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My Signature Passage

• The Road: "In the dream from which he'd wakened he had wandered in a cave where the child led him by the hand. Their light playing over the wet flow stone walls. Like pilgrims in a fable swallowed up and lost among the inward parts of some granitic beast."
• In this scene in The Road, one of the man's dreams is described in detail. This shows his discourage, hardships, and inner thoughts of the world he's living in. I see this dream as depressing and morbid, it is almost saying that the father and son are the only good people left in a swarm of evil in their world.
• In The Grace of Silence, in many scenes you can see a direct relationship to this quote. Throughout the novel she questions the goodness of people throughout society, which is exactly what this dream relates to.
• This passage and book relates to the other books we've read this semester because of the issue and question between the bad and good people and actions in our world. Whether it's evil actions and isolation, racism, religious discrimination, or concentration camps, all books we've read this semester relate to ones goodness.
•  I will memorize the sentence "Like pilgrims in a fable swallowed up and lost among the inward parts of some granitic beast." I believe it is the most important and moving section of the passage.

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I really enjoyed this book and how it differed from other books themes and motifs that we've read this year so far. I thought it was nice to read a novel about something differing from racism, and for me it was a page turner to see the father and son's journey. I thought the book was dark, but not too dark in an inappropriate way. I thought it made sense for it to be depressing, because that was the author's mindset when writing the novel, thinking that the father and son went through a depressing journey. I wonder what truly caused the father and son to lived in a burnt society with everything ruined in the first place. All in all I enjoyed this novel because I think it expanded my knowledge of reading a writing in a good way, and I also thought it was nice to see the movie. The movie helped put a more clear picture in my mind while reading which was nice, and I could also compare and contrast the book and movie of The Road. I think the pacing of reading assignments was pretty quick to read 150 pages over break, but it was still enjoyable. I wonder what the boy's life is like once his father dies and he is adopted into a new family and if he survives very long. He must be a very strong child to not breakdown in all the traumatic events he encounters and his mother and father's death. I can't imagine having a gun in mouth and almost shot, or having my father teach me how to commit suicide like the boy's father did.

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• Word Bank
• wandered
• pilgrims in a fable
• granitic
• deep stone flues
• silence
• without cease
• raised its dripping mouth
• rimstone pool
• eyes dead white
• sightless as the eggs of spiders
• translucent
• its beating heart
• pulsed in a dull glass bell
• lurched away
• soundlessly into the dark
• This poem gives off the thought that fear of the outside world leads to curiosity. As one is "sightless as the eggs of spiders" and wander "soundlessly into the dark", you can see their interest in discovery without cease. The translucent actions as if it's "pilgrims in a fable" suggests that the pilgrimage is overtaken by a "granitic beast". As the other explains, its beating heart is lurched away and pulsed in a dull glass bell by this fear.

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Persepolis Freewriting
Part I

• In the book, when Marji is talking about having parties at her house with her family stood out to me. Small events like dancing had a big impact on her b/c of the difficult situations in her world in Iran.
• Marji was an interesting character to me that intrigued me b/c there were some situations that she would laugh at or find humorous that were actually quite sad. She would sometimes react to news in different ways as opposed to her family.
• Thinking about her hearing about torture stood out to me, it must have been scarring for a young girl to hear about that kind of abuse.

Part II

• I liked Persepolis and I thought the format was interesting. It was unique in that sense and it also helped to put faces and emotions to characters and scenarios. The way the author wrote the book I thought was well planned out and drew the reader in. When alcohol was dumped down the drain, I thought that was suspenseful b/c I know Marji would feel sad/angry/lonely if her father had been caught for alcohol possession/consumption. I was impressed by how detailed the author went into her feelings, whereas she was more general with specific facts of the war and the logistical aspect of things. Overall, I really liked Persepolis as a book and enjoyed the graphical novel type format.

Thesis Statement

• Marji is affected by her outside world, and grows rebellious from the fundamentalist government.

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My Goal: My goal is to complete all of my research for my project by Friday.

