Reading Response

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?

           In the "Vampire Academy" Rose has to protect Lissa from the Strigoi which are also the most fiercest vampires. After two years that Rose and Lissa had escaped from the academy they have been found and are brought back. St.Vladimir's academy is a school for vampire royalty and their future gaurdians. Rose gets punished for taking away Lissa. This is because Lissa is a Moroi and Rose is a Dhampir.
    
          This text deals with groups because the vampires are in two froups. There are Moroi and Dhampir Moroi are mortal vampire. Rose is a Dhampir she is half vampire and half human. Thats means that Rose's job is to become a gaurdian that is to protect a Moroi. Rose takes care of Lissa because she is Lissa's gaurdian.  Rose herself gets in trouble quite often. She is the not so good student of the school. The way that the text is dealing with these two groups is that one is more valuable. The Moroi are royals so they are the ones thats get protected by the Dhampirs.
     
          The people from the book dont act alone or in competition. They work together and help eachother out. For example the Dhampirs protect the Moroi this is because the Strigoi had been decreasing the Moroi population. The Dhampirs protect the Moroi from any danger or threat that could be caused by the Strgoi towards them. Also when Dhampirs are training to learn how to fight and protect they help eachother practice. They help eachother out on their exercises. So the  book is basically helping us imagine people working together. 

      The book has its two groups that are different. Put aside their differences and they are a loving and caring community. They help eachother out, and keep eacjother away from danger. This is like in real life since people in communities/neighborhoods help eachother out. Like from the book they put aside their race, color, social status and help eachother. 

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Reading Response- Social Awareness

How does this book help you to think about social issues you care about or causes you are committed to?

               The book "Time of the Witches" helps me think about how there are many orphans in the world. The main character Drucilla  along with her best friend Gabe grew up together. When Dru was born her mother died, and a few years later her father died also. Dru and Gabe were raised by Gabe's parents until they were around four, and Gabe's parents died during a smallpox epidemic.Both children were left orphaned and they were taken care of by people in the village that offered to take care of them. 
    
             The book makes me think about the many children that are left orphaned at a young age. Dru was raised by Gabe's parents. After that they were just raised by neighbors who offered to take care of them. This connects to real life because children are left orphaned and sometimes family members or neighbors take care of these children.Eventually in the book Dru, and Gabe get separated. The townspeople have a meeting to decide where Dru and Gabe will go since the family they were living with were going to move away somewhere else and didn't want to take take them too. They both are sent for by different people and they end up having to go work for different people.

        This book relates to social issues I care about because I think that it is unfair that some children are left orphaned. Even though its not really their choice to end up like that.Also because I think that its unfair how the townspeople in the book decide where they can stay.In real life its alike because if there are not family members that can take care of them or that can, but don't want to then the children get sent elsewhere to an orphanage.The book gives a detailed explanation of what Dru had to go through growing up and living with different people. For example when she had lived with a famliy that had some children and their house aught on fire while they were inside. After that Dru and Gabe had gone to live with an elder woman, and after a few years of living with her and being taught by her she suddenly died. 

      The book relates to the life an orphaned child can have. . Also that the fate that the child could be destined to might be decided by others. It made me think more about what other children go through.I realized how many children could be leading a life that is very hard for them. Another thing is that I was able to see what the life of a child that was left orphaned at a young age would be like. Along with all the other obstacles that the child could be facing. 

Social Awareness Writing Project

            

            


SOCIAL AWARENESS WRITING PROJECT

1)

( write a reading response on a social issue in a literary work)

Poem: And What About Freedom?

By:RIC S. BASTASA

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/and-what-about-freedom/

       The issue that this poem "And What About Freedom?" is focusing on is freedom. Throughout the poem the poet mentions things that he has in mind of being free from. The idea of freedom is given loosely. Its not introduced as in how in genernal people use it. Often people discuss freedom as in rights they should get or they have. The poet is talking about being free of things. He talks about freedom from Freedom itself. The way that the poet talks about freedom is an social issue because other people also have their own ideas of what freedom is. They either use freedom as want they want to feel free or they talk about freedom as what to be free of. Yet both of these definitions are the same. This is because to some people want they want to be free of is the freedom they want and are struggling for.

      

      The poet Ric S. Bastasa starts off his poem in an interesting way, he says

  "sad indeed, there are other freedoms still". What i think that he was trying to say was about the freedoms we don't pay much attention to. Since we mostly focus on the freedoms being talked of in our society. "Freedom from long bored, to death, freedom from having nothing, to say and comment, freedom from this feeling of emptiness, this bigotry". This text from the poem makes me wonder how many other people are going through the same feeling. This makes me think about how some poeple want to be free of these feelings that make them miserable. The second text from the poem connects to the first in a sense that the first starts with 'sad indeed". I feel that the poet is talking about the freedoms from sadness that poeple are struggling for. 

         The overall message that the poet is tryingto send out is that there are many types of freedoms, and everyone is struggling for their own type of freedom.This is because he discusses manythings that poeple could want to be free from. He doesnt only mention freedoms that are global and in general. The author uses personal freedoms that someone might want. To different people the freedom they want is personal or has been influenced by society. Society has influenced many people in their idea of freedom. It also may have influenced them in their goals of freedom they want to achieve.




