Final Book Response to Unwind

          The ending to Unwind made me want to cry. Well the only part was when they were unwinding Roland. The actual end made me happy. Suspense is a crazy abundance when reading this book.
        The Lit Circle Discussions helped get some more insight to the book and other peoples perspectives helped me see some parts of the book in a new way. One of the things we discussed in class was being able to unwind someone and then put them back together again like Humphrey Dunfee. It was kind of confusing when they had the story of Humphrey and Connor and Risa in the same chapter. I forgot who was who. It was kind of scary when his parents had everyone in the same room and their conversations started to converge into one and it was like Humphrey was back. We were thinking if they unwound someone would they live when they were put back together? I believe they might be able to do that but no one knows for sure besides Neal Shusterman. Another topic we had was Connor and Roland and how Roland calls Connor a killer when Connor killed people on accident. If someone is killed my accident is that person considered a murderer? Also We were debating on whether or not if Roland was in the crate with Connor if he would kill him or not. Most of us believed he would have. I also think its ironic that in his surgery Connor got Rolands arm, the same arm that was threatening to rape hi girlfriend and kill him.

Response to Unwind 2nd Paperclip

         In my first blog post about what I thought of Unwind I said that the events were unexpected and you never saw what was coming. I still definitely think that, there's a surprise every chapter.  I like how the author has separate chapters for characters that, at that moment, seem insignificant but they end up helping the main characters. There were a lot of new characters introduced in the 2nd paperclip such as Emby, Roland, Cyrus, and Tyler. I thought that Cy-Ty or whoever he was was interesting because Cyrus had to get an operation where part of Tyler's brain was put into the missing part of Cyrus' brain, after a while Tyler had started taking over Cyrus and it got out of control.
         In class we talked about when Connor punches Lev and we were discussing on whether Lev deserved it or not and I believe Lev did deserve it. Lev is always sabotaging and ruining things. For example, when Conner, Risa, Lev, and the baby are hiding in the high school bathrooms and Lev escaped and turned them in, he ruined their runaway but they got away. Also we discussed if you unwound someone would they be able to function and live because of part of Tyler's brain taking over Cyrus. I don't think this would work because its basically reanimating someone and we need NO zombies/reanimated people. Cyrus was talking to Lev and telling him that its in his nature to run from unwinding. It may or may not have gotten to Lev and convinced him to keep running from unwinding. No one really deserves to be unwound but when Lev thinks of it as a privilege then it just seems wrong. I think it may have gotten to Lev that he doesn't HAVE to die or be sacrificed to god. Lev's grades in school are good and he plays multiple sports so its not like he won't amount to anything in life.

Oakland

        I hear that there is some debate on whether or not Oakland is safe or not. Living in the hood for my whole life, I would say Oakland is fine. A lot of people call it a "kill-zone" and say its dangerous. From the parts I've lived in and from my experience its not really dangerous unless you're unlucky and shot as an innocent bystander or you're into some stuff. Most people in Oakland aren't even into stuff. Oakland has actually been very safe for me and lots of other people. There are parts that are very nice like Montclair and the Oakland Hills are all safe as can be.
        As for the gangs, there are gangs and gang affiliation in Oakland but the difference is its just as much as any other city. Oakland is targeted because of stories that people have heard on the news of people getting shot or stabbed or something. Just as much crime happens elsewhere but Oakland has been targeted. A lot of big stuff happens in Oakland, such as Oscar Grant and Police getting shot, they only talk about the really bad things that happen. When you ask people they would say that Oakland is unsafe and there's violence everywhere. This is a common stereotype. If you ask people in Oakland they would say Oakland is perfectly fine and safe.

Response to Ebone's Post About Religion

 I was looking for something to respond to when I came across Ebone and her never ending debate about religion and this quote:

 "I believe it was about a month ago when a rude and pathetic and freshman friend of mine (who I will call X) said to me, "Yeah sure. You believe in something that is really not up there!'"

