*REVISED VERSION* Life as We Knew it #2: Issues and Pictures of The Moon

           This week when I was reading Life as We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer, I found that issues started to rise. One issue was police and firefighters were no longer there cause they have gone south to where they “thought” was safer –but we don’t know yet because were reading this book from Miranda’s point of view and she whatever she doesn’t know we don’t know much more than she does.

“… The boys, with their guns and bats in their hands were taking the plywood off the store fronts and loading them into their trucks. I looked around and saw no one around so I hid in the rubble near the side of a store afraid they might see me.” (p. 148)

This quote showed me that the town wasn’t protected much and people, like the boys could run freely and do whatever they wanted, without any authorities telling them not to. The quote also showed how with no police it’s becoming dangerous in the world they live in and how as the world becomes dangerous the issue of “everyone for themselves” comes up too. Will people still respect and help each other out or just be greedy and disrespectful? Another thing that this quote pointed out was how an issue in this book is that now that it’s dangerous to leave your house especially for women/ girls being more vulnerable. I wonder if they should just stay in their house the whole day long and let the men/ boys do the work. But as the book progressed on, it did show more reason for women/ girls not to go outside (like the grey sky because all the volcanic ash in the air, making it hard to breath or do hard work outside)

I also wonder if the world will ever be the same again because I don’t think so because what I have been reading there are no changes that are positive back that might lead back to what it had been before all this had happened.

I also notice that Susan Pfeffer divided the book by season then by chapter and when I looked closer I noticed that whenever a new season started they would have a picture of the moon and the shading would change like and when you look at the chapter beginnings first it started with a small moon then when the moon came closer and closer the moons in the beginning of the chapters would grow bigger and bigger. Hmm…I wonder if this means something.

Questions:

·         Will things get better in the future?

·         Will they every see the blue sky ever again?

·         Will Miranda go back outside after that incident?

·         AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?

By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters

This book was really compelling to read. The main character is named Daelyn she’s really broken down from all the years of being bullied. The torment and embarrassment she received because of her weight mostly caused this. Daelyn had tried killing herself many times before but had been rescued or the technique didn’t work. The last time she tried to kill herself she failed and left her not able to speak and on a close watch by her parents.

When Daelyn found a website that would help her commit her maybe final suicide, she was thrilled to find people just like her and also that she only has 23 days until her Date of Determination (the day she would try to suicide herself). She discovers the Through the Light website and found it to be not like other suicide websites and discussion boards she’s visited in the past. Instead of preaching and warning her against her decision, the website provides rational and informational posts and discussions about ending her life.

            Julie Anne Peters the author of this book ended the book on kind of a cliff hanger, but in the end of the book my guess of what happened was that Daelyn decided that she still had a wonderful life because now she had a friend that would stand by her side. I used evidence from the book to predict this because in the end it said (the book) that she deleted her account meaning there wouldn’t be a date of determination anymore and also she wrote a final comment to the people on the website that “fat camp is horrible don’t go, it’ll make you want to kill yourself faster” meaning she’s kind of warning people about not to go because then you might end up like her.

            In the end this book really touched me and it also had a social issue about bullying gone too far and suicide thinking that’s there only way out of things, also giving up on life.

Social Action #3

I am reading the book Life as We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer and there are social issues in this book that come up throughout the book like how the scientists underestimated the force of the moon and they didn’t warn people to get ready for it instead they miscalculated and lots of the people are dead. I wonder if our scientists can be wrong about something or miscalculate something that would put us in danger…

Another issue is when the world is in chaos (from a meteor hitting the moon and moving the moon off its axis) that you start to wonder if the world ever ends up like that will the police and firefighters be there for us or will abandon us. Like in the book when Miranda went looking for the police (when she saw boys looting in the town) to tell them this but there weren’t any at the police department and when she tried the fire department there wasn’t anyone there either. So I guess in a world like I start to think of this saying everyone for themselves, and so far in this book I’m seeing more and more of that. Also an example of this is when at the hospital Miranda couldn’t go in to get peter (a doctor) to help her mom until her brother matt showed up and the guards knew him so they let him in even though Miranda was there for like 3 hours.

So I think this book is a good example of how things could just go wrong and how people could be so selfish sometimes.

Reading Response (Social Action) on: beauty pageants for little kids

I used these sites:

·         http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=S44-4241-0-7637&artno=0000316660&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Beauty%20contests&title=Ugly%20Truth%20About%20Beauty%20Pageants&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N

·         http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=S44-4241-0-7637&artno=0000294079&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Beauty%20contests&title=Pretty%20on%20the%20Inside%3F&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N

I read 2 articles one called Ugly Truth about Beauty Pageants by Caroline Overington and Pretty on the Inside? By Bari Weiss they were both about how little kids are getting older too early, when they could be enjoying their child hood instead they’re parents are pressuring them into doing beauty pageants and when they grow up thinking that, that was the right thing to do.

