"Imagine finding someone you love more than anything in the world, who you would risk your life for but couldn't marry. And you couldn't have that special day the way your friends do- you know, wear the ring on your finger and have it mean the same thing as everybody else. Just put yourself in that person's shoes. It makes me feel sick to my stomach."
-Miley Cyrus
Gay marriage is currently a huge universal debate. There are many countries that are strongly against it, and there are countries who have already legalized it. The United States is a bit of both, because gay marriage is legal depending on the state. So far, gay marriage is accepted by seventeen states, and New York is one of them. Many gays and lesbians peacefully protest so the other thirty three can follow suit of these seventeen states, while others try a more constitutional/national approach; they face many obstacles to get this. Many straights are against gay rights, turning the matter of who you love into a political and public issue.
"Mob storms gay- rights office in Ivory Coast" is a gay/lesbian situation outside of the United States. The article is about a group of two hundred people raiding a gay- rights office, taking all of the computers, and trashing the place. They scattered trash and broken glass all over the entrance, and many anti- gay/lesbian signs were hung up all over the building. But get this: the Ivory Coast is supposedly considered one of the safer places in Africa for homosexuals can be in. I think that the claim of this article is without the gay marriage legalized and gay rights established, a "safe haven" is nonexistence.
To my surprise, I actually found quite a few interesting craft moves in this article. I always thought that articles were just straight- forward information, but this article proved otherwise. One craft move that I noticed was how the author split the article into two parts: one of what happened, and one of what people thought about it, which is sort of like cause and effect. This is interesting because it keeps the article both informative and full of opinions. Word choice is also another craft move. It emphasizes what the author thinks. The author includes words such as angry, dangers, heaved, scattered, broken, shocked, and saddened. Another craft move, and this is a first that I've ever seen an article use this, is including a couple of short paragraphs at the end about the same situations in other places. I think this craft move emphasizes the claim that the author is trying to make because presenting examples of other attacks and anti- gay/lesbian movements outside of the article acknowledges that there aren't any "safe havens" yet.
I know what I'm going to say next will leave a fire, but I want to say it, because it is what I truly believe, even if others don't. I don't see any reason why being homosexual makes you as a person any different just because you like a person of your same gender. It's like the women's right to vote or racism all over again- discrimination. It's still the early stages of gay rights being universal right now, but it will be, and I feel like if everyone just minds their own business and supports gay rights, the world can deal about other and more important issues, when gay marriage is such a simple one (people are just making it bigger.) If people haven't noticed this yet, gay rights are rights for gays, rights that they are supposed to have, because honestly, strangers who you've never met has absolutely no right to control who you should and shouldn't love.
I have a friend who's lesbian, and someone made a comment about how this country is getting screwed up after seeing her girlfriend kissing her. Everyone was shocked at this, and immediately defended her. I don't think America is falling into a pit hole like he said, at least in the sense of people's rights. It's moving towards more equality for everyone, which is a good thing. It's already quite obvious that one day, our grandchildren are the ones who will learn about the gay rights movement during his/her social studies class, and reflect on how unreasonable this all was, just like how we look at racism today from fifty years ago, so everyone should just accept people the way they are, and fight for the gay rights people deserve!
Monday, February 3, 2014
Monday, January 27, 2014
The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss
"When the Star- Belly Sneetches had frankfurter roasts
Or picnics or parties or marshmallow toasts,
They never invited the Plain- Belly Sneetches.
They left them out cold, in the dark of the beaches.
They kept them away. Never let them come near.
And that's how they treated them year after year."
This is a stanza from The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss, which is a book about the discrimination against the Plain- Belly Sneetches, just because they didn't have stars while the Star- Belly Sneetches did. They left out the Plain- Belly Sneetches from parties and games, and often ignored them when both sneetches encountered each other. As I pointed out earlier, the book is written in stanzas, as if it were a poem. I think Dr. Seuss decided to write the book as if it were a poem because poems are short, but heavily stocked with figurative language, which is something that he uses lots of. Due to close reading this book, I have been able to pick up the small, yet important details of the story that I wasn't able to when I first read it in first grade. These details can be really important; they can make the difference of your opinion on the characters/setting by strengthening it… or changing it, because sometimes, close reading is like reading through different, but clearer lens. The Sneetches is a book about the discrimination against the Plain- Belly Sneetches just because they didn't have stars while the Star- Belly Sneetches did. They left out the Plain- Bellies.
