Extra Credit- Response to World on Fire

I thought that this video was very thoughtful and that Sarah McLachlan was very creative in doing this video. It was also very deep and emotional. I think that she was very thoughtful of this social issue and really cared about what was going on in the world around her. She also expressed this thoughtfulness by creating a video that shows what she did with money instead of just writing a song. She gave us a visual image of what is going on. She made $150,000 off this video, she could've kept it and bought whatever she wanted. Instead, she donated it to different countries and organizations especially to Kenya. This shows that she really cares about the issue poverty.

She also showed that you could do a lot with money and could change a lot of different countries around you.  A lot of people these days spend money accordingly as they wish but they never truly realize what they could do with that money. People that spend a lot of money on shoes even though they have about 30 pairs. This makes me angry that people are wasting their money when they could donate it or save it for later use. I think that we are pretty lucky to have a standard economy, we have money, jobs, education, and possibly everything we could think of. In order countries or places around the world, people aren't so lucky. Some even don't have fresh water to drink!

People are constantly struggling with poverty every single day. I take the Subway and there has to be a few homeless people begging for money just to buy some food. Although most of them fake it, I believe that the people that desperately need money should be able to get a good meal. People are struggling to get jobs and some people are illiterate, meaning their only option is to beg for money.

A lot of countries aren't as lucky as we are. People aren't getting correct care and things that they need for everyday survival. People in Kenya have no education, no medical care, probably no water, and no money. Compared to our country, we have all of these things. Sarah McLachlan has to donate money to provide these things, showing that Kenya is a pretty poor country. We should be happy that we have the basic needs in life rather than wanting even more things like i-Pods, video games, and things that aren't necessary. 

From this video, I can learn that money is truly a very significant factor in our lives and that it must be treated with caution. I've learned that many countries are in desperate need of money and would do anything to earn a few extra dollars. People work multi-shifts and have multi jobs just to get some extra money like the woman in Kenya, she works two jobs and sells oranges at night for only 2 cents each! She is working her hardest just to provide education for her son. Overall, money is a very important factor in all countries and that you could do a lot with money.

The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore by Joan Lowery Nixon

I have just started reading the book The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore by Joan Lowery Nixon. This book is very good to me so far, it's also very intense as it talks about Christina's personal life so far. Even though I'm not that far into the book yet, I have many inferences about Christina. This book is about how this girl called Christina gets kidnapped, Christina's family  is extremely rich and her grandmother is paying for her whole college tuition. But the only problem she has is that she thinks that she doesn't have enough freedom, her grandmother controls all the money and won't let her use any of the money even when she wants to go on a tour trip to France. As she struggles, there are a lot of things that impact her life and pretty much change it.

The first thing I think that impacted her life is all the stress she's having from her parents and her grandmother. Normally, people her age lives a normal life without anyone controlling her or forcing her to do things she doesn't like. Her parents are rich but they never seem to support Christina and always making her do things their way. This is a very bad thing that the parents are doing since Christina now feels like she's trapped and that she doesn't have any freedom.

The grandmother is also something that impacted her, since Christina wants to go on a tour in France, she asks her parents for money. After she finds out that they aren't supportive on what she wants to do, instead her dad has other plans for her like tour guides of different colleges. She goes to her grandmother for help and hope for the best. The grandmother actually sided with Christina's parents and said no. Christina can't even use her trust fund for the tour guide. The grandmother even says that she limits her money since she is the one controlling it. This really limits Christina's freedom and really forces her to be mad and depressed.

The biggest impact so far in this book is her kidnapping. She gets kidnapped one night while parking her car, she drops the keys by accident and searches for them. The kidnapper quickly puts his hand over her mouth and inject her with some kind of liquid that makes her fall asleep. Being kidnapped is extremely scary, you can't contact anyone and you probably won't even know where you are. If I were Christina, I would also be scared to death because who knows what the kidnapper will do to you. Christina's kidnapper, who appears to be Zack, the hamburger waiter at a place Christina and her friend goes all the time, wants to use her for a chance to get money from her grandmother. She is stuffed in a basement, this is pretty intense because who wants to be stuck in a basement with nothing to do. No video games, nothing to play, read, or write. It's also cold and chilly in that basement which makes me think of how hard Christina must be trying in order to survive. It's also kind of lonely in that basement with no one to talk to, if I were Christina, I would really miss be parents and family and would wonder what would happen to me. Since I have just begun to read this book, I can't think of anything else that impacts her life.

In conclusion, this book is extremely intense and good so far that I can't wait to read the next couple of chapters of it. I can't wait to see what will happen next after she gets back home and gets blamed for planning her own kidnapping. (Since the author told us that she gets back home, and her family blames her of planning her own kidnapping.) There are a lot of things that impacted her life so far and there will sure be more later on in the book. People in life everyday are also experiencing problems and conflicts that impact and shape their life. I also have things that have impacted my life before like moving to a different house, or changing schools, and injuries. Overall, Christina's life is way more complex than mine since she's going through all these conflicts.

Noticing Your Protagonist's Journey- The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher

The book that I am currently done reading with is called The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher. This book was one of the most interesting books I've read since the start of the year. Intense action and a good creative interesting plot. This story is about a time when water is more important than gold or oil. There is a lot of setting and intense action in the book.Vera and her brother, Will travels to a land unknown to save Vera's friend Kai. They meet tons of rivals and and pirates which treat them like their own kids. One of these rivals is Bluewater, it is a big theft organization that kidnaps people that knows where to find water. Bluewater basically finds a bunch of water and sells it to make a bunch of profit of it. Bluewater is the main conflict throughout the book. This creates Vera's character patterns throughout the book. I believe that Vera is the hero in this book because she does everything to solve the conflict.

