My Final Blogpost

          After creating this blog over the year, I have realized that I focus a lot of my reading on analyzing the characters. I gathered this because a lot of my posts are about characters and what I think of them. I think one way I benefitted from blogging as a reader is that I got to dive deeper into the book, it made it more interesting to read. If I did a post about the theme or characters, it would get me more interested in the book. This happened because I asked a lot of questions in my posts as I would try to find the answers in my next reading.

          I think that writing in a notebook is way different than writing online. They are different because your notebook is more private than online, more secure. I prefer to write online because I like typing and I feel like I write more when I'm typing. Writing online can be liberating because you can feel like you have "contributed" to the world with your thoughts. It's limiting though, because maybe some people don't want to put all of their thought out on the Internet, but it makes no difference to me. I think that some people actually are themselves online. They actually want to show who they are on the Internet, I think the people who do this are pretty self confident. Others, who create different personalities online, are just hiding themselves, most likely because they have insecurities. A lot of people might abuse the freedom of being online, but I don't think that is only because of sites like Facebook. People will probably want to say things anywhere online that are cruel, or that they just don't want to say to a persons face. I believe that this is actually an okay thing because I feel like people can get hurt more when things are told to there face. I don't support bullying either way, but online might be safer because it takes away the chance of physical harm. 

          Personally, I don't really want to keep up this blog or start a new one. Honestly, I enjoy just reading alone and reflecting in my mind, instead of writing it all down. My opinion of blogs overall is that they can only be really interesting if the blogger is interested in blogging. 

Burned post #3 Ellen Hopkins

          The book Burned by Ellen Hopkins is about this girl Pattyn who is in a abusive, Mormon household. Her father is a drunk and slightly abusive as well. Her mother is a very cowardess women who never stands up to her husband. Her mother also restricts Pattyn from socializing like a normal teenager would. Through out the book the way that Pattyn challenges her freedom causes conflict. This book is a good example of how freedom is "abused" then taken away.

          In the book Pattyn's parents teach her to "play everything safe" and to always be interested in all things Mormon. All things Mormon, such as boys. Pattyn abuses the freedoms (which are not many) tht her parents give her and starts a relationship with a boy who is not at all Mormon. Her father then finds out about their relationship and all of the "unmormon" acts they have been committing. Then her dad forbids her to see this boy and even leave the house to socialize. This is the point where Pattyn's freedoms are taken away. 

          I thought it was interesting how a theme of freedom was present in this book because we are learning about it in class. In class we are talking about freedom in a philosophical way, I wonder if the author was also questioning freedom when she was writing this book? I think that a lot of books have an underlying theme of freedom and it can probably cause controversy about what freedom really means. This book has allowed me to think about what the definition of freedom is, and how it can be taken away.

            

Romeo and Juliet: The Conflict of Love - Essay

            Love always seems to be a huge conflict in love stories. It is never easy. There might be the “perfect” love in a romantic movie or book, but it is never smooth sailing. There is always an issue. The couple fights, or there is something keeping them apart, or someone cheats, something is always conflicting in the love. Usually, the people find love, lose it (the conflict causes this), and then get back together and have a super happy ending. Although Shakespeare makes Romeo and Juliet’s love bound to end in death, he still makes the conflict of their love one of the main conflicts in the book. The biggest conflict in “Romeo and Juliet” is not only the feud between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s, but the fight for Romeo and Juliet’s love. Throughout the play Romeo and Juliet face obstacles such as family rivalries and social expectations in the fight for their love. Ultimately, they are not successful and the struggle to be together ends in death, the obstacles were simply too difficult to overcome.

            Romeo and Juliet’s fight for love is as big a conflict as the feud between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s. In the play, Romeo and Juliet’s love is very present, and so is their struggle to be together. The feud between the Montague’s and Capulet’s is also present, but not in detail, it is just the underlying cause of all the other conflicts. Also, the fight between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s is not even explained. Shakespeare does explain that they have this ancient grudge against each other, but he does not explain why they do. Shakespeare says, (prologue.5-6) “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life,” by this he means that the enemies both had children, and then they fell in love and were forced to take their lives because of their parent’s feud, this shows that their love is now a feud. Since the prologue shortly explains everything that goes on in the play, this further proves the fact that the whole play is about them falling in love, trying to make it work, and then dying. This concludes that Romeo and Juliet’s is a huge conflict in the play “Romeo and Juliet”.

            Family rivalries are one of the obstacles Romeo and Juliet face in their fight for love. Their family’s rivalry forbids their love. In (prologue.1-4) it says, “Two households, both alike in dignity (In fair Verona, where we lay our scene), from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.” Shakespeare is saying that there is this huge rivalry that makes all of the town people fight. Clearly, if these two families are such rivals then they would definitely not want their children being together. There are also other small rivalries that come between Romeo and Juliet’s love. For example the rivalry between Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, and Mercutio, Romeo’s kinsman. Tybalt ends up killing Mercutio because they hate each other so much. In (3.1.93-95), Mercutio dies and his final words are, “I am hurt. A plague o’ both your houses. I am sped. Is he gone and hath nothing?” cursing the households of the Montague’ and Capulet’s. This then causes Romeo to kill Tybalt, out of anger. When his act of crime gets him banished, he can no longer be with his love Juliet. Then Romeo and Juliet make their plan to run away together, this plan fails because of a misunderstanding. As you can see, the rivalry leads to the end of the lovers love and lives.