"Now this is very offensive and I remember when I was in that same position just a few months ago, fighting for what I believed in."

         This is a quote within a quote and I agree with Ebone. I take this into offense and I'm not even religious, sure, I was baptized but I never  had my first communion and I believe in three main things: Karma, Fate, and God. I like to believe in an afterlife but I'm not entirely sure. I think that "X" shouldn't say that "You believe in something that is really not up there!" because thats highly offensive to them and others. Sure we don't know whats "up there" or not but thats the point, WE DON'T KNOW FOR SURE! There could or couldn't be someone "up there" we won't know until we find out which no one know's when we will.
       When Ebone said "fighting for what I believe in" that brings me to the point of, does it matter? Why does "X" really care what she believes in? Its her beliefs and she can believe what she wants to. If anyone could try and argue and say "Oh well what you believe isn't true! Its a lie!". Well then I would say "So, does it matter?" It doesn't matter if "X" doesn't believe in what Ebone believes in, "X" is NOT Ebone so "X" should mind their own business and pay attention to their beliefs and not Ebone's, whatever they may be. I don't know what Ebone believes in, it doesn't matter to me, she's still my friend ans she still would be even if she believed in something that wasn't true. I'm not saying that anything is or isn't true, I'm simply stating that it doesn't matter, Ebone is still Ebone.

Repsonse to Unwind

          So far, Unwind is great ! You never know whats going to happen and you don't expect what happens, its unpredictable and I love that about the book. One thing that struck me is the way Connor's parents just try to shake off the guilt of having their son ordered to be unwound. They have some nerve. I don't think any parent could live with the guilt but the fact that the trip to the Bahama's the day after Connor's supposed to be unwound is slightly irritating. They're going to harvest their kid for organs while they're sipping on a tall iced tea by the beach. Those are some good parents...not. Also the nerve of his girlfriend Ariana. How could someone just say "O I'm going to run away with you, school is going bad and I would totally run away!" and then when it comes time for her to run away suddenly it changes to "Oh now isn't not a good time, call me when your somewhere safe and I'll come for you." I think that's kinda messed up, her boyfriends going to die and she just says "Oh, I can't" that's messed up.
        Also Lev is crazy! He WANTS to get unwound because it's his "purpose in life" and part of his religion. If anything he should be like a normal teenager and just try everything in his power not to get unwound, but his thoughts are quite the opposite. He is all for the idea of dying. I understand the fact that he's brainwashed, which isn't very good, but come on  why would you want to die? If my parents had me ordered to be unwound I'd do exactly how Connor did and run away. Connor came across a trucker that had a new hand. The trucker said that he thinks everyday what the child could have amounted to and accomplished. I think its sad when you kill an innocent child just for organs you could get off someone who's life wasn't cut short by other humans.

Kite Runner

     "The Kite Runner" is about a boy, Amir, and his journey throughout his life and his experiences. Amir had one friend, Hassan, who was also his servant. Hassan and Amir were always getting harrased by Assef. Assef would harass them because Hassan was a different race, and Amir was his friend. The Russian invasion of Afghanistan forced Amir and his father to flee to America. Amir lived his life in America and went back to Afghanistan to save Hassan’s son from Assef, and bring him back to America.

          I believe the audience that this book is intended for is teens and adults. There are some explicit parts, for example when Hassan gets raped (p75) and when the soldier is talking mess about his mother (p7). This book also explains and gives some insight to the Afghanistan history, for example the Russian invasion and the Taliban, but not as much of the Taliban as the Russian invasion.

         Khaled Hosseini’s style of writing, to me, seems very descriptive and straight foward and he doesn’t hold anything back. For example, when he writes: “He brushed his lips against Sohrab’s ear, kept his eye on me.” (p281) That is very disturbing to me because its an older man treating a young boy like his lover and some books would say something more sublte, such as “he showed affection towards Sohrab as if he was his lover” or something along the lines of that. Hosseini didn’t hold back and described exactly what was going on with detail. He describes things with detail throughout the book. His writing also seems more like he’s creating a picture in the readers head, When I read I could picture everything that was going on because of the amount of detail.

