Bloggin Starts Here

Reposts

2011-06-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

Aakash:
Your ending is kind of... sudden. The character Tyson just pops out of nowhere and your explanation of him ends your paragraph. Not much of a conclusion. I suggest you add a new paragraph of the relationship between Percy and Tyson. The rest of it is pretty neat, definitely got me interested in reading.

Justice:
Sounds like a really interesting book. The writing style for books is always something to look out for.
Also I find the dialogue really supportive to your view on the story because it is confusing and it certainly portrays a different writing style.
What I suggest is another quote that isn't as confusing but still portrays the unique style of writing. If there is such a quote, I think it'll help us understand how unique the writing really is; not only confusing.

Yazen:
uhmm.. I agree with Justice about how the quote doesn't really relate to your essay. It's also pretty long so I suggest you cut it down a little bit. The rest is too short to be examined :] lol.

Ender’s Game Book Review 2:
In the second part of the book, young Ender faces many challenges from his teachers and his peers.
After stepping out of the rocket from earth, Young Ender and the rest of the first time participants learn about the rules of Military School. Here, Graff, a military instructor who took Ender away from his family, picks on Ender and causes the other kids to hate him. After Graff dismisses them to go their dorms, Older launches start bullying him. He was forced to choose the worst bed in the dorm, and he has constantly been shoved around.
As Ender matures through the story, he faces many challenges. One big challenge he faces is his genius-ness. Through his life, he has been educated to exterminate the buggers. He has been taught battle plans, military tactics, and has been trained to fight the buggers in every way. In his journey through military school, Ender was challenged by a few peers who resented him because he, a 9 year old commander boy at the time, had beaten them in a war game and has been placed as the number # 1 commander. He was forced to fight a boy named Bonzo in a shower naked, due to an attempt to kill him. Instead, Ender killed Bonzo without knowing it, and this was extremely hard on Ender because he had not wanted to hurt anybody.

"Ender is a closet pacifist and doesn't want to hurt anyone."
When Ender graduated military school and moved on to tactic school, he was unknowingly leading Space War 3 against the buggers. Over the battles, he had thought that he was fighting with a simulated army against his teacher in a war simulation. In reality, he was actually leading a space fleet sent 50 years before (takes 50 years for earth spaceships to get to the bugger world) to fight against the buggers. When he had lost a spaceship, he didn't know that and actual spaceship had died. When he had killed his teacher's space fleets, he did not know that he was actually killing the buggers. After he had won all but one battle, he was told that his final battle would be another battle against his teacher but this time with real generals watching him. When the battle started off, hundreds of bugger spaceships were shown and Ender only had 16 measly 50 year old technology spaceships. He was certain that he couldn't win and he had actually given up the battle halfway through. In the end though, he decided to *cheat* the simulation and sacrificed his whole fleet to nuclear split bomb (atom split) the home planet with the -little doctors- (atom splitting lasers). The battle ended with everyone dying and the entire population of the buggers disinterested into dust. Then, the simulation room filled cheers and cries. The generals hugged each other and they thanked Ender over and over again. Confused, Ender asked what happened, and was told that he had just finished off the bugger race. Unwaivering to realize that he had just killed off a entire race, Ender went to bed.
Due to this trickery, Ender was shattered. Even when he hadn't wanted to kill anyone, even the buggers, he was tricked into exterminating them all. His mind was never able to repair itself after this event. this brings me t my point of how Ender is a true pacifist. His character is the meaning of nonviolence. It's not his fault that he had to do all this. In the quote
"So they didn't know what they were doing?"
Ender refers to the buggers. He thought that the buggers didn't know what they were doing; he was right. At the end of the book, Ender finds out that the Queen of All Buggers was actually trying to communicate with the humans but couldn't. He also finds a baby pupil of a queen bugger and decides to help it find a place where it can grow . For Ender to do this is I think really nice of him, and it portrays how much of a caring person he is. He feels no terror from the buggers, and he believes the buggers words of how they are sorry. Because of this Ender is truly a caring human being and a pacifist.

Reflection Final 2

2011-05-24T23:16:00.000-07:00

Eric Lau, Period 2

Reflection Final

I have written many blog posts this year. I think that my best would be my response posts to the Dog In the Nighttime. To me, the dog in the nighttime was a very unique book, because it was unlike anything I have ever read. It was also the only book I reread 3 times, so I knew the story and plot inside out. On this blog post, I used a lot of feeling and emotion to refine my points.

“The book A Curious Incident of A Dog In The NightTime has a writing style that is very unique that hooks the reader right when the first page is read. The whole autistic point of view is the one that really catches the reader's attention and the author really connects to it as he writes the book.”

When I was writing about this book A Curious of A Dog In The Nighttime, i really felt the what the main character, Chris, was trying to show. Although Chris’s perspective on the world is much more different from mine, i could feel myself acting as him throughout the story. I remember asking myself questions on how Chris feels about this.. and that.. and about himself. In my opinion for writing to be good, the writer has to feel in concept of the topic he/she is writing about.

Blogging has made my life so much easier. Instead of having to print every now and then, I can just post my essays on my blog for my teacher to read. This relieves the stress of having to check if the printer has ink and the need to constantly go find some printer paper. Blogging has also made me aware of the Internet. After checking my stats, I realized that people from all over the world read my writings, and that simple keywords typed into google search that are the same as my posts can make my blog show up on the search list. in a way, I’m glad that many types of people have been on my blog. However, instead of having them stumble upon my blog as a mistake, i would like for them to actually come to my blog to read what it has to offer. To address this problem, over the summer I plan to continue writing on my blog and on the subjects that I think are interesting and ill catch attention. Instead of writing blog posts for homework assignments I would like to extend farther and write reviews, personal opinions, stories, and stuff like that. Having a blog really changed my perspective on writing. It has made me more interested in writing and think of ways on how it can pull the reader’s attention.

A blog has also helped me put more emotion into my writing. With the privilege to type blog posts about books, I can express my feelings about the book through what I write. This has really helped me in the a lot of ways.

Another blog post that I think has a lot of feeling and emotion into it is my Pigeons: Natural Toilets.

In this post, i talked about how disgusting pigeon poop is and even added an example to help support my points. One thing that I think really helps support points are daily life examples. I think that these help build a bridge to the audience as they might have experienced the same type.
One of my examples are:
Here's a little story that i "heard." "There was once this guy who was enjoying a nice day in the park. It was a hot day and he was melting so he went to get an ice cream cone. He stopped by a ice cream cart and asked for a scoop of vanilla ice cream. After receiving it he went and sat on a bench. It just so happens that a bird was flying above him and decided it was time to let go. When the guy wasn't looking (for he was checking out some girl), the pigeon pooped and the white poop flew onto the guy's vanilla ice cream and camouflaged with melting vanilla. Then the guy started to lick his ice cream and what happened next is :P."
In this blog post, I can tell that my story telling skills aren’t very impressive nor very descriptive. While I was writing this, I remember that I was only thinking about writing the ice cream, dude, and pigeon. I thought that it was descriptive enough and I didn’t touch on anything else. Now that I read it over, I can tell that the imagery is blah, it’s bad. However, I can say that my description on things have gotten better over time. Instead of only focusing on tiny part of what’s happening in that scene, I can expand onto what was happening in the background, the scent, the way the pigeon felt as he was soaring and much more. Although I can’t tell if that it will actually help the story, I know that the imagery will improve.

Anyways, after looking at my previous work, I realized that I have improved in writing a lot. In most of my post, my grammar has went up, and my use of vocabulary has also improved. However, while writing this reflective essay I think that my grammar and has gone down. I’m frequently experiencing writer’s block as I write this so it’s a really hard.

Writer’s block is a real jerk. Even as I’m, writing this I’m experiencing writer’s block. I think that writer’s block occurs to me most when I’m really tired. Because I haven’t been getting much sleep in the last few days, my mind has been really jacked up. There is a way to deal with this though. Exercise! or get more sleep. I wish we had p.e in the morning because after p.e I would be really awake to start the day. Another way I fall in to writer’s block is when I’m not informed about an assigned posts I’m writing through this year there have been blog posts about books where I had no idea what to write about, because I haven’t either understood the book, or read it. However, for this type of writer’s block I have an easy solution: read the book again. even though it might take a while to read or understand it, in the end, writer’s block occurs less.

