and what to think about to understand things. Like in the story, the man who had left the cave became enlightened and saw the truth, such that I did when I didn’t pay any attention to the thoughts that I pondered ever time I was alone too putting them all out on paper and organizing them so that I may understand more. And I hope that through this paper I can persuade you to do the same as Plato did for me. And I assure you that by the end of my portfolio you, as the reader, will come to know and understand the thoughts that keep you up at night. Because few know that these questions and thoughts plague every man’s mind, and many do not indulge in these thoughts and merely push them aside as pointless.

In my experience this is the first time that I have ever worked on a multi-genre paper, and I must say it was quite difficult, however, it did allow me to be as creative as I liked, and gave me the freedom that I needed to have as much fun as I wanted. In having to choose 7 different genres I was allowed to choose 7 different ways I could try and display my themes, whether it be visually or written. In a picture of Light Rays and Truth, which was an original creation for 8th grade Art, I was able to show to the reader the balance between truth and lies, how some are in the dark and others are in light and yet don’t know it, and how close everyone is to knowing the truth but are unable to see it. In the two voice poem, which was an assignment given to our English class, I was able to display to you what each were thinking, and how both think almost the same about what they see and feel, and how blind the one man is that knows nothing but lies and can’t see that because he is to blind to think otherwise. I only hope that by the end of this portfolio that you will open your mind and think, about the choices you make, the time you use, and what is right and wrong. All I ask is that you think.