         Amir is a very interesting character throughout this book. I believe he has some emotional issues because of what he experienced as a child. For example he experienced violence, betrayal, war, and lots of other things. He also has issues with his father growing up because from his perspective in his fathers eyes he was weak and unaccepted.

“ ‘He needs someone who. . .understands him, because god knows I don’t. But something about Amir troubles me in a way that I can’t express. It’s like. . .” I could see him searching, reaching for the right words. He lowered his voice, but I heard him anyway. “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son.’ ” (p23) In this quote Amir’s father, Baba, is telling his friend Rahim Khan about how he feels about Amir. Amir was listening to this conversation and it scared him for, basically his life. After he heard that he tried everything in his power to gain his father’s acceptance. even in his adult life his father didn’t accept his career path of wanting to be a writer, his father wanted him to be a doctor and thought making up stories was stupid.

         Because of his emotional trauma as a child as an adult he wasn’t a very confident person. “This isn’t you, Amir, part of me said. You’re gutless. It’s how you were made. And that’s not such a bad thing because your saving grace is that you’ve never lied to yourself about it. Not about that. Nothing wrong with cowardice as long as it comes with prudence. But when a coward stops remembering who he is. . .God help him.” (p275) Amir thinks little of himself because of what he’s been told throughout his life. Amir says he went to Afghanistan because of Sohrab but I believe it was because of three other reasons. One, because he’s trying to prove to himself that he isn’t a coward and that he’s brave enough to do whatever it takes to get Sohrab to safety, even if that means standing up to his phsycopathic, crazy, childhood nightmare. Two, because he wants to make amends to Hassan because he felt it was his fault for Hassan leaving, and now that he has a chance to prove to himself that his guilty feelings can go away. Three, because he went to face his childhood and all the traumatic experiences there.

        Before he went to go get Sohrab he stopped by his old house and the hill where Hassan and him would sit and read. He didn’t expect to see Assef but he didn’t cower in fear when he knew it was him. In a way Amir was slightly showing himself that he was somewhat a coward because when Assef was fighting he didn’t really fight back and he had to get saved by Sohrab, a little boy, and his slingshot. It reminded me of when Amir was younger and Assef was tormenting him and Hassan, they were about to get beaten but Hassan saved them both with his slingshot, so in a way Amir hasn’t changed since childhood.

     Amir and Hassan had a weird relationship throughout the book. Amir was always questioning whether or not Hassan should be treated as a servant or his friend because Assef would get in his head and tell him that he’s a servant, not his friend. In the begining Amir and Hassan had a good friendship, but as the book progressed, Amir became confused and jealous because Baba treated Hassan better than he treated Amir. Hassan got raped by Assef and Amir was angry and later tried to make him fight back and get defensive by throwing pomegranites at him. After that their friendship went downhill. Amir framed Hassan for stealing his new watch and Hassan got in trouble but was forgiven. After that Hassan and his father left and was never heard from again.

     “Then Baba rolled his head towards me. “I wish Hassan had been with us today,” he said. A pair of steel hands closed around my windpipe at the sound of Hassan’s name. I rolled down the window. Waited for the steel hands to loosen their grip.” (p133-134) In this quote Amir feels guilty of what happened throughout this childhood with Amir. Going to Afghanistan lightened his guilt of what happened.