Power and resistance is one lens that can be looked through while close reading. In pages 4 and 5, the Star- Belly Sneetches are ignoring, and playing without the Plain- Belly Sneetches. The Plain- Belly Sneetches just watches the other sneetches having fun, and lets the Star- Belly Sneetches bully them. The Star- Belly Sneetches created their own power by establishing the imaginary boundary between those who have stars and those who don't. They use their power to treat the Plain- Belly Sneetches unfairly. I can't help thinking that if enough Plain- Belly Sneetches ever once thought of stopping the inequality, they would have been treated very differently.
Another example of power and resistance in the book is on page 22. Sylvester McMonkey McBean drove away laughing when all of the sneetches spent every last penny of their money getting and removing their stars. He provoked the sneetches by trying to profit from their want to differentiate themselves, and actually enforcing the imaginary boundary. This shows that Sylvester McMonkey McBean has power because he realizes the problems of the sneetches, and takes advantage of it. The sneetches don't resist because they don't realize what the monkey is trying to do, and are so wrapped up in what they've always wanted; the Star- Belly Sneetches want to keep their differences, while the Plain- Belly Sneetches wanted to be just like the Star- Belly Sneetches. This situation reminds me of Rosaura in The Stolen Party, where she didn't realize the power and resistance between her and Senora Ines, which makes me think that the ignorance of the power and resistance in real life is common.
Word choice is another lens of close reading. In the book, the phrases "hiked right on past them without even talking," "left them out cold in the dark of the beaches," and "we're still the best snitches" are all associated to the Star- Belly Sneetches. It shows that they are proud and arrogant to ignore and exclude the Plain- Belly Sneetches just because they have a star on their bellies. I noticed that the star is a very important symbol of the story. I can connect it to racism in the real world. People judged and discriminated others by the color of their skin, just like the Star- Bellied Sneetches did with the stars.
Close reading is such a useful tool for reading; it helps you elaborate from your original thoughts, pushing yourself to think even deeper. Overall, I noticed that Dr. Seuss excels in using "childish" drawings and symbols to address deep issues, which actually is a pretty smart technique because it is directed to children, teaching them important lessons that would stay with them forever. These drawings and symbols are simple enough for children to understand. It's kind of cool how this book is about not judging others for a simple thing such as appearances, because when some of the people in the eighth grade class found out that we were studying picture books, they were shocked, but soon learned/realized that picture books are far more than just books for small children. People of all ages can still learn a lot from these books. I still think it's incredible how Dr. Seuss compared racism to stars on sneetches, and, well... doesn't it kind of proves how foolish human's judgement can be sometimes? And if children's minds can grasp this idea after reading about the sneetches, it's a wonder how long it took for humanity to come clean from racism, which is a point that still hasn't been reached yet.
Or picnics or parties or marshmallow toasts,
They never invited the Plain- Belly Sneetches.
They left them out cold, in the dark of the beaches.
They kept them away. Never let them come near.
And that's how they treated them year after year."
This is a stanza from The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss, which is a book about the discrimination against the Plain- Belly Sneetches, just because they didn't have stars while the Star- Belly Sneetches did. They left out the Plain- Belly Sneetches from parties and games, and often ignored them when both sneetches encountered each other. As I pointed out earlier, the book is written in stanzas, as if it were a poem. I think Dr. Seuss decided to write the book as if it were a poem because poems are short, but heavily stocked with figurative language, which is something that he uses lots of. Due to close reading this book, I have been able to pick up the small, yet important details of the story that I wasn't able to when I first read it in first grade. These details can be really important; they can make the difference of your opinion on the characters/setting by strengthening it… or changing it, because sometimes, close reading is like reading through different, but clearer lens. The Sneetches is a book about the discrimination against the Plain- Belly Sneetches just because they didn't have stars while the Star- Belly Sneetches did. They left out the Plain- Bellies.
