"The Giver" Final Reading Response

    In “The Giver” by Lois Lowry, Jonas lives in a community specifically made to be perfect. However, when he turns 12 he gets his job of being a Receiver, one who receives memories of long ago from The Giver. From these memories, Jonas goes from knowing only the bliss of ignorance to the burden of knowledge that nobody else knows.
    One specific memory he received is of war. He was surrounded by dead or dying people and horses, and it overwhelmed him greatly, as knowledge can be overwhelming. A few days after he received his memory, his friends (who were ignorant as to war was actually like), were playing a war game and wanted him to join in. It reminded him of the memory and he’d felt so sick he couldn’t even move. In their ignorance, his friends had no idea what they were doing wrong. Jonas probably wished he’d never knew this memory of war, I know I would if I was in his position. It must be a huge burden to carry that much knowledge that no one else knows, after all.
    Also, because Jonas knew of simple things in the world no one else did such as color, sunshine, and snow, he rebels against the rules and stops taking the pills that make him exactly like everybody else. With Jonas, rebellion also comes with knowledge. But it’s understandable; color and sunshine are simple yet wonderful, and Sameness forbids these things in his world. He wants his world to be interesting and natural like it was long before Sameness. Later on, he runs away with his little brother Gabriel, reaching places in the world he had no idea existed & that were still natural. Jonas realized with the memories and knowledge that “Sameness” is actually unnatural, oppressive, and limiting. That’s what I believe, at least. The point of living, growing up, and being human is to experience real life for yourself and learn from it, which is exactly what Sameness prohibits in order to “protect” people.
    As for another Receiver, unlike Jonas she couldn’t bear the memories she had to receive. She had asked for a Releasement (meaning, she wanted to die). She did die, which for some reason was seen as so shameful for the community that they would not even speak her name. Interesting enough, the girl was the Giver’s daughter. I keep wondering why the Giver didn’t do anything to prevent her death -- was he so wise, that he somehow knew for some reason it was best to let her go? The Giver is the most wise out of everybody in the community, even more wise than the Receivers who become Givers when they’re old.
    In conclusion, this book shows that knowledge really is power. It’s also a burden that can lead to rebellion or insanity, or anything else. And as we grow, we take hold of more knowledge, burden, responsibility, power, experience, and anything else that can personally come with it. It is also our choice as to what to do with all this knowledge or even how to handle it. But we’re all human, and humans are meant to know. Which begs the question; If the community is trying to “protect” everyone from the outside world and how it once was, then why do they have Givers and Receivers of memories of the real world? The Receivers are forbidden to tell of any of their memories. But why is it a job if the things in the memories are forbidden?

8. What inner and outer conflicts arise in the transition from childhood to adulthood?

In adolescence, teens start to act differently than they did in their childhood. Some kids rebel against their parents and/or teachers. You start to lose some friends, or just realize who your real friends are. You have way more choices to make in your life each day. You have to do way more things, like spend more time with school-related things like projects and worry about high schools and which ones you're going to get into and how you're going to get into them (although not at this point; the high school process passed, yay). You start to wonder what will happen in the future. You spend too much of your conscious time at school. You'll usually become more anxious and stressed all the time because so much can be going on at once, which sometimes also creates a feeling of helplessness. You're not a child, you're not an adult, what are you? Confusion can lead to rebellion. (Many) Adults either treat you like a little kid or a grown adult.

"The Catcher In The Rye" Reading Response/Essay

In The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield symbolizes teenagers who find a lot of wrong in the world. He sees much of the world and people in it as fake, only appreciates certain people, and hated his time at school. Holden, as well as other teens in real life, greatly dislikes the way the world is.

Holden finds many people to be fake or "phony", and uses the word a lot of the time to describe people and things. For example, on page 100; "I figured that anybody that hates the movies as much as I do, I'd be a phony if I let them stick me in a movie short". So Holden also believes that he, himself, is not phony unlike many people he sees. Also on page 164: "You never saw so many phonies in all your life, everybody smoking their ears off and talking about the play so that everybody could hear and know how sharp they were". Holden uses the word phony so often throughout the book, it becomes apparent he believes most of the world and its people are fake. He also tends to speak and think in an exasperated-seeming tone, which also gives support to his dislike of things.

However, although it's obvious Caulfield doesn't appreciate many people, there are still some people he believes are not phony, and enjoys talking to. These people include his sister Phoebe, and his girlfriend Jane. On page 87, Holden was saying how he wanted to call Phoebe because she was "somebody with sense and all". You can tell when Holden likes and appreciates someone when he'll describe and tell stories about them that last for pages, which he did with Phoebe from pages 87-89 and with Jane from pages 99-104. If he dislikes someone or something, he'll still describe them, but not nearly as much as if he liked them. Holden is very opinionated on everything he talks about.