Part I

• Specific:
• Addresses the amount of research and when to complete it by
• Measurable
• It is measured by having enough facts and quotations to write my ten page paper off of
• Action-Oriented
• Must complete all facts via noodle tools in the specified time period
• Realistic
• It's realistic in the sense that it follows the class guidelines as well
• Tangible
• I'll know when I'm finished once I'm comfortable with the facts I've written and gathered

Part II

• Being that the end of the week is tomorrow, I'm getting close to finishing. I would say I'm about 80% finished, and should be 100% by the end of class on Friday. I will need to continue my research and complete 3 or so more note cards.

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Discussion Notes

• go deeper into the meaning and effect
• stay away from simply describing
• analyze what the author is doing, trying to say, teach, and show
• reasons for telling certain stories
• what are they saying similarly and differently about the holocaust
• why are they portraying it in this way?
• the line between ignorance and innocence
• what does the author want the reader to get out of this?
• informally write about what's important about the two books in my opinion
• loss of humanity

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In both The Girl Who Fell From The Sky and The Perks of Being A Wallflower, the topic of coming of age is clearly shown. Both the main characters in these texts go through difficult situations and journies in their young adult life. A lesson that both The Girl Who Fell From The Sky and The Perks of Being A Wallflower teach you is that these situations are what develops you as a person and shapes you into the best possible person you can be.

Although I haven't experienced the same situations as Rachel and Charlie, or at the same extreme circumstances, I believe everyone has gone through difficult paths or "forks in the road" so far in their life. I believe these issues are an important and common occurrence in peoples lives, that teach them lessons about who has a good or bad presence in their life.

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         I've never been asked that question, but if someone was to come up to me and ask "What are you?", at first I would be a bit confused. When I describe myself, I don't think to simply say my race, because I believe there's many other factors to determine and describe yourself as a person.
         I don't believe society necessarily makes mixed race people take a side, but I do think they don't really know how to "define" them. I guess in a way, some people may think to themselves if they consider them to be black or white. I personally find it completely unnecessary to force that choice upon someone. In The Girl Who Fell From The Sky, I've never noticed people asking for Rachel's take on whether she's black or white. I've more noticed them defining her without her input, calling her a white girl. In the beginning of the novel when one of her classmates was talking about how she's a "blue eyed white girl" that showed evidence of this. I saw a hint of The Girl Who Fell From The Sky in the article and video mostly through when they were discussing how people would ask them "what they are". In fact, Rachel once asked Brick the same question.
         After watching the interview with Heidi Durrow, the author of The Girl Who Fell From The Sky, I have gained more of an understanding of her take on mixed race in America and being defined by your race. I believe Heidi would be in support and proud of this club, where you can share your feelings and thoughts about having a mixed heritage. I've gathered this opinion through the interview because she often talked about how rare it is to meet people like her, so I think she would see it as a good place to talk and bond with others. Heidi would always respond with "I am a story, and I bet you are too.", this connects directly to the article's quote because it proves that when someone asks who you are, you shouldn't have to respond with your racial background. You should be able to explain who you are as a person.

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          After meeting with Mr. Cheng and conferencing about my possible essay thesis, I feel less stressed about having to write four pages based on it. I can't think of something that I didn't like in the conference, I actually think we were able to go over all the expectations thoroughly. In my essay, I will add more components about analyzing my thesis and the characters, not just stating the facts.