Final Book Response to Kite Runner

     After the events that took place towards the end of Kite Runner, it made me see a lot of characters differently. For example, I have a strong, strong dislike for Assef. Today in class we discussed the matter of if he was gay because he rapes little boys, but I don't think he's anything, I actually think he should not be living on earth. Well he isn't but I think in the book he should rot in jail or be tortured because he's probably been raping little boys all his life, not to mention the countless cold blooded murders of innocent Hazara's. Something must have happened to Assef to have his mindset on something so evil and twisted.
    In class we discussed the topic of why Amir went back to Afghanistan. I believe he was going for two reasons. One to make amends with Hassan and save his son from Assef. Another is so he could help Sohrab and prove to himself that he is capable of starting over, in a way. Amir probably thought that his past of getting Hassan kicked out of the house and watching him get raped and not defending him all the time would forever haunt him and he would have to live with it forever. Sohrab would have been the perfect chance of being able to start a new life with Hassan's son and his wife in America. He would also be making ammends to Hassan, so two birds with one stone. He may also feel in debt to Hassan and that taking his son to a safe place is making up for it.
   Overall I thought the book was very good and well written. The emotions and experiences that the characters had, felt real and my emotions towards some of the characters tell me the writing style. It was very vivid and descriptive. The order in which the events happened suprised me because you think that Amir finally found a wife and has a happy life but then he goes back to Afghanistan and gets into a lot of trouble.

Book Response 2nd Paperclip

        I believe that going to America was a good idea for Amir and Baba because Amir was able to let go of his past and focus on the future. He was able to get a wife and a job and have a happy life. He had a less stressful life ahead of him in America. Even though he left, going back to Afghanistan was good for him too because, instead of hiding from his past his whole life and dying with regrets, he addressed and faced his past by going to Afghanistan. Going to go get Hassan's son from Assef was a good experience for him because in a way, protecting his son was making amends with Hassan.
      Today, Ebone, Vinn, and I had a debatr about whether or not Baba is a complete jerk to Amir in his childhood. I believe he IS because throughout his childhood, Amir was always fighting to get Baba's approval. Baba would also treat Hassan way better, as well as other children, better then he treated Amir. "' If I hadn't seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eye, I'd never believe he's my son.'" (Pg. 23) This is a quote from the last page of chapter 3 and this shows how Baba doesn't accept Amir and Wants to disown him but can't because it would be frowned upon. In this quote, Baba didn't know that Amir was listening in on their conversation. Baba's friend Rahim Khan tries to talk some sense into Baba and say that Amir wasn't that bad of a son. Baba kept responding with negative thoughts.
       For example, Baba would say that Amir reads poem and has no self defense at all. Rahim Khan said that Baba was only angry because he knew Amir wouldn't take over his business. Baba isn't accepting Amir because he wants to be different, he won't follow his father and he wants to be his own person, but its hard when his own biological father doesn't accept him.

Racism

      Racism annoys me, so much! Everyone has those moments where they don't mean to be racist and it comes out that way or they're being jokingly racist. I have no issues with the joking racism, but there's a limit. People who are serious about racism and what they say are usually ignorant and they really just go with how they were brought up. If someone was raised to believe that racism is okay then they teach their children that its okay. To me, serious racism against any race is never okay.
      I have come across many forms of racism to many different races. Obviously the main ones I've heard are against black people. Most of the word I hear, ofcourse being mainly serious racism, are coon, spear chucker, monkey, dog, and ofcourse the N-word. I've been called alot of these, some serious and some joking. To put it in nicer words, I wanted to seriously injure the people that called me this. Racism should be agaisnt the law, there is a lot of it amongst children because their parents have been brought up that way so their bringing their children to think racism is okay.
     

