Critical Thinking Question Response #2

Question: How does this text deal with individuals and groups? Are the people acting alone and in competition with one another, or does the text help us imagine people working together?
  I have been reading the book, The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank. In this book, many people are acting as individuals, while forming small groups of alliances. I know this because the people hiding in the office Annex are mostly taking care of themselves, but they do care for eachother by cooking, cleaning, and sometimes sharing with one another.
  All of the Jewish people who are hidng are caring for themselves, and tended to be very selfish. An example of this is when Mr. Dussel recieved a large care package filled with food for his birthday from his girlfriend. He was very reluctant to share, and he didn't. He savored all of his food, and ate it in front of the others who had very little to eat.
  In conclusion, in this text people are acting both individually and in competition with one another.

Social Action Reading Response

Response Question: How different are people allowed to be in this text? Does it assume everyone is happy and good in the same ways?
  In the book The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank, people aren't allowed to be different. This is because the story takes place in Europe during the Holocaust. During this time, if you were Jewish you would, (in most cases), be killed or forced into hiding for years on end.
  In this book, Jewish people were hated by the German Nazi's because of their religion and beliefs. They were killed or brought to concentration camps, (death camps), but a few lucky Jews went into hiding and weren't discovered until the wars end. They weren't allowed to be different in any way, and the Germans, (especially the leader of the group, Adolf Hitler), thought that the Jewish people were worthless and didn't deserve to live.
  It does not assume that everyone is happy and good in the same ways because people weren't allowed to be different! The only people that didn't have to worry about survival at the time were Christians and Jews who joined the Nazi army! In a sense, I guess the Christians and Nazi's were happy and good in the same ways, but they were the enemies and were transformed into what they were. For example, the Nazi army was all trained to be the same, act the same, and fight the same.
  In conclusion, in this book nobody is allowed to be different and it does not assume that everyone is happy and good in the same ways.

Social Awareness Project 3

Believe-Justin Bieber

In the song “Believe,” by Justin Bieber, the lyrics in the chorus are “Cause everything starts from something, but something would be nothing, but nothing if your heart didn’t dream with me. Where would I be, if you didn’t believe?” This addresses the issues in the song which is being confident and living up to your full potential. For example, if Barack Obama didn’t believe in himself, he never would have run for president and become the first black president. He also wouldn’t have been able to help the United States get out of war and out of debt.

The main message of the song is to always believe in yourself, even if nobody else believes in you. It says that no matter what, you need to be yourself and you can always make your dreams come true, just like he did for himself. For his whole life, all that Justin wanted was to be a professional singer. He sings about how he wouldn’t be anywhere if none of his fans believed in him, or if he didn’t believe in himself. One of the lyrics in song is “Where would I be, if you didn’t believe? Would I know how it feels to touch the sky?”  This supports the idea that the main message of the song is to always believe in yourself, and live up to your full potential.

When I first heard this song, I thought about how I didn’t always feel confident and believe in myself so I may not have worked up to my full potential. For example, sometimes in chorus and show choir I really want a solo, but I’m too nervous to audition for it. I don’t believe that I can do it. This song really inspires me to try 110 percent all of the time. That is why I intend on making my dreams come true, just like Justin did. I want to be a singer and an actress, and thanks to this song, I am going to live up to my full potential and make this happen.

Oh, and if you ever read this Justin, (cause it’s on the internet), I LOVE YOU!

Social Awareness Project 2

A person that changes the world everyday is Wanda Butts. Her son, Josh, died when the raft that he was  in capsized. He didn’t know how to swim and drowned. Soon after this tragic incident, she learned that a minority child is three times more likely to drown than a white child. This is because many minority children never had the opportunity to learn how to swim, or their parents were afraid that something would happen to them in the water, so they stayed away from it.

"After losing my son, I wanted to do something to help other people, to help another mother not have to suffer the way I do every day from the loss of a child drowning," Butts said.

In order to do this, she founded the Josh Project. The Josh Project is a non-profit organization that teaches children how to swim at costs as low as ten dollars for four Saturdays worth of swimming instruction at a local high school in Toledo, Ohio.