One type of writer’s block i really hate is when you’re trying to type a word that’s at the tip of your tongue, but it doesn't come to you. This usually happens when your mind really numb from the lack of sleep. For me, there is no other way to deal with this but to get more sleep.
As a side solution I can also train myself to resist writer’s block my waking up earlier. By doing so my mind will adapt to the lack of sleep and might be able to focus more on writing then on sleeping. Training my mind to writer’s block might or might not work depending if I have the willpower to adapt. For the next semester, sophomore year, I hope to gain a higher level of vocabulary and improve my grammar and writing to make it more appealing. Another goal I have for the second quarter is to work harder on bettering my working methods. The goal is to stop procrastinating on my blog post and do them at the beginning of the week or middle, instead on doing them last second like i”m doing now. I’m not entirely sure i have a way to do this, but i think if i have the strength to wake up earlier in the morning by myself I can overcome procrastination too.

P.S: Mr. Sutherland, you have made freshman year, a great year to remember [:

I must admit when I first came to Asti, i was not expecting a teacher like yourself. Your style of teaching was nothing I had experienced before and I wondered myself in the beginning if it was good. However through this year, I have found that although it is laid back, when a student is willing to learn what you have to offer, there's a lot to learn. I really appreciated you being our teacher this year

2011-05-19T13:15:00.001-07:00

Final Game

2011-05-04T23:56:00.000-07:00

The book I'm currently reading is called "Ender's Game." It is a book by Orson Scott card and the plot of the story is simple. It tells of the life of the main character Ender who is a military genius. In the begning Ender is described to have been chosen to lead an army against the buggers, a notorious race of ant like creatures who will kill anyone without mercy. Making them perfect killing machines. Although he is a genius, Ender is a 6 year old boy who is hated and confused..
In this story there are chosen ones and unchosen ones. In the beginning everyone is chosen and they receive monitoring from the government. After a year or two, many of them are eliminated and they return to their normal 4 year old or 5 year old lives. to most kids, this is good, but for the ones tht have learned of how they can help losing their chosen one privilege is like saying that they are not talented.There are some, however, that keep the chosen one privileged for 3 years like Ender. These are the ones who are talented and are chosen to go into military tactic school out in outer space.
At the age of 6, Ender is chosen to go into the military academy in outer space and Ender tries to fight his mind on either wanting to go or not. He debates in himself that it would probably be better if he did go, but if he did his parents and his sister wouldn't be there for him. Due to his 3 years of chosen privileges, the other kids around him hates him. His own brother resents him because he was only chosen for 2 years.
Ender is a fragile child. Even with his extreme brilliance and superior strength, his mind is injured by the life he lived and is forced to live. His worst fear is to be alone with no one who cares or loves him and that is exactly what the military commanders are trying to do to him. He is but a young flower stranded in a wide open grassy area first with his sister flower next to him, but then he is forced to leave his sister flower and travel into another wide open grassy area with no one around him but the grass of resentment.
In the second part of the book, young Ender faces many challenges from his teachers and his peers.
After stepping out of the rocket from earth, Young Ender and the rest of the first time participants learn about the rules of Military School. Here, Graff, a military instructor who took Ender away from his family, picks on Ender and causes the other kids to hate him. After Graff dismisses them to go their dorms, Older launches start bullying him. He was forced to choose the worst bed in the dorm, and he has constantly been shoved around.
As Ender matures through the story, he faces many challenges. One big challenge he faces is his genius-ness. Through his life, he has been educated to exterminate the buggers. He has been taught battle plans, military tactics, and has been trained to fight the buggers in every way. In his journey through military school, Ender was challenged by a few peers who resented him because he, a 9 year old commander boy at the time, had beaten them in a war game and has been placed as the number # 1 commander. He was forced to fight a boy named Bonzo in a shower naked, due to an attempt to kill him. Instead, Ender killed Bonzo without knowing it, and this was extremely hard on Ender because he had not wanted to hurt anybody.

"Ender is a closet pacifist and doesn't want to hurt anyone."

When Ender graduated military school and moved on to tactic school, he was unknowingly leading Space War 3 against the buggers. Over the battles, he had thought that he was fighting with a simulated army against his teacher in a war simulation. In reality, he was actually leading a space fleet sent 50 years before (takes 50 years for earth spaceships to get to the bugger world) to fight against the buggers. When he had lost a spaceship, he didn't know that and actual spaceship had died. When he had killed his teacher's space fleets, he did not know that he was actually killing the buggers. After he had won all but one battle, he was told that his final battle would be another battle against his teacher but this time with real generals watching him. When the battle started off, hundreds of bugger spaceships were shown and Ender only had 16 measly 50 year old technology spaceships. He was certain that he couldn't win and he had actually given up the battle halfway through. In the end though, he decided to *cheat* the simulation and sacrificed his whole fleet to nuclear split bomb (atom split) the home planet with the -little doctors- (atom splitting lasers). The battle ended with everyone dying and the entire population of the buggers disinterested into dust. Then, the simulation room filled cheers and cries. The generals hugged each other and they thanked Ender over and over again. Confused, Ender asked what happened, and was told that he had just finished off the bugger race. Unwaivering to realize that he had just killed off a entire race, Ender went to bed.
Due to this trickery, Ender was shattered. Even when he hadn't wanted to kill anyone, even the buggers, he was tricked into exterminating them all. His mind was never able to repair itself after this event. this brings me t my point of how Ender is a true pacifist. His character is the meaning of nonviolence. It's not his fault that he had to do all this. In the quote

"So they didn't know what they were doing?"

Ender refers to the buggers. He thought that the buggers didn't know what they were doing; he was right. At the end of the book, Ender finds out that the Queen of All Buggers was actually trying to communicate with the humans but couldn't. He also finds a baby pupil of a queen bugger and decides to help it find a place where it can grow . For Ender to do this is I think really nice of him, and it portrays how much of a caring person he is. He feels no terror from the buggers, and he believes the buggers words of how they are sorry. Because of this Ender is truly a caring human being and a pacifist.
After finishing the whole book I decided to think about what the author’s purpose of the book was. In my opinion the authors purpose of this book is to show how fear is dangerous in many levels. In the beginning, a simple human spaceship went up on a suspicious dark moon to see what was going on. The buggers who inhabited this moon slaughtered the humans out of fear. The buggers have never seen any other type of intelligent life form before and neither have the humans. The humans first tried to settle this by talking, and sent signals to the buggers. However, the buggers could not understand them and so the humans actions concluded un-useful. In the end, with the slaughtered space troop and frightening new life forms, they humans also developed fear. They concluded that the buggers had to be stopped because they were too dangerous -scared of them-, and there was no way to communicate with them. This then led to a whole entirely new war, space-war. The opponent was the buggers, and the home force was the humans.

"The tug transmitted its videos,, including buggers boarding and slaughtering the crew. It kept right on transmitting through the entire bugger examination of the boat."

This shows how fear affects a person and even a society. When danger shows up and there is no way to communicate, fear is spread quickly. With this spread of fear, a reflex of ours tells us that there must be something done. A conclusion must be made and fast and this conclusion is usually violence-related. This reflex is what I consider, the survival of a human. When in danger, the human body reacts to protect itself. As a whole world, such a danger will cause the human population to react and try to survive. Fear contributes to this because it is the danger. In my opinion it’s human nature and what the author is saying is that fear leads to war.