Power and resistance is one lens that can be looked through while close reading. In pages 4 and 5, the Star- Belly Sneetches are ignoring, and playing without the Plain- Belly Sneetches. The Plain- Belly Sneetches just watches the other sneetches having fun, and lets the Star- Belly Sneetches bully them. The Star- Belly Sneetches created their own power by establishing the imaginary boundary between those who have stars and those who don't. They use their power to treat the Plain- Belly Sneetches unfairly. I can't help thinking that if enough Plain- Belly Sneetches ever once thought of stopping the inequality, they would have been treated very differently.
Another example of power and resistance in the book is on page 22. Sylvester McMonkey McBean drove away laughing when all of the sneetches spent every last penny of their money getting and removing their stars. He provoked the sneetches by trying to profit from their want to differentiate themselves, and actually enforcing the imaginary boundary. This shows that Sylvester McMonkey McBean has power because he realizes the problems of the sneetches, and takes advantage of it. The sneetches don't resist because they don't realize what the monkey is trying to do, and are so wrapped up in what they've always wanted; the Star- Belly Sneetches want to keep their differences, while the Plain- Belly Sneetches wanted to be just like the Star- Belly Sneetches. This situation reminds me of Rosaura in The Stolen Party, where she didn't realize the power and resistance between her and Senora Ines, which makes me think that the ignorance of the power and resistance in real life is common.
Word choice is another lens of close reading. In the book, the phrases "hiked right on past them without even talking," "left them out cold in the dark of the beaches," and "we're still the best snitches" are all associated to the Star- Belly Sneetches. It shows that they are proud and arrogant to ignore and exclude the Plain- Belly Sneetches just because they have a star on their bellies. I noticed that the star is a very important symbol of the story. I can connect it to racism in the real world. People judged and discriminated others by the color of their skin, just like the Star- Bellied Sneetches did with the stars.
Close reading is such a useful tool for reading; it helps you elaborate from your original thoughts, pushing yourself to think even deeper. Overall, I noticed that Dr. Seuss excels in using "childish" drawings and symbols to address deep issues, which actually is a pretty smart technique because it is directed to children, teaching them important lessons that would stay with them forever. These drawings and symbols are simple enough for children to understand. It's kind of cool how this book is about not judging others for a simple thing such as appearances, because when some of the people in the eighth grade class found out that we were studying picture books, they were shocked, but soon learned/realized that picture books are far more than just books for small children. People of all ages can still learn a lot from these books. I still think it's incredible how Dr. Seuss compared racism to stars on sneetches, and, well... doesn't it kind of proves how foolish human's judgement can be sometimes? And if children's minds can grasp this idea after reading about the sneetches, it's a wonder how long it took for humanity to come clean from racism, which is a point that still hasn't been reached yet.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Fox by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks
In class, I learned that every word that was chosen to be part of a book has a deeper meaning intended by the author than if you had just quickly skimmed through the book. That's why word choice is a very important method for close reading. Studying the word choice of a book helps you to further understand the story content. When you study the word choice carefully, you can sometimes read it in a different light, because it can help you pick up the small, but important details that could change the whole meaning of the story for the reader(s). The story Fox by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks is about friendship, trust, loyalty, want versus need, and trust. In the book, Magpie burnt her wing, and can no longer fly. Dog helps her and becomes friends with her. Fox, however, is jealous of their friendship, and separates them. For this book, word choice helped me with understanding the characters a lot better.
"Slowly, jiggety-hop, she begins the long journey home." This quote from the book means a lot more than just making a decision to go home. It shows that Magpie (which is who "she" is referring to) has enough courage to make this decision, considering the fact that she has a burnt wing. The word "long" indicates that the journey won't be an easy one. However, the word "jiggety-hop" makes you think that Magpie will finish the journey because it gives a light sense in such a serious sentence. This is the last sentence of the story, and it leaves you hanging. Adding the word "jiggety-hop" tells you that she does complete the journey, which shows you how important word choice is, because it changes the whole meaning of the story if the word wasn't there.
