Reading Response (3- HW #2)

     Imagine a world where the only thing you know about yourself is your first name. You wake up and you're in an elevator. You don't have any memories, but you know about how a normal life is. When you exit the elevator, there are a bunch of guys around your age (or what you think is your age) and they explain to you how their world is. No technology, no electricity, none of that stuff. There are four walls that close every night to protect you from monsters called Grievers. The monsters live in a Maze. The Maze is the only way out. You don't know who sent you there, but you know people are watching you- the Creators. This world is the exact world of The Maze Runner by James Dashner. 

     This book totally reminded me of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. In that book, the government makes 12 districts randomly choose a male and a female from their people, and the government makes them all fight to the death. The government in The Hunger Games reminds me of the Creators. They are similar in the way that they both control what's going on, and can affect peoples actions. They are different because the government in The Hunger Games just wants control. They want to show people that they can do what they want. The Creators in The Maze Runner are just doing a simple experiment. They are testing the will of the people by adding in more and more variables. Either way, both books are great. 

     

Non-fiction Reading Response (3- HW #1)

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2012/12/deadly-virus-ebola-can-spread-through-the-air-from-pigs-to-monkeys/

Part 1-Summary:

This article is called "Ebola in the Air," and it's written by Stephen Ornes. It is about how a group of Canadian scientists did an experiment that shows that the Ebola Virus can spread through the air: "Previously, researchers thought animals had to touch to pass along the virus, which has been blamed for the deaths of more than 1,500 people." (Ornes 1) In the experiment that they conducted, researchers infected six piglets with the Ebola virus. The scientists put the infected pigs in a room with four healthy monkeys that didn’t have the virus. A barrier separated the animals, so they couldn’t touch each other. After around two weeks though, all four monkeys became infected. The author shows us that there may be some proof that the Ebola virus is becoming airborne.


Part 2-Analysis:

The author wrote this article to educate people and other scientists and to warn them that Ebola might be airborne. I think this is a very important and useful piece of information to scientists! The scientists have to warn everyone and tell them that Ebola can now spread through the air, because many people can become infected. The scientists have to find a new vaccine to cure the infected people, because the virus has mutated.
One of the scientists that worked on the experiment says that it is "definitely not an efficient route of transmission" (Ornes 1). I feel like the author should've included anonymous peoples opinions on the news that Ebola might be airborne. That would've given some insight on how people will react. I like how the author kind of "dumbed the article down" enough that the average reader can understand all of the words, and can understand whats going on.


Part 3-Conclusion:

This article has made me think about what would happen if the world did get infected by a disease that went airborne. That would be so horrible! We would have to wear gas masks wherever we went. How would we purify the air and get rid of the disease? This article has made me appreciate science and all of the medicine that scientists have discovered. Without them, we would die from a tiny cold or fever.

Reading Response (2- HW #6)

So I recently re-read Catching Fire (Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins...

11. Who has "power" in this text? How does that power get shown?

     I think we can all answer that question. The government has excessive power. The government is in the Capitol. The people in the Capitol are so snobby and ignorant that they don't care that the people in the other 12 districts are swimming in poverty and on the brink of starvation. The government also makes the districts randomly choose a male and a female from their people, and the government makes them all fight to the death. The government does this to remind the districts of how weak they are. During the games, the government controls anything and everything that happens in the arena. They can make people explode, make forest fires, send attack dogs, anything.
    Another thing that shows the governments power is that when someone becomes a traitor (tries to rebel), they cut their tongue out and make them into a servant. They want to control everyone, and someone doing something wrong is the perfect excuse for them to experiment the limits of their control.

Reading Response- Critical Thinking (2- HW #5)

6. How does money figure in this text?

     I am reading First Light by Rebecca Stead. It is about a boy, Peter, who's dad studies global warming. A man donates a lot of money to the science network where Peter's dad goes for him to do a hands on study about global warming and glaciers. This money sends Peter and his mom and dad to Greenland to stay there for a month and study. While they're away in Greenland, they have a ton of adventures, I think, anyways. I'm only about 20 pages in. The whole reason while they're going to Greenland in the first place is because of money!