            Another obstacle they have to face in the fight for their love is the social expectations of both Romeo and Juliet. In the play, since Juliet is in a very high class, she is expected to marry a very high class man. Her parents set her up with the very rich Paris. She is expected to love him and marry him, but as you know, she has her love set on Romeo. In (3.5.117-120), Lady Capulet is telling Juliet about how she has to get married to Paris, “Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn the gallant, young, and noble gentleman, The County Paris, at Saint Peter’s Church shall make thee there a joyful bride.” These plans interrupt with Romeo and Juliet’s plans to run away together. Romeo also faces some social expectations. In the beginning of act 2 scene 4, Romeo’s friend Mercutio is very suspicious and angry about where Romeo has been and why he ditched them. He says “Where the devil should this Romeo be? Came he not home tonight?” (2.4.1-2) We know that he has been with Juliet though. He mainly does not tell them because he does not want it getting around town, because then they definitely will not be able to be together because of the forbiddance by their parents. From Juliet’s commitment to Paris and Romeo’s suspicious friends, their love is also stopped by social expectations.

            Romeo and Juliet’s fight for love is one of the biggest conflicts in the play. Many obstacles disrupt their love and the conflict is never really resolved. Shakespeare must have a reason for making this play have a tragic ending. I wonder if he was trying to send the message that young love does not end well, or that an ancient grudge cannot be broken unless something like this happens. Whatever he was trying to say, I wonder if he was trying to tell it to future generations? Whether he was or wasn't trying to do that, his message still lives on in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.  

May Nonfiction Post- Showing Grass-Roots Support For Immigration Overhaul

The article "Showing Grass-Roots Support For Immigration Overhaul" by Julia Preston is about the marches that were put on by the supporters of immigrant legalization. The main idea of this text was to show that there are many supporters of immigration legalization. The author shows us this by explaining the many marches that people have organized to help get immigration reform. The author says "Tens of thousands of immigrants, Latinos and other supporters of an overhaul of the immigration system turned out on Wednesday for marches," . By saying this the author is stating how wide spread the support for immigration reform is.

The author is trying to make us think about the immigration legalization. Preston uses a lot of positive facts about the marches that people take to solve this issue and how people that think the immigration laws are unfair are finally taking a stand. The author wants to make us feel like the people who are trying to make immigration laws easier are right. Although she never flat out says it, the author says a lot about how a change in these laws is better for our country.

I have always felt that immigration laws are so unfair. That they were to harsh, and that making them easier would only benefit out country. This article just really supports all my thinking on the subject. I wonder what the authors actual views are in the situation? There are many people who support this, and who don't. Now that I think of it, immigration laws are probably a big social action issue. I think I should read more about this issue to find out more about what people think about it.

Burned Ellen Hopkins post #2

This book "Burned" by Ellen Hopkins is narrated by this girl Pattyn. It is all about how Pattyn is living in a really religious household. Throughout the book Pattyn changes into a "dirtier" teenager. She becomes more attracted to guys and she begins to question religion. Although Pattyn hasn't made her whole change, she is in the beginning stages of going through a huge one.

One of the things that is changing about Pattyn is that she is now more attracted to men. She keeps saying that she is a Mormon and these things should not be on her mind, but that she can't control it. She says that she has unnatural dreams and thoughts. Another change Pattyn thinks she is going through is pulling away from her religion. Sometimes she questions if she even wants to me Mormon, but then she quickly pulls herself away from that thought.

I think that these changes are the base plot if this book. Like the whole whole book will be based off of the changes that Pattyn is going through. I wonder when Pattyn will completely change? I wonder if these changes, such as pulling away from religion and getting a boyfriend are the changes that de will end up going through. I also wonder whether Pattyn will change in any other ways.

April Non Fiction Post- Blade Runner

        This article is called "Blade Runner". I found this article in a Junior Scholastic magazine. This article is about this man, Oscar Pistorius, who had a dream of competing in the Olympic Games as a runner.Oscar Pistorius was born with out fibulas which are the bones that connect your knee to you ankle. He has relied on prosthetic legs his whole life. Oscar is from South Africa. He has competed in the Paralympic Games and won at a high level. He is trying to qualify to competed in the normal Olympics. If he does qualify he will be the first amputee to compete in the Olympics.(This article was written a year ago so Oscar Pistorius has qualified to and has  competed in the Olympics already.)

         The author of this article (name n/a) wants the readers to feel very inspired by this mans dream.This is true because the author talks a lot about the fact that this man will be the first handicapped Olympian and how great that is. The fact that this is a positive tone makes the whole story a lot more inspiring to the readers. The author of this article also wants to reach out to any readers that are in the same situation as Oscar. The author wants to tell them that anything is possible. The author does this by displaying how this amputee man goes after one of his wildest most ambitious dreams.

        Something I will take away from this article is that this man's story is very inspiring. I thought his story was inspiring because he is not only helping himself by chasing his dreams but also helping others chase their dreams by setting this example. I think that authors should write even more articles about these types of things to help inspire our generation. I really enjoyed reading this article, I suggest anybody read it if they have the chance.

Burned by Ellen Hopkins

The book "Burned" by Ellen Hopkins is about a girl, Pattyn Von Stratten. She is raised in a religious and abusive household. I have recently started reading this book so I do not know a lot about the plot. But I did start to notice the way the book is written. It is written in a kind of poem form. I think the form of the book has a great amount of effect on whole strong.

One way the form of the book affects the story is that it makes it more dramatic. Sometime only single words are written on the right margin and if you read them all together they sort if relate. Another thing about the form that affects the story is how the title of the chapter is also the first few words of that chapter. It is a great artistic choice. I thought it was a good artistic choice because it's just interesting to me how the beginning words also relate to the rest of the chapter.

I really enjoy reading this book because of the form. I think the artistic choices make it more interesting. I wonder what other authors write in this form? I look foreword to coming across other books like this one.