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.