If you asked anyone who read the book Fox, they would immediately tell you that Dog is a very friendly creature, because he is the one who took care of Magpie, and he was the one who welcomed Fox, who was a complete and total stranger to them. However, the words "silent," and "does not answer" are easily overlooked to be connected to Dog. Again, each word that the author chose to include in their books always have a purpose of being there. "Silent" and "does not answer" has double meanings. They don't just mean that he's not replying to Magpie's despairing comments, but also that he is very patient to let Magpie rant about her poor wing. He listens to her, but also works with her, giving her a ride to where ever they go.
It's very easy to say that Fox is a cynical, dark, and selfish bully, which is not wrong at all. But when your read the words "a smell of rage and envy..." and then "loneliness," you feel bad for him, and you can see his motive for separating Dog and Magpie. It might not be the right thing to do, but at least the readers known that he's not doing it just bully Magpie and Dog. The line "Now you and Dog will know what it is like to be truly alone" confirms this.
I recently just finished the book Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, which was about the shooting that happened in Sterling, New Hampshire. Although it was absolutely wrong to shoot people at your school, Jodi Picoult does an excellent job giving you the shooter's back story, and does an excellent job making you feel bad for the shooter. After reading the book, my judgement was very confused with whether he should have been imprisoned for life or not. (I'm not going to spoil the book any further, but to everyone reading, it is the absolute best book ever!!!) The reason why I'm mentioning Nineteen Minutes is because just like Fox, the shooter has a back story, and I think Fox has one too that won't make him seem so conniving. Now, every time I read about someone being arrested for a crime, I wonder, "What is his/her back story?" and I don't get enraged all of a sudden. I feel bad for them, because the laws have no mercy when judging you (again, from Nineteen Minutes!)
"Slowly, jiggety-hop, she begins the long journey home." This quote from the book means a lot more than just making a decision to go home. It shows that Magpie (which is who "she" is referring to) has enough courage to make this decision, considering the fact that she has a burnt wing. The word "long" indicates that the journey won't be an easy one. However, the word "jiggety-hop" makes you think that Magpie will finish the journey because it gives a light sense in such a serious sentence. This is the last sentence of the story, and it leaves you hanging. Adding the word "jiggety-hop" tells you that she does complete the journey, which shows you how important word choice is, because it changes the whole meaning of the story if the word wasn't there.
If you asked anyone who read the book Fox, they would immediately tell you that Dog is a very friendly creature, because he is the one who took care of Magpie, and he was the one who welcomed Fox, who was a complete and total stranger to them. However, the words "silent," and "does not answer" are easily overlooked to be connected to Dog. Again, each word that the author chose to include in their books always have a purpose of being there. "Silent" and "does not answer" has double meanings. They don't just mean that he's not replying to Magpie's despairing comments, but also that he is very patient to let Magpie rant about her poor wing. He listens to her, but also works with her, giving her a ride to where ever they go.
It's very easy to say that Fox is a cynical, dark, and selfish bully, which is not wrong at all. But when your read the words "a smell of rage and envy..." and then "loneliness," you feel bad for him, and you can see his motive for separating Dog and Magpie. It might not be the right thing to do, but at least the readers known that he's not doing it just bully Magpie and Dog. The line "Now you and Dog will know what it is like to be truly alone" confirms this.
I recently just finished the book Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, which was about the shooting that happened in Sterling, New Hampshire. Although it was absolutely wrong to shoot people at your school, Jodi Picoult does an excellent job giving you the shooter's back story, and does an excellent job making you feel bad for the shooter. After reading the book, my judgement was very confused with whether he should have been imprisoned for life or not. (I'm not going to spoil the book any further, but to everyone reading, it is the absolute best book ever!!!) The reason why I'm mentioning Nineteen Minutes is because just like Fox, the shooter has a back story, and I think Fox has one too that won't make him seem so conniving. Now, every time I read about someone being arrested for a crime, I wonder, "What is his/her back story?" and I don't get enraged all of a sudden. I feel bad for them, because the laws have no mercy when judging you (again, from Nineteen Minutes!)
