"Imagine having to pick just one of your children to save, while leaving the others to face death" (Kristof 16). The article The End of Extreme Poverty? by Nicholas D. Kristof is about the life threatening decisions people have to make on a daily basis, and how it is being resolved. In Cambodia, there are people that have to make very agonizing decisions everyday because of viruses in their environment. There are a lot of people that are living in poverty that have very little money and education. The author wants me to know that poverty is a huge problem, and it is getting better because of new vaccines and technology. Since 1980, the rate of poverty has reduced from 1 in 2 to 1 in 5. All of this improvement is due to new vaccines, farming techniques, schools, clean water and technology. "The goal is to end extreme poverty by 2030- and we're close" (Kristof 17). According to the article, with all of the new technology poverty will soon end.
Poverty makes me think and feel a huge array of emotions. To me, poverty is something that a lot of people just look over, and don't really see how bad it really is. I think that is something not to take lightly. I don't believe that people are doing enough on a daily basis. They focus on poverty when there is a huge natural disaster, and they realize that people are even worse off then they already were. I think that the author of this article wrote this mainly to say how poverty is improving due to all of the new ways people are doing things. In my opinion, poverty is a very depressing think about. A lot of people are persecuted and or punished for things that they believe. While it is similar to poverty in that people are left on their own, it is very sad and people look for hope all of the time.
I think that the author of this article really cares about poverty because he was so positive about all of the improvements that are being made. The author stated that a man by the name of Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft has a foundation that donates vaccines and medicine to save children and adults. I think Kristof added this to show what different organizations are pitching in to help people from dying in poverty. "…in his lifetime the number will drop bellow 1 million (Kristof 17). This shows by Microsofts donations the amount of lives that will be saved in his life will be at or above one million.
In conclusion, poverty is a very serious problem worldwide. While there are many people that are slowly starting to get out of poverty, there are many that are still facing the struggle. I think that it is very good that people are helping out in as many ways as they can, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Critical Thinking Question- REVISED
In a typical day, you don't really think so hard about how fair or unfair this world is. You usually think about what you are going to do the next day, or what you are join to wear. It usually takes a while to discover all of the problems on the inside, when all you see is the good on the outside. The book Lunch-Box Dream, by Tony Abbott deals with justice and racial issues. In this book, the main character Bobby and his brother are betrayed and teased because of their race. These charters' deal with a lot because of the color of their skin. That lead me to think about how it related to justice in our world today. People get treated differently because they "are not like other people."
One way Tony Abbott shows how this book deals with justice in the world is racism. Bobby, and his brother are called names because of their skin color. "They called them chocolate men, Bobby and his brother"(Abbott 7). This shows that people of the opposite race don't want to accept the fact that they are a different color and they are not like them. Another example of racism in this book is when Bobby asked if a black person dug graves for people. "Did chocolate men dig graves?"(Abbott 17). This shows racism in a not so obvious way. Bobby asked this question to see if a white or black man dug his grandfathers grave. He was wondering if a white man would dig a grave for a black man, and the other way around. He wanted to know that a black man would provide a resting place no matter what color they were. A lot of the time, people don't accept people for who they truly are because they are different. In this case, the characters in the book are being judged because the whites and the black are different. People need to think of everyone the same because we are all unique in our own way, but that doesn't make us anymore different than anybody else. These are the reasons that racism in this book makes me think about justice in the world in the present day.
Segregation in this book is another theme that makes me think about justice in the world. "As long as we don't have to take the bus. Chocolate people always sit behind you"(Abbott 24). Bobby and his brother Ricky were talking about how they didn't want to sit on the bus because they don't like that people have to be separated. They were happy when their mother revealed that they were going to take the plane back home. They didn't want to deal with the drama of having to sit in the back of the bus for a long time with a lot of whites in the front. To him it wasn't fair. Another example of segregation is when Louisa is explaining how Jacob and her husband are going to their grandmothers house. "Hershel sat on the inside of him. Then the white passengers got on, then the driver." (Abbott 27) This shows segregation in more ways than one. One way this shows segregation is that the whites didn't want to get on the bus at the same time black people did because they didn't want to mix. Another reason is that during that time period, there was a lot of segregation going on, and there was very minimal mixing of races. To me, this shows that justice in that time period was very little. I think today, we take it for granted that we have come so far. We need to be aware that people are different, but that doesn't mean we are to treat them any differently.