RD!: ender's game

2011-04-29T23:24:00.001-07:00

RD1

The book I'm currently reading is called "Ender's Game." It is a book by Orson Scott card and the plot of the story is simple. It tells of the life of the main character Ender who is a military genius. In the begning Ender is described to have been chosen to lead an army against the buggers, a notorious race of ant like creatures who will kill anyone without mercy. Making them perfect killing machines. Although he is a genius, Ender is a 6 year old boy who is hated and confused..
In this story there are chosen ones and unchosen ones. In the beginning everyone is chosen and they receive monitoring from the government. After a year or two, many of them are eliminated and they return to their normal 4 year old or 5 year old lives. to most kids, this is good, but for the ones tht have learned of how they can help losing their chosen one privilege is like saying that they are not talented.There are some, however, that keep the chosen one privileged for 3 years like Ender. These are the ones who are talented and are chosen to go into military tactic school out in outer space.
At the age of 6, Ender is chosen to go into the military academy in outer space and Ender tries to fight his mind on either wanting to go or not. He debates in himself that it would probably be better if he did go, but if he did his parents and his sister wouldn't be there for him. Due to his 3 years of chosen privileges, the other kids around him hates him. His own brother resents him because he was only chosen for 2 years.
Ender is a fragile child. Even with his extreme brilliance and superior strength, his mind is injured by the life he lived and is forced to live. His worst fear is to be alone with no one who cares or loves him and that is exactly what the military commanders are trying to do to him. He is but a young flower stranded in a wide open grassy area first with his sister flower next to him, but then he is forced to leave his sister flower and travel into another wide open grassy area with no one around him but the grass of resentment.
In the second part of the book, young Ender faces many challenges from his teachers and his peers.
After stepping out of the rocket from earth, Young Ender and the rest of the first time participants learn about the rules of Military School. Here, Graff, a military instructor who took Ender away from his family, picks on Ender and causes the other kids to hate him. After Graff dismisses them to go their dorms, Older launches start bullying him. He was forced to choose the worst bed in the dorm, and he has constantly been shoved around.
In this school Ender develops loneliness. He starts to learn that he must be in power for others to see him even if they are all scared of him. (missing 2cd)
After finishing the whole book I decided to think about what the author’s purpose of the book was. In my opinion the authors purpose of this book is to show how fear is dangerous in many levels. In the beginning, a simple human spaceship went up on a suspicious dark moon to see what was going on. The buggers who inhabited this moon slaughtered the humans out of fear. The buggers have never seen any other type of intelligent life form before and neither have the humans. The humans first tried to settle this by talking, and sent signals to the buggers. However, the buggers could not understand them and so the humans actions concluded un-useful. In the end, with the slaughtered space troop and frightening new life forms, they humans also developed fear. They concluded that the buggers had to be stopped because they were too dangerous -scared of them-, and there was no way to communicate with them. This then led to a whole entirely new war, space-war. The opponent was the buggers, and the home force was the humans.
This shows how fear affects a person and even a society. Without a way to communicate and danger shows up, fear is spread quickly. With this spread of fear, a reflex of ours tells u that there must be something done. A conclusion must be made and fast. This reflex is what I consider, the survival of a human. When in danger, the human body reacts to protect itself. As a whole world, such a danger will cause the human population to react and try to survive. Fear contributes to this because it is the danger. In my opinion it’s human nature and what the author is saying is that fear leads to war.

Ender's Game 1

2011-04-07T00:16:00.000-07:00

The book I'm currently reading is called "Ender's Game." It is a book by Orson Scott card. The plot of the story is simple. It tells of the life of the main character Ender who is a military genius. He has been chosen to lead an army against he buggers, who are a notorious race of ant like creatures who will kill anyone without mercy like a robot. Ender is a 6 year old boy who is confused and hated for his genius-ness.
In this story there are chosen ones and unchosen ones. In the beginning everyone is chosen and they receive monitoring from the government. After a year or two, many of them are eliminated and they return to their normal 4 year old or 5 year old lives. Losing their chosen one privilege is like saying that they are not talented enough to help out in the war between humans and buggers. There are some, however, that keep the chosen one privileged for 3 years like Ender. These are the ones that go into military tactic school out in outer space.
At the age of 6, Ender is chosen to go into the military academy in outer space. Ender doesn't want to leave his family but the only one who truly loves him is his sister. Due to his 3 years, the other kids hate him. His own brother resents him because he was only chosen for 2 years. His parents love him but also resent him because he is the past of which they tried to avoid (because of both of their children (older brother and sister of ender) only were chosen for 2 years). His older brother oftentimes bullies young Ender and his older sister stands for him.
Ender is a fragile child. Even with his extreme brilliance and superior strength, his mind is injured by the life he lived and is forced to live. His worst fear is to be alone with no one who cares or loves him. He is young flower stranded in a wide open grassy area with his sister flower next to him. He is forced to leave his sister flower and travel into another wide open grassy area with no one around him but resentment.

Vignette Name Review

2011-04-01T23:52:00.000-07:00

In our last vignette project that we were assigned, I noticed that everyone wrote about some similar and different things. There were many stories that specifically talked about their own life, but also some that had the same theme. For example, In Kathy's blog, Victor's blog, and Yen's blog,, all three of them had a vignette dedicated to their name. Their name expressed their heritage, and their past. For me, heritage is a very important because it symbolizes who we are.
In Kathy's "My Name," post I found a quote where she explains her last name.

My last name is Douglas; it’s from my dad’s side of course. It’s a Scottish last name and somehow there are these two Douglass in Scottish history. The black Douglas (no pun intended) and the red Douglas. I guess this infers that I have some Scottish in me from somewhere.

Kathy's last name "Douglas," comes from Scotland. This is important to know, because heritage shows who you are. Past ancestors have worked hard to past down their last name into the next generation.To know heritage is also to know how one truly is. Heritage is also the energy runs through the generations, inheritance, and much more.
In Yen's blog post "My Name," he also shares the origin of his last name.

These are all Vietnamese names, but my brother’s and my names are all America sounding....They told me that Yen and Ian sounds alike, and that it would make me fit in better. Then I ask why they didn't just name me Bob or something. Then I regret it. My name represents who I am. I can’t give up who I am. My name is mine.

First, This quote does a lot about his heritage, but at least it tells where it is from. It also shows he knows that his name represents him. Secondly, In this quote I can extract two major details about his heritage. One, he is from Vietnam, and Two, he knows who he is. Both of these are important to know and
Names and heritage tell a lot of what someone's background. They are important because everyone should be proud of where they come from. Heritage connects the past to the present.
I have enjoyed reading my peer's post, but I didn't really know what to write about. I couldn't find any similarities that other people haven't already written about so I decided to write about one of the standouts topics.

The Future

2011-03-25T23:53:00.000-07:00

In the book Manga Street by Sandra Cisneros the main character and narrator Esperanza goes through a story of her life. She begins as a child who knows nothing of the world and lives in a poor broke down house on Mango Street. As the story continues she grows up and goes through a bunch of changes mentally, physically, and . At the last 3 chapters/vignettes, she meets a bunch of old ladies who "predict her future." What is this future?
In my opinion Sandra Cisneros is portraying herself as Esperanza in the book. Therefore, Esperanza's future can be shown as Sandra Cisneros future. On the last page of the last vignette, it says,

"Friends and neighbors will say, What happened to Esperanza? Where did she go with all those books and paper? Why did she march so far away?

In this quote, I can draw many inferences. For one thing -all those books and paper- can mean that she went to get herself an education. An education can let her lead a better life and even -come back- to Mango street to -help- all those who couldn't leave. If Esperanza really was Sandra Cisneros and went to get an education after leaving Mango Street, this story THOMS could be how she comes back to Mango street to help. This also explains

In another quote on page 106, Esperanza talks with Alicia about "Mango Street,"
No, Alicia says. Like it or not you are Mango Street, and one day you'll come back too.

Esperanza really hates Mango Street, but she can't fight the fact that she's from there. She intends to leave and come back when things make it better, but nothing will. Therefore she has to either help other people leave Mango Street or help make Mango Street better. On page 105, three old mysterious ladies tell Esperanza's future from her hands. They say,

"YOu must remember to come back. For the ones who canot leave as easily as you. You will remember? She asked as if she was telling me. Yes, yes, I said a litte confisued.