Friday, January 3, 2014
2013's Best Book
I can't really remember every single book I read in 2013, but I think that at least one of the best books that read, or more accurately reread, is definitely the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. It's the second time that I read it. The first was in fifth grade, but when my current ELA teacher, Ms. Warren, read an excerpt from the first book, The Sorcerer's Stone, I couldn't believe how unfamiliar it was to me, so I decided to read it again. The Harry Potter books are a thrilling series, (a total of seven books,) taking place in the modern world, where a wizarding world also exists within it. Harry, the main character, is a wizard who grew up in his muggle (humans without the power of magic) aunt's and uncle's household. They treat him quite poorly, but staying at their house and calling it his home would protect him, because Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord, is after him. Voldemort chose Harry as his "equal," as a prophecy concerning him said that Harry had the potential to destroy him. Harry eventually kills Voldemort at the end of the seventh book. The majority of the series takes place in the English wizarding school, Hogwarts.
The Harry Potter series is by far one of the best books that I have read in 2013, because it is fantastical, which allows the reader the ability to escape their own lives and their problems, at least for a while. It's a great read that gets you hooked immediately, and you can't stop until you reach the end of the book. When you do finish the book, however, you crave for more, and more, and too soon, the "adventure" that you've been enjoying so much ends. The fantastical elements leads you to enjoy the things that you can't really have, but the books aren't too different that you can't relate to. For example, I really liked the whole magic spells, and flying on broomsticks picture, but I also liked to relate to Ron's problems (one of Harry's best friends), which was the jealousy of having friends getting the spotlight all the time, and sometimes feeling that you're just... there.
Another reason why I like the Harry Potter series so much is how J. K. Rowling does such a great job growing Harry up. In so many of the books that I have read, the characters do go through changes, but I feel like they don't really portray the experience of how much adolescents really change during their teens. Harry's changes are really gradual, as in that it doesn't hit you in the face all of a sudden, but you feel it, and you don't realize how much until you start comparing Harry in the first book and Harry in the seventh book. It makes reading the books so real, as if the readers ARE Harrys.
Finding books that have an interesting plot AND written with words that fits the content PERFECTLY are rare, but J. K. Rowling has done it. It makes me jealous of how much of a better and thrilling life Harry has compared to mine. The author has not only made reading about Harry's life as if you were living his life, but she has included so many real problems in it that you can relate to too. For me, one of those moments was when Harry was waiting to get his results for his OWLS. He really wanted to be an auror, which are witches and wizards who hunts down the dark witches and wizards. This is a very small problem in the books, but I can really relate to it right now. I am waiting for my high school acceptance letter, which I still have to wait for another two months. It can be really nerve wrecking. Throughout the whole series, several of Harry's loved ones died, and although I can't really relate to this, I know that many other readers can.
I thoroughly enjoyed the series, and to all readers, I would highly recommend it (if you haven't already read it, of course.)
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
The LGBTQ Community Inquiry
How is the LGBTQ community being treated and represented compared to those who are straight? That was our group's most recent reading inquiry. This topic was chosen because there are many books about this, and the way the LGBTQ community is portrayed in the books are very similar to the way they are in real life. Throughout this reading inquiry, I've read the following books that connected to this topic: The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and Luna by Julie Anne Peters. These books really show the dark side of how LGBTQ people are treated.
In The Help, there was a very small part about people the maids worked for. When a boy started playing with girl toys, his father tried to "beat the girl out of him" with a belt. This showed that people didn't, and some still don't, accept people doing things that really highlighted the opposite gender, especially not in the 1960s. Luna was about the Re, the main character, who has a brother that is transgender. A lot of times, Liam has this really strong temptation to show who he really is, and people who don't understand him would think he was gay because he was a boy who crossed to the girl's boundaries. There was this one part in the book when Liam said that people expect you to live up to the gender that you are born to, meaning that if you are born a boy, you are expected to do manly things. When his dad found out about the truth, he told Liam that he can either act like "normal," or leave his house. This book takes place in the present day, and you can still see how a lot people still don't accept the LGBTQ community.
