Blending the Two

  The United States is a country of multiple cultures, though it it hard for every single person to accept it as it is. Our generation is a key factor in establishing equality and acceptance, the generations before us were just getting used to this new country. The ability to adapt and construct is difficult to achieve, but most of us were already able to do this since our early ages.
  As a person born in North Carolina and raised in an Eastern Asian country until the age of seven, I sort of HAD to adapt to both cultures at the same time. It had been difficult to adjust to a completely different language, but I had the chance to grow up around many different cultures and ethnicity. Technically, I didn't have much trouble on picking which culture to go along with, no society is as traditional as it had been just a few years back, the world is actually rapidly merging together.

Source:http://hapamama.com/2011/05/17/images-from-the-san-francisco-taiwanese-cultural-festival/

   Like any stereotypical Asian family is perceived, my parents and relatives all have high expectations in education, but I get to have much more free time than my cousins in Taiwan. My parents' strictness really wore off after living in the United States for so long, the expectations of certain societies can greatly affect one's perspective. I try live up to my parents' expectations by turning in school work on time, but really don't study as much as before anymore. 

  I typically follow the "mainstream" events from both cultures and am willing to accept more, but I am still able to tell the difference between what right or wrong to go along with. By being not as traditional as people my counterparts of the same ethnicity and being more open in accepting the unknown, I think this is the right way to retain and learn cultures.

Key Features of Haunted Houses

  Edgar Allen Poe has always been a pretty important figure in the American literature, he is extremely famous for mystery and horror short stories. Certain themes in his stories became the foundation of some of the most fascinating works today, including detective fiction and haunted houses. The Fall of the House of Usher was a famous piece of his glorious collection of mystery - based stories, it introduced the concept of haunted houses to all writers of America and inspired them.

Source:http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/grimshaw/paintings/8.html

  If I were to create a short story with the haunted house as the theme, I would like to use Poe's idea of a spooky house illusion in the middle of nowhere. It's interesting that the once castle-like mansions can become such a fearsome place years after, the dead and decayed trees just adds on to it. Since location plays a huge role in any story, it just makes this portrayed place even more important.

   Another idea of Poe's that I would like to use would be the disturbed mind of a human being, Poe's story mentioned some of the symptoms of different psychological disorders. Any character from his short stories could, in some way, be ill in the brain. His stories are all meant for people to question who was telling the truth.

  Depression would be another good feature, since many eerie feelings of a story are caused my the characters' lack of affection towards one another. The lack of focus on the characters will give the authors more time to develop the surroundings.

  The fresh idea of the term "zombie" seems to work quite well for Poe, since the sister in the story came back alive after being buried a few days prior to her reappearance. I think it would be interesting to combine the haunted house image with the use of zombie characters.

  The last idea that I would want to re-establish from Poe would be his usage of telling scary stories with natural, spooky sound effects. It's really quite interesting that the character in his story was reading another author's work at the right moment. Poe seemed to have connected fiction and nature to make a realistic fiction, I think it would be nice to use this.