Here is what Lisa Hayes has to say about the Josh Project:

"The public pools near our home have been closed in the past, and other places were not affordable. I am less worried if he is near water because he has the basics of how to swim. And we're thankful for that."

But Wanda Butts doesn’t only teach children how to swim. She makes everybody aware of the dangers of drowning.

According to Butts, "The joy on the faces of those children -- when they see that they can learn, once they get it -- they are so happy with themselves. And it's like all of them are my children. It's like I didn't lose my son."

This is why Wanda Butts is a hero who changes the world everyday.
(http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/10/us/cnnheroes-butts-josh-project/index.html

Social Awareness Project 1

ü  Bullying

ü  Popularity

ü  Poverty/ Homeless People

ü  Crime-(stealing, killing, etc.)

ü  Racism

ü  Pollution

ü  Global Warming

ü  Censorship

Pollution greatly affects society. Pollution is “The presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance or thing that has harmful or poisonous effects (Google).”  I think that it isn’t right that humans have to suffer from pollution, even though pollution is mostly caused by humans (greenliving.nationalgeographic.com  tutorvista.com).
Pollution is caused by human activity. An example of this is:

ü  Littering- When people litter, they contribute to pollution. This is because when people litter, the garbage never gets thrown away, it just gets blown around until it either ends up in the ocean or somebody is kind enough to pick it up.
ü  Pollution also affects poor people as well--“Despite significant improvements in environmental protection over the past several decades, over 1.3 billion individuals worldwide live in unsafe and unhealthy physical environments. Hazardous waste generation and international movement of hazardous waste and toxic products pose some important health, environmental, legal, political, and ethical dilemmas (ejrc.ca.edu).”

The effects of pollution can be very serious, such as animals dying, and people, (mostly children and the elderly), getting sick because of all the pollutants in the air.

A possible solution for putting a stop to pollution is putting a limit on how much pollution companies can release into the atmosphere. Another possible solution is that people could cut back on their gas usage and electricity use, and have a lower demand for products with high manufacturing rates. They could also not litter because littering is one of the biggest contributions to pollution.

 

 

Reading Response- Flipped

I recently finished reading the book Flipped, by Wendlin van Draanen. Flipped is about two teenagers, named Bryce and Juli, who are total opposites. Juli has had a crush on Bryce since she first laid eyes on him; Bryce has always thought that Juli was awkward and annoying. As the book progressed, Bryce and Juli flipped.
At the beginning of the book, Bryce was just a normal kid who had an annoying crush, a best friend, and a (mostly) loving family. Juli was a know-it-all star student who has a major crush on her neighbor Bryce, a loving family, and... chickens.
Bryce spent all of the many years that he had lived across the street from Juli trying to avoid her and get her to leave him alone. That was until she lost all interest in him. When Juli overheard Bryce telling his best friend Garrett in the library about her retarded Uncle David, and laughing about it, she was so mad that she decided that she was through with him, even though she'd spent so many years trying to get him to like her. When Juli began ignoring and avoiding him, he developed a crush on her.
Towards the end of the book, Bryce was elected basket boy, (a basket boy is someone who had to bring a picnic lunch to school on a given day and have lunch with whichever girl, or teacher, bids the most money,) and he was really hoping that she would bid on him, but she didn't. She bid on Jon Trulock.
At the basket boy lunch, Juli and Jon were sitting a few tables away from Bryce and his two bidders, Miranda and Shelly, and they were having a great time. At this time Juli still had not forgiven Bryce for what he had done. Bryce got very jealous and went over to Juli and pulled her to the side. He asked her "Do you like him?" and he was very relieved when she said that he only liked her as a friend. He tried to kiss her, but she pulled away and went back to her lunch. This is very similar to what happened in the beginning of the book, except at that time, Juli was the one trying to kiss Bryce and he pulled away.
I think that Juli had every right to still be mad at Bryce after what he had done. He had never actually been very kind to her. Juli loved the Sycamore tree on the top of the hill more than anything in  the world, and when it was about to be cut down, he didn't help Juli make a stand. He simply just walked away. He also threw out the eggs that Juli brought to him weekly for almost two years, which made her lose over a hundred dollars! He even made fun of her property and family! If I was in Juli's shoes, I would probably feel the same way. On the other hand, Bryce grew up with his dad making fun of people, and in school he didn't want people to think that he had a crush on the weirdest girl in school-Juli Baker- so he made fun of her and her family. He even laughed about it when his friend Garrett made a joke.
In conclusion, Bryce and Juli's personalities flipped over the course of the book. In the beginning of the book, Juli liked Bryce, but he couldn't stand her. By the end of the book, Bryce liked Juli, but she didn't particularly like him, although she had forgiven him for what he had done.

