Blog #4

In the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, the story is not fair because a greaser named Ponyboy gets attacked in a park with his friend Johnny. Ponyboy ends up killing one of the socs that were drowning them and Ponyboy and Johnny run away thinking that they will be executed if they are caught. They hide out in an abandoned church for a couple of days, then leave for a couple of hours. When they come back, the church is on fire and there are kids from a school trip stuck inside. Ponyboy and Johnny run in and get the kids out, but when they are leaving a part of the church collapses on Ponyboy giving him burns that eventually kill him. This story is not fair because two kids who would give their lives to save others get tangled up in a murder they didn't want to commit.

This text deals with money because it puts people into two gangs. The rich kids are part of the socs gang which is in the rich part of town. Almost everyone else is a greaser gang which is in the ghetto part of town. If you lived in the rich part of town you would probably be a soc and if you lived in the ghetto you would most likely be a greaser. In this book who you hang out with depends on where you live and how much money you have. The groups didn't work together. Instead, they fought against each other. In this book, money puts people into different categories and gangs based upon how much money they have and where they live.        

Blog #3

In the book “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton the story is not fair because Ponyboy who is a greaser and one of the main characters in the book gets jumped in a park with his friend Johnny by a couple of Socs. After almost being drowned in the park fountain, Ponyboy stabbed and killed one of the Socs. Then Ponyboy and Johnny run away afraid that they will be put in the electric chair for killing the Soc. After days of hiding in an abandoned church, they leave and come back after figuring out what they should do next. When they get to the church they find it in flames with kids from a school trip inside.  Ponyboy and Johnny run into the falling building to save the kids. Right as they are leaving a part of the church falls on Ponyboy giving him severe burns that ended up killing him. This story is not fair because two kids who would give their lives to save others get tangled up in a murder that they didn’t want to commit.  But they did it in self defense since they had no other choice.

This text makes me think that justice in the world is a little unfair. For instance, when Ponyboy and Johnny were getting jumped in the park, they killed the Soc because the Soc was going to kill them. It was a kill or be killed moment that could have gotten Ponyboy in an electric chair charged with murder for killing the Soc. I think that was unfair because it was self defense since he would not have killed the guy if he didn’t feel threatened by him. I think if you kill in self defense you should pay less of a price then killing a person in cold blood. The book “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton makes me think that justice in the world is a little unfair. 

Child Soldier Response

Child soldiers are victims for many reasons. For starter’s, child soldiers are drugged. They are also brutally abducted from their families. Most of all child soldiers are victims because they are being enlisted every day to fight in wars all around the world. Child soldiers all around the world are victims being forcefully abducted from their families, drugged, and enlisted in armies.

In the article “Children at War” by P.W. Singer, the author explains how kids are victims by being taken from home to fight. For instance, in the article the author put in quotes from a boy who was abducted. The boy said “I was attending primary school. The rebels came and attacked us. They killed my mother and father in front of my eyes. I was 10 years old. They took me with them.” This shows how child soldiers are victims because they are attacked, their families are killed, and they are taken from their homes, which is not right. The author also puts in that “rebel and government forces alike have abducted some 20,000 Liberian children, forcing them into front line combat.” This fact makes you think about how bad the problem is since the government is even abducting kids from home. Child soldiers are victims because they are brutally forced away from their homes without a say.

Child soldiers are also victims because they are drugged. For instance, in an interview with Katie Couric a man named Ishmael Beah said that the drugs they were given gave them “a sense of invincibility.” Also, in the same interview Ishmael Beah said that “after the initial use of drugs, this became our sense of reality. We lost ourselves completely in this war that it became the only thing we knew.” These examples show that child soldiers are drugged to the point that all they know about is the war. It is almost like they are brainwashed to only know how to fight and kill.