In these two books, I realized (although it was shared in our table {ahem, Cloe}), the LGBTQ community is often not accepted by their parents. As you can see in The Help, the father beat his son because he was doing feminine things, things that "he shouldn't have been doing." In Luna, you can see how the father had wanted to kick him out of the house if Liam continued being transgender. In these two cases, both parents are trying to force changes onto their children. These are real world issues that happen today in this world. Even though LGBTQ people are more widely accepted, they are still considered "different" from everyone else, and are often bullied, and harshly criticized.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Social justice, even in the twenty-first century, has not been fully achieved among humans, and at that fact, I don't think it ever will be. Social justice is the equality between people socially. There are many topics that branches from this, such as racism, social class, sexism, etc. The book Inkheart by Cornelia Funke is one of the books that I have read recently. It is about a characters from the book Inkheart coming out of its "boundaries," which one of the first ones, by extremely unfortunate luck, happens to be the most evil character in it. He, Capricorn, causes lots of trouble to gain power. One of the social justice, or rather, social injustice, topics in this book is age discrimination.
Inkheart briefly touches the subject of age discrimination. One example is that throughout all of the years Meggie, the daughter, has been alive, Mo, the father, has kept a massive secret from her daughter. Mo wouldn't let Meggie know about Capricorn. He wouldn't let Meggie know about the harm, and connection Capricorn has with him. Why, you might ask? Because Mo wanted to protect Meggie from it. He didn't want her to know the truth, because she was young, and Mo did a very good job too. When Meggie found out about Capricorn, she was confused at why his father would want her to think of how wonderful the world was,and having very limited knowledge at how quite the opposite it really was. In fact, the reality of Meggie's innocence to the evil was a part of the trouble; she didn't know a thing about of what was going on when Capricorn abducted her father.
Even though the book Inkheart might not have been the best example of this, age discrimination really is a huge issue in our society. For example, just the other day, on the crowded bus, some middle-aged people couldn't find a seat on the bus to sit comfortably on. And what, do you think, they did? They cursed about "the damned kids that took up all the room," and very rudely ordered two kids get for them. Now it would even be understandable if an ACTUAL elder POLITELY ASKED people for a seat. However, these two might have thought that they had a perfect reason to take away a child's seat (which, by the way, wasn't anywhere near the front, where the priority seatings are), just because they were older, and potentially had more power. I think discriminating a person from being young or old is unfair, because it is something a person can control, and should not serve as a factor to how they are and should be treated.
Inkheart briefly touches the subject of age discrimination. One example is that throughout all of the years Meggie, the daughter, has been alive, Mo, the father, has kept a massive secret from her daughter. Mo wouldn't let Meggie know about Capricorn. He wouldn't let Meggie know about the harm, and connection Capricorn has with him. Why, you might ask? Because Mo wanted to protect Meggie from it. He didn't want her to know the truth, because she was young, and Mo did a very good job too. When Meggie found out about Capricorn, she was confused at why his father would want her to think of how wonderful the world was,and having very limited knowledge at how quite the opposite it really was. In fact, the reality of Meggie's innocence to the evil was a part of the trouble; she didn't know a thing about of what was going on when Capricorn abducted her father.
