Blog Post #1-Informational/Nonfiction Writing

The article Hug a Hoodie: What the U.K. Teaches Us About Making a Sweatshirt a Symbol by Tim Fernolz is an informational article about a recent incident in Florida. The article talks about many opinions public people had about this incident. A 17-year old kid called Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in Florida about a month ago. He was killed by George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin was watching basketball with his dad when halftime occurred. He decided to go out and get some snacks, he bought some iced tea and Skittles. After he bought snacks, he headed home. Just when he got outside, there was a light drizzle. Trayvon decided to put his hood on, he then hurried back home. On his way, he noticed someone following him, which was George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was the Neighborhood Watch, he suspected that Trayvon was a criminal and was possibly a dangerous target. Trayvon had his hands in his pockets and was running, which made him look like a suspicious target. Zimmerman called the police and told them about it, the police told him to stop following him. He kept following him and then a fight began, Trayvon was shot in the chest. He was not arrested or charged because he claimed that it was self-defense. He said that he attacked him first and many are still trying to find evidence and witnesses. The poor boy died only at age 17, he was almost an adult and was going to get his driver's license. Through this incident, Tim tried to persuade us that hoodies are bad for outwear and people shouldn't wear them outside, especially when you have your hands in your pockets.

Tim tried to persuade us that wearing hoodies are bad for outwear and people shouldn't wear them outside and have their hands in their pockets. He is trying to tell us that wearing hoods can make you look very suspicious and make others think differently about you. Like Trayvon, Zimmerman thought he was a criminal but he was really a nice and innocent African American boy. For example, Rivera said on his show Friday. “I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was.” I think that this means that the hoodie was the primary cause of his death, the hoodie was just as responsible as Zimmerman killing Trayvon. The hoodie was the main reason why Zimmerman had his suspicions on him. Tim was trying to tell us the results of wearing a hoodie while walking down the street, it could mean your life. Another example that Tim tried to persuade us was "Some British observers blame the United States for “hoodie” culture, saying it originated in hip-hop and captures the medium’s defiant posture." Tim is trying to persuade us that hoodie culture created what we have today. It's our fault that we shaped our culture like that and that's why hoodies are bad. Another example is a quote from Rivera, “I am urging the parents of black and Latino youngsters, particularly, to not let their young children go out wearing hoodies,” Rivera said. Because there are a lot of racism these days against Latinos and blacks, wearing hoodies would give off a lot of suspicion to the community. Especially since there are black, many people have different stereotypes on each race.

My response to this article is that I am shocked. Even though slavery ended hundreds of years ago, there is still racism and stereotypes against blacks. Blacks are still treated unfairly, and just because they have a hood on, people suspect them of thievery and that they are a criminal. I am always thinking how different people get treated differently because of different characteristics we have. There are always stereotypes against each other, but after all we're all human. We are the same species and the same race so why should we harm each other and harass each other? Shooting people for no good reason is bad, there was some kind of racist issue involved. Zimmerman was white and Trayvon was black, Zimmerman suspected him because he was black. People are constantly judging a book by its own cover, just like they judge people. This article helped people and realize what the problem is and why people shouldn't wear hoodies, because people can easily judge you and can possibly do harm to you.

His life sucks alright.....

The book The Recruit by Robert Muchamore is a very fast paced exciting book about a young kid and his life. I have only started reading this book. I can tell that this book will be sort of like the Alex Rider series, since I read the blurb. Although I have just started reading the book, there are a lot of issues and problems that are going on in the main character, or James' life. He's so young and we already see a lot of issues, death, peer pressure, and more.

First, one issue in the book that I've seen so far is the most tragic thing that can happen to a teen, death. He's only 11 years old! James' mom dies all of a sudden from a stroke, he is left all alone. All he has is a step-dad that is mean spirited. He finds a way to take James' sister away to make James' life even more miserable. James' and his step-dad have this parent child relationship, James' hates his step-dad because he hates him. Not many peoples' moms die when their only a teenager. This is why I think that James' is one of the unluckiest people in the world, his mom dies and then his step-dad abandons him.