In the Ugly Truth about Beauty Pageants by Caroline Overington it talked about how kids are getting waxing, spray tanning and fake eyelashes when there just 7 or littler. It also talks about is this child abuse to kids or is it perfectly fine. Also if this might kill someone, mainly a child (if their parents might go too far), maybe by too much spray tan or just too much for the child to take.  It teaches kids that those types of kids are the “normal” kids and the kids who aren’t “normal” can end up having eating disorders or loss of confidence when they grow up. It also teaches that all that really matters is what’s on the outside, the looks and hair, but not the personality. Imagine if you were a little girl who was being judged to be the prettiest and then judges telling you “no” meaning that you’re not pretty enough. According to the articles it’s just like setting them up for plastic surgery or Botox when they grow up. Then the articles go on to talk about how vulnerable these kids are cause now there “exposed” themselves to the world.

      In the other article Pretty on the Inside? By Bari Weiss are similar and it discussed about how beauty contests mostly look at a girl’s body and looks. Instead of looking at the child’s (that’s competing) personality or talents. It also talks about how the pageants have limits to who their perfect person is like.

    My opinion on this idea is that it’s dumb to force your child to do something that they don’t have a say in, and that just because your dreams of being one and couldn’t do it doesn’t mean your child has to be what you wanted to become (but didn’t). so I think parents should stop forcing there child into beauty pageants unless they want to or at least wait until there older.

Social Action #2

For my Social action response #2, I did a two voice poem with Sadie (in class), but I also did one on my own.

The one I did with Sadie

CAPS = Together

·         = Sadie

                

v  =  Michelle

Judgment:

I WAS BULLIED

·     I was called short and little

v  I was called Chinese

I WAS JUDGED

·     People treated me like I’m a baby

v  People think I always get good grades

I TRIED TO CHANGE MY APPEREANCE

·     I put on make-up to look older

v  I put classes on to seem “normal”

WE LIVE IN A JUDGEMENTAL SOCIETY

The one I did on my own

CAPS = Together

·         = Parent

                

v  = Child

Cheating:

CHEATING IS

·    Wrong, bad and unfair

v  A way to make my grades go up

ITS TOUGH

·     Keeping you on the right path

v  Always getting good grades

I AM UNDER PRESSURE

·     To lead you the right way

v  To meet your expectations

ITS TOUGH

·     Seeing you stay up so late at night

v  Having so much to do and having no time to study

For the one I wrote with Sadie we went through the list that Ms.Galang gave us then thought deeply into each then like the racism one and then we ended up with judgment. This 2 voice poem related to each of us. We used how people treated us into the poem like how people say Sadie is short and people think I’m Chinese when they first meet me. We ended our poem with a line we said together because we think that would end our poem strongly.

The one I wrote on my own I used cheating as a main topic because now a days like the SAT cheating scandal I think kids feel so much pressure from school and out of school activities that sometimes we don’t have time to study so when we get the test the next day we don’t want to fail so we turn to cheating, even though we know it’s wrong. And our parents don’t help with it because they’re the ones who are giving us that pressure.

 

Life as We Knew it #2: Issues and Pictures of The Moon

This week when I was reading Life as We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer I found that issues started to rise. One issue was police and firefighters were no longer there cause they have gone south to where they “thought” was safer –but we don’t know yet because were reading this book from Miranda’s point of view and she whatever she doesn’t know we don’t know much more than she does. With no police it’s becoming dangerous in the world they live in. One such dangerous thing that Miranda encountered during her visit into the town was a group of boys that had a gun (this proved that the law was no longer enforced) and they were taking off the planks that covered the emptied out stores and no one was around to yell at them or tell them not to do that. Another thing that’s an issue in this book is that now that it’s dangerous to leave your house the idea of women/ girls being more vulnerable. I wonder if they should just stay in their house the whole day long and let the men/ boys do the work. I also wonder if the world will ever be the same again because I don’t think so because what I have been reading there are no changes that are positive back that might lead back to what it had been before all this had happened.

I also notice that Susan Pfeffer divided the book by season then by chapter and when I looked closer I noticed that whenever a new season started they would have a picture of the moon and the shading would change and when you look at the chapter beginnings first it started with a small moon then when the moon came closer and closer the moons in the beginning of the chapters would grow bigger and bigger. Hmmmm…… I wonder if this means something.