All of the people who acted during the civil rights act were very brave, and did an amazing job of helping our country unite as one. Now, there is a surplus of justice. Segregation was a very difficult and bad time. Now we have so much more and a lot more to be thankful for. During the time when there was a lot of chaos there was also a lot of people doing as much as they could to have change. In the book, there was a very strong racial issue that effected the main character in a lot of different ways. He didn't like it. Just because someone is a different race doesn't mean that they are any less powerful then anybody else. Segregation and racism are problems that people wanted fixed. Although there is some of this left, we are almost to where we want to be. In perfect harmony.
One way Tony Abbott shows how this book deals with justice in the world is racism. Bobby, and his brother are called names because of their skin color. "They called them chocolate men, Bobby and his brother"(Abbott 7). This shows that people of the opposite race don't want to accept the fact that they are a different color and they are not like them. Another example of racism in this book is when Bobby asked if a black person dug graves for people. "Did chocolate men dig graves?"(Abbott 17). This shows racism in a not so obvious way. Bobby asked this question to see if a white or black man dug his grandfathers grave. He was wondering if a white man would dig a grave for a black man, and the other way around. He wanted to know that a black man would provide a resting place no matter what color they were. A lot of the time, people don't accept people for who they truly are because they are different. In this case, the characters in the book are being judged because the whites and the black are different. People need to think of everyone the same because we are all unique in our own way, but that doesn't make us anymore different than anybody else. These are the reasons that racism in this book makes me think about justice in the world in the present day.
Segregation in this book is another theme that makes me think about justice in the world. "As long as we don't have to take the bus. Chocolate people always sit behind you"(Abbott 24). Bobby and his brother Ricky were talking about how they didn't want to sit on the bus because they don't like that people have to be separated. They were happy when their mother revealed that they were going to take the plane back home. They didn't want to deal with the drama of having to sit in the back of the bus for a long time with a lot of whites in the front. To him it wasn't fair. Another example of segregation is when Louisa is explaining how Jacob and her husband are going to their grandmothers house. "Hershel sat on the inside of him. Then the white passengers got on, then the driver." (Abbott 27) This shows segregation in more ways than one. One way this shows segregation is that the whites didn't want to get on the bus at the same time black people did because they didn't want to mix. Another reason is that during that time period, there was a lot of segregation going on, and there was very minimal mixing of races. To me, this shows that justice in that time period was very little. I think today, we take it for granted that we have come so far. We need to be aware that people are different, but that doesn't mean we are to treat them any differently.
All of the people who acted during the civil rights act were very brave, and did an amazing job of helping our country unite as one. Now, there is a surplus of justice. Segregation was a very difficult and bad time. Now we have so much more and a lot more to be thankful for. During the time when there was a lot of chaos there was also a lot of people doing as much as they could to have change. In the book, there was a very strong racial issue that effected the main character in a lot of different ways. He didn't like it. Just because someone is a different race doesn't mean that they are any less powerful then anybody else. Segregation and racism are problems that people wanted fixed. Although there is some of this left, we are almost to where we want to be. In perfect harmony.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Critical Thinking Question: How does this text make you think about justice in the world?
In a typical day, you don't really think so hard about how fair or unfair this world is. You usually think about what you are going to do the next day, or in my case, all of the things I have left to do before I leave on Friday. It usually takes a while to discover all of the problems on the inside, when all you see is the good on the outside. The book Lunch-Box Dream by Tony Abbott deals with justice and racial issues. In this book, the main character Bobby and his brother are called "chocolate" because of their race. These charters' deal with a lot because of their race, and that lead me to think about how it related to justice in our world today.
One way Tony Abbott shows how this book deals with justice in the world, is the theme of racism. Bobby and his brother are called names because of their skin color. "They called them chocolate men, Bobby and his brother"(Abbott 7). This shows that people of the opposite race don't want to accept the fact that they are a different color and they are not like them. Another example of racism in this book is when Bobby asked if a black person dug graves for people. "Did chocolate men dig graves?"(Abbott 17). This shows racism in a not so obvious way. Bobby asked this question to see if a white or black man dug his grandfathers grave. He was wondering if a white man would dig a grave for a black man, and the other way around. He wanted to know that a black man would provide a resting place no matter what color they were. This relates to the world today for many reasons. A lot of the time, people don't accept people for who they truly are because they are different. In this case, the characters in the book are dealing with race because the whites and the black are different. People need to think of everyone the same because we are all different in our own way, but that doesn't make us anymore different than anybody else. These are the reasons that racism in this book makes me think about justice in the world in the present day.