Social Awareness Reading Response (2- HW #4)

5. How does this text deal with individuals and groups? Are the people acting alone and in competition with one another, or does the text help us imagine people working together?

I am only around 20 pages into my new book, Divergent by Veronica Roth, but I can answer this question. In the book, the world is consisted of Factions. These factions are how (and where) you will live for the rest of your life. This Faction is also how you act. 

There are 5 Factions:

DAUNTLESS: fearless
ABNEGATION: selfless
ERUDITE: knowledgeable
CANDOR: truthful
AMITY: friendly/peaceful

There is also a rare case:

DIVERGENT: different

     This grouping kind of reminds me of the Upper class, Middle class, and Lower class. It is similar because they are groups, and it sort of determines how you are living- poor, rich, or average. These groups also kind of remind me of school, how there are certain "cliques," and certain people who always hang out with each other. 
     I don't know yet if these groups work together in the book, because I'm not that far into it to know if they do. I do know that these groups are the society, and that they are allowed to have contact with each other.

Social Awareness Writing Project- Assignment 2 (2- HW #3)

2. Observe your surroundings (school, home, neighborhood, media).

List

• Garbage in the streets (litter)
• Homeless People
• People being excluded from groups/activities
• People being made fun of

Response
Sometimes, people aren’t invited to some events, and some aren’t called over to talk. Some of those people are even bullied, too. They can be picked on and called names. Pushed around and hurt. That’s not really fair. Those people may even cry, or feel depressed. That can lead to fights, name-calling, or even suicide.
One possible solution for someone who is being bullied or excluded from things is that they can get help from a teacher or counselor. If you are being hurt in any way, tell someone. Stand up for yourself. Don’t let anyone take advantage of you like that. Another possible solution, is to make friends. Find someone else like you, who feels left out sometimes.

Social Awareness Writing Project- Assignment 4 (2- HW #2)

4. Write a reading response on a social issue in a literary work. (Your IRB, short story, essay, poem/song.)

I wrote about global warming. I was reading the newspaper, and there was an issue about who can do better on protecting the environment. This is my side of the argument.
 
Global warming. Two words that we hear all the time- it's everywhere. Most of the time, we just wave it away like it's nothing. Now, it's starting to creep back up on us, because it's getting real. There is always some person saying, "Oh, global warming is hurting the Earth," etc. etc. We are only realizing now that this is unfortunately true. We recently had a huge hurricane, named Hurricane Sandy. She was a category 1 hurricane. It was also a full moon, which meant there were going to be high tides. The water levels were raised, and then the hurricane was bringing in more water. There were many floods, and houses were destroyed. There were also black outs, and some people died.

    This hurricane had to do with global warming, which is a constant problem going on with the Earth. It is the constant warming of the Earth’s average temperature, which can destroy many habitats of animals that survive in the cold. Global warming is caused by many factors. One of them, is carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, such as coal or gasoline. Can our next President help to prevent more disasters caused by global warming? Obama is trying to help prevent global warming by funding research for renewable energy. He invested 150 billion in clean-energy research and development. Mitt Romney, Obama’s opponent in the Presidential campaign, is also trying to help with global warming. He said that he would try to put a tax on fossil fuel pollution. That way, if you pollute, you would get taxed. He changed sides on his view though, so now he believes that “we don’t know what is causing global warming.” That can be bad then, if he becomes President, because he won’t know the problem, so he won’t find a solution. He also hasn’t acted on his plans yet. He hasn't been very explanatory on his plan, and what he will do to stop global warming, he only brushed on it.

    So, now you’ve seen both sides of the argument. Which President do you think can do the best on protecting the environment? Oh, you want to ask me?  Well, I think that both candidates have done something good, and something bad for the environment. I think that President Obama can protect the environment better, because he is funding and creating ideas to help the planet. Mitt Romney only wants to tax the people, which would more likely create damage, such as riots, instead of doing good. What do you think?