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          When I think of beauty, I think about the goodness and warmth of a person. A superficial viewpoint many people have of being beautiful is being thin and pretty with clear skin. I would not see someone who puts other people down or thinks too highly of themselves as beautiful, I believe beauty is based off of being a good person with a positive outlook on life. At times I would say I can show beauty through treating others with kindness and being inclusive, but of course, like most people I've had my weak moments. There have been times where I've shown little to no beauty, like most everyone has in their lifetime. In a physical point of view, I believe everyone is beautiful. The previous question made me feel slightly uncomfortable, because I believe beauty can be defined in many ways. I would see beauty in America as a negative thing because of all of the standards and unrealistic expectations people have in their minds in order to become "beautiful". I don't think gender makes a difference in peoples definition of beauty, and I believe that everyone has beauty and it's a fairly important characteristic.
          I believe if Rachel had watched the Ted video, she would've been pleased by the model speakers words. It would've been encouraging and comforting to hear that everyone deals with insecurities in their body type. I think Rachel could connect to, but also be slightly insulted by the video about curly hair. Although it is possible to get your hair chemically straightened, it's important to feel comfortable with your natural hair too. On page 11, Rachel says "Aunt Loretta puts her nails in my hair and makes one part then another.". This shows the painful and timely process Rachel and her family would go through to simply achieve a certain hair look.
          In the physical sense, I believe these videos relate to what I wrote earlier about beauty and societies perception of it. If it was up to me, I wish everyone could be comfortable with who they are and not have certain goals to attain based off of other peoples bodies.

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Blog 092314

Passage:

“If there’s no one else to tell another side - the only story that can be told is the story that becomes true.” (p 173)

Text-to-self:

This passage/quote from The Girl Who Fell From The Sky spoke to me through the deeper meaning of the sentence. It’s saying that without another side to a story, you can only share your side which soon becomes the truth. Many times I’ve heard people share stories with me, and this quote made me think deeper about if that could’ve been the truth, or simply their interpretation of the scenario. There could be many ways to look at this quote by Heidi W. Durrow, but from what I gathered I saw it as a relation to peoples interpretations of situations or lies. In correlation with the book, I think this quote was about Rachel losing her virginity to John Bailey. No one else was there to show evidence of this happening, so Rachel telling people that this occurred makes this the only option as a true story. In my lifetime, I have told people things that could be slightly out of proportion, but no one else could rebuttal it or believe it to be untrue because there’s no evidence for that reasoning. After sharing that slightly blown out of proportion story, you being to tell yourself that that is what truly occurred. I believe in some sense, Rachel would tell herself that she didn’t actually lose her virginity to John Bailey, when in fact, she did. This passage spoke to me in a big way, and I also think it could relate to many other people.

Blog 091714

Option 2 Analysis

"What must Nella have seen? Not the ground, but an expanse. It was this step and then another, and another. This was what Nella saw. This was what Nella did. She was journeying to where her love was enough, and it could fill the sky." (156)

This quote from Laronne, Nella's secretary before she passed, has much deeper meaning to it than what may appear at first. A simple and straightforward analysis of this passage is that Laronne is explaining the moment leading up to Nella's death and what could have been going through her mind. Yet in reality, there's a much deeper meaning and thought behind this quote. A motif I've taken from this paragraph is that if you take all the bad things in life, and put them all together without accounting for all the good things in your life, it paints a picture in your mind that life is much worse than it really is. Nella took all the negative things in her life bit by bit, and each was a stepping stone leading up to the moment when she jumped off the roof with her children in her arms. She saw falling as flying, and hitting the ground as a relief to where she could forget about the mistakes she'd made in her lifetime.

Blog 091514

War is hell in the new 'Mockingjay' trailer

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/09/15/jennifer-lawrence-new-mockingjay-trailer/

Text-to-text
In this article about the upcoming movie, Mockingjay, the trailer gives you the overview of what you can expect when the film is released in early November. This obviously related to the books I've read in the series of The Hunger Games, and painted a clear picture in my mind. This article also reminded me about all the times I've been anticipating new novels or movies to release and the excitement and impatience I feel.

Text-to-world
The article "War is hell in the new 'Mockingjay' trailer" relates to society and the world today by getting people anxious for the new movie to come out. The article publicizes the trailer more so as the views raise, the movie sales hopefully will as well.

Text-to-self
As an individual, I could connect this article to other movies/trailers I've seen and experienced a sense of nostalgia, feeling the excitement of hearing about a new film. I thought the article and trailer connected to the other movies in the series and also had a similar theme to Divergent.

