Blog post

“The Semplica Girls” by George Saunders a futuristic and poignant comedy about a poor man dealing with his family issues. It is written in first person as a diary. In this story he has a series of events that are joyous and very tough. The main character tries to keep his family together and happy. One thing I respect about the main character is his constant want to make his family happy. Also, along with trying to make his family happy he also tries to stay optimistic, and in the climax of the story his attempt to keep him and his family happy is thwarted.

            My first example of his attempt to keep his family happy is when his family is invited to his daughter’s rich friend’s birthday party. In this chapter he tries to keep his family positive, but he doesn’t feel very positive himself. For example, the title of the chapter is “most depressing birthday party.” However, when his kids try to comment about the family’s poverty he reassures them that they are doing okay financially. This shows his optimistic instinct.

             Another example is after he flips on his daughter for costing the family their house.  “Its ok Eva, we are not gonna lose the house, I’m sorry for shouting at you.” In this scene the inner dialogue is that he had to lie to Eva because he couldn’t stand her being upset. This scene shows how the character is an optimistic person, and how he has to keep his family optimistic, even if that means lying.

             In conclusion, I like this character because he is optimistic, but I know that it could be an error as well. It is a flaw in the instance that Eva will feel even worse if the house is lost and especially when his kids realize all of the lies that he tells are lies and they are in a tough financial position.

           

Argument Essay

Argument Essay on YA fiction

            Young adult fiction may no longer be Judy Blume’s “Superfudge,” but does that mean YA fiction should be taken off shelves? Some, like Meghan Cox Gurdon, say that today’s YA fiction books are, “Constantly reflecting back hideously distorted portrayals of what life is.” [p.1 “Darkness Too Visible”]. However, many support the idea that people should make their own decisions in what they read. Current YA fiction should not be rated because it helps teenagers to mature and learn. Teenagers should not be protected from reality.

            All across the world, kids mature by reading YA. Some say that current YA fiction is graphic. While I acknowledge that some YA fiction can be profane, I agree with Ms. Gurdon as she admits that, “Reading about homicide doesn’t turn a man into a murderer; reading about cheating on exams won’t make a kid break the honor code.”[p.1 “Darkness Too Visible”] In addition, like the Boone public library says, “Books like ‘Scars’ or with questionable material, those provide teachable moments for the family.”[p.3 “Darkness Too Visible”] The Boone public library proves that profane material can be beneficial for families because it can lead to having mature discussions about the graphic topics.

              My second point is how people ignore the profanity in the Internet or the news. I understand how “Pederasty and incest and brutal beatings are now just part of the run (in YA fiction),” [p.1 “Darkness Too visible”] but a teenager can simply find all of these disturbing actions on the cover of the New York Times. Like Patrick Ness, the best-selling kids’ author says, “Teenagers look at the Internet, they look at the news, they look at pornography on the Internet.”[p.2 “Should Young Adult Books Have Age Ratings?”]

In addition, why should teenagers be protected from the news and profane YA fiction. Are people like M. Cox Gurdon trying to protect teens? Sherman Alexie states that, “they (people opposed to YA fiction) aren’t trying to protect African-American teens forced to walk through metal detectors on their way to school…No, they are simply trying to protect their notions of what literature is and should be.” [p.3 “Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood”] I agree with what Alexie says, because in articles like Darkness Too Visible they never use quotes from teenagers, and the teens are the readers.

            My third and final point is how teens should not have YA fiction taken away from them, because YA fiction gets teens to read, and reading is important for thriving in school. Many books can be gruesome and disgusting, for example ‘The Marbury Lens,’ “Young Jack is drugged, abducted, and nearly raped.” [p.2 “Darkness Too Visible”] Those kinds of books may not be for me, but some other person may only like extremely graphic books, and that may be the only type of book that gets that person to read. Like Sherman Alexie states, “As a child I read because books- violent and not, blasphemous and not, terrifying and not- were the most loving and trustworthy things in my life.” [p.4 “Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood”] Alexie shows that teens like many different types of YA fiction. In the end it’s the teens  decision in what they read.

           

In conclusion, YA fiction connects to teens. YA books mature, teach, entertain, and satisfy teens. So do you honestly think that it should be up to people like M. Cox Gurdon to choose for the teens what the teens read? So next time you see an article that talks about how “awful” YA fiction is, think about the teens that only the “awful” YA fiction.

blog post on independent book

Blog Post

            Safe Area Gorazde by Joe Sacco is a remorseful and true group stories found from refugees in Gorazde, Bosnia after a huge war. It follows the main character and author Joe Sacco, who makes many friends, but also learns to empathize for another side of the world. As the story goes on his new Bosnian friends try to find out if the rest of the world cares about the war. In this story there are a lot of trust problems.

            The first time the issue comes up about trust is when refugees start wondering if the rest of the world was on top of this situation. Joe says “I said yes, which I regret saying.” (p.121) The second time someone asks this question, it’s his best friend. He then again lies and feels bad about it. He questions if it was right or wrong because he feels bad.

The second trust issue is when they wonder if people are coming to help clean up the mess in the neighboring areas. Once again a similar process happens. However I still question if the important white lie was necessary. He goes into how he couldn’t bare telling the refugees that no one cared about them. Which gives a deeper level to the text.

In conclusion, this is a very powerful story that taught a lot of reader’s different lesson. One is how a white lie can put a lot of faith into different people. So do you think the white lie was necessary?

            

non fiction critical analysis

Critical analysis on “Why the best kids books are written in blood”

           

            This article, by Sherman Alexie, is a direct response to Meghan Cox Gurdon’s article from the wall street journal. Alexie rebuttals Gurdon’s article and writes about how YA fiction should be mature. Well, why does Alexie think the best kids books are written in blood? In the article he talks about how in his childhood the elders tried to protect his innocence, he says, “They wanted to protect me from sex when I had already been raped.” What Alexie is trying to say is that YA fiction shouldn’t be banned and rated because kids should not be protected from reality.

            In this article Alexie tries to make readers feel that kids who have troubling lives can connect to books. He does this by telling true stories about him and others and bringing the article to a very personal level. For example, he talks about being abused and how, “ I read because books—were the most loving and trustworthy things in my life.” In addition he also talks about how people who criticize YA fiction “ aren’t trying to protect the poor from poverty…No they are simply trying to protect their privileged notions of what literature is and should be.”

            In conclusion, I agree with Sherman Alexie on how kids should not be protected from profane literature. I may be a kid and I may want independence in what I read, but I agree that reading does mature kids. From firsthand experience most of my knowledge is from reading. I love to read and I know that it helps kids. People can say that books are too graphic, but in the end it’s the readers choice; and others cannot make that choice for the reader.

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.