Child soldiers are victims because they are forced to fight in wars all around the world. In the interview with Katie Couric, Ishmael Beah said, “I was with a group of other kids. Naturally, we thought if we went to a military base we would be protected. That turned out not to be the case. We were forcefully recruited.” Also, in the article “Armed and Underage” the author wrote “when Beah was 13, Sierra Leone was embroiled in a civil war. Rebels attacked his village, and Beah was separated from his parents. After spending months wandering through his war-torn country, he was forcibly recruited into Sierra Leone’s army. Beah was armed with an AK-47, drugged, and taught to kill.” These examples show how child soldiers are victims because they are taken and forced to fight with no say in anything.   

As you can see, child soldiers are victims. They are victims because they are abducted from their homes. Child soldiers are also victims because they are drugged to the point of being brainwashed. Finally, child soldiers are victims because they are forced to fight. Child soldiers are not perpetrators. They are victims of war. 

Social Awareness Project

Reading response on a social issue in a literary work.

The poem “Not Waving but Drowning” by Stevie Smith addresses the issue of people in society not caring about other people. The poem does this by making a situation where this young man is disconnected from the world. It is obvious that society doesn't understand this man. This makes him feel dead inside and uncared for. This poem shows how society just cuts people out and makes them feel like they’re not important.

The poet’s wants people to think about how sad and distant people feel when they’re cut out.  The poet also hopes that in the future everyone can be accepted and people can stop ignoring other people.   The message also is that people don’t understand other people and that is a problem. People should try to understand other people by seeing what is with the person.

In this poem there is one person trying to get help from other people, but no one is helping. The person who was trying to get help was “drowning” because he was all alone and the other people assumed that he was all right. In the poem the poet uses the words “not waving but drowning” twice. This makes me feel bad for the person who was drowning from loneliness. The opening line is “Nobody heard him, the dead man.”  It makes me feel bad that the person could not be heard even though he is moaning.

In the middle stanza the other people sound like they know everything about the person who is all alone. Their attitude towards the other person is very uncaring.  When they say “poor chap, he always loved larking,” it sounds like they think they know what this man is like. But it is obvious that they have no idea who this man is when he says “Oh, no no no.”

            This poem is about how people in society should care about other people.  


            Reading response on a social issue in articles.

“Scientists trace the current warming trend to the industrial revolution.”  The issue is whether or not Obama or Romney has a better vision on global warming. Obama has a better vision and record on the environment because of his plan to wean the United States from depending on coal and oil, so new energy technologies such as solar, wind and battery powered cars can be used.

  Obama has a better vision and record on the environment.  For example, he plans to wean the United States from relying on coal and oil so new energy technologies such as solar, wind and battery powered cars can be used.  Also, Obama’s cap-and-trade and renewable –electricity bill would have improved the environment. These example’s make Obama’s plan better than Romney’s because Romney would “increase oil drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, roll back the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations on coal-fired power plants and oil refineries, and slash government subsidies for renewable energy.”  These examples prove that Obama’s plan is better because scientists have figured out that “technology breakthroughs led to huge increase in the burning of fossil fuels to power factories and cars and heat and cool our homes and offices. Since the late 1800s, the amount of co2 in the atmosphere has increased by more than 35 percent, and Earth’s average temperature has risen by about 1.40F (0.8C).”  This statement makes the problem look like burning fossil fuels is the problem making Obama’s plan is better because he wants America to stop using oil and coal. This would be an attempt to stop making global warming worse.  Therefore it is a good idea.  But, Romney on the other hand wants to increase the use of fossil fuels, which could be making global warming worse. Thus, Obama has a better vision and record on the environment.

I think Obama has a better vision and record on the environment because he wants to try and stop global warming from getting worse. Obama will do this by attempting to wean America from relying on oil and coal which could be the cause of global warming. I think this is a good idea because fossil fuels are probably the source of global warming and by not using them anymore it will be better for the environment because it will get rid of C02 and polution. So in all, the articles make me feel like Obama has a better vision on global warming. 

              Observing your surroundings

List of scenes or situations I see:

·         Neighbors not considering the effect of what they are doing on the people living nearby;

·         Displaced Sandy victims;

·         Muggings/house break-ins;

·         Homelessness/poverty;

·         Unemployment; and

·         Lack of school funding.      