In this quote, Esperanza's future is already given to her, she must remember to come back for the others.The only way to get this is for her to get an education. After she gets and education, she'll be able to return to Mango Street. I believe that Esperanza will leave Mango Street to seek her education and then she'll come back and help other who wish to have and education but cannot.

2011-03-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

Sandra Cisneros is a very peculiar person. In her book Manga Street, her feelings are spread out through the whole book. From what I can see and tell, Sandra Cisneros thinks that boys and girls should not be treated the same.

In the book Mango Street, the main character Esperanza encounters many people around her in little neighborhood of Mango Street. Everyone of them are different. Everyone of them is raised different. The way they are raised are all points of views from Sandra, her opinion of boys and girls are shown in Mango Street. In one of the quotes on page 8, “Since she comes right after me, she is my responsibility.” (8) It shows here that Sandra wants girls to be treated more differently then boys She believes that parents should raise their girls to be more responsible. Esperanza shows this responsibility from her caring for her sister. Sandra believes that parents should raise girls to be more responsible then boys.

Another example of Sandra's feelings are showed on page 80 and 81. It states, “Her father says to be this beautiful is trouble. [...] She can’t go out. Sally I mean.” (81) “[...] and nobody could call that crazy.” (83) In this quote, Cisneros shows how families might raise girls differently because girls can more easily bring shame to the family. The implication is that this is unfair. This also shows how girls shouldn't be too beautiful because it might attract alot of guys. In conclusion Sandra shows that she thinks that girls shouldn't be too beautiful, and girls should be raised diffrerently for guy because girls can bring shame more easily than the guys in the family.

Most of what Sandra writes in her book symbolize something. In one of other paragraphs she shows tha girls are very different from boys. “Sally, make them stop. I couldn’t make them go away. [...] Please don’t make me tell it all.” (100) This quote shows that Esperanza can't defeat the boys. Which implies that boy can never step up ibn society and will always never be able to beat the boys.

Sandra thinks that girl and boys should not be treated the same because they are different in responsibility wise, soceity wise, and shame wise.

My World

2011-03-18T11:59:00.000-07:00

1. Fear

2. Confusion

3. Hair

4. My name

Vignette 1- Fear

It was cold, and dark. The phone rang like it was crazy as we spun in circles. Fear build-ed up in my heart, as I had no idea what was going to happen
Saturday, December 25 2009. It was the time for snow. My cousin invited me to Tahoe that year, because my parents couldn’t go. On Saturday he came to our house to pick me up.
“Hey come on let’s go,” David said.
“Alright hold on, let me get some stuff,”
“Kk, be in the car in 5 minutes,” david said.
I rushed to get my pack of stuff I wanted to bring to Tahoe, my ipod, psp, and goggles, etc. After I finished I rushed to the car like I was told.
“About time,” said Brian (one of my cousin’s friends)
“Shut up, I was getting ready’
“You guys hungry?” David asked.
“No, it’s cool I ate”
“I am, let’s stop by taco bell.”
“Ok, lets”
We drove to taco bell, and stopped to pick up some food. When we stopped, my cousin handed me his new phone.
“here, check this out, it’s a new phone I got called the Nexus One, google made. It’s not even in stores yet.”
I took the phone and and I turned it on. A funny looking robot appeared on the screen and it gave me this weird peculiar look. At the same moment, Brian bumped into me
“HEy , watch OUT!”
“sorry man, didn’t see ya there”
i glared at him, sending him a mind signal that I knew that was on purpose.
“Never-mind,” i said, “lets’ go”
As we drove on the freeway, i played with my cousin’s phone. Every game I played, I lost. It was like the phone hated me. fortress game, fuitcutter, this fishing game, and some other games I can’t describe. After so many losses, I decided to listen to music instead. I gave my cousin his phone back and took out my ipod and earphones. I dozed off after a few minutes of listening to music.
…...
“Hooonnnkkk!!”
I jumped.
“Hey Watch Out stupid car”
“OH SHIT, OH WATCH OUT!!!!!”
My eyes closed as it happened.
“SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEECH”
Everything was blurry, Nothing made sense. My world was upside down, left was right and horizontal was vertical. I was hung out.
“SCREEEEEEECH”
I tumbled onto the ground and something dropped into my right arm. I could feel the car doing exactly 2 perfect 360 degree spins and I could feel the tires underneath rejecting the snow: grasping for the road. My arms and legs were bracing around my head, my body cold and stiff. I could hear the cars in the back beep as if they were cheering at us like it was a show.
-Silence-
“You... you guys alright?”
“ya... I’m o.k”
“Dang, I thought we were gonna die”
“Ya.. me too,” I said, “Ughhh, my back hurts”
When I got up from my seat, I remembered that I was still gripping something in my hand.
“...... dude, I got your phone.”

Vignette 2 = Confusion?

It all started on a fine Friday morning. I woke up drowsy, light headed, and extremely tired at 7:00 clock. At 7:02, I went to do the usual.After i brushed my teeth and washed my face, I started to eat a bowl of cereal on the kitchen table. At 7:30, my mom drove me too school and we arrived at 7:55.
….....
After school, I stood outside to wait fro my mom. I was extremely tired and it just wasn’t my day. It was a long crucial wait. Time seemed to have lost all meaning, Seconds became minutes, and minutes became hours. The sun kept leaving the sky and the moon showed up after every dawn. My eyes rolled up and down, right and left, and my beard grew longer every second. Then it came. The time where everything didn't even make sense anymore. Cars flew in the air, birds drove around the road, and humans oh humans slithered on the ground like a snake struggling out of cast off skin.Suddenly a car appeared in front of me and beeped in my face. Everything returned back to normal. The cars were on the round parked into a space. Geese flew in the sky--- BEEP! Suddenly my mom's car appeared in front of me and beeped in my face. I got in and didn't even want to think if this was a dream. Sure enough this was reality. It was 3: 24, 14 minutes after i gotten out of school. My mom drove me home and left me with a key to open the doors. I walked up the each step and inserted the key into the door's keyhole. It didn't budge. I turned the key back and forth waiting for an opening sound but none came. Dashing down the steps i yelled for my mom's car just turned away from the street. I reached for into pocket and then I remembered, I had forgotten to bring my phone.

Vignette 3 = Hair
Everyone within my family has different types of hair. My mama’s hair is wavy. Her bangs are wavy, her sides are wavy, and her back is wavy. My papa’s hair is short and straight. His hair dosen’t need combing nor any special treatment. In fact, he barely has hair. And me, my hair is like my mom’s wavy and a slightly bit curly. Sometimes it gets into knots and really annoys me.
But my sister’s hair, my sister’s hair is special, like blackish brown threads, like dozens of black thin strings and pretty because it’s straight and always obeys her. Her hair is like my dad’s except her’s is longer. Her hair is a little straight and wavy, but mostly straight. Her hair needs some combing.

Vignette 4 = My Name
My name is Eric Lau. My name does not have alot meaning to it, but it has history. My first name “eric,” was given to me by my cousin. He was totally into this one baseball player and his name was “eric.” My name was then decided to be eric. Aside from it being my cousin’s little reason, there is no other.
My last name is different though. My last name “lau,” is actually not my true last name. My actual last name is “lu,” but my dad decided to change it when he came to America. My dad origninated in Vietnam. When he was young the Viet war was happening, so he had get away (one of the boy responsibilities I think..). He told me that he lived in the mountains for a few months before it became a battlefield. Before it got ugly in the mountains he stowed onto a ship. He left all his brothers and sisters and family members to do this. The ship, however, was then caught by pirates and he then had to jump overboard. Luckily they were pretty near shore so he got to China (somewhere). He then traveled to singapore and met my mom. Considering what my dad had to go through, I’m happy that I was avle to receive his last name.
From what I’ve heard, “Lau” also means angry guy or tyrant in some other language.

Windows

2011-03-04T23:33:00.000-08:00

The story The Store on Mango street is a beautiful book that uses vignettes as symbolism in it. In there the author tries to portray her thoughts in a symbolic way for the readers to try and figure out as they read along the book. There are a number of vignettes in this book, but a good one is windows.