2)(Write an Original Literary Piece Responding to a Specific Social Problem/Issue)
(Used notes from class on society)


In My Own Perfect Society

In my own society,

In my own perfect society,

Only I influence my identity,

I set my own standards,

I am not influenced by what i see,

By what I hear or watch others do.


But in the real society,

In my real life society,

The people that surround me,

The people like Government, Family, & Friends,

They influence who I am,

They influence my identity,

They set their standards for me,

Unlike,

In My Own Perfect Society



      In my process for writing this poem I thought back to what had been discussed in class. It made me think about how many people are influenced by the society that they live in & surrounds them. The issue I was talking about was how society has a strong influence over many people.I used the definitions of society that were being discussed in class. I thought of the influence of society on people as important because its something thats happening evrywhere.It can be happening in either good or bad ways. The influence could be helping some people while destroying others or bringing them down. 


3)(observe your surroundings)

   list:
    ~violence
    ~censorship
    ~bullying 
    ~gang fights 
    ~racism

  Censorship is both unfair and/or not right in some way. This is because what a person may say, hear, or write is subject to control by another. So that takes away the chance of the other person from seeing something else other than what they alreday know.Censorship takes away many opportunities from people. This is because they base things on only what they have been allowed to say, hear, or do. Censorship is wrong because someone else is controlling and limiting what a person is able to see, hear. 
  
  The use of censorship cann effect the way a person acts toward others. It can cause people to make unfair decisions. This is because they have only been allowed to see & hear from one side of the story. The person is being limited to only ceratin things that they have been allowed to see &hear.Censorship is unfair because a person should be able to chose what they want to see and hear. They shouldnt be limited to just what one person allows them to see. 
   
   Some possible solutions to end Censorship would be to try and make the other person understand the wrong being done. If a person/ young adult is being censored they should try to stop that from happening. For example if a parent is Censoring their child to what things they can learn about they should try to think about how it would benefit the child. People who have been censored could try and help fine more ways to end Censorship.

reading response

The book “What My Mother Doesn't Know” by Sonya Sones is about a girl named Sophie. The book is on the times that Sophie has fallen in love. One of the guys is Dylan, who she eventually starts seeing only as a friend. Another guy Sophie met on the web. And the last boy that Sophie falls in love with is Murphy a guy who she least expected to fall in love with. Throughout the rest of the book she tries to find a way to tell her friends who the guy she has fallen in love with really is. I think that this book relates to the quote “never judge a book by its cover”

One way that the quote relates is that Sophie didn't really know Murphy. She sometimes felt bad and went to be his partner. For example when they were in art class she went to be his partner for the assignment on drawing your partner. Later on in the book she looks back at that drawing and notices how handsome Murphy really is. When before her and her friends didn't really think much of Murphy. When she starts to fall in love with him she sees how different she is from what she thought he was like.

Another way that the book relates to the quote is that Sophie didn't expect to fall in love with a guy like Murphy. Sophie was more into guys that seemed attractive to most girls and that were outgoing and popular. She used to think that Murphy was not like that. As she got to know him better she noticed that really there was no difference. She had had as much fun as she would have with a popular guy or even more. Like the quote she didn't really judge Murphy from the start but she didn't think that she would like him.

This book has changed my way of thinking because now I know that people aren't always how they seem. And that based on how one group of people acts you can’t use that to judge others. This relates to the real world because in many places people are judged for something they’re not. And like in the book they eventually get recognized for who they truly are.  

Hurricane Sandy: After a Devastation, a Daunting Recovery

The article “After the Devastation a Daunting Recovery” informs the reader on the impacts of hurricane Sandy. The article also mentions how afterwards people are trying to recover from this. Hurricane Sandy impacted the lives of many people. Some people lost their lives during the hurricane, others lost their homes. Many other people had to leave their communities in order to be safe. Many communities are now trying to recover, with the help and support from the president, and the mayor. The impact of the hurricane was harsh but people are starting to slowly recover.

The hurricane changed many people’s lives. Some people lost their lives during this hurricane.  “Accidents claimed more than 40 lives in the united states and Canada, including 22 in the city.” This is informing us on how many people lost their lives by some of the accidents caused by the hurricane. Many of these accidents such as trees falling or flooding  either hurt or killed people. This makes me feel upset at how many people must now be going through hard times of having lost their friends and family.

Even though some people have started to recover, they still have much work to do. “This is going to take some time”, he said. “ It is not going to be easy for these communities to recover.”  This excerpt is informing people on hard it will be to recover from the hurricane.  It is informing us that even though communities are starting to recover from the impact of the hurricane they still are going to need even more time to fully recover. This makes me feel hopeful that communities have already started to recover from the hurricane.