A second issue I see in the book so far is peer pressure. When James' agree to hang out with one of the most violent gangs. The gang peer pressures him into joining their gang and peer pressuring James to do a lot of bad crimes. They broke into a shop and stole some cars. James isn't even confident with himself. He doesn't really quite trust them, but if he denied the offer to join their gang, it would make him look like a scaredy cat. For example, when James made a joke about Vince, Vince was about to beat him up and make him lick the floor ten times.

In conclusion, James' life is very complicated. He's so young and is already encountering so many problems. The book is very entertaining so far. I can't wait till James gets recruited into CHERUB.I hope there will be more fast paced action. I am also hoping for a change from James, I hope he'll become nicer and won't hang out with the gang. Life is tough these days, especially for teenagers. In reality, a lot of teens are experiencing what James is feeling. He feels lost, he has to go to daycare.

Romeo and Juliet-Theme Response

I thought this movie was pretty cool overall. I wished it wasn't in the modern days though because I couldn't see what the buildings and Verona looked like when Romeo and Juliet was written. What I disliked was how the characters are so young and they're already in love. Even though the actors were over 18, the true story was that they are under 14. It shocks me how people so underage is already in deep love. I also found it hard understanding Shakespearean language, it's really tough, have to decipher each line one by one. My theme was sound and I think the sound really plays a role in the movie.

The sound is what makes the movie interesting. One observation I noticed about sound was the intense thunder noises when Romeo killed Tybalt. I think that the thunder sounds got louder and louder because it showed that Romeo committed a huge crime. The sounds helped us understand how Romeo felt when he killed Tybalt, regret and scared. Since he killed Juliet's cousin, he might've thought that Juliet would hate him for killing him. Not only did the sound change, the weather changed. The clouds got dark and it started pouring, showing his regret and anger.

Another observation of sound that I noticed was intense music in dramatic scenes. The sound draws the audience to pay close attention and wonder what is about to happen. I noticed that during the romance scenes, the music tends to be soft and peaceful. During the scene where Romeo and Juliet find out about their family and how they are Montagues and Capulets, the sound is very dull in tone. I think that the dullness in the music means that the two can never be together because one is a Montague and one is a Capulet. Another scene I thought meant something was when Juliet drank the sleeping potion. There was music that sounded like music played in a church or in a funeral. The music told me that something bad was going to happen. It conveyed sadness. To me, the music made me think of fate, it made me think of how Romeo would never see Juliet again after she drank the potion.

In conclusion, sound plays a big role in all movies. Without sound, we wouldn't be able to hear what the characters are saying or what is going on. Back in the old times, people would do silent plays and they would try to guess what the actors were doing. Also they had silent films with no sound, sound is really important. This is why sound plays a big role in this movie too, especially in a movie that is fast paced and filled with romance and drama. Sound can represent happiness and sadness. This is the interesting thing about music, music conveys different emotions. Music can be happy, sad, exciting, dull and more.

Similarities Make Friends

The book Staying Fat For Sarah Brynnes by Chris Crutcher is a very intense book dealing with many issues that people face everyday. The book also deals with an intense long lasting relationship that makes the two characters in the book friends. The main character is called Eric and Eric's best friend is called Sarah. I think that these two characters have a lot in similar and some things that are different.

The two characters have similarities, one similarity is that they both have an issue that troubles them, and also mocks them. Eric is overweight and Sarah has scars on her face and her hands which also mocks her. The only reason why they became friends was because they had this similarity, they have been friends for years and these issues are what kept them together. Eric starts losing weight by joining a swimming club, but then is afraid that his friendship with Sarah will break apart. He is scared that if he is skinny, Sarah won't be his friend anymore because they don't have a similarity. This is why Eric constantly eats throughout the book to maintain his weight and his relationship with Sarah.