Even though the book Inkheart might not have been the best example of this, age discrimination really is a huge issue in our society. For example, just the other day, on the crowded bus, some middle-aged people couldn't find a seat on the bus to sit comfortably on. And what, do you think, they did? They cursed about "the damned kids that took up all the room," and very rudely ordered two kids get for them. Now it would even be understandable if an ACTUAL elder POLITELY ASKED people for a seat. However, these two might have thought that they had a perfect reason to take away a child's seat (which, by the way, wasn't anywhere near the front, where the priority seatings are), just because they were older, and potentially had more power. I think discriminating a person from being young or old is unfair, because it is something a person can control, and should not serve as a factor to how they are and should be treated.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood by Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie in the article "Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood" found in the Wall Street Journal discusses how banning books because they are inappropriate is a very ineffective approach when these teens are living the same situations. He is against banning books. Alexie introduces the topic by describing the many teens he has met that have been involved in poverty, racism, sexual and physical abuse, etc. Then he contradicted Meghan Cox Gurdon's article, by saying how he was a teen once, and he only wished that he had the chance to read the books people are banning today. He also found a perfect example, a seventeen year old's problems, that rebutted Gurdon's argument. He says, "he was old enough to die and kill for his country. And old enough to experience the infinite horrors of war. But according to Ms. Gurdon, he might be too young to read a YA novel that vividly portrays those very same horrors." This situation is that the seventeen year old was going to have to enlist into the army, but those people who want to ban books about war are saying that these books may be inappropriate for them when they are practically living it. Alexie ends the article by stating that the best books are written by the author who has experienced the issues in the book.
Alexie uses many craft moves, and one of them are the questions that he asks. At one point of the article, Alexie not only asked just one question, but he loaded the reader with a series of questions, all rhetorical. These questions all had the same answer, which I thought was a very crafty move because he could have easily made his point with one sentence. However, asking the reader several questions makes it seem like his point of view is right; it seems like he has more evidence for his claim. Another craft move that Alexie uses are loaded words. Loaded words give a very biased effect on the reader, which is exactly what the author of any article would want; to agree or side with him or her. Some examples found in the article are: "desperate, terrible, absolutely, and tragic." These loaded words describe some teens' lives, which are the very words book banners are describing some of the books. It doesn't make sense to ban books that are of real world situations, which real teens deal with.
I agree that it doesn't make sense to ban books just because they have "unsuitable topics" for teens, when those very readers are experiencing the same thing. The book banners are not protecting anyone from the content, but like Alexie said, they are protecting "their privileged notions of what literature is and should be." This line stood out to me because I never understood why people would want to ban books. "Inappropriate content" or "protecting children from horror" did not seem like a good enough reason for banning books, and yet there are successful attempts. When I read this article, it finally clicked in my brain. These people aren't doing it for the general public, but for themselves, and like what Alexie said, for their version of what books should be.
Alexie uses many craft moves, and one of them are the questions that he asks. At one point of the article, Alexie not only asked just one question, but he loaded the reader with a series of questions, all rhetorical. These questions all had the same answer, which I thought was a very crafty move because he could have easily made his point with one sentence. However, asking the reader several questions makes it seem like his point of view is right; it seems like he has more evidence for his claim. Another craft move that Alexie uses are loaded words. Loaded words give a very biased effect on the reader, which is exactly what the author of any article would want; to agree or side with him or her. Some examples found in the article are: "desperate, terrible, absolutely, and tragic." These loaded words describe some teens' lives, which are the very words book banners are describing some of the books. It doesn't make sense to ban books that are of real world situations, which real teens deal with.
I agree that it doesn't make sense to ban books just because they have "unsuitable topics" for teens, when those very readers are experiencing the same thing. The book banners are not protecting anyone from the content, but like Alexie said, they are protecting "their privileged notions of what literature is and should be." This line stood out to me because I never understood why people would want to ban books. "Inappropriate content" or "protecting children from horror" did not seem like a good enough reason for banning books, and yet there are successful attempts. When I read this article, it finally clicked in my brain. These people aren't doing it for the general public, but for themselves, and like what Alexie said, for their version of what books should be.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Stargirl By Leo Borlock
“Days passed. I continued to avoid Stargirl. I wanted her. I wanted them. It seemed I could not have both, so I did nothing. I ran and hid.”
-Leo Borlock
The main character in Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is Leo Borlock, who goes to Mica High School. They don’t like Stargirl, and shuns her because they blame her for the loss of the Electrons, Mica’s basketball team; Stargirl cheered for the other team. When Stargirl was new to the school, she achieved brief popularity for being so uniquely different (like wearing clothes that were not in style, bringing her pet rat to school, sings everyone happy birthday, etc.) but when she ends up at the bottom of the social scale, being different just made everyone hate her more. Stargirl is meaningful for teens because it shows you how much you should appreciate things before they’re gone.