One reason why I think Vera is the hero in this book is her courageous identity. Throughout the book, there has been times when they have gotten into a life and death situation. For example, when they were thrown in a secret place where they were held prisoners, Vera told the guards to let go of Will so they he could be free. This shows that Vera is very courageous because she's willing to sacrifice her life for her brother and she's not even scared. Another example why I think she is courageous is because when they were captured by the PELA(another crime association), Will said "We're in Canada, Vera. We're prisoners in the country of our enemies. Even if we could find Kai, we can't save him. How could we? Be realistic. We're just two kids without any weapons, and we'll be lucky to get out of here with our own lives." Vera replies back "No, Will. Don't say that!" From this quote, I can interpret that Vera believes in herself and has hope. Another quote is right after Will says it's impossible to save Kai. "Kai is our friend, you can try to get home- if you want- but I'm going to stay here until I find him(Kai)." This also shows that she isn't afraid what's going to happen to her until she accomplishes the goal that is set in her mind.

A second reason I think she's the hero is because she's strives only for the positive and she never thinks about the negatives. She always thinks that everything will be OK and that they will achieve their goal no matter what. Even when she gets shot in the scalp, she told herself that she wouldn't die and would keep going. This is why I think she is a true hero in this book and not just any sort of hero that solves a conflict. She stayed positive and even found out that Ulysses(the pirate leader) is alive which was a good thing since Ulysses was a nice pirate. Then they found a women that helped them drastically with her blade skills.

This book was an extremely good book, I loved everything about it including the plot. Everything I loved about this book was positive. The idea of the plot was actually one of my favorites, he put an idea which was that water runs out and people are dying because they aren't getting fresh water. This idea stuns me that water, a natural resource could run out. I have never thought about it and Cameron Stracher has just gave me this new idea so I could include some of his details in my writing.

In conclusion, I think Vera is a true hero in this book. She was always courageous and made self sacrifices during the adventure/journey. She always stayed to the positive side and always believed there was a way even in tight spots and tough situations. She believed in hope and this was what made the book so inspiring to me. Overall, this book was an awesome book. The plot and the characters were extremely appealing to me and it just made me read more and more. If I were Vera, I wouldn't think I would be as courageous as her. I would think it's too dangerous to try to face a whole organization with just two kids and expect the kids to destroy the whole organization. I might've not even followed Kai's trails, it would be too dangerous to follow a trail where the pirates and organizations have guns and other weapons that could hurt you.

Apprecation(Draft)

Raymond Feng                          Appreciation Draft        10/7/11            

Intro: In the childhood book The Phantom Tollbooth, there are a lot of really good things that make it a real piece of writing. I believe that any age will enjoy reading this book because it teaches you life lessons and things that totally amazes you. This book brought back a lot of memories when I was little, the main character in this book has sort of the same personality as me when I was a young kid. This book has taught me a lot of lessons and about life. This book will take you to a place beyond the real world, in a world where anything is possible and full of adventures. This is why I love this book and appreciate everything about it.

P1:I really appreciate how Norton Juster made the plot, I could tell he planned it out very carefully. He chooses specific lands that Milo will have to pass through in order to start his real adventure by saving Rhyme and Reason. Everything about the plot is basically really good. He goes through a weird tollbooth in a electronic car, and everything about it is just strange and weird. It’s so mysterious that a big package just appears in front of your house, I wonder who sent it and how he knows Milo is having a difficult time about spending his time. The plot has a lot of details and multiple parts of the adventure/journey. Norton Juster really uses a lot of details to make his plot and his story.

P2: I really appreciate Norton Juster for spending so much time on different places so he could teach us about all the life lessons. I really loved the different places, when I first read it, it seemed really magical and really mysterious. Norton Juster must’ve spent days trying to create some weird strange place where people are really different. He also imports different lessons in each scene/ place which makes the book even more interesting. I loved the Doldrums and the Jump to Conclusions because the Doldrums was a really weird place where no one could think or laugh which also made me laugh. It also taught the value of time and how Milo shouldn’t just waste it. The Jump to Conclusions land was another really cool place with a weird now, people that make assumptions automatically gets transported to a land where people got there by making assumptions. These places are extremely important in the book and one of the best things I appreciate!

P3: I appreciate Milo’s characteristics because they are really similar to mine and Milo is just a really cool character. He is really innocent and is more like a five year old because he doesn’t really know anything in the Lands Beyond. His characteristics really describe who he is and who I was so I really appreciate that the author gave him these characteristics. He was calm, innocent, weird, and not aggressive, he was basically friendly. Before he went to the Lands Beyond, Milo was a boring, stupid, and grumpy boy that didn’t know what to do with his life. That’s basically how I was when I was a young kid because I was always stuck at home with nothing to do. This is why I appreciate the author for making him similar to the way I feel about the world and life when I was a young kid.

P4: I really appreciate how Norton Juster made the characters, this is one of the most important things I deeply appreciate in the book. Almost every character’s names in the book means something and describes their characteristics and what they are good at. For example, the Mathemagician was named because he loved to do math and everything he did was in numbers. It tells the reader that the Mathemagcian is a person that does math. This makes the book more interesting and exciting and that’s why I really appreciate this aspect of the book. People like Reason are more examples, she is a person that tries to talk sense into people and everything she does she would give reasons on whether things are bad or not.