Today neighbors don’t consider the effect of what they are doing on the people living nearby.  For instance the electric leaf blower, a very modern convenience makes one person’s job of cleaning their front sidewalk easier.  For people living nearby though, it just makes sweeping more time consuming by adding more leaves that need to get picked up.  I come across this problem almost every week. I usually sweep once a week as a chore, but when my neighbor comes out with his electric leaf blower I have to sweep again because he blows all the leaves from his sidewalk onto my front sidewalk.  In my experience, neighbors don’t consider the people living near them.

 It is all caused by inconsiderate neighbors who are trying to save time cleaning, which sounds like a good thing. Well it is not, the leaves just blow onto someone else’s front making their front dirtier. Also, the leaves that weren't picked up are brushed over dog poop because dog owners don’t want to pick up their dogs poop.   Eventually, the poop is stepped on and smeared all over the block. All this could have been stopped if neighbors actually picked up their dogs poop. Also, the city coming around with sweeping trucks more often to collect some of the spread leaves would help. But most of all this problem could be solved if everyone just picked up the leaves in front of their houses instead of spreading them onto their neighbor’s front sidewalks.  

Bibliography 
Freeman, Suzanne. "Wild Weather." Junior Scholastic Vol. 114 No.14 (Apr 23, 2012): 6-8.  (Edited by Ann Hoffman/school librarian).

Davenport, Coral. "Obama vs. Romney--Energy: Fuel for the Fire." National Journal (Aug 23, 2012).  (Edited by Ann Hoffman/school librarian).

Smith,Stevie. "Not Waving but Drowning." Poetry Foundation. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175778>.

Blog #2

In the book Shadow by Michael Morpurgo, a little boy named Aman and his mom run away from Afghanistan hoping to get to England to seek asylum and stay at their uncle’s place. Six years after they get to England and seek asylum they are arrested and detained at a prison called Yarl’s Wood.  When they’re at the detention center, Aman and his mother were going to get shipped back to Afghanistan until Matt, Aman’s friend, and his Grandpa write an article in the paper telling people to come protest to stop Aman and his mother from getting shipped back. After hours of protesting with hundreds of people they finally get what they want: Aman and his mother can stay in England. Matt and his Grandpa are very persistent.

Matt shows that he is a very persistent person throughout the story. Matt is persistent because he wants his Grandpa to go see how his friend Aman is doing and he isn’t happy until his Grandpa does. This shows how persistent Matt is because he won’t give up trying to know how Aman is doing inside the detention center. Even though his Grandpa is scared, Matt will not let him go home until he goes inside.   Matt doesn’t give up when no one shows up to the protest, but soon friends and several families show up and the crowed gets bigger and bigger.

Grandpa shows that he is very persistent throughout the story.  He won’t  give up on Aman because he loves Matt. So when Matt wants to help Aman, so does Grandpa. Since Grandpa had been a news paper writer, he writes up an article and gives it to his old editor to put on the front page of the next day’s paper. Grandpa does this because Matt suggests it to try and get more people to know what is happening. After being up all night Grandpa and Matt go to the protest to help Aman.

The book is named after a dog named Shadow who helps Aman and his mom get out of Afghanistan. Shadow’s story is a lot like Matt and Grandpa’s story because Shadow would not let Aman and his mother down by letting them get hurt. He did this by leading them to safety.  Matt and Grandpa are a lot like Shadow because they also lead Aman and his mother to safety by fighting for them to be able to stay in England. So in all, Matt, his Grandpa and Shadow are very persistent. 