Windows in this book means a very symbolic thing. In my opinion, the windows reflect on who she is and who she becomes as the story progresses. In "My name," she talks about how her grandmother used to look our the window her whole life. I think that this means that she's looking back at her past self and she's sad that she had left it. On page 102, Esperanza narrates her friend Sally who got married before 18 and went off to live with her husband. Sally is described to be happy as a married women even though her husband can be a jerk. It is also mentioned that she was not allowed to look out the windows. I think that this means that she can't look back at her past, because she likes it the way she is now. In page 79, a girl called Rafaela leans out the windows and dreams her hair was like Rapunzel. I think that from this, the windows can also be who she wants to be. Past, Present, and Dreams. It also talks about how she's locked inside her house, so the windows symbolism could also mean that she looking at her past as well. In page 82, the windows symbolism doesn't really match what I had been thinking about. Instead it talks about how Esperanza dreams about how she had a house where there were big windows, and if you open the little window hatch and gave it a shove, all the sky would be visible. In my opinion, this somewhat is also talking about her dream, and I mentioned that the windows also had something to do with dreams so maybe the windows actually do have something to do with dreams.

In the end, after reading the few chapters with the windows symbolism in them, I really do think that the windows mean the past, present, and dreams. I have to say that I'm not sure how i can elaborate on that, and that this window's symbolism is pretty complicated.

Nettie and Celie's Comparison Essay

2011-02-24T12:59:00.000-08:00

Celie’s and Nettie’s Comparison Essay

Celie and Nettie are indeed very different people They are looked upon as sisters, but sisterhood does not simply mean that they have everything in common. If it did, Celie and Nettie would be a perfect example for an counter argument. Celie and Nettie differ in many different areas, but the main three that are the most important are religion, inequality, and personality. First of all Celie’s and Nettie’s belief in religion are ranked in different categories, Celie a little higher than Nettie. They also have inequalities in their life even though they share the same blood and share a similar childhood; also their personality differs greatly. Celie has no courage, while Nettie has courage. the difference between them in Religion, Inequality, and Personality are what make Celie and Nettie stand out from any other siblings.
Religion plays an important role in Celie’s and Nettie’s relationship.Both sisters believe in god and in the past went to church, but their level of belief has changed as they grew up. Celie believes in god,because god is the only one that Celie can believe in, in the beginning. God to Celie is a person who listens to her, helps her, and someone who she wants to answer her. In the first part of the book she states, “Dear God, I am fourteen years old. I have always been a good girl. Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me (pg.1).” In this quote Celie expresses a little of how she’s feeling to god, fear. Celie plans to keep on writing to god, in hope that God reads her letters and helps her find herself. Nettie on the other hand, doesn't have much belief in god as to write to him daily basis. Instead, Nettie, shows her belief in god in her travels with a missionary. This is where Nettie gets her belief in religion from as she grows up. As to say she’s from a missionary, Nettie’s experience is unlikes Celie’s and is more on a separate plane of belief. In one of Nettie’s letters she says, “The reason I am in Africa is because one of the missionaries that was supposed to go with setting up a school suddenly married a man who was afraid to let her go, and refused to come to Africa with her (pg. 130). This quote doesn't tell if Nettie actually volunteered to go, so not much information of Nettie’s personalty can be extracted, but it does say that Nettie was very exited to go (not from her own will though). Nettie’s belief in Christianity is also portrayed as she is a teacher in these subjects as well. One difference between Nettie and Celie is belief.
Nettie and Celie are both the same gender, but the way they are treated is dramatically different. First off, Celie is treated like a rag doll because of Albert, and worst of all she doesn't know how to fight back. Everyone treats Celie like an alien, except for a special few people who respect her, Nettie, Shug, and Sofia. This show the difference between them. In the quote, “That’s it, say shug, pack your stuff. You coming back to Tennessee with me.” Here Shug shows her concern for Celie. Celie also differs from Nettie in knowledge. Celie didn’t attend school while Nettie did. Celie’s foster father didn’t believe that Celie needed education, because he believed that she was useless. Nettie, on the other hand had the chance to be educated. An example of Nettie’s chance of education is shown here, “But only if they would teach me everything they knew to make me useful as a missionary and someone they would not be ashamed to call a friend. They agreed to this condition, and my real education began at that time (pg.132).” Here, Nettie received a chance to education that Celie never had. Celie’s life was decided by her father while Nettie made her own decisions. Nettie even had the chance to continue her education in a missionary and continue on to become a teacher. Nettie’s range of education is way higher than Celie’s even though they are sisters.
The last and most important comparison to Nettie and Celie is their personality. If they were together as one person, they would have no flaws. Their personalities differ greatly even thought they are born with the same blood. Celie is a shy girl with no courage whatsoever. All Celie does is follow what other people say. If someone tells her to do something, she does it with no questions, better yet she’s too scared to ask questions. This is not entirely her fault, but she still should stand up for herself sometimes to show that she’s not some robot. Her feelings are portrayed here,”But I don’t know how to fight. All I know how to do is stay alive (pg. 17).” This shows that Celie has no courage. She should think about the other ways of how she would stay alive first, and that is to fight back. If she doesn't let the kids get to know who has the upper hand first, they could play with her too much that her life would be worse than dying. If she could control the kids, she would not only survive but have a better life. Nettie, though, is different. She also believes that Celie should fight back, and gain the courage to do so. “Don’t let them run over you, Nettie say. You got to let them know who has the upper hand. They got it, I say. But she keep on, You got to fight, You got to fight. (pg 17).” Here Nettie tries to persuade Celie to fight, but Celie thinks differently. Celie believes that the only way to live is to follow orders, of what?, of children. They’re little kids, what could they do? If Nettie and Celie were the same person, Celie would be fear, and Nettie would be courage. Nettie and Celie differ in personality.
Overall, Celie and Nettie have many things that they are different in. Celie’s and Nettie’s belief in religion are ranked in different categories, Celie a little higher than Nettie. They also have inequalities in their life even thought they share the same blood and share a similar childhood. Last but not least, their personality differs greatly. If Celie has Nettie’s courage, Celie’s life may have been way better. These three differences are what Celie and Nettie stand out from one another, but also what brings them together. The both need each other.

Rebuttal to Fermin

2011-01-28T21:17:00.000-08:00

Fermin talked about the question. "Should teens be allowed to vote," in his debate post. Fermin believes that teens should be allowed to vote at the age of 16, because he thinks that they are mature enough. He also states that teens should be allowed to vote, because there are many who he believes will play a big role in the society. Fermin make, some pretty good points in his debate post but what I think it's missing is concrete detail.
First off teens do not limit themselves to the age 16, teens turn into teens at the age of 13. What about the teens age 13, 14 , and 15? Should they be allowed to vote? I suggest you about these ages and what you think about them before stating that 16 year olds should be allowed to vote. The voting age has already been reduced once after passing the federal constitutional amendment to the age 18. Making it any lower,I think, is unnecessary,
Also there are alot of students who don't succeed in life and many of them are in high school. To lower the voting age to 16 would allow a bunch people who don't even know the basics of politics (like me) vote, which would destroy the community. Besides most of the power does not reside in the president, but in the Legislative house. They are the ones who decide if a law is passed, etc. Lowering the voting age is like lowering the driving to 14, which i would love, but would probably cause tons of more car accidents then usual.
Do that many high schoolers even read the news?
When one reaches the age 18, they are legally an adult, and they can do w.e they want to do with their life. The age to reach adulthood is a great age to be able to vote, because
1) they are an adult now
2) most of them graduated high school
3) the age where people start making decisions if not sooner
4) hopefully the brain is developed
5) body mature?
The age 18 is perfect for voting, and the age 16 is not. The voting age should not go down, because it is unnecessary, and the outcome of doing so would be destructive.
The 2 years aren't that long, just wait and boom after 2 short years of schoolwork and hanging out friends, you'll be at voting age.

Whew that was hard debating back to something I think should happen. I'll help you out, I found some good quotes and points you could choose from here while looking for my own points. http://www.slate.com/id/1006439/.