Reading Response on Hurricane Sandy Articles

       In the article, "The City and the Storm: A Powerless New York During Hurricane Sandy," by John Homans, I learned all about how Hurricane Sandy affected New Yorkers.
       In this article I also became aware of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. For example, many people were going through dumpsters hoping to salvage whatever they could. Many were also left without power, heat, food, water, and their homes.
      I feel bad for the people that were greatly affected by the storm because many of them probably lost everything and have nowhere to go. In some ways, though, this storm may have been a good thing. According to Homans, "In some ways, Sandy confirmed our communitarian values, underlining the importance of a government that makes a point of helping out--and that global warming was a problem to be dealt with." This basically means that the storm made us learn more about ourselves, our community, and the way that the government functions in times of crisis. It also pointed out the issue of global warming, which must be taken care of as soon as possible.
        After reading this article, I have realize how lucky I am that I didn't lose my house or any of my belongings, and that I still have power, heat, food, and water. I have also realized that although Hurricane Sandy may not seem like a big deal, it was, and it affected millions of people.
       In conclusion, this article has taught me a great deal about Hurricane Sandy, and the aftermath of this hurricane.

Revised Reading Response for Blog Post #5

   In my independent reading book, The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank, did Anne ever get used to life in hiding? When the Frank's first went into hiding, Anne was having a hard time getting used to her new way of life. She couldn't make a lot of noise and had to be very still so that she wouldn't accidently make a floor board creak. At the point that I am currently up to in the book, Anne, her family, the VanDaan's, and Mr. Dussell have been hiding in the secret annex for approximately two years. Anne wishes for nothing but freedom, but at the same time she has adjusted to her new life and daily routine. She is used to getting up early, being very still and quiet all day, and eating whatever she was served without a complaint, even if she didn't particularly like the food that was being served.
   In the beginning of the book, Anne was having a hard time getting used to being trapped in the annex. It was very small, secluded, and lonely. Anne and her family couldn't make a lot of noise because they were afraid that the warehouse staff might hear them and turn them into the Nazi's. She also couldn't open the curtains or turn on any lights because they were afraid that the neighbors would see them. On top of all that, they had very few visitors. For example, one of the few visitors that they had were Mr. Klienman, one of the office staff who had agreed to take in Jews in need of a safe hiding place. These conditions were hard for Anne to get used to because she was used to because before the Nazi's invaded Germany, Anne was free to do pretty much whatever she wanted, such as going to the neighborhood playground to play with her friends. Now she is basically a prisoner who hadn't done anything to deserve a punishment.
   In the middle of the book, Anne is used to her daily routine and what she is aloud and not aloud to do. She wishes for the hard times for Jewish people to come to an end so that she go bsck to living the life that she once took for granted. I feel bad for Anne in this situation because there is no way that I could be quiet and still for two years! I also feel bad for her because all that she can do for entertainment is study, read, and write in her diary, plus I don't think that I could live on the food that they ate.
   In conclusion, in the beginning of the book, Anne was having a hard time getting used to life in the annex, but towards the middle of the book, she has learned to accept her new way of life, and prays for the Jews suffering to end soon. I hope that in the end of the book, Anne will look back at her life in hiding and see it as more of an adventure than a punishment.