Response to "Kite Runner" Part 2

          After talking about it in class I've realized that my opinions about Kite Runner have changed. First, after talking and thinking about it more I believe that Amir's intentions throughout the book have been based on his experiences as a child. When he witnessed Hassan getting raped by Assef he is emotionally traumatized and cursed with guilt that lasts, basically for the rest of his life. This could have been one reason he frames Hassan for stealing his watch, which got Hassan and his father kicked out. As people have said in class, Amir probably did this to help Hassan because he was continuously getting teased by children for being a Hazara. As the teasing got more intense Amir's worries increased. This sounds like a logical explanation because Hassan was his friend, even though Amir questioned it himself, and if I was in Amir's position I would have gone through great lengths to protect my friend.
          Which brings me to the point, Amir was always there when Hassan was getting teased so people told him that Hassan was only a servant and that he wasn't and will never be his "friend". Because of this taunting and confusion, Amir has questioned whether or not Hassan is a servant or his friend. When Amir sees Hassan getting raped he sees that Hassan didn't defend himself. Amir tries to force Hassan to fight him by throwing pomegranates at him and Hassan doesn't fight back.
          I would like to get on the subject of...Baba, Baba treats Amir like he's an alien. Treating other children better than you treat your own will, obviously either, emotionally damage your child and turn them into a serial killer or psychopath OR make them stronger. I believe Baba's ignorant neglect towards Amir has made him stronger AND emotionally damaged. Obviously we see once Hassan leaves, Baba decides to treat Amir like his own child and not an alien that has been a burden on him for a long time. Examples of Baba's neglect was shown throughout the book. I believe there is a part when Baba is talking to his friend, not knowing that Amir is listening, and he says that its like Amir isn't even his son and that he's nothing like him. I don't think people should put pressure on their children to be exactly like them because, again, it will leave a child with plenty of emotional damage and feelings of angst and anger and sadness that turn into violent crimes.

Response To Kite Runner

    My response to reading most of this book is that this book is very intriguing. The material is somewhat explicit, but its a good book.The storyline of the book really caught my attention once some big events happened. The first few chapters, I had to force myself to read, but  once things started happening, I was interested.
    The relationship between Amir and Hassan seems a little bit strained. It starts off as a normal friendship between two children and they don't understand why Hassan is Amir's servant or why they are separated by religion, social class, and ethnicity. Once they start to understand their differences their relationship seems a lot more intense. For example, when Amir sees that Hassan doesn't defend himself when being attacked, or in  this case raped, he tries to teach him how to by throwing pomegranates at him and seeing what he will do. Amir, trying to make Hassan mad, in turn gets very angry at Hassan.
     I also noticed the neglect and longing for acceptance between Amir and his father. His father, as the author explains, is already heartbroken by the loss of beloved wife and somewhat seems to despise Amir because she died giving birth to him. Once Amir's father sees that he is not interested in the things he wants him to be, such as sports and, technically getting rich, he looses all hope and interest in Amir. Left with this self pitiful father, Amir has no choice but to try and gain his father's approval of him. Ofcourse Amir sees his father as a great man with, somewhat high standards for a son. The author really tries to show this in the first part of the book.
    In short, I love the book and writing styles of the author and look foward to reading more.