Color Purple Post 1- Celie

2011-01-23T21:37:00.000-08:00

In the story "The Color Purple," the main character is Celie and the whole book are her letters to g@d. In her letters she writes about her days living as Mr.___'s wife. She tells about how she feels about herself and others, giving us a idea of who she is.
In this story, I can tell that Celie either doesn't live in the USA or lives in a place with very few white men. It seems to me that the laws are also not obeyed in this area, because women are being treated as servants. In the beginning of the book, Celie talks about her life living with her mom and dad. Her mom treats Celie really bad, but Celie abides to it believing that she shouldn't hate her mom not matter what she does. From this I can tell that Celie is a nice person with a good heart and she is someone who doesn't believe in violence.
In one her letters she states that she does not look at guys but she looks at girls instead. She also has a letter where she looks at Shug Avery naked and she doesn't feel as a women looking at her but as a man. From this I can tell that she likes Shug Avery and I feel sad for her, because she was forcefully married to Mr.___ without even loving him. In the quote, "I spend my wedding day running from the oldest boy," I can tell how terrible she is treated. Even when she is a married women, her new children make her miserable and she doesn't find happiness
In page 25, Mr.___ tells her to, "He tell me, wash this, iron that, look at this. Look for that. Find this. Find that. He groans over his socks." From this quote I can tell that most of what she does is not for herself, but for Mr.___, she is being treated as a slave and that's not right. the way they treat women in this book's era should be illegal.
So far, I'm finding this book to be not that interesting but I hope that i will find it interesting as I go further in.

Debate Post

2011-01-21T21:16:00.000-08:00

Many people would love more time after they graduate graduate college to make a living. School starts with preschool which then goes to kindergarten and then elementary school and then middle school which then goes to high school and then college and then graduate college to gain a master's or doctor's degree takes usually takes about 7 years in average (2 for masters and 5 for doctors). By the time the seven years of hardwork are over, half of the life before you retire would be gone. The years before you retire would also be spent earning money and trying to make a living with limited amount of vacation. This means that most of the time for relaxation would be after one retires. In my opinion, there 3 useless years that can be getting rid of.
First off there are too many years in elementary school. In the U.S right now, preschool teaches the same amount of material as kindergarten. Kindergarten is basically a review of preschool. In first grade, according to the first grade curriculum from http://www.time4learning.com/education/first_grade.shtml "First grade is also a year of exploration and discovery of the numbers in the world around us." key concepts are taught and so first grade is needed. In second grade and third grade, the material learned is very similar to each other and with a little push, both curriculum can be turned into 1 curriculum for one grade. Fourth through eighth grade seem to have the needed information transcending from grade to grade and so these grades are untouchable. In 9th grade and 10th grade, extra material can be learned just like in early college high schools to create a path for 11th and 12th graders to take college classes.
During the Junior year and Senior year, college classes can be taken to earn the AA degrees or even more which will cut of about a year or two off of classes off of your college life. Students who are prepared to take the stress of college level classes will have the luxury of graduating earlier or learn more to lessen the time it takes to graduate from graduate school. This extra time in college can also be used to take other classes which will lessen the time it takes to graduate.
With 3 years shaved of school, the average graduating age for a PH.D would be a 25, leaving a few years to start making a living and more.

Response Post

2011-01-14T22:15:00.000-08:00

I agree and disagree with Jessica's response post about Oakland.

Seriously, Oakland residents aren’t really into killing however the only reason that people are doing violence is because they are poor and need money to live a life. Everywhere in this world have violence and is dangerous. Oakland had been referred to that it was ranked as the number 3 or 4 most dangerous city in the US or something, however they should realize that there are still rich people who live in Oakland like in the Oakland hills. When I think about Oakland, I think about the word diversity because our communities are always diverse which is something that I really like about Oakland. Whenever my parents ask me if we should move out of Oakland, I would always give them a NO!

First off, I agree that Oakland residents only kill because they need money, because most of the killings heard on the news are from killing a guy because the guy wouldn't give up his cash or drive-by. I also agree that this world is dangerous everywhere and just because Oakland is ranked in the top 30 or something as a dangerous city dosen't mean that there isn't any other danger around. Because there are so many people on the world and so many gangs, mafia, etc. the world is not a safe place. There is danger everywhere.
The thing that I don't disagree with this or not understand is the part about "dangerous city" and "rich people in Oakland." There are rich people in Oakland and in the Oakland hills, but that doesn't really make the hills a safe place. In fact all the trees and stuff cover the sunlight every night making it even easier for murder or silent killing.
Plus there are snakes and goats.... and deer.
In my opinion East Oakland can be really peaceful in the day and night. In the day everyone is either gone to school or work so that's pretty safe. In the night as long as you lock your doors and like lock your cars then no one will really bother to smash your car if you left it out in the street or in your open parking lot. An car in the open is like telling everyone there's nothing important in there.

Response - College

2011-01-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

In the 7- way debate of "Does it matter where you go to college?," I think that What you do vs. Where you go has the best persuasive point because I think that It matters more of what you do in the college than where you attend. I think that one of Martha's best points is her second to last sentence because it basically summarizes her point and talks about the mos important component which is ambition and desire.

In a summary of the findings, the bureau says that "evidently, students' motivation, ambition and desire to learn have a much stronger effect on their subsequent success than average academic ability of their classmates.”

I think that Martha has a point when she says this because if a student goes to a college like SF state and has the motivation and desire to learn and get a good job for themselves, they can easily do it because they have the something to push them even if they struggle. If a student only cares that they got into a college like Yale and has no motivation to keep going, then they can easily drop out and go work in a cubicle while the student who went to SF state works easily in their dream job.

The one that I think has the least persuasive point is Kevin Carey's Skip The Admission Game because he either sounds like he's joking or he's trying to piss people off. In the second paragraph he clearly suggests that college is a place to hang out and not doing anything but learn a little.

They're nice places to hang out for four years and you'll probably learn a few things. Even if you don't, you'll still get a piece of paper signifying that you were smart enough to get in and rich enough to pay for it. People care about stuff like that.

In here Kevin says that it only matters where you go to college because that's the only thing people look for and I think that this idea is wrong. If college was really just like that, then what you get on the SAT wouldn't really matter and there wouldn't be job interviewers to see how smart you were. The rest of his point is just so infuriating to talk about and I think that he just wants people to read his paper and get a laugh out of it while they read it, so that's what i'll do.. laugh lol.

Thoughts Final

2011-01-12T22:18:00.000-08:00

I said to her, “Disgusting ain’t it?”
She stared at it for a few seconds to open her mouth but she replied, “It was a lot worse when i lived here.”

Then she started talking about her childhood.

We stood their looking at the river and she said, “dead bodies would sometimes float from there to here;” she pointed to the left and explained that a few miles away lies the start of the river connecting to the bay and a few miles to the right would be the end. She tells me that during night time when darkness surrounds the village, the only things visible is the moon and the reflection of it on the water’s surface. Everything else is completely masked in black and night time was the only time when she could take a shower in the river.
The she started to walk along the road and motions me and my sister to follow her. After a minute or two of walking, she stepped down on one of the steps leading to basement looking house with a big hole as a door and smaller holes as windows. I followed her and stepped into the house. I looked around, saw a wooden bucket, a slab of stone on the ground, and some really old wood. The house had three rooms, a living room the size of half a classroom, and two bedrooms about the size of a bathroom each. My mom looked around and her eyes filled with water after each glance of the rooms but she held back her tears. I went over and comforted her and imagined the harsh years she spent living in hear enduring starvation, typhoons, diseases, and other disastrous things. Finally, we walked out and she reminisced with several of her past friends who lived in the village before leaving. We said nothing on the way back; the car filled with a heavy atmosphere.

That night i thought about what happened in the village. I thought about my mom’s uncomfortable childhood and the great one I faced now.