For example, when Leo started spending time with Stargirl, everyone started shunning him also, or as Leo puts it: “I had linked myself to an unpopular person. That was my crime.” Leo realized he had to decide who he cared more about: Stargirl, or everyone else. Leo really loved Stargirl, but at the same time, he also cared about what others thought of him. As the quote above stated, Leo didn’t choose, and ignored everything, including Stargirl. When Stargirl moved to Minnesota, he deeply regretted this, and wanted a second chance. This just shows how much he didn’t appreciate Stargirl until she was gone.
I think everyone made, is making, or will make, Leo’s same mistake. It’s not so easily avoided, because when you have plenty of one thing, you start taking advantage of it, but then when it’s gone, you start regretting what you did, and wishing you had done things differently. I know because it has happened to me lots of times before. I remember the first time I left home for an overnight trip. My brother and I always had these little arguments that would leave us both very frustrated at each other, and I couldn’t wait until I had a break away from that. I could not believe how much I actually missed him, and I wondered to myself whether fighting with each other was worth it. I silently made a goal of treating my brother a bit better. It was then I realized how lucky I was to have a brother at all. When I got home, we were like the best brother and sister ever. However, it didn’t last for long until we were back to square one.
What I’m trying to say is that people don’t appreciate things until they’re out of our grasp. We should not make things harder, and be thankful we have it at all. If people really were just thankful for however much they have, at least people won’t be as hard on themselves as Leo was.
“That was fifteen years ago. Fifteen Valentine’s Days. I wonder what she calls herself now. I wonder if she’s lost her freckles. I wonder if I’ll ever get another chance.”
-Leo Borlock
What do you think?
Thursday, September 12, 2013
The Mysterious Benedict Society By Trenton Lee Stewart
One of the books that I read (or more accurately, reread) over the summer was The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. The four main characters in this book are Constance, Kate, Reynie, and Sticky. It is about these four amazingly talented children joining The Mysterious Benedict Society with Mr. Benedict, Rhonda, and Number Two on a mission to find out the purpose of the secretly transmitted messages, which Mr. Benedict believe is causing people to become delusional. To do this, the four children has to act as secret spies and go into an institute built by Mr. Curtains, where it is believed to be the root of the messages. One of the themes in this book is that you have to work together to get things accomplished.
One example was when the group wanted to eavesdrop on Mr. Curtains at night. Kate, is extremely athletic, Reynie is good at logic, Sticky can remember everything he reads, and Constance is very poetic and incredibly annoying. Kate wanted to eavesdrop by herself, and although she managed to hear some bits of information by crawling into the culvert, she wasn't the logical one, and forgot to erase the footprints on the beach when she dived into the sea, which, luckily, one of Mr. Curtain's clumsy assistant erased. However, the closest call was when she stepped on a piece of licorice, a trap that one of Mr. Curtain's other assistant designed, and when he was checking the bottom of people's shoes, she passed it on to the others, and Constance, the last one to get it and having no one else to pass it to, had no choice but to eat to save Kate from being caught. This shows that you can't accomplish something alone.
Another example of needing to work together was when they faced the Whisperer, the machine that was able to brainsweep them. The Whisperer cannot brainsweep you unless until it soothes you, and it has been able to do that with every student of the institute until Mr. Curtains used the Whisperer to brainsweep Constance. She was very resistant, and blabbered out nonsense when the Whisperer tried to calm her down, which confused the Whisperer, and temporarily disabled it. The reason why this example shows the need for everyone to work together is because Sticky, Reynie, and Kate never liked Constance, and often wanted to exclude her from their plans, because she was obnoxious, made poems that teased the others and complained about everything. This event showed how important Constance is to the Mysterious Benedict Society.
In conclusion, it is very important for a group to work togther because one person doesn't have the skills that the others have. Even if it was three of the four people working together, it's like a puzzle with a missing piece, and trying to exclude Constance from the Mysterious Benedict Society was a good example.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)