BLOG REFLECTION

     I feel that this blogging experience has taught me to pay more attention to relationships and making further question about certain things in the book more. I start thinking deeply about the book. More than I did before. I feel blogging has opened my mind to understand the book in a better way. Writing online is different than writing in a notebook. One way is that when you write in your notebook you can express your thoughts more freely because it's in your personal journal. On a blog you are expressing your thought to everyone who can read your blog. Another way is that on a blog your ideas have to be organized and thought out rather than your journal where you can have parts everywhere.
     I agree that sometimes people do create online personalities. When your online you can be whatever you can. Unless someone knows you personally you can pretend to be anyone you want. So some people project the best of themselves or their fake selves because they have the opportunity. People do abuse sites like Facebook. Only some people. People type things that they would never say to your face. People type it because the worse respond they can get is an angry comment in caps. When you say something hurtful to someone's face you get a reaction and depending on how hurtful physical confrontation. This is in the middle of good and bad. Sites like Facebook and Instagram allows people to interact and share news, make new friends and share experiences. Of course this comes with the downfall of cyber bullying.
     This was actually my second blog. I made a blog in seventh grade for ELA. I guess I can imagine myself keeping another blog. It would be about random things honestly. I feel blogs are ways to share information and express your thoughts.

V for Vendetta Philosophy Blog post

     The graphic novel V for Vendetta by Alan Moore is filled with big philosophical questions. The story is about a man by who goes by an alias of V. It's also about a woman by the name of Evey who V takes in and helps her understand the world they live in. In the novel V goes around spreading his own justice and basically giving people hope by publicly fighting for freedom. This is where the philosophical questions come from.
     One philosophical question was is vigilantism okay? V is a straight on vigilante. He serves own justice on people who did bad things to him in the past. For example he murdered a priest. Right before he murdered the priest, the priest was about to rape a young girl. The priest later after his death was found in possession of child pornography. Luckily V saved the girl. Was this right? That was the big question. V without hesitating brought his own form of justice by killing the priest. That proves V is a vigilante. I personally believe that vigilantism is okay to a certain extent. I believe if your a vigilante that you should set your rules about your own justice. I don't agree with V's actions on always killing the bad people. I believe a vigilante should bring someone to justice without stooping to their level of "badness". For example, this might sound childish, but Spiderman is the perfect example. This fictional superhero fights crime and isn't apart of the police. He is a vigilante and he choses not to kill people. Instead he exposes crime and brings them to prison where he thinks they should be in. He doesn't want to stoop down to their level which is why I believe that vigilantism is okay as long as your justice isn't out of revenge, and as long as we set rules for our own form of justice.
     Another question in this book was whether we should act upon revenge. I believe that most of V's actions that he made and that the reason he became a vigilante was because he wanted revenge. Revenge is a powerful thing that can ruin even the most sweetest of people. All the deaths that V caused, I believe were out of revenge for what they did to his mind and what they made him suffer. V is a prime example on why we shouldn't act upon getting revenge. Revenge is bad. getting back at a person makes you the same jerk that your mad at. if V didn't revenge maybe his actions would have been different. He certainly wouldn't have killed all those people. He might have even become a greater "hero" by not acting like a villain. Revenge blinds us, and as a result our actions aren't clear. We end up regretting what we did later.
     In conclusion, vigilantism is okay and we should never act upon revenge or to get revenge. Vigilantism should be controlled to a certain extent so that your justice is ethical. Also revenge is a horrible things that blurs your morals and what you believe in.

BLOG

     The book Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pies by Jordan Sonnenblick was fun to read.It's protagonist was Steven Alper. Steven is just a ordaniary eigth grader who is a bit nerdy. He likes the to plsy the drums and also likes a girl named Renae Albert. The one thing he doesn't like so much is his brother Jeffrey. All of this changes because Jeffrey is found to have leaukimia. He goes through many different situations regarding his brother. This is why I think that Steven matured throughout the book.

        In the book, one of the problems was when Steven's family were having money problems. Jeffrey's treatment and hospital bills were racking up a lot of money. Steven wanted too help his family really bad. So that Saturday he went to his druming teacher and told him that he had to quit cause he could'nt spend that money anymore. Giving up something you really desire shows a lot of maturity.

         Another example in the book is when Renae Albert came to tutor Steven. Steven was falling behinfd in math and needed a math tutor. So Renae went to help. But when she came to Steven's house she was sick. Now when you have leaukimia you have a really weak imune system. SO you can't afford being sick. So what Steven did to save his brother is that he said Renae couldn't enter. Steven has liked that irl forever and he had to kick her out to protect Jeffrey. That's pretty mature.