Book Post 3 A Dog In The NightTime

2010-12-17T23:33:00.000-08:00

The final section of the book was full of conflicts. Chris meets his mom again but also meets Mr. Shears and Unlike Chris's mom, Mr. Shears does't know that Chris is autistic so he treats him like any normal kid. Because of his misunderstanding, Mr. Shears thinks that Chris doesn't really care about the people around him when he actually can't. Another conflict that erupted was Chris's Math A classes. In the already difficult time with his mother, Chris tells his mom that he needs her to come back to Swindon with him so he can take his Math A tests without living with his dad again. By saying so, Chris starts a new conflict because he creates a new hurrying worry in his mother's heart. In the end Chris gets what he wants but his parents and everyone else are still unhappy.
In our 3rd Lit Circle Discussion, me, Aakash, and Susan discussed about many things. First we clarified out understanding on the story, and then we discussed out thoughts about the main character Chris. In my opinion the whole story is made out of one major conflict- the parent to parent conflict. I think that if the parents sorted out their conflict and let everything go, then the life Chris went through would have been better. His mom may still have left, but if his dad got over it then he wouldn't have hidden the letters. Also, if his dad got over his mom leaving then he would have probably not have killed Wellington over anger and scared Chris. Everything would have worked out fine, Chris living with his caring dad and sending letters to his mom who still loves him.
The book A Curious Incident of A Dog In The NightTime has a writing style that is very unique that hooks the reader right when the first page is read. The whole autistic point of view is the one that really catches the reader's attention and the author really connects to it as he writes the book. I think that the main conflict traces all back to the parents after adding fragments of his parents's conflicts throughout the story. I'm glad that i have chose this book and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good story to read to pass by time.

Thoughts continued...

2010-12-17T22:57:00.000-08:00

In the first 7 days in Hong Kong, we saw a bunch of old buildings, a bunch of new building, and a bunch of mountains towering over the buildings. We were invited to stay in my aunt’s apartment building and it was awfully small to house 6 people. aside from that our stay in Hong Kong was really fun. My mom would take me and my sister shopping and buy us stuff. Sometimes I would find something i wanted really bad like this glow stick and it was pretty expensive and useless to begin with, but i would drag my mom to that certain store and ask her to buy it for me. When she refused my offers I would cry on the spot, and throw a mini-tantrum while we were walking. The whole store was probably watching us in disgust while closing their ears to my sorrowful cries. Our visit in Hong Kong was short though. We moved onto our next destination Guangzhou.

During our stay in Guangzhou, my 6th uncle drove us to a far away village. While we drove to the village we passed by numerous patches of green colored plants growing high from the ground. They were muddied with water and there were people in these patches with no shoe and examining the green plants. I asked my mom what they were and she said they were rice seedling; my sister scoffed at the sight of it. When we reached the village I stepped out of the car, and a foul stench flowed into my noes. I jumped back and sniffed the air a little before deciding i should guard my nose. I looked up and saw a couple of kids kicking a Chinese water company water bottle around like they were playing soccer. I walked up towards them and stopped as i saw the sun shining on a brown colored thing that was just between two cliffs. At first i thought it was a pile of mud stacked up on each other, but when i saw kids jumping into it and making a splash sound i figured out what it was. I nearly barfed of the thought of how it got brown. My mom walked up to me and stared at the river.

Book Post 2 A Dog In The NightTime

2010-12-11T22:24:00.000-08:00

In my groups second Lit circle discussion we talked about out our personal views on the main character, Chris. In the second part of the story Chris's dad finds Chris's book and he gets really mad at Chris and grabs him. Because Chris dosen't like being touched, he hits his dad back and they start to fight but Chris blanks out. After Chris wakes up he hears his dad walk to the trashcan and dump something inside.... A few days later, Chris decides its o.k to go and write in the book again because hi dad never said that its not o.k o write in the book. Chris searches in the trashcan, but he dosen't. He then looks around the house and arrives at his dad's room after looking everywhere else. He finds his book on top of a bunch of letters in a secret shoe box. He picks up the letters and notices that they are addressed to him so he opens some of them and reads them. The letters reveal the secret that his mom is actually still alive and she's living with Mr. Shears. His dad then catches him and he explains to Chris about why his guilty actions of saying Chris's mom died. He also reveals that he kills Wellington and Chris pushes him away. That night, Chris runs away..
One thing that catches my attention in this section of the story is Chris's reaction to his dad's grab. Chris punched his dad when his dad grabbed him, and to me this is an unexpected moment. Chris's reactions is kid of the one at fault for why Chris got hurt in the end. But his dad's sudden grab on his Chris is also at fault. Chris's dad knows how Chris feels about being touched and despite of that he still grabbed Chris. His dad pretty much deserved that punch, but he shouldn't have a started a fight. I think this fight was the true start of the story, because everything steps up a whole new level after it.
Overall, after reading the second part of the book I am still hooked onto the story and i can't wait to find out what happens next.

Response To Luis's Substitute

2010-12-11T20:15:00.000-08:00

When i was looking around in Google reader, i found an rant on Luis's blog that I can relate to. In his story Luis talks about substitutes and the ups and downs of having one. In the following quote, he mentions his own feelings to how students behave toward a substitute and i can relate to them.

I hate it when people try and take advantage of substitutes like if they do not even know the rules of the school. In my old school, taking advantage of substitutes continuously happened throughout the year. I admit it I also used to take advantage but sometimes there is a limit. Some people take it too far. Some people try and impress their friends to think that they are hard (as in tough). Kids play tricks on substitutes that makes them look like fools. To me it is funny how some people try and be tough but fail at it. I believe it would be more embarrassing to fail at being tough than being completely quiet. Another thing that I find weird is when a person is concentrated at doing their work so much that they are alone or are not talking. This is weird to me because school is also about having some fun and not work all the time.

In my middle school, substitutes were also taking advantage of. Sometimes the substitute wouldn't know how the class works and people would making fun of them because of that. Usually the making fun part advantage wouldn't go to far, and the substitute would leave the day happy. But sometimes some students take it too far. Sometimes an addicting feeling would come up and it's like they have to make fun of the substitute or they won't live happy. It's also like Luis said, about how some people try to impress their friends by doing so. It might be funny to the students but to the substitute, I think, it's really painful. Back when I was in 8th grade, I was part of a painful experience for a substitute.
It was a seemingly normal day, that 3rd of May except their was a chubby substitute who was thought to have aids. Students in her class would make fun of her behind her back and in front of her so much she got mad. She screamed," shut the **** up" threw a chair across the room, and went on her way. The next day, we were informed that she got fired and guilt crossed my heart as I knew that i was also at fault for her loss because I had also made fun of her. I learned a lesson that day and i swore that i wouldn't make fun of a substitute ever again.
I'm really happy I'm in Asti now because the students here don't make fun of the substitutes.

Book post 1 A Dog In The Night-time

2010-12-04T23:48:00.000-08:00

The book A Dog In The Nighttime is a very inspiring book to read. The author Mark Haddon writes the story in the views of an autistic boy. The main character is an austistic boy called Christopher and he is the one who is telling the story. Christopher writes the book in first person and it's like a small section of a fictional biography.
As i read the first section of A Dog In The Nighttime, i found many interesting things to annotate on. Christopher has a very bright mind, but he has problems dealing his "behavioral problems." For example, Christopher does like to be touched and if he is touched he punches the person who touches him like on page 7. On page 7 a policeman touches him, because the police was being really mean and angry at Christopher, because he thought that he killed the dog. Since the policeman was so furious, Chris couldn't stand him and he put his face onto the grass. Then the policeman grabbed him and Christopher punched him. In my opinion this was both Chris's and the policeman's fault. The policeman should have been nicer to Chris and not forced so many questions into Chris's head. He was acing like a bad cop instead of a good cop. This is also Chris's fault, because he could have added more detail to the answers he answered instead of just replying in a single sentence. Chris's autism is one thing to really notice and interesting to read about as it goes through the story.
After I read the first section of the book, I thought to myself 'is it possible for chris's mom to still be alive?' It really seems like his dad was lying about the heart attack because it's really unnatural for her to get a heart attack. Chris said that his mom was healthy and heart attacks aren't that common with middle aged people who are healthy. I also found it suspicious that his dad hadn't brought him to see his mom on weekends or holidays. It was kind of like his dad was avoid going to the hospital with his son. Therefore i had also thought that of the idea of Chis's mom could actually be alive.
Something that bugged me was when Ms. Alexander said that Mr. Shears and Chris's mom had sex. Chris's reaction to that was very unlikeable, because he didn't seem to freak out or anything our start hating on his mom. I mean i would get mad at my mom for cheating on my dad if that were to happen. Instead Chris called her a stranger and left.