Blog Post #5: Independent Reading Book

           In my independent reading book, The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank, did Anne ever get used to life in hiding? In the beginning of the story, Anne was having a little bit of a hard time getting used to being trapped in the annex. She had to be vey quiet all the time and couldn't move around very much. At the point that I am at in the book now, Anne, her family, the Van Daan's, and Mr. Dussell have been hiding in the secret annex for approximately two years. Now, Anne wants nothing more than to get out of the annex and be free again, but she is also used to this environment and her daily routine.She is used to getting up early, sitting around and writing in her diary or reading all day, and eating whatever she is served without complaining, even if the food served is not a favorite of hers.
           In the beginning of the book, Anne was having a hard time getting used to life in the annex. It was very small and secluded. Anne couldn't make a lot of noise because the Frank's were afraid that the warehouse staff would hear them and turn them in. She also couldn't open the curtains or turn on any lights because they were afraid that the neighbors would see them. On top of all of that, they didn't have very many visitors. For example, one of the few people to visit the Jews hiding up in the annex was Mr. Kleinman, one of the office staff. These conditions were hard for Anne to get used to because before the Nazi's invaded Germany, Anne was free to do pretty much whatever she wanted, such as go to the park and play with her friends. Now she is basically a prisoner.
           At the point in the book that I am up to now, Anne is used to life in the annex, but wishes for the hard times to come to an end so that she can go back to living the life that she once took for granted. I feel bad for Anne when she is in this situation because I would probably go crazy having to be quiet and still for two years! I also feel bad for her when she is in this situation because she can't entertain herself in many ways besides reading and writing in her diary, plus, I don't think that I could live on the food that they ate.
           In conclusion, in the beginning of the story, Anne was having a hard time getting used to her new way of life in the annex, but towards the middle of the story, Anne has learned to accept her life in hiding, and prays for all of the Jews suffering to end soon. I hope that in the in the end of the book, Anne will look back on her days in hiding as an adventure rather than a punishment.

Response to "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh"

           In The Drummer Boy of Shiloh, by Ray Bradbury, how does Joby change over the course of the story? In the beginning of the story, Joby felt homesick and unconfident. Everyone has felt like this at some point in their lives, and there is often somebody who comes into our lives and makes us feel better. For example, maybe you got a bad grade on a test. You would probably pout for a while, and then your parents, sibling, or maybe even a friend makes us feel better. In The Drummer Boy of Shiloh, the General caused Joby's internal change and made him feel better.
           In the beginning of the story, Joby was unconfident and homesick. He was really missing his family. As was stated about Joby's thoughts in the story, "The boy felt his family move yet farther off in the dark, as if one of those great prarie-burning trains had chanted them away, never to return- leaving him with his drum which was worse than a toy in the game to be played tommorrow or someday much too soon." This basically means that he misses his family a lot, and that all that he has now is his drum, which-to him- is the worst possible outcome. He feels that once the war starts there is no turning back, and he will have nobody to turn to because he is the odd-man-out in the army. He is just the drummer boy. The boy without a shield or weapon and no form of protection.
           Joby really started to change when the General went over and spoke to him. The General opened up to him and said: "You want to cry some more, go on ahead. I did the same last night." This made Joby feel a little bit better because, of all the people, the tough, demanding General had opened up to him an admitted that he cried. This made him feel less alone and more emotionally stable knowing that he wasn't the only one who felt that way.
           Joby's confidence boosted when the General told him: "You are the heart of the army. Think about that. You are the heart of the army. Listen to me now." I think that instead of making Joby feel even more alienated from everybody else, it made him feel important. It made him feel like there was a reason for his presence. It made him feel special.
           The General caused Joby to realize what was really important at the time: sticking together to win the war. He also made Joby's confidence shoot up and took the fatherly position in a family to make Joby feel less homesick. The General made Joby realize that of everybody in the army, he was the most special, and that the key to happiness is confidence.