Reflective Essay

        I've been learning a lot from writers block, and also from the balance on my blog between open-ended and formal academic writing styles. This blog has helped me realize a lot of things about me and the way I write. It has also help me see the big differences between open-ended and formal academic writing.
            Having a blog is fun for me when I can write about what I want. Formal academic writing, or assigned writing, is harder for me because I have to think of what to say and plan it out. I have discovered that I procrastinate a lot and I am very lazy when it comes to the assigned writing. When I procrastinate I don't start to post things on my blog until 11:00 or 11:30, and I don't get done with it until around 12:15. When I’m feeling lazy I don’t plan out what I want to write about or how I will write it until I start typing. To me, this is a VERY bad habit to get into because its a hard habit to get rid of and its not productive towards my grades. When I don’t plan things out, my writing gets messy, unfocused, and hard to understand. If I wasn’t so lathargic and I actually planned things out my writing would be a lot stronger. To me, having this blog is fun yet troublesome at the same time.
       Open-ended writing is very easy for me to do because I pick topics that are a lot easier for me to write about and they flow a lot smoother. Formal academic writing differs depending on the subject I’m writing about. We specifically have to respond to any one's post that we feel the need to. Usually I would pick a topic where I have a lot to say about the subject, but once I put it into words, my post is too short. Since I procrastinate too much I don’t have time to think of more to say. I have a similar, yet different issue with open-ended writing. With open-ended writing I can write about anything I want, but I don’t want to have the same issue as my formal writing, or response posts. These are the reasons I have very little assignments posted on my blog, they are displays of procrastination and laziness.
      There have been times when I do a response post that is fun for me and I have a lot to say about it. For example, I responded to a post Ebone wrote about a conversation Aleah and her had in p.e. about the “N-word” with two other students. For this post I had a lot to say because I had a lot of experience with discrimination  and these types of incedents. For this piece I didn’t really have to any planning because of my experiences with these things. For other response posts, they require planning and organization, but if I’m doing them late at night I don’t have time to plan out anything, so my work is a mess and unorganized.
         My writers block has been caused by, again, not planning and organizing my work. Since I’ve come up short and haven’t been able to produce well written, long enough work, I need to work on when I get stuck. I noticed that the more i get stuck the longer it takes to write and since I’m doing things late at night then I have no time to waste at all. To over come my writers block I sit myself down in a quiet place and think about the subject. My writers block mainly happens when I write a response post. When I’m writing a response post and I run out of things to say, that’s when my writers block kicks in. I have an opinion when I do a response post and my opinions are very straight foward, which moves my writing towards a more straight foward approach. When I’m writing a more open-ended piece its a lot easier for me because I have can incorperoate more creativity.
          My goals for next semester are not to procrastinate, plan out my work before I type it, try to type them during the day or as soon as I get home from school, and write as much as I can but don’t strain myself. I believe these step by step goals will help me reach my main goal of making my writing stronger. I believe I can complete these goals step by step and carefully produce well written work. My response posts will also develope a lot more. My open ended writing won’t develope as much because I have more of a problem with responses.

Quickwrite: Response to Picture

    In class we had to do a quickwrite on a picture that we saw and we had to describe what we thought was going on in the picture. In the picture the woman was holding a crumpled letter reading it with her window open next to a bed with fruits on it.
   I believe that the woman in the painting is a random lady, not a peasant, but a rich person, based on her clothing, who's husband left her. The letter probably explains the random fruit in a basket on the bed and her facial expression, which looks like a happy/frowning face. I think her husband left her and left the fruit because he felt bad. The dim lighting and how the letter is crumpled and almost falling out of her hands suggest that its a sad letter or a letter that made her sad. The painting looks very dark mainly because the bed covering was very dark and the curtain next to her was a dark green color and the light coming in from the window makes it look like its a gloomy day. Many people asociate gloomy days with sadness.
    Her clothes looked wrinkled and haggered so it looks like she's been wearing that for a while. The dress she has on looks like what they wore in England a long time ago. The fruits on her bed look like winter fruit so its winter which suggests a gloomy day, which equals sadness.

response post

I got this quote from Ebone's blog:

"After we ended the debate, they brought it up again “I’m just saying when I say it ending in –ga- I mean my homey”, we said “The N-word comes from the Spanish word Negro for the color black, slave owners adopted that word using it as a bad term towards African-Americans, so know matter how u say it how u want to phrase, if your white then it is not appropriate for you to say?"

    Ebone got his quote from Leah when they were having a debate about the N-word with two other classmates and Leah wrote about it. I would like to express my opinion on the subject.
    I believe if a white person says the N-word and it ends in --er-- then that it DEFINITELY not okay because it is used/taken as a derogatory term against black people. If a white person says the N-word ending in --a-- then i believe its okay because, yes, the N-word was used as a derogatory term against black people, BUT since it is used to say homey as Leah stated, then black people can't monopolize the word.
     I think when someone says that word and they mean it offensively it isn't just not okay for white people to say it, or for someone to say it inoffensively then it would be okay for them to say it. I feel when people discuss this word they are targeting mainly white people, when in reality its people of all colors that say it and i find it offensive or inoffesive no matter who you are.