Another way this book makes me think about justice in the world is segregation. "As long as we don't have to take the bus. Chocolate people always sit behind you"(Abbott 24). Bobby and his brother Ricky were talking about how they didn't want to sit on the bus. They were happy when their mother revealed that they were going to take the plane back. They didn't want to deal with the drama of having to sit in the back of the bus for a long time with a lot of whites in the front. To him it wasn't fair. Another example of segregation is when Louisa is explaining how Jacob and her husband are going to their grandmothers house. "Hershel sat on the inside of him. Then the white passengers got on, then the driver" (Abbott 27) This shows segregation in more ways than one. One way this shows segregation is that the whites didn't want to get on the bus at the same tike black people did because they didn't want to mix. Another reason is that during that time period, there was a lot of segregation going on, and there was very minimal mixing of races. To me, this shows that justice in that time period was very little. I think today, we take it for granted that we have come so far.
All of the people who acted during the civil rights act were very brave, and did an amazing job of helping our country unite as one. Now, there is a surplus of justice. Segregation was a very difficult and bad time. Now we have so much more and a lot more to be thankful for. During the time when there was a lot of chaos there was also a lot of people doing as much as they could to have change. Segregation and racism are problems that people wanted fixed. Although there is some of this left, we are almost to where we want to be. In perfect harmony.
One way Tony Abbott shows how this book deals with justice in the world, is the theme of racism. Bobby and his brother are called names because of their skin color. "They called them chocolate men, Bobby and his brother"(Abbott 7). This shows that people of the opposite race don't want to accept the fact that they are a different color and they are not like them. Another example of racism in this book is when Bobby asked if a black person dug graves for people. "Did chocolate men dig graves?"(Abbott 17). This shows racism in a not so obvious way. Bobby asked this question to see if a white or black man dug his grandfathers grave. He was wondering if a white man would dig a grave for a black man, and the other way around. He wanted to know that a black man would provide a resting place no matter what color they were. This relates to the world today for many reasons. A lot of the time, people don't accept people for who they truly are because they are different. In this case, the characters in the book are dealing with race because the whites and the black are different. People need to think of everyone the same because we are all different in our own way, but that doesn't make us anymore different than anybody else. These are the reasons that racism in this book makes me think about justice in the world in the present day.
Another way this book makes me think about justice in the world is segregation. "As long as we don't have to take the bus. Chocolate people always sit behind you"(Abbott 24). Bobby and his brother Ricky were talking about how they didn't want to sit on the bus. They were happy when their mother revealed that they were going to take the plane back. They didn't want to deal with the drama of having to sit in the back of the bus for a long time with a lot of whites in the front. To him it wasn't fair. Another example of segregation is when Louisa is explaining how Jacob and her husband are going to their grandmothers house. "Hershel sat on the inside of him. Then the white passengers got on, then the driver" (Abbott 27) This shows segregation in more ways than one. One way this shows segregation is that the whites didn't want to get on the bus at the same tike black people did because they didn't want to mix. Another reason is that during that time period, there was a lot of segregation going on, and there was very minimal mixing of races. To me, this shows that justice in that time period was very little. I think today, we take it for granted that we have come so far.
All of the people who acted during the civil rights act were very brave, and did an amazing job of helping our country unite as one. Now, there is a surplus of justice. Segregation was a very difficult and bad time. Now we have so much more and a lot more to be thankful for. During the time when there was a lot of chaos there was also a lot of people doing as much as they could to have change. Segregation and racism are problems that people wanted fixed. Although there is some of this left, we are almost to where we want to be. In perfect harmony.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Independent Reading Response: How does money figure in this text?
In the days of the great depression, there was a serious problem with money. In the book "Out of the Dust" by Karen Hesse money played a great portion of this book because of the Dust Bowl. In the book, Billie Jo, the main character, has to go and get money for the family because her dad isn't a very good of a father. Also, after the death of her mother, her father started to care less and less about her.
One way money played a role in this book is the absence of care that Billie Jo's dad gives her family. First of all, Billie Jo's father didn't even want her. He always wanted to have a son. That is why she has a boy name. When he found out that her mom was pregnant with Billie Jo's brother he was overjoyed. While her mom was pregnant she got burned really bad. When her mom was suffering from the burn Billie Jo had to try and take care of her mother. Her dad on the other hand didn't even care. He was out drinking. The book quotes, "He went out last night. While Ma moaned and begged for water. He drank up all the emergency money until it was gone. I tried to help her…She cried for the pain of the water running into her sores…the whole time my father was in Guymon, drinking." In this situation, money was a huge part of the book plot because it sets what is going to happen afterwards. Her dad was out using all of the money that they had left. Also, it caused Billie Jo's mom to suffer from thirst because her dad wasn't there to give her water. Another reason money is an issue in the is book because of the o Billie Jo's father continues to go out and get drunk. Billie Jo's dad is a very self centered man. He cares mostly about himself. If he is happy then everything is okay. He uses all of the money that they have and he uses it to go and drink. This ties into the other example that he doesn't care that her mother is in agonizing pain. Instead, he goes out, uses all of their money, and goes about himself. That shows how selfish of a man he is, and how this relates to the money issue in this book.
