Little Women by Louisa May ALcott: Final reading Response

    In Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, The four main characters desire to have luxury and be stress free. They also are tired of working and want leisure time. Their mother had set up a week where they didn't have to do any chores. They learned over that week that doing work is better than not doing any work at all. This experience teaches them that while chores may be tedious, doing your part can help everything run smoothly, and in turn help you.
    The main characters didn't really know how to cook. This was a problem when it came to breakfast. Since the girls weren't going to be doing any work, their mother decided she wasn't either. The girls made breakfast and it came out horrible. "The boiled tea was very bitter, the omelet scorched, and the biscuits were speckled with saleratus" (Alcott 170). When one of the girls wanted to invite over a friend, they also had to make food for their guest. She had made food that "she had convinced herself she could not make fit to eat" (Alcott 175).
    Things were quite a mess because no one was doing their chores. They became lazy and cleaned messes sometimes by "whisking the litter under the sofa" (Alcott 171). They also "shut the blinds, to save the trouble of dusting" (Alcott 171). The dishes piled up and after a while they got bored of lounging all day.
    Their mother taught them a valuable lesson. That when we all do our part everything runs smoothly. All play and no work can be just as bad as all work and no play.

Reading Response: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

    In Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, four sisters and their mother live a simple, yet enjoyable life. They are not very wealthy, but find happiness within each other. They find strength within each other, they look after one another, and they even show each other their unity.
    The four sisters do many things together and spend quality time with each other. They are always in their family room, knitting. They formed a group out of them four, they called it the Pickwick Club. They made a small newspaper "to which they all contributed to" (Alcott 154). They also learn to get along quite well as Alcott said the girls' tastes "differed as much as their character" (153). 
    They all look after each other, even if they are upset at each other. They will put anything aside to help one another. Even though Jo was upset at Amy for ruining a very prized possession of Jo's, she felt bad for letting Amy get hurt. She was "looking remorsefully at [Amy's] golden head (Alcott 121). 
     They try to incorporate others in their family time. Their next door neighbor, Laurie, was very lonely.JO wanted to let her sisters and herself keep him company. She told him "We are not strangers, we are neighbors, and you needn't think you'd be a bother" (Alcott 63).
    They sit in their family room and are satisfied with talking to one another. They don't need expensive items. Although they wish they had them, they are far more grateful for their family and friends.

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

    In my opinion, one main issue that comes up is wanting to rebel and not follow rules. We want to grow up so quickly, and when we finally do get there, it's overrated to us. everyone wants to be independent in one way or another at a point in their life. We just need to realize that our family is always going to be there for us, and at this time, they are the ones we tend to neglect the most.
   In my lifetime, there is going to be so many things I am going through that my parents have already experienced. But I don't think I will ever learn to listen to them. It's sad how most of us don't. We don't give our parents enough credit for having experienced everything we have. But the truth is, someday I want to be as strong and wise as my parents.

Reading Response: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Final Draft)

In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest written by Ken Kesey in 1962, you have to choose sides. This book showed power struggle in every sense of the phrase. At the time this book was written, race and gender determined where you were on the social pyramid. Here is a book, where in a certain mental asylum, the woman was in charge and the blacks harassed the whites. Almost an inverted reality for the time period.

The head person in charge was a woman, known as the Big Nurse. She was constantly being compared to machines with their precision and monotony. SHe was as Kesey described "in the center of this web of wires like a watchful robot" (29). She kept everything neat and had "gotten more and more skillful over the years" (Kesey 28). She held a power within the asylum "that extended in all direction on hairlike wires" (Kesey 29). She had the most obedient workers. Everyone respected her did as she said.

The 3 janitors the Big Nurse had working for her were black. Most of the residents were white and none were identified to be black. The janitors were looked upon as law enforcers but they actually mistreated the patients. They were said to have "swatted the backs of their legs to hurry them past" (Kesey 3). They were not stopped because they were not stopped because they were of higher authority than the patients.

This book showed a perspective where you have no power. In that position, you would've understood how women and blacks felt at the time the book written. They were controlled, abused, and had no control of their surroundings. This book had shown the current reality, but the roles were reversed.

Narrative Poem

Writer's Block

I wish I had a constant muse
Everything is in the right place
But my mind

I can do it
But i choose not to
But I have responsibilities and I can't help but wonder how I affect others

I can change they way people look at things
as people have for me

and I wonder shouldn't the motivation from that thought be enough?

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey: Response

    For my book club, I am reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The time period is around the 1960's. So far, this book is about a chief that was admitted into an insane asylum (narirator)  and now has a new " housemate" if you will.  The new guy's name is McMurphy. He is the most outgoing and daring loony that hospital has ever seen. He thinks he will be taking over, but the Big Nurse (Nurse Ratched) has another plan. She holds the lives of all the patients at the asylum, and she is looked to with great fear and respect.
  