Blog 091214

Video and Multimedia: "#FERGUSON"

• In this video, #FERGUSON, it shows an overview and highlights key parts of petitioning for Ferguson. This multimedia resource was an inspirational and touching take to connect the viewer to the situation at hand.
• When they showed the signs saying "Hands up! Don't shoot!" I was drawn into the movement more. I agree with this argument and I also find it moving and persuasive. It gives off the message that they aren't hear for aggression, but simply to get their point across. One last part that stook out to me in the video was a young African american boy holding a cardboard sign that says "No justice no peace". It's message was good, but what mostly drew me in was the fact that a young child was outside petitioning for his rights.
• This video connects to "The Children's March" in the sense that a good amount of it has to do with children standing up and defending their rights. This video is also different to the movie "The Children's March" because it shows a wide range of ages of people petitioning. The main focus isn't youthfulness, but simply addressing the situation.
• 30 entertainment. (Aug. 14, 2014). #FERGUSON-a look at what it was like during the protests in Ferguson, Missouri. United States.

Ferguson and Schools: Why Teachers Can't Ignore Ferguson as School Begins

• In this article by the Washington Post, the author goes into detail about how school communities and teacher's can't ignore Ferguson. The author is Valerie Strauss, who also includes a segment with David B. Cohen.
• This was a powerful article to me hearing from David Cohen about his teaching experience with tragedies and discussing Ferguson with his students. I found the line saying "It's difficult to talk about for those of us who have the privileged option  to ignore race in America when we choose to." a very powerful part of the article.  He later goes into detail about how important it is to not miss important details of our country's history, such as Ferguson. David finishes his argument saying "If we ignore it, we don't equip students to deal with it any better in the present or the future."
• This article relates to "The Children's March" in many ways. Children are learning about their history and power in many ways, through information and actions.
• Strauss, V. (2014, August 22). Why teachers can’t ignore ferguson as school begins. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/08/22/why-teachers-cant-ignore-ferguson-as-school-begins/

Police Brutality: I'm black, my brother's white... and he's a cop who shot a black man on duty

• In the article "I'm black, my brother's white... and he's a cop who shot a black man on duty", written by Zach Straffored, he touches on his brother's personality. 
• This was a powerful article where the author hit the reader emotionally. When talking about feeling slightly out of place being mixed, he  says "But my brother, Mitch, didn't. He loved me unapologetically. He loved my loudly.". This is one of his many proofs of evidence for him being shocked to learn about his brother's racist actions, saying "Mitch was supposed to be different than the rest".
• This relates to "The Grace of Silence" in the sense that shocking facts are discovered about family members.
• Kristof, N. (2014, August 30). I’m black, my brother’s white … and he’s a cop who shot a black man on duty. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-after-ferguson-race-deserves-more-attention-not-less.html?nytmobile=0&_r=1

The Black-White Divide: When Whites Just Don't Get It

• "When Whites Just Don't Get It" by Nicholas Kristof is about how racism throughout the United States deserves more attention, especially after Ferguson.
• A powerful quote I found in the article was "All these constitute not a black problem or a white problem, but an American problem." This was an interesting thought to me, and it drew me in to the text.
• This article related to "The Grace of Silence" through the way it addresses racism in a less judgmental, but more general way.
• Kristof, N. (2014, August 19). When Whites Just Don’t Get It. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-after-ferguson-race-deserves-more-attention-not-less.html?nytmobile=0&_r=1

Significance of Ferguson: America Is Not For Black People

• "America Is Not For Black People" by Greg Howard refers to the what seems to be never ending racist events and controversy.

Satire: How Many More Teenagers Have To Die Before Racism Just Sort Of Goes Away On It's Own?

