Reading response 6

                                               Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging 

                 I recently finished reading a book called Angus, Thong, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison. It is about a girl named Georgia Nicolson who tells all of her teenage confessions. She goes through normal teenage problems like boys, friendship, and insecurities, but reading this book helped me to deal with my teenage problems better today. For example, in the story Georgia is always insecure about her big nose and kissing boys. She faces this by not caring what people thought about her and gained confidence in herself. By doing that, she ended up getting the cutest boyfriend in her school. I used what she did because I'm insecure about my acne and I just don't worry about it and was confident; that didn't get me cutest boy in school but it got me more friends I wasn't so quiet anymore. Another example is that with Georgia's friends in 9th grade; they talked being her back and were very mean to her. She didn't notice that they made fun of her nose, and told her secrets around the school. But once she found out, she realized that there were better friends out there who actually cared for her. The same thing happened to me because I read this book and applied it to my friendships. I talked to my friends about the way the girls acted in the book and we all applied it to the way we treat each other. Just as Georgia did, I gained confidence in myself and make better and wiser choices.


           

Drummer boy of Shiloh

Love Rickerson                                                                                  
October 3, 2012                            The Drummer Boy of Shiloh    
807         

                            I recently read a short story called The Drummer Boy of Shiloh by Ray Bargundy.
It is about a drummer boy named Joby in the civil war who feels like he is not important as everyone else in the army. He feels like since he doesn't have a shield or weapon like everyone else, he doesn't really play an important role in the army and that he doesn't matter. But with the help of the General of the army, Joby's thoughts change throughout the story about the war. He realizes that he actually is important to the army, even though he thought he was just a drummer boy and nothing special.

                 In the beginning, Joby feels neglected with his part in the war. He feels as if he isn't important and that he doesn't matter. He feels this way because he sees how strong everyone looks with their shields and weapons, and all he has is a drum and two sticks. Joby isn't confident in himself and doesn't try to make the best out of the role that he plays in the army. He doesn't notice that you don't need a shield or any armor just to be considered important. But when Joby meets the general of the army, he then starts to gain more confidence in himself and doesn't feel so un-important anymore. One way that the general helps Joby realize how important he is in the army, is when the general tells him how just because he seems all strong and always ready to fight, he also breaks down and cries sometimes. This is important because this breaks a barrier  for Joby and he gets to see another side of the general. The general teaches him that just because of the things that you have, that doesn't define who you are, or how important you are than everyone else. Because at the end of the day, everyone matters, and everyone is a team. So just because there are people that are in the army fighting all the time, that doesn't mean that they are more important than Joby. Because if it weren't for the drummer boy, the soldiers would have no motivation or confidence in themselves. In the story, the general tells Joby; "Men actually die in war. So each is his own army. I got to make one army of them. And for that boy, I need you." This also gives Joby confidence in himself and helps him realize how important he is to the army. He recognizes that the way that he plays his drums, affects the way the soldiers fight. The way that Joby plays his drums, affects the ways that they move and fight. So, Joby now realizes how important he is and his thoughts about where he stands changes. He learns that no matter what role you have, if you're in a team, you always matter. What if Joby weren't there? The soldiers would have no motivation and wouldn't fight with as much energy and eagerness as they do when Joby beats his drums.

                          In the end, Joby's thoughts about where he stands in the army changes, and he realizes that he does matter. He learns that it doesn't matter what role you are in something, when it comes to a team. He gains confidence in himself and takes pride into what he does. I think that what the general told Joby really helped a lot because Joby no longer felt so worthless, so it helped him play better which helped out the soldiers. 

               

Reading response on The Help

                                                                      The Help


                The book that i have been reading is called The Help by Kathryn Stockett. In the help, 3 woman named Aibileen, Skeeter, and Minny go through a dangerous but exciting journey of making a drastic change in society in the 1962. Aibileen and Minny are both black maids, who have been maids all their lives. The white people call them the "help". Being the help is something that you learned to do at a young age, since being black it was something that most African Americans just did when they got older. After Aibileen tells Skeeter, a woman who is both Aibileen and Minny's bosses friend, tells her about how her son who died was planning to write about segregation and working for white people all his life, she gets an idea to do the same thing, but with maids. She wants to write about the maids point of view about how things are where they live in Mississippi, which is a very risky thing. The 3 ladies are learning more about themselves and how even though they are different races, they still have the same point of view on how the world should be. The three of them are going through a journey trying to make a change.

                In the beginning, Aibileen and Minny are very close and don't really trust any white people. Aibileen know miss Skeeter, but Minny doesn't. Aibileen has taken care of white peoples children for many years and is very observant with what goes on.  She gets angry very easily because the things that she sees that happens, gets her mad because she has something in her that makes her want things to change. Then, one day when Aibileen's boss is not around, Skeeter asks her if she ever wanted to change things. That remark coming from a white person confuses Aibileen, but she does think about it. She wonders what made Miss Skeeter ask her that, and why she asked her. But what Aiblieen doesn't yet realize, is that just because Miss Skeeter is white, it doesn't mean that she doesn't think about if the world was different, and there wasn't any segregation.

                 The way that Minny comes into the picture, is that Miss Skeeter then convinces Aibileen to do the story with her, and evaluate how she sees things, in a black persons point of view. When Miss Skeeter hears all of the things that Aibileen tells her, she then notices how dangerous it is of a thing that they're doing. They are risking a lot because if they get caught, Aibileen can go to jail, and then once she convinces Minny, she can too. So Minny then explains to Miss Skeeter how dangerous it is what they are doing and opens up Miss Skeeters eyes a little more to let her know that she means business. Writing an article about segregation and having true stories about it, was a very risky thing. Especially if it's black and white people working together.

                Throughout the story, each of the woman are learning more and more about each other. I'm not yet done with the book, but I can see them already bonding and the article is coming together. What shows that they really care, is that knowing how risky it is what they're doing, they still continue their journey and work/write together. I hope that in the end the story is popular and the journey comes to a happy end.