Nonfiction Reading – Review and reflect

In the two articles I read Disruption From Storm May Be Felt at the Polls by Michael Copper and A Slow Return to Normal Skips the Gas Station by Elizabeth Harris, they both talk about the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and its disruptions. In the first article by Michael Cooper, it explained how some places had no place to vote since the storm either damaged or destroyed the polling buildings. It also explained how those voting buildings were being replaced by military trucks or the people were told to go to another area to vote. In the second article by Elizabeth Harris it explained how there was not enough gas to go around and how some people waited for hours to try and get gas but when they got to the front of the line there was no gas. The article also explained that gas was being reserved for first responders who needed the gas. Both of the articles talk about how Hurricane Sandy was still causing disruptions after it left.

In the article Disruption From Storm May Be Felt at the Polls the author explained how voting in some areas was going to be done a little differently than normal for some people due to storm damage. For example, “some New Jersey voters may find their hurricane damaged polling sites replaced by military truck, with-in the words of the state’s lieutenant governor, Kim Guadagno-“a well situated national guardsman and a big sign saying ‘vote here.’” After reading this the author made me think about how hard some areas got hit by the storm that some couldn’t even vote in local buildings like they normally do. Also after reading this article I realized that some people probably didn’t vote because they either didn’t have a place to or just didn’t feel like going out to vote.  

In the article A Slow Return to Normal Skips the Gas Station the author explained how gas supplies were a problem after the storm. For example, “Tony Kurasz sat in his sport utility vehicle for three hours on Saturday at an Exxon station in Bayonne, N.J.; he was six cars away from the pump when the station ran out of gas. It was his second gas line of the day. The first station ran out, too.” After reading this I thought that there should have been a plan to get gas to all the gas stations so they didn’t run out.  Also, after reading this the author made me realize that there really was a bad problem with the lack of gas because there were probably a lot of people like Tony Kurasz who couldn’t go anywhere since there was no gas.   

The articles Disruption From Storm May Be Felt at the Polls and A Slow Return to Normal Skips the Gas Station really explained the difficulties the disruptions from Hurricane Sandy caused. Also, these articles showed how voting places for some areas were changed due to severe damage. In addition, they explained how gas was running low throughout the area which was causing major problems. In all the articles changed the way I thought about the storm and made me realize that it really was a bad storm that caused a lot of problems. The articles contrast with my life because it was hard to get gas to get around the city. The articles make me wonder how long it will take to fully recover.

Revised response

            The book Shadow by Michael Morpurgo is told in an unusual way. The story so far is told by three different characters: Matt, Grandpa, and Aman. Each character’s name is printed at the beginning of each chapter, and each chapter is told in first person.  I thought that the book was confusing at first because the reader has to keep track of who is talking. Then after a while I knew each character a little better, and the story made more sense.

Matt is a little boy who cares about his friend and wants to know what happened to him. Matt encourages his Grandpa to go see Aman who is Matt’s friend from Afghanistan.  He was put in a prison called Yarl’s Wood not far from where Matt’s Grandpa lives. At first Matt does not know if Aman is still at the prison.  Or after three weeks of being held was he shipped back to Afghanistan like he said they would eventually do in his letter. The prison won’t let kids in, so he persuades his Grandpa to go in and see if Aman is all right. I think that show’s that Matt cares about his friend because he went through all that trouble just to see if Amen was alright and still in the country.

Matt’s Grandpa is a nice man who would do anything to help.  When Matt told him his problem about Aman, Grandpa helped Matt and went in to see Aman in the prison even though he didn’t want to.  When he arrived at the prison he thought about turning around if Matt wasn't in the car watching.  This emphasizes how Grandpa is a good man who will do anything to help because he did something he didn't want to do to help someone else. Grandpa will do anything to help Matt.

Aman is a boy from Afghanistan, who tells Matt’s Grandpa all about himself. First Aman started to talk about where he lived and how war destroyed his city in Afghanistan. Aman told Matt’s Grandpa all about how his Grandma wanted him and his mom to go to England to escape war.  Amen also told him how he had a dog just like Matt’s Grandpa’s dog. I thought it was pretty cool that they both had the same kind of dog especially because they were both brown and white.           