Another reason that money play a big part in the book is the shortage of crops. Because it was very dry, it caused the dust bowl to come. There was also minimal rain for the season. Billie Jo's father had to go to FDR to and ask for a loan because they coudldn't make any money. If there is no crop, there is no money. He promised her dad that until the crop comes, he doesn't have to repay him. Her dad took advantage of that offer. He decided to start over and start from scratch, but the problem was, it didn't rain. It hadn't rained in three years. Because it didn't rain, it caused Billie Jo's dad to go and drink…a lot.
Money played a big role in this book. It caused the future of Billie Jo, and caused her father to go out of control. It caused destruction to the family. It was part of the reason Billie Jo's mother died, and is caused him to start drinking. This was a very major problem in the book because Billie Jo was mainly left to car for herself with minimal support form her father. All in all, money was a big part of this book.
One way money played a role in this book is the absence of care that Billie Jo's dad gives her family. First of all, Billie Jo's father didn't even want her. He always wanted to have a son. That is why she has a boy name. When he found out that her mom was pregnant with Billie Jo's brother he was overjoyed. While her mom was pregnant she got burned really bad. When her mom was suffering from the burn Billie Jo had to try and take care of her mother. Her dad on the other hand didn't even care. He was out drinking. The book quotes, "He went out last night. While Ma moaned and begged for water. He drank up all the emergency money until it was gone. I tried to help her…She cried for the pain of the water running into her sores…the whole time my father was in Guymon, drinking." In this situation, money was a huge part of the book plot because it sets what is going to happen afterwards. Her dad was out using all of the money that they had left. Also, it caused Billie Jo's mom to suffer from thirst because her dad wasn't there to give her water. Another reason money is an issue in the is book because of the o Billie Jo's father continues to go out and get drunk. Billie Jo's dad is a very self centered man. He cares mostly about himself. If he is happy then everything is okay. He uses all of the money that they have and he uses it to go and drink. This ties into the other example that he doesn't care that her mother is in agonizing pain. Instead, he goes out, uses all of their money, and goes about himself. That shows how selfish of a man he is, and how this relates to the money issue in this book.
Another reason that money play a big part in the book is the shortage of crops. Because it was very dry, it caused the dust bowl to come. There was also minimal rain for the season. Billie Jo's father had to go to FDR to and ask for a loan because they coudldn't make any money. If there is no crop, there is no money. He promised her dad that until the crop comes, he doesn't have to repay him. Her dad took advantage of that offer. He decided to start over and start from scratch, but the problem was, it didn't rain. It hadn't rained in three years. Because it didn't rain, it caused Billie Jo's dad to go and drink…a lot.
Money played a big role in this book. It caused the future of Billie Jo, and caused her father to go out of control. It caused destruction to the family. It was part of the reason Billie Jo's mother died, and is caused him to start drinking. This was a very major problem in the book because Billie Jo was mainly left to car for herself with minimal support form her father. All in all, money was a big part of this book.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Monday Muses- "The Last Song"
The movie that inspires me is "The Last Song." For me, this is an inspiring movie because it is kind of like my life, but not quite. In the movie, it shows the relationship between the daughter and the connection that she has with her dad. It relates to me because of the relationship that I have with my dad. In the movie, the main character went to go visit her dad. While she was there, all she did was fight with her dad until she realized that there was something wrong with him. It was like she took him for granted. In my life, my dad came to visit me, and when he was here I feel like I didn't cherish the time I had with him. This movie related to my life in that both the main character and I both took the visitations of our dad for granted. We both acted like having our dads was a normal thing. When it was time for us to part from them, thats when it got hard. We realized that our time together doesn't last forever. "The Last Song" was a very inspirational movie to me because of the relationships that both the main character and I have had with our dads. The main character in the movie realized that it shouldn't take the death or sickness of a person to realize that you shouldn't betray them. The lesson that I learned is similar to hers because I learned that it shouldn't take the end of precious time to realize that you need to cherish your time with one another.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Argument Essay 2nd Draft
There are many books that have mature issues in them, and many parents and teachers don’t want their children reading them because of the explicit themes in books, and they should be banned. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is just one of the many books that have mature topics and content.This book was on the banned book list, and after reading this book, I now understand why this would be on the banned book list. This book lead me to the conclusion that books such as “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” should be banned because there are themes in the book that are too explicit and advanced for young readers.