Blog 090414

• Body Issues Through Social Media
• Social media affects how many teens look at themselves when comparing their bodies to celebrities and other athletes figures. It's also proven with many apps and tools to make yourself appear thinner and diminish your imperfections. It gives society the idea that having a perfect body is a must have.
• http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=S534283-0-2427&artno=0000365023&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Body%20image&title=Want%20the%20Perfect%20Selfie%3F%20There%27s%20an%20App%20for%20That&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N
• Social Media Trending Unrealistic Body Characteristics
• Through social media, teens are given unrealistic goals for their bodies. Many trends arose through social media, such as a "thigh-gap".
• http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=S534283-0-2427&artno=0000363893&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Anorexia%20nervosa&title=Fueled%20by%20Social%20Media%2C%20%27Thigh%20Gap%27%20Focus%20Can%20Lure%20Young%20Women%2E%2E%2E&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N
• Companies and Societies Picture of The Women
• Through advertisements, corporations, and magazines, girls are fed the idea that their bodies have to be perfection. Unrealistic and extreme weight loss are a result of this.
• http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=S534283-0-2427&artno=0000357843&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Anorexia%20nervosa&title=Former%20Model%3A%20%27What%20Young%20Girls%20Can%20Learn%20from%20My%20Anorexia%27&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N
• Society Teaching Women To Go To Great Lengths For The Perfect Body
• Women have been brainwashed by social media, magazines, and companies with the idea that having visible collarbones and thigh gaps is normal and expected of them. This teaches them to think having an eating disorder is okay and 100% healthy.
• http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=S534283-0-2427&artno=0000361530&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Bulimia&title=%27Anorexia%20Is%20a%20Lifestyle%2C%20Not%20a%20Disease%27&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N
• Society's Expectations for the Average Woman
• Through social media and magazines, people have been taught to strive for thin thighs and visible rib cages. In fact, it's not difficult to find groups of people supporting unhealthy eating habits such as anorexia or bulimia.
• http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=S534283-0-2427&artno=0000353922&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Bulimia&title=Being%20Too%20Thin%20Has%20Consequences&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N

Blog Assignment 082914

Created with Padlet

Blog 082714

Chapters 1 and 2

     Chapter one of The Grace of Silence focuses on Michele's father, who suffered an illness that affected his speech. When she and her father were on a flight, two white women overheard him attempting to talk to Michele, and his words were slurred. They made a comment inferring he was drunk, he tried to make subtle gestures to get them to notice he was ill, not drunk, but the comment still hurt him. This chapter was heartbreaking to hear about, and shows how quick people are to pass judgement on someone based off their race. In chapter two of The Grace of Silence, the author Michele Norris talks about some experiences growing up in Minnesota. At first, she talks about shoveling in the morning after a snowy night and hearing the sounds "Thwack, swoosh, thud!" (11)  as the driveway is being shoveled. Her father would wake up early in the morning to ensure the driveway and sidewalk were shoveled perfectly for their neighbors. She also recalls her parents difficult journey attempting to buy a house in Minneapolis. Although it has a reputation of being a racially tolerant city, it seemed as though realtors had no interest in helping to find them a home. Once they found their home, the home owners and neighbors were uncomfortable with an African American family living in the neighborhood. Houses went up for sale within a few days, including one sign saying "BEWARE. NEGRO NEIGHBORS" (17). Michele's mother was tough and never let the cold welcome affect her, in fact, she made it very clear every time a perspective home buyer would come by that they were a black family. Later in the chapter, a story is told about when her mother finds an intruder in their home. She doesn't run from him or call the cops, but instead chased him away until he got in his car. This is a crucial chapter in the book, where you learn a lot about her neighborhood and mother's reactions towards the neighbors racism.
    In the chapter "Daddy", Michele explains a lot about her father's kind personality and illness. The chapter "Block Busters" teaches the reader a lot about what Michele's family experienced, especially her mother. After the reader completes both these chapters, they know a lot more about her mother and father's personalites and outlook on racism throughout their community. There were some chapters in The Grace of Silence that I thought were pointless to the book, but I consider these two very important chaptesr. My favorite part was when the author told a story about the intruder in her home. When her mother chased the intruder out of the home it showed her fearlessness and tough persona.