The story is written in an unusual way because it is told by three different characters. One character is Matt who is a boy who encourages his grandpa to go see his friend Aman since he is not allowed to. It’s also told by Matt's Grandpa who helps Matt find out about what happened and is happening to his friend. Finally, it is also told by Aman who is an immigrant from Afghanistan who tells Matt's Grandpa all about his problems hoping he can help. I think that more stories should be like this because the different perspectives are interesting and keep you engaged in what is happening. 

Shadow

 The book Shadow by Michael Morpurgo is told in an unusual way. The story so far is told by three different characters: Matt, Grandpa, and Aman. Each character’s name is printed at the beginning of each chapter, and each chapter is told in first person.  I thought that the book was confusing at first because the reader has to keep track of who is talking. Then after a while I knew each character a little better, and the story made more sense.

Matt is a little boy who cares about his friend and wants to know what happened to him. Matt encourages his Grandpa to go see Aman who is Matt’s friend from Afghanistan.  He was put in a prison called Yarl’s Wood not far from where Matt’s Grandpa lives. At first Matt does not know if Aman is still at the prison.  Or after three weeks of being held was he shipped back to Afghanistan like he said they would eventually do in his letter. The prison won’t let kids in, so he persuades his Grandpa to go in and see if Aman is all right. I think that show’s that Matt cares about his friend because he went through all that trouble just to see if Amen was alright and still in the country.

Matt’s Grandpa is a nice man who would do anything to help.  When Matt told him his problem about Aman, Grandpa helped Matt and went in to see Aman in the prison even though he didn’t want to.  When he arrived at the prison he thought about turning around if Matt wasn't  in the car watching.  This emphasizes how Grandpa is a good man who will do anything to help because he did something he didn't want to do to help someone else. Grandpa will do anything to help Matt.

Aman is a boy from Afghanistan, who tells Matt’s Grandpa all about himself. First Aman started to talk about where he lived and how war destroyed his city in Afghanistan. Aman told Matt’s Grandpa all about how his Grandma wanted him and his mom to go to England to escape war.  Amen also told him how he had a dog just like Matt’s Grandpa’s dog. I thought it was pretty cool that they both had the same kind of dog especially because they were both brown and white.           

The story is written in an unusual way because it is told by three different characters, a kid named Matt, Matt’s Grandpa, and Aman a boy from Afghanistan and it was all written in first person. 

The Drummer Boy of Shiloh Response

In the story The Drummer Boy of Shiloh by Ray Barbary, the theme is self importance. Joby is a fourteen year-old drummer boy in the army.  In the beginning, Joby thought he was useless because he did nothing important for the army. When the general found Joby crying he walked up to him and started to assure Joby that he was not totally useless. He told Joby that he played a very important role in the army. The theme of self importance is displayed as Joby’s self-esteem is dramatically improved by the general throughout the story.

            Joby’s self importance grows when he speaks to the general.  For example, when the general said, “You want to cry some more, go on ahead.   I did the same last night.” That statement helped Joby realize that soldiers cry.   Joby’s self importance started to improve because he understood it was alright to be afraid.  The general’s conversation was the beginning of improving Joby’s self importance.

            The General continued to help Joby’s self importance improve. For example, when the General said, “You are the heart of the army.” That helped Joby’s self importance because it assured him that he played a very important role in the army by playing the drum. It proved to Joby that he was actually the most important part of the army because the drumbeat set the tone for the soldier to march and fight. The general really changed Joby’s view on his self importance.

            The theme of the book is self importance. Joby’s self importance in the beginning was low because he thought he was totally useless to the army. Then Joby’s self importance improved when the General explained how significant to the army he was because he was the heart of the army. Overall, Joby’s self importance grows throughout the story because the General spoke to him about how important his job was to the army.      

