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.

It's Kind of a Funny Story- Ned Vizzini

This book "It's Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini, is about a depressed kid named Craig. Craig is struggling with school, his family life, and his social life. At school Craig cannot keep up with his grades. At home he cannot connect with his parents or be in a positive attitude. And he is not finding any happiness in his social life, even though he does have friends. Overall, Craig is just a depressed teenager who is trying to overcome his depression.

In this book, the protagonist is Craig. If you were reading this book you wouldn't immediately think that Craig is the protagonist because he is the one who is depressed, but if you look over all the facts, he really is the protagonist. He is the one who wants to not be depressed. He is the one who wants to be happy. He is the one who wants to go to the hospital and get help. I mean, sometimes he can be a little standoffish, but then he finally warms up to the situation.

The antagonist in this story isn't a person, but more of a thing. The antagonist is Craig's depression. The disease (depression) is eating away at Craig. It is stopping him from being happy. It's stopping him from being motivated to get help. It is stopping him from being social. The antagonist in this story is pretty bad, but like all, it can be eliminated with help.

It's Kind of a Funny Story- Ned Vizzini post #2

I am in the middle of this book "It's Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini. So far the depressed high school kid, Craig (the main character), has planned to commit suicide. He plans to, but he doesn't actually. He ends up calling a suicide hot line and then he admits himself to a hospital. He has just gotten to the hospital and I am at the part where he is getting a tour of it. I am really enjoying this book, but there are a few things I'm confused about.

One thing I am confused about is how the book just jumping to Craig making this quick decision to commit suicide. I mean I understand that he is depressed and everything, but I feel like there was not enough build up in the story. In the story, Craig is depressed about school and everything, but he doesn't seem to have a depression like "I want to make the decision to kill myself in five seconds". It might not be the way the story is written by the author, but it may just be reflecting the kind of depression we have today. I just might not be educate on depression enough to know why he made such a quick decision.

Another thing I am confused about is what the underlying cause to Craig's depression is. They talk a lot about it, but I have a feeling that they are not saying the real reason why he is depressed. I think that it might be that he's depressed because of something happening to him earlier in life. Craig explained that he knows the depression started when he got to high school, but maybe it was always there and that just "activated" it.

I might not know the answer to these confusions now, but maybe later in the story they will explain these things. I look forward to finishing the book.

It's Kind of a Funny Story- Ned Vizzini

        I have recently began reading the book It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini. I find the book quite interesting. It is all about this teenager Craig and the depression he is going through. I like books like these because they make me think about what it would be like if I were in the position of a depressed teenager, not that i want to be, but it is just interesting to hear about the experience. The character I would like to analyze in this post is Craig.

        Craig seems to be a nice kid, he has nice friends, he has a nice family, and he got into a nice high school, but under all that nice stuff, there is something wrong. Craig is extremely depressed. Craig, his friend Aaron's girlfriend,his doctors, and his family are the only ones that are aware of his depression. Craig seems like a person who would lead a perfectly normal social life, but he doesn't. In fact, he pretty much shuts himself off to socializing. Craig is the narrator so he doesn't just come out and say "I'm not social!", but he sure does show it. For example, his friend Aaron had a party and Craig just sat in the corner looking at records. Craig is not only shut off to socializing, but he is also shut off to other ideas than his own. For example, Nia (Aaron's girlfriend) was talking to Craig about how he should tell Aaron about his depression, but Craig was totally against the idea, and he had to come up with a million reasons why not to tell Aaron. Nia has really been the only one who has confronted him about how he puts walls up ("walls" to block off socializing and new ideas).

        I believe that if Craig did not block himself off to the world then it would help out a lot with his depression. But on the other hand the depression might be what is causing him to block himself off. In my opinion, that is what is really awful about depression. It is kind of like a cycle, you want to do good things things that will help you get out of depression but depression is holding you back from doing that.