Books should be banned because there are things that are are "too dangerous." One example that proved this point is in the article “Darkness Too Visible.” In the article, the mom of a young teenager claimed that there were themes in the book that were too intense for young adults and she considered them too menacing, and she left the book store empty handed. Another example of this is that the themes in books are too explicit. In the same article it claimed that there were uncensored themes that young adults shouldn't be reading. In the book that I was reading in my inquiry group there were very clear themes that were too explicit. In "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" there were themes such as sex, drugs, and rape in my book that were very explicit. Some people say that it is good to expose children to themes such as drugs and alcohol because it is a good way to teach them about life. While this may be true for some, adults don't agree with this because it can effect the mind and thoughts that may go through young readers.
Another reason that I agree with the controversial issue that books should be banned, is that the books that are aimed at children often deal with dark themes. For example, In "Darkness Too Visible," it claimed that there were a lot of violent themes in the book. In addition to there being a lot of brutal themes in books, is the things that go on in children's heads. In the article it stated that "what goes on in children's head has to do with what he or she reads." In the book “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” there is a scene in the book that has to do with rape, and how it can be dangerous. The quote shows how young adult books have dark themes in it because it demonstrates how the things that a child reads effects what they think about. If a child reads about rape, they are most likely going to think about what they read about, which is in this case rape. While some people think it is good to have books with topics that deal with dark themes in it like drugs, abuse, etc. because it teaches a good lesson. Even though some people think that books that have been challenged is because the content inside of them books are too mature, and should therefore sayed banned challenged or both.
The last reason that I agree with the banning of books is because of the influence that it can give children. In the article "Darkness Too Visible," it claimed that you have to be be careful to what you give a child because it could influence their actions. In the article “Darkness Too Visible,” there was a young girl who was reading a book, and she said it was “too close to home.” In the book that she was reading one of the characters was cutting herself. After she finished reading the book, she got her blade and started to cut herself. It also said that a young adult read a book that one of the characters was cutting herself, and she did the same. In the book “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” was influenced by the relationships that were made in the book. In addition, the scene about rape influenced the main character, Charlie because it left him to wonder about why what happened, happened, and what it feels like to be in that kind of relationship. These examples show that books should be banned because of the influence it can give kids.
In conclusion, I definitely agree with the fact that books with explicit themes should be banned. In "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," there were many mature themes, and in my opinion should not be introduced to readers of such a young age because they are not mentally ready for what is in the book. All over the world, the same question is asked: should this book be be banned?
Monday, November 11, 2013
Argument Essay Draft
Our class has been working through a unit on banned books. In our inquiry groups we read "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." It was on the banned book its, and we read the book to see and understand why this book would be considered challenged and banned. This is what lead me to my thesis that because of mature themes in books they should be banned.
I agree with the banning of books because there are things that are are "too dangerous." One example that proved this point is in the article darkness too visible. In the article, the mom of a young teenager claimed that there were themes in the book that were too intense for young adults and she considered them too menacing, and she left empty handed. Another example of this is that the themes in books are too explicit. In the article "Darkness too Visible" it claimed that there were themes that young adults shouldn't be reading uncensored themes i books such as rape and drug abuse. In the book that I was reading in my inquiry group there were very clear themes that were too explicit. In "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" there were themes such as sex, drugs, and rape in my book that were explicit. Some people say that it is good to expose children to themes such as drugs and alcohol because it is a good way to teach them about life. While this may be true for some, adults don't agree with this because it can effect the mind and thoughts that may go through young readers.
Another reason that I agree with the banning of books is, the books that are aimed at children often deal with dark themes. For example, In "Darkness Too Visible," is claimed that there were a lot of violent themes in the book. In addition to there being a lot of brutal themes in books, is the things that go on in children's heads. In the article it stated that "what goes on in children's head has to do with what he or she reads." This shows that there are themes in books that can effect the way tens think. It also shows that this happens because of the dark themes in young adult books.
The last reason that I agree with the banning of books is because of the influence that it can give children. In the article "Darkness To Visible," it claimed that you have to be be careful to what you give a child because it could influence the child. It also said that a young adult read a book that one of the characters was cutting herself, and she did the same.
In conclusion, I definitely agree with the fact that books with explicit themes should be banned. In the book called "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," there were many explicit themes, and in my opinion should not be introduced to readers f such a young age.
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