Short Story

         Jaya ran as fast as she could away from this place. Her place of pain and loneliness. She couldn't fathom her reasons for leaving, all she knew is that she had to get out. She had to run, run far away and just go. She knew once she left she could NOT come back to this wicked evil place. It had been the home she grew up in for her whole life. She knew nothing else, nothing from the outside world, but she knew once those men had come through the door her life would be changed forever.
         She didn't know it would be this drastic, this crazy. She played everything back in her head. The voices, the black coats, the screams. It had only been 30 minutes ago. "Will someone get the door?!" Jaya's mother screamed from the opposite side of the house. Jaya ran to get the door, she didn't want her mother getting anymore angry than she already was. "Hello child. Is your father home?" The first man to the right said. His voice was calm, yet scarily soft and hard, a chill ran up her spine as the men walked in with heavy footsteps. "Baby, don't worry these are your daddy's friends."
         Her mother said to her in a soft voice with a hint of regret hidden inside of it. "Hello Mr. Caravelli, we would like to talk to you." One of the men said. "Honey go to your room." Jaya's mom, Sarah said. She slowly walked to her room, straining her ears to hear the slightest part of their conversation. Once she heard noises and commotion she decided to come out of her room. As soon as she walked out of her room, her eyes caught sight of the horrible men and her parents. "RUN BABY! RUN AWAY NOW!" Jaya's mother yelled out. She heard the desperation in her mother's voice and knew their was nothing she could do. She ran into her room and locked the door. She threw everything in her sight into a duffel bag and snuck out the back and ran. She ran as far as she could. Just to get away.

Response

I found this quote I can really relate to in Nawara's blog:.

When I came to Alameda Science and Technology Institute, I learned that I was in a smaller environment and in an area that is full time work, work, work. When it was my first day of school, all I was thinking about was college. I felt like I was not in a high school where they have rallies, dances, and football games. I was in a community where we succeed in higher educational standards. As a freshman, I was scared. I felt like I was not going to succeed even though I was accepted, I did not feel like I was ready.

       I can identify with what Nawara said when she said she was scared, when she came here, of failing at ASTI. When I came here I expected work, and lots of it. We kind of eased into all the work, but it still wasn't easy. I had to make all new habits when I came home and that was a hard transition for me. I didn't expect a normal high school,I expected a serious high school, with serious teachers, and even more serious homework, but after a month it gets easier, My grades at my old school were very good but once I came to ASTI they dropped, alot.
       I'm slowly yet surely getting my grades back up, but its hard at some points. I can understand why kids who don't go here think its a really serious academic school but you have to experience it for yourself and what you think of the school and not what other people have told you. I thought that at first but once I got here I realized that this school is not as hard as people say it is.
      When I came here I also was very afraid of failing at the high school and not being able to go to the college. Now I feel more prepared for the college but it will be a big transition. The whole point of ASTI is to prepare us for college and by giving us the amount of work we have will definitely prepare us for college.

Class Debate: Rebutle: Prostitution CON-Shannon and Lhadze

Prostitution should NOT be legalized. If its legalized the pimps will just go online or continue what they were doing and the prostitute would not report them. Yes, the prostitute is afraid, however she is still emotionally connected and brainwashed by their pimps so that they wont report them because they know about all the bad things that happen in jail and they wouldn't want that to happen to someone that they "love".

"If women and girls are not persuaded by the big money which is sometimes offered, or the survival possibility for women or their families, then they will simply be tricked or trafficked."

- Cecilia Hofmann, Secretary of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women

As Cecilia Hofmann states, IF girls  are not persuaded by "the big money" they will be tricked or trafficked, this means that the girls will be tricked into thinking that this is okay. Most of the time pimps find girls whether they want to be found or not and they put themselves into a position were the girls see them as a father figure or some one who "loves" them and once the girls get emotionally connected to them, about a week to a month, the pimps tell them things like if you love me you'll go make my money or they force them to. If the prostitute "loves" their pimp, or thinks they do, then they don't want a loved one to go to jail or be imprisoned.

A lot of the time girls are kidnapped and forced to be in these situations. When girls are forced into doing this and their "patrolling" the streets, their pimps, along with other people, are watching them and driving around making sure their doing what their supposed to. So a lot of the time it isn't easy for girls to get away and go tell the authorities.

