Non-Fiction Reading Response

  I just read the article called "To Save a Life, a Tug of War With the Earth," by Mark Santora and Matt Flegenheimer. It is about a group of heroic New York City firefighters who rescued a construction worker who fell into a gaping hole while building a new subway line. After he fell, he wasn't able to get out. He was stuck there for many hours while the firefighters and other construction workers dug him out.
  The man was waist-deep in muck about 100 feet below the streets. It took a backhoe, a lot of firefighters, a lot of rope, and a giant griphoist machine to remove the man from the ground.
  " 'It was a hell hole,' said Lt. Rafael Goyenechea, a paramedic who quickly reached the worker and stayed by his side for more than four hours. 'I was definitely worried throughout about possible drowning.' "
  I think that it's really good that they were able to get the construction worker out of the hole. It was also great that nobody was hurt throughout the process.

Reading Response

I am currently reading the book A Corner of the Universe, by Ann Martin. This book is about a twelve year old girl named Hattie who's entire life changes when her uncle Adam comes to town. But Adam isn't like other people. Despite the fact thats he's 21, he has mental problems and cannot control himself. Hattie has never met Adam before, and she didn't even know that he existed. The first time that she even heard his name was when her parents told her that his special school was closing and that he was moving into town to live with her grandparents.
When Adam moves into the small town of Millerton, people don't want to deal with him and his mental problems.
What I think will happen later on in the book is that people in Millerton will eventually learn to accept him for who he is.
\In conclusion, this book is about a girl named Hattie whos life changes drastically when her uncle with mental problems moves to town and I think that eventually people will learn to accept him.

Reading Response

I recently started reading the book,  Million Dollar Throw, by Mike Lupica. This book is about a thirteen year old boy named Nate Brodie, (nicknamed Brady-- after Tom Brady), who is a football quarterback in New England. In this book, Brady gets the chance of a lifetime when he wins a contest sponsored by a chain of sports stores known as SportStuff. The winner of the contest gets a chance to attempt to throw a football through a twenty inch ring from thirty yards away during haf-time at an NFL game. Winning this contest is about as likely as winning the lottery, but Brady actually won.
Brady's family is poor and could really use the million dollars that Brady may or may not be able to win. His father recently lost his job, his mother is working two jobs, and the Brodie's are in danger of losing their house. Brady is a fantastic quarterback and he is confident that he can make the throw, but as time goes on and it gets closer and closer to the big day, Brady starts to lose his proffessional touch.
I think that Brady will be able to make the throw because he is a really good football player and he appears to always be very confident and self-motivated. Also, Brady seems like a good kid and he probably just wants to make his family, friends, (especially his best friend and next door neighbor, Abby), coach, and his inspiration, Tom Brady, proud of him. As a result, I think that this will make him practice a lot and work really hard so that he will be able to make the million dollar throw.
In conclusion, I think that Brady will make the throw and win one million dollars because he is a good kid who is both confident and self-motivated.

Reading Response due 2/14

The book "Don't Eat This Book," by Morgan Spurlock is about "Fast food and the supersizing of America." In the first few chapters, I learned about obesity in America and how big of a problem it has become. According to the book, the United States is the fattest countryin the world. 65% of all adults in the United States are overweight and 30% are obese. Many companies have now had to start making extra-large, reinforced car seats, huge chairs, and even "super-heavy-duty" bathroom scales. Morgan was on a journey to show people the effects of fast food on a persons health. He ate only McDonalds food for thirty days which was documented in his documentary "Super Size Me."
According to this book, school lunch is partially to blame for kids being overweight or obese. School lunch is usually a variety of fattening and unhealthy foods. There is pizza, mac and cheese, french fries, cinnamon buns, snack cakes, chips, sugary drinks... it's a big buffet of bad for you foods. *
In this book, the author wants to get everybody thinking about how they should eat and possibly even convince them to change their diets. I think that Morgan made his point in a very interesting way by eating McDonalds for thirty straight days. It is really different than just writing a book about it and expecting people to read it and become informed. He experienced the fattieness first hand. He also wrote this book in first person so he is talking directly to the reader which makes it all that much more interesting.
In conclusion, "Don't Eat This Book," by Morgan Spurlock, is a really good book that tells the true story of how fast food can effect Americans.

Reading Response

Who has the power in this text?
  In the book Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah, the people that have the most power are the adults, mainly her stepmother, Niang. The other three people that have the most power are her grandparents, Ye Ye and Nai Nai, and her father.
  Her stepmother Niag is in charge of everyone and everything in this book. She is very controlling and makes all of the plans for the family, which usually exclude her five stepchildren, who she despises. Her grandparents only use their "powers" to get a meal or some hot water, and her father mostly just goes along with whatever Niang says to keep hef happy.
  In conclusion, the people that have most of the power in this book are the adults, especially Niang, Adeline's stepmother.

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.