To recover from the damages caused these states will need a lot of money. “ There was no immediate estimate of the losses from the storm, but the scope of the damage- covering more than half-dozen states- pointed to billions of dollars.” This is informing us that the cost to fix everything is a lot. Even without knowing exactly how much the recovery will cost the government has already estimated that it will cost billions of dollars. This makes me wonder if all the damages and repairs will soon be taken care of at this cost. This could possibly take a while to fully recover from.

After reading this article I have come to understand how difficult it has been for others in the past few days. How some people got hurt really badly by the hurricane.  It has changed my way of thinking because I knew people were suffering but not that it was that badly. Also having to see what others are now going through. I already knew about a couple of tragic stories but this article added more to the list. This differs from other places because some people don’t have to struggle as much to get everything they lost back. Also because not everyone got hit at the same level of impact by hurricane Sandy. This article makes me wonder if this situation will have a greater impact on us in the future.  

revised reading response

The book “A long Walk to Water” is a story about two young children from, two different time periods in hope of finding the future that they have long hoped for. One of the characters is Salva, he has to flee from his village where there is a war going on. Soon with no family he becomes a “lost boy” refugee.  Salva has to travel Africa by foot searching for safety and his family. On his journey, he encounters many obstacles that he learns to overcome. The second character is Nya; she has to walk to a pond to fetch water to bring back for her family. In order to do so she walks eight hours a day. Nya hopes that she will one day not have to do that anymore and be able to attend school.  In both stories water is mentioned as a need for survival. For Salva during his journey he has to look for water so he can survive and keep on going. Nya has to fetch water everyday so that her family can accomplish their their daily tasks. 

In the book for both Salva and Nya water is a very important need to survive. Salva has to keep on moving/traveling so he can find a safe place, and water so he can continue on his journey.  For example ‘” you have seen that the pond is only a puddle now. Winter is coming and the dry season……..”  “I will go to a different village near water. You cannot stay with me any longer”. The women tells Salva that soon there  will not be any water that she has to leave and find a village that does have enough water. In this sentence water is the symbol of survival. In order for Salva to continue his way to safety he will need water to keep himself going and not die of dehydration. 
 Nya has to fetch water everyday for her family. Water is the reason she has to get up early and make trips that take up almost her whole day. Her everyday routine involves fetching water so her family can survive. “To the pond and back-to the pond and back- nearly a full day of walking altogether. This was Nya’s daily routine seven months of the year”.  For Nya water can almost tell everything she does. She cannot attend school because it is far and with having to fetch water Nya does not have enough time. 

In both stories the need for water gives them hopes and ideas of how to change the place they live in. For example later on in the story Salva, after finding a new home and family, has continued with his studies and starts and organization to help people. He goes back to Sudan and he starts to build wells so that families would have water. Salva became a “lost boy” on his journey to find the better future that he hoped for. Through his journey Salva had to look for water and take from it carefully so that it, would last him for another few days on his journey. After his long journey Salva found the future he hoped for.  
In the book Nya also finds the better future that she was hoping for. Nya’s village is one of the places in Sudan where Salva goes to build a well so that people can fetch water quicker. With a new well Nya does not have to go fetch water from the pond anymore. With a new school being built nearby,Nya would be able to attend school.  In the end Nya gets the better lifestyle that she wanted.
The need for water and survival encouraged both Nya and Salva to keep on going.  That motivated them to find the better future that they were hoping for.This connects to the real world in a sense that, something an object or a dream motivates and encourages people to find that better future they hope for.  The need to find or to have that object keeps the person going. Many people in the world are in situations where they want/need to help themselves and others. They want to improve their lifestyle so they can have a better future. 

blog post #5

     
        The book If I Stay  is about a girl, Mia who is in a coma. Throughout the book as Mia is in a coma, she watches what's happening around her. She sees as her family and friends come in and out of the hospital to see how she is doing. Mia watches them suffer because of her condition. She watches them as they weep over the loos of her parents and younger brother Teddy. While Mia sees all these people she starts to think about herself. Mia starts to think about her two true loves.   
               

                 Mia's first love in the book is Music. Growing up she saw that her mom and her dad were also into music. The music they were interested in was rock, and Mia was into classical music. "Then, in third grade, I'd wandered over to the cello in music class- it looked almost human to me. It looked like if you played it, it would tell you secrets, so I started playing."  Mia is describing  why she was attracted to the cello. she describes the cello as if it were a human being. This is explaining Mia's attraction towards the cello and classical music. Because of her interest in the cello and classical music, music then became Mia's first true love.  
               
                  Later on when Mia meets Adam, he becomes her true love. Even though they are both opposite they still mange to fall in love. Mia is interested in classical music and Adam like rock music, he even is in a rock band.   " I've never  seen anyone get into music as you do. It's why I like to watch you practice." Adam is trying to say that Mia's dedication to her music was what he admired of her. He is telling her why he likes her. He says this even though he knows she plays classical music. Adam admires how she is working on her music most of the time. Later on once Mia realizes that Adam does like her she gives him a chance, and Adam becomes her true love.

              Overall, throughout the book Mia finds her two true loves. She fall in  love with the cello for its human like features. Then she falls in love with Adam for his reasons of bring with her, and not caring about her differences.