Research Writing Assignment 2: Gay Adoption

If two people love each other, and are willing to spend their lives together, raise a child, have a family, should it matter what their gender is?

There are so many conservative people saying that gay families "can't provide what a child needs" and "cannot upbring a child as a traditional heterosexual family could". The thing is, all of this is built on ignorance. The reason why homosexual parents have hard times raising children is because of their rights being limited. And their rights are limited because they can't raise children correctly (as people say)? It's built on a cycle of ignorance and limiting of human rights that causes problems in homosexual families. It brings me to a question I think about a lot; Why is the government so stupid?

There are conservative politicians that are asked why they don't believe in gay rights, and actually respond with "because I don't" (see Karen Handel). And then they continue to be anti-gay. That's bad politics right there. And there isn't any need for gay adoption/rights to be involved in politics anyway, but it just had to be, which is really what's causing the problems. Some of these politicians have actually never met any gay parents too! Which means they have ignorance about them, and, as always, ignorance leads to prejudice, and prejudice leads to hate, and hate leads to the limits of rights.

This country was built on the idea of equal rights and opportunities for all. Yet, throughout the history of America there have always been problems maintaining that ideal (people have been discriminated against due to racism, sexism, and religion). It has never actually been an equal place to be; so neither has anywhere else.

Research Writing Assignment #1

I am responding on the topic of school libraries (and public libraries) banning books because of possible controversial content and trying to "protect" students in elementary & middle school from these challenged books.

Parents and teachers often worry about the kind of books students/children are reading, which result in challenging a book in the classroom and library. Hundreds of books are brought to the attention of the American Library Association (ALA) a year. I believe that banning books from libraries and classrooms is actually very pointless and well, stupid. It violates the constitutional right to freedom of speech and press and the right to read. I also think that reading controversial books is very educational, anyway. Reading them can give you a more open mind, show a different point of view, learn about new things you might not have thought or been taught about before, and can give you awareness on a topic. And schools love educational material, so why ban them?

As an example, there is a allegorical picture book called "And Tango Makes Three". This book is about two male penguins raising an abandoned baby chick. It is among the top 10 most challenged books in the United States since 2005.
I don't understand why that would be very challenged right now in 2010, since the Department of Education is trying to teach that there should be equality in the  LGBT community with the rest of America, and here we have a book about male penguins raising a penguin that parents want out of libraries and classrooms. This really contradicts the teachings of equality that go on these days.

So anyway, my beliefs are that books shouldn't be banned in classrooms and libraries, for these reasons.

Social Awareness #6

The streets are cold
And dark
Freezing more than the days
In November
December
January
February
We take our warm homes
And coats and gloves and scarves
All for granted
While outside
Ignored by the world
People need help
Need a home
Like the home we have
And the care we get
The coats
The hats
The scarves & gloves
We slide down through white fields, having fun embracing our inner children
But Winter is not fun for all
And neither is every other month of the year
Some need help
Care
Shelter
Who's going to help?
Not many do.

Social Awareness #4

I'm responding to social issues that are in the book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Even though it takes place way into the future in post-apocalyptic America which is very different from America today, it's actually not quite different from other countries today with power-hungry oppressive governments.

In The Hunger Games, the country of Panem (modern-day America) have a government called the Capitol who are extremely controlling. The Hunger Games is about the Capitol sending one boy and one girl from each District to fight to the death with other tributes from other Districts because of a rebellion that happened almost a century before, to show that there should not be another uprising again, because the Capitol dictates all of Panem.

It's all so kind of like during the Holocaust, because in the world of The Hunger Games normal innocent people are being killed because the government says it's okay and should happen, and people are too afraid to rise up against it and fight for their human rights, because dictating governments are so scary, but really, it's not an okay thing to happen.

The people of the Districts (especially children and teenagers aged 12-16, because those are the ages of tributes) are constantly living in fear of the government and cannot enjoy their lives. This is all because long ago the ancestors of these people wanted a fair government then, but after they rebelled, it just got worse, and these people don't want it to get even worse than it already is, so they don't do anything. They look the other way, ignore what's happening, try to get the least involved as possible so they can just survive. And the really bad thing is, there are still countries today with very controlling governments. Not as severe as the Capitol in The Hunger Games, but still very bad. A lot of these countries aren't even allowed to contact the United States, because the dictators of those countries know that our country has the power to stop oppression. The controlling governments are afraid. Afraid just like the people living in them, but in a different way, in a way that someone will help, as opposed to the citizens, afraid that there will never be help. So in countries like this, everyone is afraid. And it's not healthy or right at all.

Entry #8: Response To Mother To Son By Langston Hughes

This poem is basically about how life isn't easy, it's hard for people especially if they don't have much money or are black (in the time period it was written in). It describes life as "not a crystal stair" - hard to walk on, with splinters, no carpet, and so on. The "crystal stair" would be the life easiest to live - probably by wealthy people, of white heritage (time period). I've read this poem many many times over the years for school, and every time I've noticed: a stair made of crystal would probably be hard to walk on, whereas a stair just made of plain wood is also a lot easier. It almost symbolizes that people who seem to have perfect, glamorous, healthy lives, also have a hard life too. That it's impossible to live a perfect life. And nobody owns stairs made of crystal; saying again, no one's life is perfect.

A lot of this poem is based on the time period it was written in too. Like, if it had been written in 2010, the racial inequality part of it that I (and other people in 807 and my other past classes in past years) had thought of probably wouldn't have been thought of if it was recent, or if the writer was white. And I think to wrap up the poem, it's saying that if Langston Hughes and his mother were able to make it up the wooden, tacked, splintered, bared stairs of life, then almost anyone can.