Holden's experiences at school also could have shaped the way he thinks of people and the world, as it does for other teenagers too. Holden had a very bad time in all his years at Pencey Prep. He didn't get along with his peers or teachers and didn't get good grades. He was a social outcast, and thinks that he's stupid (he mentioned early in the book that he's the "only stupid one in his family"). He strongly disagrees with anyone who tries to tell him that Pencey is a good school. I think that since he had such a bad time at school, that that's what shaped the way he thinks of the world around him and the people he encounters in it. School can also affect other teenagers in the same way. His lack of trust in people is probably the reason he had no real place to go and just wandered around New York City on his own, speaking briefly with many people but wasn't open to tell the truth at the same time (ex: he lied about his name a lot).

In conclusion, the things Holden goes through throughout his story can connect to many teenagers who have same or similar viewpoints and experiences as Holden. Many other teens can relate to Holden if they think people and/or the world are fake, or if they only talk to some people that they know, or if they had a bad time at school, etc. I think every teen can relate to at least one thing Holden goes through in his entire time in the story, in at least one point of their lives.

14. What are some questions or concerns you have about growing up and adulthood?

(Note: I'm sorry this post is late. When I tried to access Blogspot to do my homework, it said it was unavailable).

Some of my questions and concerns about growing up are:
(Most of these are about high school, as that is what's on my mind all of the time these days.)
1. What job/career will I have?
2. What is high school like?
3. What college will I go to? Will I go to college?
4. Is high school difficult?
5. Will I have a good/okay time in high school?
6. Is high school like middle school?
7. Will I have more or less free time in high school?
8. What would I study in college?
9. Will I stay in New York after I graduate high school?
10. Where will I live after I graduate high school?

Finished Reading Response to “My Papa’s Waltz”

    I believe that this poem is actually about the abuse of a child, but could

have been intentionally written in a way so that the reader could interpret it in an

either/or way. For example, one line of the poem is “At every step you missed My

right ear scraped a buckle”. Some people could think that this line is about being

hit with a buckle, but some could think that it’s about playing around and the little

kid was short enough so that he could accidentally scrape his ear on his dad’s

belt buckle if he missed a step. When I first read this poem in the 7th grade, I

actually didn't think it was about the little kid getting abused; I interpreted it as

him and his father playing around the house after dinner. But after the whole

class shared their interpretations, most of them thought it was about the boy

being hit, and that's when I realized that the poem actually did sound like it was

about something more negative and dark than just lightly playing around.
   
    When I reread this poem again in the 8th grade, the image of a kid being

hit by his drunken father in the kitchen came to mind instead of playing around

and breaking things by accident, the way it did last year because of how my

classmates interpreted it last year. I noticed lines like “You beat time on my head

With a palm caked hard by dirt” and “Such waltzing was not easy”, and how they

could be describing child abuse. And today I'm not sure how I didn't see all this

when I was in seventh grade. This is where I believe rereading literature more

than once in different perspectives and with more than one idea in mind can add

more sides to it and even help you understand the text more and build onto your

ideas on it. Not just in poetry, but in any kind of writing it's best to not just think

one-dimensionally about what you're reading, even if a text may seem like it's

simple and straightforward at first. For example, when we reread Charlotte’s Web

earlier in the year, I realized even what seems like a book just for children like t

that can actually have a lot of meaning behind it.
   
    I do think that both points of view, being abused or playing, can work out in

interpreting the poem since I have thought in both points of view, and that the

author could possibly have written the poem in a way so that you can’t really be

sure if it means something light or something dark, which is a writing tool that I

think is very interesting and can make writing really great. If a piece of writing is

multi-dimensional and colorful instead of cliche and completely forward, then the

writing is certainly enhanced.
   
    In conclusion, I don’t want to pick one specific side on if the child in the

poem was being abused or really just playing, because the two both could work

and I’m not sure which is the “right” or “correct” side, if there is one. Good writing

is supposed to be multi-dimensional, and that’s what this poem is. It may be a

short poem, but there are so many ways you can interpret it.

Revised Response to "My Papa's Waltz"

    I believe that this poem is actually about the abuse of a child (because

that’s just my personal point of view), but could have been intentionally written in

a way so that the reader could interpret it in an either/or way when it comes to

the subject matter. When I first read this poem in the 7th grade, I actually didn't

think it was about the little kid getting abused; I interpreted it as him and his

father playing around the house after dinner. But after the whole class shared

their interpretations, most of them thought it was about the boy being hit, and

that's when I realized that the poem actually did sound like it was about

something more negative and dark than just lightly playing around.