The two characters also have differences. Of course, everyone is different and everyone is born with different styles and techniques. I noticed a really important difference in this book, I've noticed that Eric is usually the one that has a lot of strengths and that Sarah has a lot of weaknesses. For example, Eric reveals the secret of Sarah's father trying to kill her to the school staff to save Sarah. Sarah on the other hand was weak because she was hiding the secret and didn't want to tell it out. Eric has a lot of courage and does what it takes to save his friend, I think that this was very courageous and showed a true symbol of friendship. Sarah was also weak because she didn't tell everyone that her father use to abuse her and why she got her scars.

In conclusion, I think that the two main characters in the book have similarities and differences. When's the last time you've heard of child abuse? For me, not too long ago, this issue is happening everyday around the world. I think that confronting yourself is the best way to heal yourself. Even though Eric was fat and Sarah had scars, it's not the outside that matters. It's what matters inside and your personality. Eric stayed strong and ignored what others said about him. Teen issues are all over the place, many people face issues everyday. For example, in our school, there is this kid that somehow has a crippled leg and has to rely on a roller cart thing. I really feel bad for him because even though he's crippled, he's still going to school. I really wonder how it feels to be in his life, always walking slower than others. It must be bad to be in his life, but it's good that he's still fighting it.

Visual Art Assignment due 1/25

 

This painting is called Frida Khalo, The Little Dear by Frida Khalo. Frida Khalo has been a huge inspiration to me when I was in elementary school, I use to hear her name all the time from art teachers. I noticed that she did a lot of self portraits that were rather strange somehow.  Many people would have different perspectives on this painting but this is mine. I think that Frida Khalo must've drawn herself in a deer because of some kind of pain physically or mentally she's having.

One obvious evidence that I can point out is the arrows. She drew arrows all stuck around the deer's body with blood coming out. There is also an arrow on her neck, which has to be painful. I think that this painting portrays both physical and mental pain. In the background I see a nice blue sky, there's also a path that leads out of the forests. Frida could've drawn the deer moving out that path but instead  Frida draws herself around a bunch of dark trees. I think she did this because she thinks that there's no more hope for her for whatever the problem she's having. The blue sky represents hope while the forests represent darkness, it seems like she's trapped in the mentally with no way out. Drawing herself in a form of a deer makes me think really deep, she could've chosen any other animal, why a deer? Back to my theory about her experiencing pain physically and mentally, I think that she's experiencing pain physically also because she's put her body form into a deer form. This makes me think if she has some kind of bone fracture that injured her body. Even her face shows a sign of unhappiness and something that is bothering her.

I think this painting connects to humanity and the world because many people suffer these days from all kinds of things. They experience pain physically and mentally like in this poem, it can even connect to me. In face it can connect to everyone since I'm pretty sure everyone has experienced some sort of pain. They probably have experienced frustration to the point where you just give up.

All-Star Mentor Nomination!

I think that our All Star Mentor should be Leah. I really liked her reading responses especially her recent one.  What I like is how she compared each characters by their personalities. Her opinions were strong and the message was said clearly. She limits her retell and gets straight to her thesis, she is always using comparison to compare our real world or other characters in the book which I think is really unique.
Her blog: http://writinguponreading.blogspot.com/

Mixed Discussion-Thoughts

The book Burned by Ellen Hopkins is a pretty good book. I have just started reading it about a day ago. I happened to pick this book up at the library when I was looking for books. The cover was just so appealing to me that I had to pick it up. The paper actually looks burned, Ellen must've really thought about this book before she wrote it. Burned is another social issue book, but this time it's not about the main character's life. It's about the life surrounding her, her dad is an alcoholic who beats her mother.

Comparing to the outside world, I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of abusive fathers or mothers. This book just models the reality of our world and make us think more about the issue. Many parents abuse their kids and threaten them too, but kids are too scared to tell someone. I've seen a lady on the street scream and curse at her kid and I was just shocked.


What amazes me about this book was that the font and then placement of the text was really cool. I think that Ellen placed it in different places to represent symbolism, like when they talked about spaghetti, Ellen decided to place the words so that it looked like spaghetti. The text in her book is so different from other books, the dialogue is totally different from other books. At first, I thought the book was actually poetry.