An Appreciation

'"Yes!" said a great voice behind their backs. "It is more magic." They looked round. There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself."

This is an excerpt I particularly enjoyed from The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe. Something about it just makes it seem powerful to me, Aslan coming back to life because he was an unevil creature. That's like in a lot of books, how an innocent character is shown undeserving cruelty, but this character becomes the hero of the story. A book that reminds me of Narnia is Redwall by Brian Jacques, which is about forest animals that fight off their enemies in battle. Though unlike Narnia it has no mythical creatures, it still has a similar concept, and I enjoyed both books very very much as a child. There seems to be something about fantasy books revolving around woodland animals vs. evil that captures the interest of many children. Perhaps it's because it reflects on what happens in the real world that we all have to face when we grow up, but in a form that isn't as serious, using animals and creatures that reflect their character and role in classic good vs. evil fantasy stories, and there's always a more "magic" element that is widely beloved by all ages.

The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe has magic elements such as magical lands and mythical creatures like fauns, werewolves, menotaurs, cenotaurs, and other leagues of monsters, whose kind reflect their personality and role in the story. For example, the more menacing creatures like the werewolves and menotaurs are on the evil side, but the kinder-seeming ones are on the good side. There's always been that kind of role in fantasy with characters as animals - foxes are evil and cunning, mice are small yet brave heroes. These good-v-evil creatures have battles against each other in which good almost always wins. Which is a strange because like I said before, this reflects on the real world, and in the real world, evil wins a lot. Do these books make good win to make children think this world isn't as scary as it is, even though that they will find out that it is anyway? Or is it to help them escape from this big bad world, into a better one?

I believe in the latter. Fantasy is called fantasy because it's something you can escape to - which we all must do once in a while. The world is a bad place, one can't deny that it is. That's something i appreciate about the Narnia books and fantasy in general - it gives you the freedom to a better (or in some cases, worse) world.

However, around the time The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe was published, people discouraged fantasy books - they were only for younger children. Adults feared that if older children read too much fantasy, they would lose sight of reality and go mad. The Narnia books were somewhat challenged at this time period. But it hasn't been 70 years yet and the book is already considered a classic. That's also something I appreciate about it, so many other people love it that it's famously known, yet they barely even gave it a chance at first.

All in all, my appreciation is that the Narnia books are a fantasy-escape not just for young kids but all ages, and it also provides some insight on real life as well. That people will betray you, that there is evil, that the weak can become heroes, and that you can find magic wonders in life, if you look hard enough,

Entry #7: Research On The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe

As I searched for more information on C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles Of Narnia, I had come across this blog right here at blogspot all about C.S. Lewis and his world famous writing. It turns out he wrote so much more than just the Narnia books. His 40-some books include Out Of The Silent Planet, The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, A Year With Aslan, Great Divorce, and much more. Some of these books aren't just fantasies, but reflect on his life. Some of the information I found on the blog confirmed that C.S. Lewis was a religious Christian, being a Christian writer and all, like when my group and I found the Christian themes in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe. He was born in 1898 and died in 1963.

I knew that Barnes And Noble had editorial reviews of books so I went to read the reviews there. These are reviews from Barnes And Noble, the publisher of the book, Gale Research, the New York Times, and Children's Literature. These reviews may be short, but I think they say enough that has to be said. I think the book is just a wonderful fantasy for all ages (though B&N says it's for ages 8-12, I strongly disagree) the whole series is just epic adventure after epic adventure and unlike the other childhood rereading books, I actually enjoyed this one (which is obviously why I chose it).

Anyway, I'm getting off the topic of research around now.

Entry #6: Expand On An Interesting Note

In The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, I noticed that the book and the one before in the series tells a very well known story of the Bible, recognized even by non-Christians like myself. The rest of my group also noticed that. For example, in the book before this (I know not the actual book, but this is like a text-to-text connection I guess), The Magician's Nephew, the story is just like the story of Adam and Eve with the apple tree and the garden in the book, just like the apple tree in the Garden of Eden. Also in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, Aslan, who symbolizes strength and courage and the good side of Narnia, is killed but then later comes back to life. This is just like the story of the resurrection of Christ. I haven't read the rest of the books in the series apart from The Magician's Nephew (but even that I haven't finished yet; I stopped reading it halfway through. It isn't as interesting to me as the Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe) and this one so I don't know for sure if the rest of the series is like the Bible too, but I predict that it is. And now that I've reread this book, it makes me want to read the rest of the series now because I hadn't read this book in years and had forgotten how magical and enjoyable it was! And now that I'm older they'd be easier to read and I can think more about them that I could if I was still nine years old like I was when i first read this.

Entry #5: Themes of Charlotte's Web

In Charlotte's Web, I've noticed themes throughout the book that have to deal with the balance and cycle of life and death, and growing up. Some examples are Wilbur was going to be killed but then Charlotte saved him and kept him alive. Then Charlotte dies and her new baby spiders were born in spring, the season that is universally recognized as symbolizing rebirth and starting over in a cycle, the cycle of life. But by the time the spiders were born and Charlotte had died, he didn't need a mother figure like Charlotte and Fern anymore (and Fern had seemed to disappear anyway...) which goes into the theme that I mentioned earlier of growing up. These themes are important in a widely known children's book like Charlotte's Web because like Wilbur, young children will have to grow up and move on eventually away from their parents and starting their own life, and at a certain point in everyone's life, we must deal with the death of someone we know. Charlotte's Web is a highly and widely praised children's book, for these reasons and more, and when we grow older we sometimes reread the books from our childhood and see all the themes and lessons we didn't see before. Just because we're older now doesn't mean simpler-seeming books are not for us anymore.