Blog Post

In the book I'm reading, Yes Please by Amy Poehler I learned a lot about her and saw parts of her that I hadn't seen before. Of course, she is still a hilarious and happy person and the book is funny, but there were also times in the book where she showed a more hidden side to her, or her sad experiences and memories. For example, she told a story from her childhood about when her best friend's mom died of cancer but she also told crazy, funny stories about that friend. Another example is when she talks about an SNL skit where without realizing it, she made fun of two real disabled twins. She wrote a lot about that and she felt bad about it for the rest of her life, but she also wrote about all the fun she had at SNL. Her book was a mix of sadness and happiness, which is like life, a mix of both, so I think this book showed her life in an accurate way.

Revision of “Faithful Elephants Reading Response"

Lulu Tenney 807

“Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People, and War” by Yukio Tsuchiya is about a war in Japan that forces the zookeepers at the Ueno Zoo to kill three loved elephants at the zoo: John, Tonky, and Wanly, so that if bombs were dropped on the zoo, the elephants couldn't escape and run wild and cause chaos. I believe that in this story, the cherry blossoms represent the different stages of the war and time passing. I believe the cherry blossoms are a reoccuring theme that appear throughout the different stages of war.

The cherry blossoms are mentioned for the first time in the first line, “the cherry blossoms are in full bloom at the Ueno Zoo. Their petals are falling in the soft breeze and sparkling in the sun.” This line is the start of the story, so it shows us right from the beginning, that the cherry blossoms are an important part of the story. The words "soft" and "sun" show a sense of calm and peace, and that all is well and makes me think that the war hasn't started yet. The cherry blossoms are described as being “in full bloom” which shows the start of the war because the cherry blossoms are fresh. The story is beginning, the cherry blossoms are just blooming, and the war is just about to start.

 Although the cherry blossoms aren’t specifically mentioned in the middle part of the book, another metaphor is introduced that is similar to the feeling and symbol of the cherry blossoms. It says, “Bombs were dropped on Tokyo everyday and night, like falling rain.” This comparison of bombs and rain are similar to the different comparisons to the cherry blossoms. This line shows the readers the middle of the war, or the climax of the story. This line also shows how devastating the war is and foreshadows that soon, something big will happen due to the war. It also tells the readers that many bombs were being dropped on Tokyo, and therefore, it is inevitable to escape the war, which shows that the zookeepers are going to need to kill the elephants.

The third time the cherry blossoms are mentioned, it says, “He was still patting the tombstone tenderly as the cherry blossoms fell on the grave, like snowflakes.” This is the last line, and it compares the cherry blossoms to snowflakes, which represents the end of the war and the story. Also, the snowflakes represent the death of the elephants and the mourning of the zookeepers. The snowflakes relate to winter and winter is a symbol for darkness, sadness, and death.

The first and last line of the story connect to each other. In the first line “the petals are falling in the soft breeze and sparkling in the sun” and the last line “the cherry blossoms fell on the grave, like snowflakes.” These lines show the beginning and end of the war and story. The images of cherry blossoms and rain reflect the idea of war, the passing of time, and the sadness of loss.
My original piece here! Scroll to read it

Blog Reviews

http://leilareadingblog331.blogspot.com/

One book blog post that I enjoyed was Leila's blog post on the book "Stolen" by Lucy Christopher. I have read this book, and Leila has ideas and thoughts about it that I had never considered. The book is about a girl, Gemma, who is kidnapped and brought into the middle of the desert and falls in love with her kidnapper.

I loved all of the reoccuring themes that Leila found in the book. One symbol that she found was the windows. I had never realized that it symbolized her freedom/her freedom being taken away. She used good examples from the book which showed her noticings. Another symbol she noticed in the book is the boulders. It shows how she wants to be free but cannot. It also shows how close she is to something, but it's still impossible for her to get it. Leila also says how Ty stands by the boulders a lot to taunt Gemma and show that he has the power and that he can easily take her freedom from her. These symbols make Ty seem like a bad guy, but throughout the rest of the book, he seems like a hero.

In conclusion, I thought Leila had a thoughtful response with interesting noticings and ideas.

Non-fiction critical analysis

Non-fiction Critical Analysis

I read a non-fiction article about the Eric Garner case.  Eric Garner was an overweight, black man with asthma was constantly harassed by the police for selling untaxed cigarettes. When the incident happened, Garner wasn’t being violent and told the cops to leave him alone, and one cop (Officer Pantaleo) put Garner in an illegal chokehold, and Garner died. I think that he definitely did not deserve it and there needs to be justice for him. It was a small felony and it’s horrible that they killed him without reason or trial.