    I like the fact that the head person in charge is a  women. In the 1960's women were not as powerful as men. She is constantly compared to machines and their precision and monotony. Although I am an animate person, I aspire to be organized and efficient. Somewhat perfect. It seems as though she is just that. NO one or thing can stop her from getting the job done.

    Race also seems to be a big factor. The janitors are black and it is constantly mentioned throughout the chapters that I have read. The nurse is always being compared to porclein and pale things. She also treats them as her puppets and has complete control over them. In the 1960's there was not much racial inequality and in a way it shows that these two different races are united in some way.

    But all in all, I am looking forward to reading the rest of this book. It ha ssome old language in it, but the characters say such outrageous things, you won't get bored.

MY Independent Book: The Kite Runner

In this book, there has been so many sad moments. But I think they teach a lot of lessons. But sometimes, I think it is hard for most people to relate to this book.

    There is a lot of talk about nature and flying kites. I think for a young audience, this hobby is not common. Nowadays, We are all into technology. We don't know what it is like to jump in a river and not a pool. And we certainly don't know what it is like to spend all of your day playing in the street.

But there are relatable themes in this book.
One is that the main character feels like he has to get approval from his father. I think everyone cares about what there parents think. But me, personally, I couldn't imagine having to impress my parents, because they love me know matter what.

I really think that Olivia's posts on her blogs are quite opinionated, but detailed. She includes her opinions without shutting out the opposite perspective. When she responds to poems or pictures. She usually says what she thinks and I think that it's a great blog because she gives supporting reasons from the text as to why she thinks of something a certain way.
I also like the way that Jonathan writes his blogs. Although brief, I think that his posts are somewhat thorough including the assignment requirements. He doesn't over analyze. He does just enough.

my new friends

i humiliate a friend
for my new friends
i changed
for my new friends
i put aside my values
for my new friends

i sold myself
to my new friends
i gave my life
to my new friends

i no longer am myself
i am like my new friends

incident

To change my life is one thing
to break me is another
a heart full of hate
you ripped out of your chest and
through at me

subcontiously you are
hurting yourself
for this will haunt you

you touch my
music you break my
ears
you take my life


subcontiously

The tree

Observations
1. There are several women holding hands.
2. They are all wearing white dresses.
3. They have different hair lengths and colors.
4. There is a big tree with no leaves in the center of painting.
5. There are white clouds on the top left half on the painting and dark clouds on the other top half.
6. The grass is more bare near the tree.
7. There are some women heading to the tree from two different directions.
Inferences
1. The women are holding hands to stay together.
2. They are all in white dresses so maybe the have a common trait.
3. Their different hair shows they are all different.
4.  The tree shows loss.
5. The difference in cloud colors make two contrasting moods.
6. The tree takes away color.
7. The tree represents something universal.
Interpretations
1. The holding hands represents unity.
2. The white dresses represent purity
3. They are all unique
4. The bare tree represents something bad
5. The contrasting moods mean there are two different motives or paths.
6. All women will face the bad thing that the tree represents.

Response to Photograph of a Girl

  When I read this poem, for the first time, I noticed that it was mostly directed towards girls.
 It discussed how the girl was developing, but was also very skinny. I think that by mentioning a thin, starving girl, it opened up the eyes of readers to see because she is so malnourished, she is ugly. She lives in Russia in 1921 and what I think is interesting about this poem, is that it is almost one moment in time. It slows down time, and zooms in on a specific, important moment.
   In this case, you didn't need to see the photo to know what was going on. I think that seeing the photo might of even taking away from the descriptions and details in the poem.

More than just emotions,
a playground of creativity,
a serene place in your mind.

An escape,
without movement.
A voice,
without words.

Accurate expression guaranteed,
guaranteed to be original.

Just words, no.
But words arranged in
an order that no
other being can
create.

If the mind, the body,
and the soul, could speak
in unison,
this is what it would
sound like.

Social Awareness Assignment #2 (NO Child Left Behind)

   The NO Child Left Behind Act was passed in 2001. Much like the book Freedom Summer by DeborAH Wiles, the issue in this book is not as important now as it was a few years, or maybe even a few decades ago. As I read these articles(Why I Changed My Mind About School Reform, and No Child Faces Its Own Test) I noticed that after this was passed, teachers started caring more about test scores than the children's education. It was as if they would just prepare children for state tests and nothing else would matter. In an article I read they mentioned the word "failing", which leads me to believe that this act is not very beneficial for a child's education, but somewhat of a pressure that might altar the learning process.