    When I reread this poem again in the 8th grade, the image of a kid being

hit by his drunken father in the kitchen came to mind instead of playing around

and breaking things by accident, the way it did last year. And today I'm not sure

how I didn't see all this when I was in seventh grade. This is where I believe

rereading literature more than once in different perspectives and with more than

one idea in mind can add more sides to it and even help you understand the text

more and build onto your ideas on it. Not just in poetry, but in any kind of writing

it's best to not just think one-dimensionally about what you're reading, even if a

text may seem like it's simple and straightforward at first.

    I do think that both points of view, being abused or playing, can work out in

interpreting the poem since I have thought in both points of view, and that the

author could possibly have written the poem in a way so that you can’t really be

sure if it means something light or something dark, which is a writing tool that I

think is very interesting and can make writing really great. If a piece of writing is

multi-dimensional and colorful instead of cliche and completely forward, then the

writing is certainly enhanced.

"My Papa's Waltz" Response

When I first read this poem in the 7th grade, I actually didn't think it was about the little kid getting abused; I interpreted it as him and his father playing around the house after dinner. But after the whole class shared their interpretations, most of them thought it was about the boy being hit, and that's when I realized that the poem actually did sound like it was about something more negative and dark than just lightly playing around.

Today when I reread it again, the image of a kid being hit by his drunken father in the kitchen came to mind instead of playing around and breaking things by accident, like it did last year. And today I'm not sure how I didn't see all this when I was in seventh grade. This is where I believe rereading literature more than once in different perspectives and with more than one idea in mind can add more sides to it and even help you understand the text more. Not just in poetry, but in any kind of writing it's best to not just think one-dimensionally about what you're reading, even if a text may seem like it's simple and straightforward at first.

I actually think that both points of view, being abused or playing, can work out in interpreting the poem, even though right now my interpretation is still the poem being about abuse.
 

Response to Poem Read in Class

The thing about the poem The Starry Night is throughout the poem it seems depressing, but at the same time somehow strangely comforting; it talks about death and dying in a place meaningful to someone, but this place is also calming since the place the author is talking about seems nicely peaceful; under the big stars, in a small little town, with a giant tree - this place means a lot to a person, so why wouldn't they want to spend the last moments of their life there, if they want to die?

The poem brings out the beauty and meaning to people in simplicity like stars in the night and small towns in the middle of nowhere. The poem isn't just about dying; it expresses many emotions at once.

"The town does not exist
except where one black-haired tree slips"

I think this is an example of the author relating to nature more than human-made places such as towns. It'd be more peaceful to die in nature than in, say, her house or other unnatural place.

"into that rushing beast of the night,
sucked up by that great dragon, to split
from my life with no flag,
no belly,
no cry."

Another example of nature; in this stanza it is described as "that rushing beast of the night", which doesn't portray nature as peaceful in that line at all. Yet still, the first two stanzas, the one before this, all end with "Oh starry starry night! This is how I want to die", and so the mix of emotions is set throughout the poem.


At first I actually didn't think this poem made sense at all, but as we went through it in class, it began to all make much more sense to me.

Poem on Starry Night Over Rhone

The houses in day mean little,
As the grand stars of night have truer meaning

Burning bright
Like a million little suns in darkness

Tonight as you and I walk among the shore
Gazing at those great spots of fire

Illuminating against ocean and tide,
Life is simple wasting time with you and the stars

Shh,
It's getting late now

But we can still walk on the shore
We can gaze at those stars forever.

Interpretation of the Starry Night Over Rhone by Van Gogh

 

This is Van Gogh's painting Starry Night Over Rhone, similar to his painting Starry Night, but still different.

Here, you see a couple holding hands, walking on the beach at night. The sky is three different colors; three shades of blue. The shining lights of the buildings are all aligned with the stars. Above the stars the sky is a dark black, and below it's a light, friendly shade of blue.

Van Gogh probably painted this when he was in the asylum, along with Starry Night. I think the stars above the lit houses mean that any ordinary-seeming person has the chance to do what they want in life and have dreams to look up to, which would be why the stars are directly aligned to the houses, and even the houses themselves are lit up on the inside. This could have served as self-inspiration when Van Gogh was in the asylum.

The part of the paining with the couple holding hands was probably drawn because Van Gogh must have felt loneliness when he was locked up, and (going back to self-inspiration) the couple also seem to be looking up at the stars. I think this means he had hope that once he got out of the asylum he wouldn't be so lonely anymore.

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.