I believe that if he was white, he wouldn’t had been killed. I’m not saying that all cops are racists but I think they killed him partly because they were intimidated by him because of his size, and I think his race took a part in it too. Also the choke hold that they used was illegal and was only supposed to be used as self-defense, but Garner wasn’t being violent and the cop that used it was a rookie. Also, Eric Garner had a family with a wife and 6 children and I think that it is unfair that they had to lose a loved one and that their lives will never be the same, while Pantaleo is back at work and his life won’t be affected or changed.

In conclusion, I think that the entire situation is messed up and it is a horrible case that proves that racism is still alive and well.

Book Blog Post

The book that I’m reading, Skinny, is about an obese teenager and about body image and shows the perspective of an obese teen and it puts you into her shoes. The main character, Ever, shows the struggle of being obese and she feels held back from oppurtunities because of her size. She is made fun of because of her size and she just wants to be normal. I think that all teens can relate to not feeling “perfect” or being self-conscious. I think we can all emphathize with her.

Blog post on my synthesis page

In the book I'm reading, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, the main character's Grandpa dies, and he goes to an island where his grandpa grew up to find out secrets from his past. His grandpa was always odd and told stories from his childhood that seemed too crazy to be true. The main character finds some secrets in the island that he doesn't want to be true. He wants his grandpa to had been  a good person and he wants his grandpa's stories to be true, but deep down he knows that they weren't true and that his grandpa wasn't the good guy that he thought he was. He doesn't want to admit the truth to himself because that would mean that his whole life had been a lie.

“Age Ratings” Argument Essay           

Lulu Tenney 807

Has someone ever told you that you can’t do something that you love? That’s what adults are doing by putting age ratings on books.  Adults are putting age ratings on Young Adult books, but they don’t realize by doing this, that they are taking away teenagers’ freedom, responsibility, and independence. I think that there shouldn’t be age ratings for books because students have the maturity to read what they wish, and their rights as human beings shouldn’t be taken away from them.

 Young Adult, or “YA” books save teens because it shows them that they aren’t alone, and that other people, or characters relate with what they are going through. There was a popular hashtag on twitter called #YAsaves, where teens would tweet heartfelt responses to how YA saved them in their darkest moments. Teen blogger Emma says, “good literature rips open all the private parts of us- the parts that people have deemed too dark, inappropriate, grotesque, or abnormal for teens to be feeling- and then they stitch it back together again before we can realize that they aren’t talking about us.” This shows that these books are portraying what these teens are going through so well, that teens feel like the books are talking about their own situations. In the article, “Has young adult fiction become too dark?” by Mary Elizabeth Williams, she says, “That’s why it matters; why, in the name of protecting teens, we can’t shut them off from the outlet of experiencing difficult events and feelings in the relative safety and profound comfort of literature. Darkness isn’t the enemy. But ignorance always is.”  YA is a comfort for these young readers and without them, they would be completely shut off from the sad truths of life. Adults have the right to read whatever books or movies they want, so why don’t young adults?

Teens read YA because teens need to know about what happens in the real world, and YA teaches them that. Teens don’t mind the darkness of the world or of YA books because as author of dark YA literature, Patrick Ness, says, “teens are dark.” “All you have to do is read what teens write themselves, and I’ve judged competitions for teens writing and its darkness is beyond anything I could come up with.” Teens already know about these dark truths of life, and they need to know about it in the real world and when they are grown up, so why not let YA fiction, something that they enjoy, teach them about it?

On the other hand, parents think that teens shouldn’t have access to YA books, but teens actually have access to many worse things. Patrick Ness says, “teens look at the internet, they look at the news, they look at violent movies on the internet, and they look at pornography on the internet. So if children’s literature is not addressing that, if it’s addressing the world as it should be rather than as it is, then why would a teen read you?” Teens also see and hear about sad things that happen in their day-to-day lives, so hearing about them in books isn’t any different. Teens are smart- they can find something that they want easily, and Patrick Ness says, “if it’s got an 18 certificate for adults, then younger children will look it out when their parents are not around… Children are great self-censors. They know what they can read and they know what they want to read, and if you don’t give it to them, they’ll find it somehow.” They are responsible enough to know for themselves which books are too mature for them, so if teens want a book, why can’t they get it?

Although this is a very controversial topic with good points on each side, I strongly believe that adults should give children the responsibility that they deserve and that there shouldn’t be age ratings for books. I think that adults should stop trying to promote age ratings, and start with age ratings for internet content, because right now I think that that is the bigger issue.