YA blogpost

Alec Mansky

805

YA blog post

            “The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime” by Mark Haddon is a moving novel about a boy who gets caught in a tough situation with his parents. The narrator, who is the boy, appears to be on the autistic spectrum. In this story the boy, named Chris, lives with his dad and believes his mom is dead. Chris is also trying to solve the murder of his neighbor’s dog wellington. In the middle of the book Chris finds out that his mom is not dead and his dad killed the dog. These secrets confuse and hurt Chris ultimately putting his relationship with his father in jeopardy. This story taught readers the importance of honesty and how it can affect different relationships.

              Honesty affected Chris; it made him uneasy and scared. Towards the middle of the book, before Chris suspects anything, Chris finds a large amount of letters in his dad’s closet. After he reads the letters he says, “There was sick all over the bed and on my hands and arms and face.” (p. 113) Chris also says “I don’t know what happened then because there was a gap in my memory,” (p. 113) both of these parts of text shows how he doesn’t feel good and doesn’t feel normal. In addition, later on in the book Chris becomes scared of his dad and leaves to meet his mom in London.

            Honesty affected his dad; it made his strongest relationship weak and made him sad and alone. For example, when Chris goes to London his dad searches for him and sobs when Chris rejects him. Another example is after Chris reads the letters and his dad says, “ I’m sorry Christopher. I’m so, so sorry.” (p.114) and, “ We have to get you cleaned up, Ok?. . . Then I’m going to come back and take you to the bath room, Ok?” (p. 115) all of the help and assurance shows that the dad is panicking about his relationship with his son.

            In conclusion, this story teaches us about the importance of honesty in your everyday relationships. Whether it’s a close friend, your best friend, or even your parents. This story tests Chris’s relationship but ultimately his relationship with his dad survives

baseline argument essay

             Michael Brown was shot and killed over the summer. That may not sound like much because lots of people die everyday, but this killing has a lot more to it. On August 9th, the black eighteen year old, Michael Brown, was shot by a white police officer for "unclear circumstances," says upfront magazine. This controversial topic is being questioned right now by thousands of people, they ask themselves; was this killing based off of racist assumptions by the white police officer? I think it was a racist action. There are many reasons I think this was a racist assumption, but I have stuck to two main reasons; firstly, he had no weapon, in addition nobody knows why he was shot,  and finally, there has been past patterns of this kind of incident.

             My first point I want to make is how he had no weapons. Most deaths caused by the police are because the policeman or woman is trying to protect citizens, but in this case who was the policeman protecting? In addition, hypothetically if Brown had a weapon, the policeman still shouldn't shoot him, let alone kill him. The fact is, there has to be serious measures before a policeman shoots a civilian and in this situation there were no measures. Was Brown killed because of fear? I also want to point out that nobody knows why he was killed. When I add these two thoughts I can infer that most likely some racists thoughts and assumptions were made and the cop decided to shoot.

           My second and final point is how this incident is not a first. For example, on February 26th 2012, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman. It was a similar case, Trayvon Martin was just walking when George Zimmerman shot him. Martin had no weapons, he was seventeen. Weirdly enough, Zimmerman was released from jail for the shooting, but later put back in for threatening his wife. Also, white police men in the early 1900s have been known to be quite racists and hurt innocent black civilians. Frankly, it hasn't even been one hundred years since black people were desegregated. Racist stereotypes has most definitely effected present day life.  

        In conclusion, this problem is controversial, but I still think it was a racist decision. This problem has effected many different people's thoughts on the police. Young black men have been questioning walking around in the street, should they be scared to walk in the street. I think they shouldn't have to be scared, but at this point I don't see why they wouldn't be scared.

         

Faithful Elephants Book Response

Reading Response on Faithful Elephants

        “Faithful Elephants” by Yukio Tsuchiyan is a poignant and true short story about an elephant trainer from the Japan in the 1940s. He is forced to watch his favorite elephants starve and he is not allowed to help them. The elephants John, Tonky, and Wanly, had to be killed because the Americans had been bombing Japan and the government was scared that if the zoo was bombed the animals would run free and hurt citizens. This story teaches readers about the desperate times during war, the unwilling yet obedient trainer , and the sad situation the trainer was in which was like a parent who cannot protect their child. This story has a very deep theme: the constant challenge of not always being able to protect your loved ones. In this tale the readers learn a tough lesson that awful things happen during war.  

        In this story the readers can tell how much the trainer loved the elephants. For example, in the beginning of the story the narrator says, “One day, an employee of the zoo, while tenderly polishing the stone, told me a sad story of three elephants buried there.” [p. 1] Also at the end of the story, the narrator says, “He was still patting the tombstone tenderly.” [p. 3 ] I noted the “tender” actions of the trainer. I think this shows the trainer’s tender love for John, Tonky, and Wanly. Another example of the trainer’s love for the Elephants is at the end after he finishes telling the story, “With tears in his eyes, the zookeeper finished the story.” This shows that the emotions were still raw and the trainer hadn’t moved on. All of these actions and small observations show how much the trainer loved the Elephants.

         The trainer loved the elephants incredibly, even though that couldn’t stop the government, that didn’t stop him from trying to save the elephants. For example, when the trainer found out that the elephants had to be killed he suggested that the elephants should be sent to Sendai, a place far north of Tokyo, but the government responded by saying, “what if the bombs fell on Sendai?” [p. 2] Another example is when Tonky and Wanly were about to die from starvation, “The trainer could stand it no longer…He carried food and pails of water to them and threw it at their feet.” [p. 2] all of these actions show the unwillingness of the trainer yet by the end the elephants still die.

In conclusion, all of these observations and actions show the trainer being tested with a hard challenge: not always being able to protect your loved ones. At the end of this story the trainer and the narrator and even the reader learn a tough lesson, which is that awful things happen during war.