Response Post To Colin

2010-12-04T23:07:00.000-08:00

I found an interesting quote on Colin's blog about the story A Dog In The Nighttime.:

I had many questions after i read the first section. First; Will his attention to detail help him in the investigation? Also; What is the difference between autistic people and people with OCD? Also, Did his dad use Chris's mother's death as an excuse to get her away because she was cheating? We talked about this in our discussion. Elton said that he does not believe that she really died but that was just a way for his dad to not tell chris that his mom cheated. I agree with him but they made it very believable that she died because it was from Chris's perspective. I also think that because Chris's mom had an affair with Mr.Shears, that maybe Chris's dad killed the dog.

First off, I had the same question as Colin about the difference between autistic people and people with OCD. i think that autistic people are not the same as OCD people because being autistic is not mental disorder. Autism is a new way to look, and think of things. I also don't think that autism is caused by the same thing as mental disorders
Another concept i found interesting in Colin's quote is that he mentioned that his mom is actually alive. I had thought the same thing when i read about his mom's heart attack. Chris said that his mom was healthy and heart attacks aren't that common with middle aged people who are healthy. I also found it suspicious that his dad hadn't brought him to see his mom on weekends or holidays. It was kind of like his dad was avoid going to the hospital with his son. Therefore i had also thought that of the idea of Chis's mom could actually be alive.
Something that bugged me was when Ms. Alexander said that Mr. Shears and Chris's mom had sex. Chris's reaction to that was very unlikeable, because he didn't seem to freak out or anything our start hating on his mom. I mean i would get mad at my mom for cheating on my dad if that were to happen. Instead Chris called her a stranger and left.

Kite Runner Final

2010-11-23T22:16:00.001-08:00

8. Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth. You can also analyze a relationship between two different characters.

After reading the book Kite Runner, I am completely captivated by Khaled Hosseini’s story. I liked how the story was told in Amir’s point of view and gave details on mostly everything, because I felt as if I was Amir and experiencing his life myself. Not only that, but what i found really interesting was the bond between the two characters Amir (son of baba), and Hassan (also son of Baba). Amir and Hassan’s fathers are connected with a 40 year relationship from when Baba’s father bought Ali and loved him like his own son till now as Baba’ friend/servant. Not only that but Hassan was believed to be born by Ali so he is also a servant to Baba and Amir. Hassan and Amir share an unbreakable bond, but Amir loses it after a fatal incident. I find this bond a wonderful subject to behold, for it is broken several times in the story, and the character Amir in this bond is one to never forget.

Throughout the childhood of Amir and Hassan’s life, they played together, read together, kite ran together, and did many other things together. Then on a beautiful winter day Amir and Hassan attended a Kite running contest, and won it with the help of Hassan. While Amir was celebrating his victory Hassan went to retrieve the blue kite that flew away from the runner ups hands. After Amir celebrated his victory he went to find Hassan, and saw him holding onto the blue kite with some mean kids they had encountered before, Assef and his lil’ gang. They threatened him to give him the blue kite, but Hassan refused holding the blue kite close to the body like a parent protecting their child. Because Hassan was not the same as them, he was a Hazara and they were the discriminated ones like Jews to German, was beat up and raped while Amir was in the corner watching the whole incident and stood their and trembled like a coward. Despite their whole friendship, and despite the fact that Hassan’s first word was Amir, Amir just stood their imagining that he’s helping Hassan in his head. In the end, after Assef and them left, Amir went to the beat up Hassan and mustered a “What happened?, I looked all over for you.”

At the end of the rape numerous conflicts had erupted in Amir’s life. Their bond starts to break and Amir falls into darkness, feeling boundless regret for the nonetheless he had done while his friend was getting raped.
In the dialogue,

“I hit him with another pomegranate, in the shoulder this time. The juice splattered his face. “Hit me back!” I spat. “Hit me back, goddamn you!” I wished he would. I wished he’d give me the punishment I craved, so maybe I’d finally sleep at night. Maybe then things could return to how they used to be between us.” (92)

But Hassan did nothing as he pelted him again and again.

“You’re a coward!’ I said. “Nothing but a coward.” (92)

He even tries to regain himself by letting Hassan beat him up, but of course Hassan was to nice to do so. Is ‘nothing but a coward’ really what Amir thinks? Amir has done nothing to help Hassan, but Hassan would risk his life for Amir’s safety. Also from this you can see how Hassan is loyal to Amir. He treats Amir as a true friends and tries to help Amir calm himself down. Hassan however does not stoop down to Amir’s level. He is not fool who takes other people’s love for granted but the other way around. Hassan is a loving companion and a friend to Amir. Amir jan doesn’t deserve Hassan’s love.

After that Amir and Baba move away from Kabul and go to America and here their bond is completely broken. Amir finds himself graduating high school at the age of 18, and Baba finds himself a manager job at a local gas station. Over their life in America, Baba mentions Hassan’s name a few times over and Amir immediately dismisses the idea of a conversation about him. After a few day/months, Baba passes away peacefully in bed after he bestows his last kiss on Amir. Amir then receives a call from Rahim Khan, a friend of his and Baba’s, asking him to meet with him in Pakistan. Amir accepts Khan’s greeting and flies to Pakistan to meet with Rahim Khan. In Pakistan Rahim Khan tells Amir the life Hassan has lived after he left with Ali. He then asks Amir to save Hassan’s son Sohrab.

Then Amir goes senile. He rejects Rahim Khan’s saving Sohrab proposal and his true nature awakens.
It is shown in the dialogue:

“Rahim Khan , I don’t want to go to Kabul. I can’t!’ I said.....

“Why me? Why can’t you pay someone here to go? I’ll pay for it if it’s a matter of money.”

“It isn’t a matter of money, Amir!” Rahim Khan roared. “I'm a dying man and i will not be insulted! It has never been about money with me, you know that. And why you? I think we both know why it has to be you, don’t we?” (221)

In the quote Amir goes to his selfish side. After all that Hassan has done for him, Amir still shows resistance to help him back, how pathetic can he get? Amir is nothing but a coward. Rahim Khan is giving him a generous offer to redeem himself. but he refuses. He dosen’t deserve Hassan’s friendship nor Rahim Khan’s generosity.

However, this refusal starts a new life for Amir. After he leaves Rahim Khan’s home and thinks about it for a while, he realizes that that he can’t escape his guilt. Hassan’s son is at stake and he couldn't leave him just like he had done to Hassan. It was not the proper nor right thing to do. Those thoughts in Amir begin in the quote:

“ I can’t go to Kabul, I said to Rahim Khan. I have a wife in America, a home, a career, and a family. But how could I pack up and go back home when my actions may have cost Hassan a chance at those very same things?” (226)

Here their bond starts to recover. In the quote, Amir convinces himself that his family is just as important to him as to Hassan and his son. Amir knows that if Hassan was in the same situation Amir was in he would not hesitate to save this boy. The guilt cycle surrounding Amir and Baba will end with this boy ,Hassan’s son, if Amir would save him. He knows that his boy is the only way for him to be good again. In the end Amir saves Hassan’s son and brings him to America with him. His bond with Hassan is fixed and he is free of guilt.
To wrap the bond up, Hassan finally recieves Amir’s love and Amir is finally able to let the past go. Their bond is recovered and so the story is complete.
Overall this story was a great one and everything that Hosseini has written about was clear. A great book to read with a ‘moving and unexpected’ twist to the plot. I would recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a good story.