Theme in my Independent Reading Book: The Diary of Anne Frank

           In my independent reading book, The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank, the main theme is circulated around the Holocaust.  The main character, Anne, her family, and several other Jews are hiding in the attic crawl space of a friends' home.  They are hiding from the German Nazi's who are persecuting and murdering the Jews.  The Nazi soldiers would go into the homes of Jews uninvited and whisk them away to concentration camps to die of diseases and illnesses, to be withered away by the lack of food and drink, to be beaten to the point of death, and pass out from exaustion. 
           The reason that I chose to write about this theme instead of all of the other small themes, such as anti-semetism and learning about your true identity, in my book is because it effects the whole book and all of the events that occur in this book.  For example, the reason that the Jews hiding in the attack crawl space don't ever open their curtains or ever turn on the lights, is because they don't want to be caught by the anti-Jewish Nazi's, who will surely drag them all away to concentration camps.
           This book is very powerful to me.  As a Jew, I find it especially important to know the history of the Jewish people.  Although it is very sad, it is interesting to learn what happened to all of the people involved in the Holocaust, some of whom happen to be my ancestors. 
           I am really enjoying this book so far, and would highly recommend it to anybody who would like to learn a little bit about the history of the Jewish people, and to people who would just like a good read.  This book may even change your way of looking at the world.

Two Blogs That I Read and Responded To

                                                     
          I chose to read Sydney's and George's Blogs. Sydney read A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park. George read Cirque du Freak, by Darren Shan.
          I liked Sydney's blogpost because it was concise and straight to the point. I felt like I had read the book, even though I hadn't. I also liked how she sumarized the book first, and then stated her opinions on the characters and about the book in general. I found Sydney's style of writing interesting, too, because she made sure that all of her readers would understand what went on in the book that she read before she jumped straight to telling us her conclusions.
          I liked George's blogpost because it was very descriptive and it was a very brief summary of the entire book. I especially liked how in the end of his response, George told us how the main character changed over the course of the entire book. I think that it was great how he tracked the character change.
Good job with your blog posts George and Sydney!
:)

The Future of Us Reading Response

The Future of Us Reading Response

             In the book, The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, the two main characters find out their futures on a mysterious website known to them as “Facebook.” This was especially strange to them because nobody had ever heard of this website. In fact, it didn’t exist! A lot of people didn’t even have computers back in the year 1996!

            It all started with an average computer software disc. Emma and Josh had barely spoken to one another in months, but this all changed when Mrs. Templeton, (Josh’s mother), made Josh bring a computer software disc over to Emma’s house because Emma had just gotten a computer as a present from her father, who had just remarried. Sadly, the Templeton household didn’t have a computer.

            When Josh brings the disc over to Emma’s house, she invited him in and the two of them set up her computer together. Emma set up an email account for herself, and when she logged in she saw something strange listed in the “favorites” section of her email. “Facebook.” It said Facebook. What is Facebook!?! This is what Josh and Emma found out after they clicked on the link. They got to see their futures in fifteen years from then. At first the two of them thought it was a prank, but soon enough they found out that it wasn’t. When they looked at the photos that were posted on Emma’s future page, they saw a picture that was recently taken of her by the lake in their town. She went to her camera and found the film in the camera untouched and undeveloped. Then she started to realize that this really was her future. Emma looked at her page and hated her future almost instantaneously. Her future husband left and hadn’t returned for three days, and in the future, she was mentally ill! She searched other people’s futures, too, such as Josh and her friend Kellan. Josh was married to the prettiest, most popular girl in the grade ahead of him, was rich, and had children. Her friend Kellan is a struggling single mother to her fourteen year old daughter, Lindsay.

Emma didn’t like her future, so she decided to change it. She found her future husbands phone number in the phone book, and called him, pretending to be someone that he met at a party. He turned out to be a year older than her and went to her first choice school for college. She crossed that school off her list as soon as she found out.

The next time that she checked her Facebook page, she was married to some guy named Kevin Storm, and even though her future was changed, she was still unhappy with it. She didn’t like where she lived because it interfered with her future job. She was a marine biologist who was living in England because of Kevin’s job. When she changed her future, she also changed other people’s futures a little bit. Her current friend Josh wasn’t on her list of friends anymore, though he was still married to Sydney Mills, but he didn’t have the same children anymore. When Emma changed her future it changed who his kids were going to be.

            Emma changed her future multiple times, and this upset Josh because he felt that she shouldn’t be messing around with the future because it could greatly affect him or somebody else fifteen years down the road. Emma didn’t listen to Josh.

            Thankfully in the end of the book, Emma and Josh were unable to access Facebook through email anymore, so the future could turn out the way it was meant to be.