        Finally the last example is at Steven's big concert. Steven had a huge drum solo and he had been practicing for it for a long time. He was going to be the star. He was going to have fame. All he needed to do was to go out there and do what he does best which is playing the drums. But sadly Jeffrey had a fever right before his performance. Steven could've stayed and played. But he decided to go calm his brother and acompany him to the hostpital thus missing his performance. That was really showing maturity.

             All in all Steven's actions showed lots of maturity. He sacrificed many important things for his brother. The book was overall outstanding.

Tweak

      In the book TWEAK the main character Nic is changing. From what I have read so far he has gotten back with a former lover Zelda, and has been continuing to trust God with his addiction and stuff. I truly believe that Nic is changing. I actually think that he is comitted for real to become sober again. I think so because he has been faced wih many oppurtunities but still doesn't turn in and he has a better connection with family that he doesn't want to hurt again. Nic Sheff has gone through hell with his addiction, and I think he wants and needs a change in his life.

       I honestly believe that Nic can become Sober again because he has overcome temptation to do drugs. For example he was dog-sitting foir his mother. He was faced with stealing money and buying crystal meth. But he refraimed and didn't do it. I think that proves that he wants a better life. In the past he would've taken the money and he would've ran off to buys drugs. But he has more self control now. He clearly isn't thinking the same way as he was before. 

      Also he's going to stay sober because he really has good connection with his family and he doesn't want to ruin it. When Nic went on vacation with his step-mom and father he played with their kids. He felt that he couldn't hurt his family anymore. He saw that he was getting reconnected with his family and that he couldn't turn his back on them again.  That's why I think he's going to stay sober. He now has a newly acquired willpower that will aid him in his new life.

                       All in all Nic is going to stay sober. He is because he faced challenges and overcame them and he loves his family too much to hurt them again. He isn't going fall back into what he was before. Hopefully he has the strength to overcome his struggles.

Non fiction Critical Analysis

      In the very interesting article "Bagging Plastic" by Veronica Majerol the issue is about plastic bags. Their has been a long debate about whether we should continue using plastic bags. Marine biologists and environmentalists all agree that plastic bags are damaging the environment. The main idea of this whole article is whether or not plastic bags should be banned. Some people say yes, others say no for different reasons. The details that Majerol put inside the article helped me understand the main idea more. For example "The idea that we grab for a plastic bag in a grocery store has become a part of our culture" this quote got me thinking about our culture, and how this is true. The stores that I go to always give me a plastic bag, and I have gotten so used to that idea that I wait for the person to hand me my plastic bag. Also when she Majerol mentions that we use about 100 billion plastic bags a year and generate about 32 million tons of plastic waste. This got me thinking about how this is a huge problem. This made me understand why the debate is taking place in the first place, and that's because of all this plastic we are generating. Finally when Majerol mentions that plastic manufacturing uses millions of barrels of oil a year. Which helps me understand the environmentalists point of view more. Our natural resources are getting drained. These details make me see the importance of this issue.
      Majerol wants us to think about how plastic bags are affecting the environment. She wants us to feel bad about the effect of these everyday bags. The author achieves this by interviewing lots of people that are for and against the idea of the ban. "The bans, she says, are about trying to reduce pollution little by little" from a high school junior Zola. This made me feel that this ban will do good. Pollution is an ongoing problem that affects everyone living on this earth. Also Majerol adds lots of facts about how much waste we produce and how much waste travels into the water and affects the marine life. Marine life are extremely affected by plastic bags. Some mistake these bags for food so they eat it and their stomach can't digest it.
      I think that we should we should regulate the number of bags or give a choice of buying cheap reusable bags. I understand both sides of the argument. Many jobs will be lost if we get rid of plastic bags. But on the other hand we save marine life and the earth. I'm in the middle of the argument or undecided.

