Critical thinking question #2

           Critical thinking question: How does this book help you to think about social issues you care about or causes you are committed to?

    The book that I am currently reading called Purple Heart helps me to think about and appreciate the fact that there are soldiers fighting so that I can do things other kids around the world don't get to. In this book I actually read the things that soldiers do for their country and it helps me be more appreciative about this social issue that there are people fighting for my life. Even though this book is fiction, I know that it has real feelings in it and soldiers do go through these things. Reading this book every day also makes me more committed to chasing my dreams and doing good in whatever I do because I know that I should not take it for granted. In the story, The main character Matt gets frustrated because he has a mental breakdown in his mind about how he wishes sometimes instead of looking at his loved ones in pictures, he could just be with them. And I get to see my loved ones on a regular basis while someone is fighting for me to be able to do so. And in the story Matt goes through a temporary brain disorder, but still tries to get better in order to go back out and fight. And that deserves a lot of gratefulness and respect.

Blog post critical thinking

Question number 3: How does this text make you think about justice in the world?

 I  recently read a book called The Help. It was about 3 women who fought for their justice being that they lived in a time where there was heavy racism. The three of them take a huge risk and write a tell-all story about how it was being a black house maid. This book made me think about justice in the world because in the story their fighting for rights against the racism in Mississippi. There is a law that's trying to be passed that all colored people have to use separate bathrooms than white people which isn't right. Things like that happen through this story and it makes me think about how things changed from then to now. A lot of things changed like black and white people can be together anywhere now, and there is less discrimination used in America. This makes me realize that people have changed and black people have gotten most of their justice. What I mean by that is that even though we can be around the same places as the other race; there is still a lot of discrimination used. But, it is not as common which is a big step for America. In the story, the three woman get their justice in the end because they took a risk for what they wanted. This teaches me that is there is something that I think it unfair, I should fight for my justice and for what I know is right. Justice is something that everyone deserves and should have.

Hurricane sandy article

   I recently read an article on Hurricane Sandy on huffingtonpost.com about the gas rationing system in New York. Due to Hurricane Sandy leaving a huge mess and gas and oil trucks cannot get to gas stations quickly or at all; Mayor Bloomberg announced an odd-even gas rationing system. If you license plate ends with an even number, you can only purchase gas on an even day. And if your license plate ends with an odd number; you can only purchase gas on an odd day. This caused anger for many new yorkers, but Mayor Bloomberg only did it so that it would cut down the long lines people were on for gas; reducing the wait.
             
               

               Hurricane Sandy caused significant flooding and damage to petroleum infrastructure throughout the tri-state region; causing refineries to shutdown, pumping stations to lose electricity and terminals in the region to close. Since then, the majority of the region’s pipeline and critical infrastructure has been restored and power has returned to Buckeye pipeline, a really high interstate pipeline that serves New York. The city is trying to get the port authority opened up quickly and more portals so that people can get back to work and normally live their everyday lives once again. But the problem that still remains is that people need more gas; Hurricane sandy caused too much damage for any gas to come through. 


                It is already enough for citizens of New York to have no homes, electricity, or power; but since their is no gas and the trains were all closed, not so many people could get to work. Gas trucks come in some of the time and then that's when the whole line forms. Blocks and blocks of cars fill up the road awaiting gas. Even though Mayor Bloomberg tried to setup a system to make things faster, New Yorkers are still frustrated. Some said that they needed to work on an even day and had no way to get to work or any gas. But her license plate ended with odd numbers, and the two days were both even; causing her almost to lose her job. Until ports are cleared up and the damage made by Hurricane sandy is over, this rule will continue for the New yorkers. 

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.

My classmates reading responses

                      I recently read 3 of my classmates reading responses from books that they read over the summer. But out of the three, two of them caught my attention and helped me get the message of the book that they read. The first one was by my classmate Amelia Bedilia, who wrote about a story that she read called Make Lemonade . I loved her summary because it really persuaded me to want to read the book, that I went and Googled it to see more of what it was about. Amelia really caught the essence of the story and shared her feeling about this book very well and that is what I liked about it. Another summary that I liked was from Helen Rodriguez, who wrote about Pretty Little Liars . She too caught the essence of her story and really got my attention with her choice of words for this book. She clearly explains to you who the main character is and why they played such a big role in the story and has you focused on that one thing the whole time. I really loved how Helen described the story in such a way that you felt like you were almost reading it yourself. And that is what I liked about these two summaries.