"...an international crime ring was abducting young girls in Europe, importing them, and forcing them to work in Chicago brothels."- Wikipedia, article on "white slavery"

Women and mainly young girls are forced to be in this situation. When girls are brought in from Europe,  they don't know the streets that their on and they hardly speak english, so they can't get to the police, or any help at all.

Sources:
• http://prostitution.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000101
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_slavery#White_slavery

response

Found the best quote on Tony's blog:

I think people bully others sometimes for entertainment, because someone is different, trying to be cool, or just trying to fit in with everyone else. They might want to hurt their peers because the person might have done something stupid or just are different for them. Bullies usually pick on people that are smaller or people that appear strange to them. I think bullying is a bad thing and people should not be apart of it.

I couldn't agree more with what Tony said. This refers to all the rules on the ASTI constitution. The constitution mainly talks about treating your peers and teachers with respect and thinking before you act because you never know how you're words will effect people in what way. It also talks about accepting others for who they are, this is hard for bullies because when they make fun of someone its usually because they're insecure about that specific thing. The ASTI constitution should be a bullies guide to recovery because it says everything a bully should do.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

I believe the amount of attitude and the amount of ability involved in success is arguable. You can have the ability to do something but not have enough confidence or determination, or you could have enough confidence, or you could have a lot of confidence and determination to do something and either succeed or fail. For example, I can do algebra very well but I just didn't want to study for my test or I was afraid of failure so I just didn't try and either way I would have failed. Or when I really wanted to study for a test and pass and I studied all night the day before and I studied beforehand, and I had very little ability to do fractions, I could succeed because I studied so much. Another example is I was determined to succeed on my first essay in 8th grade and I studied and used all the resources I had,  but I failed and got a bad grade. So it could go either way for both, thus leaving the amount of ability and attitude involved in success arguable.

Sex, Drugs, and The Extinction of Dinosaurs

    When arguing a point you need to be able to back yourself up with sound, logical, and solid evidence. If you don't use sound evidence people won't believe you and your point will not be heard and ignored. Many people have argued for a long, long time over creationism vs evolution ism. I have heard both theories and their evidence. Evolution ism  is the theory that an organism developed and evolved into a fish then it started walking on land and those animals developed into other animals and monkey's developed into humans. Their evidence is fossils discovered by archaeologists. Real fossils you can see and touch and feel. That to me sounds like solid logical evidence. Evidence you can touch and see.
     Creationism is the theory that all animals and humans and the world ans universe was created by god in seven days. their evidence is that its in the bible and that some men from years and years ago wrote a book or a diary of Jesus and what he could do and how he could contact god. Evolution ism is basing their argument on real things and creationism is basing their argument on a book, and something they believe. That to me is not sound evidence

'Just Kidding' and 'Ganging up' from Odd Girl Out

When I was in 8th grade, last year, a rumor or two started going around, about me. The rumor said that I  would talk about people behind their back and that i had a "cutting" group with my friends. For those who don't know, cutting is when someone purposely cuts their writs or someplace else on their body. This along with the rumor about me talking about people behind their back, was not true at all. Our school was  involved with other schools, and by the time I heard about these rumors, they had gotten to some other schools. When I heard that the news had spread I was very intimidated and angry because people were believing something about me that wasn't true and they were probably talking about me behind my back. These group of girls actually asked me to see the cuts or scars I had on my arms, when I showed them the clear evidence that I didn't cut, they were completely surprised. Their reaction to the truth hurt me because I  had gone to school with them for 3 years already and they should have known me by then and I didn't know how many of the other girls in my grade or even school thought this about me. I felt like everyone I knew hated me besides my best friends. I had one of two options, to go with the rumors and let people think what they want, or to tell everyone I know that its not true and hope that will spread around fast. I think people bully others because they're insecure about themselves. For example, there could be a bully with really short hair who wants long hair and a person with really long hair would be bullied by them because of their insecurities with their own hair.