Romeo and Juliet Literary Essay

      In the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet both of these lovers are the main characters. the story itself is a romantic tragedy that shows that sometimes you don't get that romantic happy ending. This story has a various amount of themes. Such as fate, young love, suicide and death. But there are two themes that stand out the most. These themes are rivalry and deception. These themes are relevant because each theme plays a vital role in many scenes and together these themes are the reason this story is a tragedy. Individually these themes are important and together they are the reason the story is what it is.
      Rivalry is an extremely important theme in Romeo and Juliet. It's how the problems begin. In the prologue 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. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes" Shakespeare is saying that this "ancient grudge" that these to families have will cause tragedies. So Shakespeare is basically telling us that because of the rivalry bad things are going to happen. We know that the bad things will be the death of Romeo and Juliet. This theme is so important that Shakespeare even points it out in the prologue, before we even begin the play. Rivalry is an important theme because it builds into big issues. For example with Tybalt. Tybalt starts off with a strong hate towards the Montagues. When he finds out Romeo is at the Capulet party he freaks out. He says Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe, A villain that is hither come in spite, To scorn at our solemnity this night. (1.5.69-71) This quote says that he can't stand having a Montague near him, and that the only reason he is their is to mock their family honnor and pride. This leads to Tybalt getting angry and next going to confront Romeo. Romeo refuses to fight so Mercutio fights and Tybalt kills Mercutio. Then Romeo kills Tybalt. All of this sparked because of the family Rivalry. It's an eye for an eye situation. If both of these families didn't have this rivalry then Romeo and Juliet would end up in a happy way. But because of Rivalry it doesn't. 
      Deception is also an important theme in the play. Deception is shown primarily in two events. The first is when Juliet decides to deceive everybody by making a plan to drink the poison and pretend that she is dead. After the argument with her father about marrying Paris Juliet decides to trick them so she goes along with marrying Paris. "I met the youthful lord at Lawrence's cell  And gave him what becomed love I might, Not stepping o'er the bounds of modesty. (4.2.27-29) This quote shows how Juliet tricks her father by pretending to go along with the marriage, but really she is planning to fake her death. Another part where there is deception is when Romeo is about to kill himself. " Here's to my love! [Drinks.] O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. thus with a kiss I die. (5.3.122-123) Juliet's deception led her lover Romeo to kill himself with these final words. 
      These two themes together are the reason why the story is what it is. A tragedy. Rivalry between the families caused important deaths. Mercutio, Tybalt and Prince dies because of this. Both Romeo and Juliet died because of deception. " Yea, noise? then I'll be brief. O happy dagger! This is thy sheath; there rest and let me die." Rivalry led Juliet to have to fake her own death. So then she deceived everyone and made Romeo believe she was dead. But Romeo couldn't live with that so he killed himself. Which led Juliet to kill herself. If there wasn't any deception Romeo and Juliet would still be alive. If there was no family Rivalry then both lovers could get married and live happily.
      All in all, Romeo and Juliet has many themes. Two of the most important themes are rivalry and deception. These two themes individually are important and together the mold the story and make it what it is. If it weren' for these two themes the most famous love story would end in a more happy, and romantic way. But since these two themes were involved they ended up in a sad tragedy.

BLOG POST. RELATIONSHIPS

            In Paul Volponni's Hurricane Song the main character is Miles. Miles is a football loving teenager living in New Orleans. He lives with his father and and his uncle. Everyone is chosing to evacute New Orleans in fear of Hurricane Katrina. Miles and his family chose to evacuate out of the city put then evacuates to the Superdome. Throughtout their horrible time at the Superdome  the relationship between Pops and Miles grew. This led me to believe that relationships grow stronger through hardships.

             The relationship between Miles and Pops grew. For example in the beggining Miles thought that all Pops cared about was his music. Pops would be obsessed with his night club and playing music. music was basically his life. But while in the Superdome Pops proved otherwise. Specifically while a gang started a fire and Pops franctically grabbed Miles and his horn. Usaully when there is a fire you grab the most important things. So this symbolized that Miles was important to pops and pops was starting show it more. Miles finally felt that he mattered to his father. Another example is when Miles distracted the officers so Pops could jump then Miles himself jumped to go with Pops. This showed that Mils loved his father that he would go and follow him and make him happy. He was willing to pay the consequences with the cops for his father. Another example, would be when they find the club his father loved all destroyed by the storm. Miles feels horrible. Even if that club and that music that Miles hated because it took Pops away. He knew that this made his father happy and that he should except that.  The final example would be when Miles is wrestling a thug and Pops uses and breaks his horn saving Miles. Miles now knew that his father truly loved him and Pops showed that love to Miles.

              This connects with teenagers because a lot of them feel like they are against the world. More against their parents. They feel neglected and feel that no one loves them. Just like Miles. This connects to parents aswell because they might not know that they are not showing their child love or that their child is lonely. All in all, relationships grow in hard times. Relations get tested and the true ones prevail.