Research Writing Assignment #1(Cyber Bullying)

   Although most peoples' personal opinion is negative, the article A Right for Students to Be Cruel Online? says that cyber bullies are aren't responsible for the effects of their free speech. A student at a Beverly Hills school, was harassed by fellow students who had posted a video publicly badmouthing her. Fake myspace profiles, that were shields of anonymous protection for some, were discovered and deleted. I can't help but think that the fact that this happens so often, morphs the perception of adults' view of teenagers. If we are given freedom and we abuse it, we are less likely to be given that same freedom in the future.
    Another article,To Teach Students the Value of Free Speech, Sometimes We Must Restrict It, says that students should be punished. Although, throughout the article it mentions that students are protected by thier first ammendment right, it also said that free speech should be limited.

Social Awareness Assignment #6

Treat me as an equal

Because I am the same

as you

Because I hurt like you

Because I face the same hardships

I fight the same battles
I crave attention just like you
don't judge me because I'm different,
learn from me
I love me,
even if you don't
and I won't ever stop

Social Awareness Assignment #4

     In the book I'm reading House Rules by Jodi Picoult, there is an autistic child, named Jacob Hunt. He was accused for murder, and because he is autistic, the authorities are contemplating on how to handle the situation and how to accomadate the needs of an autistic being. His mother is in complete distress because it never entered her mind, that her son could be a killer. Although it is difficult for detectives and interrogators to determine whether Jacob is guilty of not.
     I think that maybe this could symbolize equality. In the book, the detectives and prosecutors keep displaying the the fact that despite Jacob's disablities, he should be held accountable for  the same things someone without disabilities is. Therefore, he also deserves the same rights.

Writing Assignment #1

As I recorded certain issues on the news, I realized that they were all pretty similar. Not in subject content , but in the way that most of them are economic, or somehow relate to that. It is often that a social issue would relate to money, becuse it is important. I mean, most of the time, problems start because someone is missing something. Sometimes, it is not even money, but difficulties pronounce themselves because we don't have something, we look at, as valuable.

Mother to Son Response (Entry #8)

This poem by Langston Hughes really highlights the hardships that we all face. The "crystal stair" in the poem, I believe represents, the good life. As the poem goes on, it becomes a more happy poem. In the beginning, the mother talks about how she struggled through her life, but in conclusion, she states that her son should never stop going and climbing the "stairs".
I think that the reason this poem was in a women's perspective, although the author was a man, is because women are typically looked at as more delicate than men. And while she talks, you might get a sense of strength in her written words.
My response poem:
I won't stop climbing the stairs,
I can't,
but when do i reach my destination,
why am i still climbing.

I'm tired,
but i have places to go,
stairs to climb.

As I climb,
the staircases seem to get shorter,
I seem to get stronger
and before I know it,
The stairs are finally finished,
Ihave arrived.

Appreciation of A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L'Engle Draft (Opposition: Harsh Ways vs. Comfort and Care)

  Note: Page number and specific dialogue are not yet included. They are still being looked for, as I search through the book in a determined matter. :)


In A Wrinkle In Time, I noticed there were many contradicting elements included in the book. There's good and evil, scientific and emotional, but the the one that really stuck out to me was harshness and comfort. The somewhat "cut throat" carelessness, shown by characters in the book is well balanced with the comfort and strength shown by others. This would pose itself as a difficult task to some, but to Madeline L'Engle it is shown to be extremely achievable.
   The contradictions in this book, I believe to symbolizing optimism, or seeing the good through the bad. Meg is deprived of a father for most of the book and it shows that it really does affect her and her family. Although she is judged because of the absence of her father, she finds the comfort of her little brother and a boy named Calvin.
   When I first read the book, I was just starting the sixth grade. I was still attending the same school, but every grade comes with a new set of butterflies and worries. I think I was somewhat comforted by the book because Meg found her way through a confusing path, and I was certain I could find my way, as well.
My second time reading the book, was such a deeper experience than the first. Not only did I learn new things and notice new details, but I associated this book with childhood memories.
    I guess, besides the space travel, it was easy for me to relate to Meg's story. She felt like an outcast and nobbody understood her problems. I guess we all feel that way from time to time, but most importantly this book shows that even if you don't know it all the time, there are people that love, care and accept you for who you are.
    While reading a book told in third person, you are able to see all details without a bias, without worrying about what's going to happen next. While, in real life, we sometimes seem to think the worst of things, when things work themselves out. Maybe sometimes we all have to look at our lives in third person, and realize we are the authors, and we all have to be patient and await our happy ending.