Social Action #1

For my Social action response #1, I chose to respond to a song that I think has a strong message for Social Action. Advice by Christina Grimmie brings out the message of Social action. The song's lyrics are…

Christina Grimmie
Advice lyrics

Don't look down
Cause it's easy
You're falling from force
Just letting it take nature's course
Then picking it up when it's over

Don't be afraid
Cause the chances are there for the take
But treasure the choices you make
And know when you must take it slower

You may think you've had it rough
And try to give it up
But when you think you're stuck
Just go another way

This first part of the song talks about how you should just go along with what comes in your way (problems) and when it ends- like when everything is back to normal then you see what has happened then fix it or continue what you have been doing, but then sometimes you just need to know when are the times you can stop and take your time to do something you like or need to be careful with. And times where you just have 1 chance to do something and even if you’re scared you should just go with it because you never know if you can do it ever again. But then the song goes on to sing about how sometimes theirs bumps along the way, you should not give up, but try going around it instead.

CHORUS:
Don't let go of good times
And let the bad ones know you'll feel fine
And wear your heart out on your sleeve
Love is all, love is all you need

Don't be rushed
Cause hurrying causes mistakes
And make sure to give more than take
Cuz sharing yourself brings you closer
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/c/christina_grimmie/advice.html ]
You may think you've had it rough
And try to give it up
But when you think you're stuck
Just go another way

This part of the song is when she introduces the chorus which is about how not to forget about what’s the good memories, but also think about the bad ones and say those are in the past. Also to say that love is all that you need to get through this world. She then she tells use to slow down and take our time and to share more than take because if we don’t share with people we’ll won’t get much to take in about each other.

 CHORUS:
Don't let go of good times
And let the bad ones know you'll feel fine
And wear your heart out on your sleeve
Love is all you need

Feel with all your senses
Make sure to let down your defenses
There's just one way to make you see
Love is all, love is all you need

Take a chance now cause it's easy
Take a chance now for you and me
Take a chance now you can reach it
Take a chance for me

This section of the song sings about how sometimes you should have you walls down to have some fun and maybe get hurt cause that’s how you learn to protect yourself next time. Then it sings about taking chances.

CHORUS:
Don't let go of good times
And let the bad ones know you'll feel fine
And wear your heart out on your sleeve
Love is all, love is all you need

Feel with all your senses
Make sure to let down your defenses
There's just one way to make you see
Love is all, love is all you need

Love is all you need
Love is all
Love is all
Love is all you need

In the end of this song Christina Grimmie ends it by kind of repeating the last section before this one and repeats the chorus over again to end the song.

            This song didn’t have 1 main issue/ lesson it was made of little lessons in it. This song made me feel like I could do whatever I want to if I try and that love would get me through it.

The music video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdI13Ze8PzM

Life as we knew it: The moon started it all

I’m currently reading this book called Life As We Knew it by Susan Pfeffer, so far in the book I think it’s very compelling because at first everything was normal then Susan Pfeffer would pull you back in. I think Susan Pfeffer when writing this book tried to make her book memorable by taking one thing that everyone over looks and made it her main focus and wrote her book around it. She used the moon and wrote a book about how just one thing like a meteor hitting the moon and everyone thinking that it wasn’t going to change anything , but they would be wrong because it did change things. Dramatically. It caused the moon to move off its axis and move closer to the earth. At first it was the only thing Miranda (the main character) could think of, but later on through the book she started caring less about it. Also when the thought or topic would pop up in their conversations they would just change to a different topic or there would be a long silence.

Jonny- “The chickens didn’t lay as much eggs and milk production went down…… Only we didn’t want to talk about that, so we switched topics real fast.” (p. 145)

This was an example I found when I was reading the book. It shows that they didn’t want to talk about the subject much or the cause of all this.

2 good blogs

Sumiaya’s blog post was one of the memorable posts that I’ve read. It was memorable because it was very detailed and thought through. I liked how she explained her thoughts and elaborated on her point of view on the book. She also gave a summary with it :D

Alyssa’s blog post was also memorable because she picked a very interesting book to write about. She also shared what was her favorite part in the book and explained why she liked it. She also learned some new technics to use in her next writing.

First blog post: Stay or Die

When I read If I Stay by Gayle Forman, I thought it was a touching and thoughtfully written book because this was the first time I’ve read a book where the main character is talking from an unconscious girl’s view (from her hospital bed). Her family got killed in a car crash that killed her mom, dad and sadly her little brother. She was the only one that came out of that crash still breathing. When she was at the hospital (in the beginning) she didn’t know if her family was dead yet, until she heard her grandparents whispering about it. She got visited by so many caring people, her grandparents and boyfriend. She kept thinking if she should stay and try to get her life back or just die with the rest of her family. But in the end it was the boyfriend’s heartfelt decision to visit her at the hospital and “talk” to her instead of going on tour with the band that nudged her closer to staying, but the final push was when he said if she stayed he would give her anything. <3