Theme Response Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring

The theme of the book The Lord of The Ring, Book One, The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, is the challenge of being brave and having responsibility.  In the beginning, Bilbo disappears from his party and goes away, leaving everything to Frodo including his magical ring.  Gandalf told Frodo to keep the ring safe and instructed him to never put the ring on.   Many years later, Gandalf returns and tells Frodo that he must leave the Shire because of Bilbo’s magical ring that possessed a Great dark evil power.  In addition, Gandalf told Frodo to bring Sam (Frodo’s friend) with him in order to watch his back and help him.  Almost immediately after Frodo and Sam stated to leave the Shire, they were pursued by scary black riders.  The theme is responsibility and bravery because Frodo and Sam have to face their fears and protect the ring from falling into the wrong hands.

            In the book the theme of responsibility was expressed when Frodo followed Gandalf’s instructions to leave the Shire with Sam.  This emphasizes Frodo’s responsibility because he didn’t just say, “Not my problem” and walk away like nothing happened or was going to happen.  Also, it shows how responsible he was to do exactly what Gandalf instructed him to do by bringing Sam along to watch his back and help him. These examples show how Frodo and Sam were responsible and brave enough to leave the Shire.

            Frodo and Sam exhibit bravery even though they were frightened. Almost immediately after Frodo and Sam started to leave the Shire they were pursued by scary black riders.  “We have all been scared.” said Pippin another friend of Frodo who got dragged into the chase. Even though they were fearful of the black riders, Frodo and Sam didn’t just give up and go home.  Their perseverance shows their bravery.

The theme of the book is responsibility and bravery.  Frodo is responsible and does exactly what Gandalf instructs him to do.   Frodo is also brave enough to ignore his fear of being caught by dark riders and keep going on his mission.  Overall, Frodo is responsible and brave enough to leave the Shire and keep Bilbo’s ring out off the wrong hands.  

Blog Response

http://chrisdawsome1.blogspot.com/

I enjoyed reading this blog post because I liked how the summary was very detailed.  The summary helped me understand the biography on Steve Jobs. I was amazed that he got fired from Apple.  I also liked how Chris listed the movies Pixar made with Steve Jobs' computer and put in which one was his favorite.  I found it interesting that Steve Wozniak got his credit stolen by Steve Jobs.  I think Steve Wozniak didn't fight hard enough to get the credit he earned.

http://hhyti.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-great-gatsby.html

I enjoyed reading this blog post because now I really know what "the Great Gatsby" is all about.  I liked how the theme "money isn't everything" because money doesn't buy happiness or friendship and when you die money has no value.  I also liked how Justin put "spoiler alert" to tell the reader that he was about to ruin the book for people who are going to read it or are reading it now.  I find it interesting that Myrtle would stand in front of Tom's car to try and stop it instead of waving the car over to her on the side of the road.   

From Baghdad With Love

In the book From Baghdad, With Love by Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman with Melinda Roth, the Lava Dogs saved a puppy’s life getting him out of Baghdad.  From the time the Lava Dogs see the puppy in the empty room, a bond between them start, especially for Lt. Kolman who at first follows General Order 1-A and won’t let the puppy get to close to him.  General Order 1-A states that no pets are allowed on base except military trained dogs like bomb dogs.  After thinking about it, Lt. Kolman and the Lava Dogs decide to take the dog anyway and name him Lava.  Slowly the Lava Dogs start to like having Lava around and decide to keep him and not put him out on the streets again.  After that, they cared so much about Lava that it was not an option to leave him in Baghdad when Lt. Kolman went back to the states.  

I thought Lt. Kolman and the Lava Dogs did the right thing by taking Lava back to the base and ignoring General Order 1-A because if they didn’t Lava would probably have been shot or blown up.  In addition, Lava could have starved to death because he is a puppy with almost no way of getting food.  Also, if the Lava dogs didn’t take Lava someone else probably would have found Lava in a building or on the street and would not have taken him with them because most people in Baghdad are afraid of dogs.  I think that Lt. Kolman must have loved Lava a lot because he saved Lava from going back out on the streets after he left by spending hours and hour’s arranging ways for Lava to go to the states.  But in the end, only one way worked.  Lt. Kolman and the Lava Dogs saved Lava’s life by taking him back to base and making sure he was fed and well taken care of, then sent him to the states where he would be safe.