My Response to Social Awareness - Global Warming and Ideas for My Picture Book

Alright, so my second topic is Global Warming. I picked this topic because it’s a pretty important social issue, and because I have a pretty good idea for a picture book. Global Warming is a very big problem, and that’s because it affects everyone, not just one group of people. It’s killing the ozone, and eventually it will kill us. That is, unless people do something about it. Here’s a short excerpt from an article in The New York Times:

Global warming has become perhaps the most complicated issue facing world leaders. On the one hand, warnings from the scientific community are becoming louder, as an increasing body of science points to rising dangers from the ongoing buildup of human-related greenhouse gases — produced mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and forests. On the other, the technological, economic and political issues that have to be resolved before a concerted worldwide effort to reduce emissions can begin have gotten no simpler, particularly in the face of a global economic slowdown.

           
            This article basically outlines what Global Warming is. It’s bad, and people need to put a stop to it, and they can. Now, time for my story idea. The main character is Earth. But he’s sad. He doesn’t like it when people litter and put bad stuff on him. But one little boy, named David, doesn’t do that. Earth likes David, and David likes Earth. So David tries to get people to make Earth feel better. And then he does it, and everyone is happy.

            Yet another great story idea by Gabriel Sturdivant.

My Response to Social Awareness - Racial Bullying and Ideas for My Picture Book

My Social Awareness topic is Racial Bullying. I was going to do something else, but I have a really good story idea for this.

            I knew going into this that it was going to be a pretty hardcore, serious topic. But a lot of this stuff was really shocking. Like the statistics and facts in this article. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Racist bullying in schools can include ill-considered remarks that weren’t intended to be hurtful, but represent a pervasive negative attitude, as well as deliberate acts of bullying that specifically target a student because of his skin color or ethnicity. Children who experience racist bullying are at the same risks of other victims of bullying, including

·         Loss of self-esteem

·         Difficulty concentrating in school

·         Higher risk of depression

·         Disruption of schooling

·         Fear of going to school

·         Feeling unsafe in school

·         Dropping out of school to escape the bullying

·         Not continuing to higher learning

·         Higher risk of suicide

Racist bullying can include any or all of the following characteristics:

·         Physical assault

·         Derogatory name calling, insults and racist jokes

·         Racist graffiti

·         Wearing racist badges

·         Carrying or distributing racist materials

·         Verbal and non-verbal abuse and threats

·         Incitement of others to behave in a racist manner

·         Racist comments in the course of discussion in lessons

·         Attempts to recruit for racial organizations and groups

·         Ridicule of an individual for cultural differences

·         Refusal to co-operate with other people because of their color, ethnicity or language

·         Written derogatory remarks

·         Accessing racist material on the Internet.¹

            Crazy, right?

            The idea that kids would even do this cannot even resonate in my mind. It’s just so stupid. What would possess you to even do that- to even think of doing that?! What kind of sick, twisted thoughts go through your mind? What else do you do, kick babies for enjoyment? Idiots.

            Alright, topic change. My picture book is going to be awesome. My idea is this:

            There is a town of green blobs. They all like each other. Everyone is friends. Then a new family moves in. They’re red blobs. None of the other blobs like them. People start telling them to go away. The young red blob goes to the local school. He is teased and picked on. But one green blob doesn’t have a problem with him. He befriends the red blob, and they become best friends. But everybody else still doesn’t like the red blobs. The red blob gets tired of it. He wants to be accepted like his best friend. He demands that they try to do the things that he does, together.

            And then I don’t know what I want to do after that. But I think it’s pretty good. :)

Social Awareness Project

1.
10/23 - Legalizing Marijauna- California wants to do it, but the multiple pros and cons are leaving it to the world's opinion.

10/24 -

10/25 - Cholera in Africa- It's making water unsafe to drink. However, they have nothing else, so they have to drink it.

10/26 - Four Loko- A legal drink for kids. It has the same amount of alcohol as 6 light beers and caffeine the equivalent of 2 cups of coffee.

10/27 -

                This was a really eye-opening project. I don't relly watch the news very often. Everything I saw on the news that week had a lot to do with health. Smoking, disease, alcohol, etc. It really makes you think about the well-being of others, and not just yourself.


4.
                  I'm reading "Cathing Fire" by Suzanne Collins, the second book in the Hunger Games series. There are a lot of social issues in this book, surprisingly. The main one is corruption in the government. In the book, the government is extremely superficial and turns a blind eye to what actually goes on in the districts. They could care less about what happens to the people living there, and only think about themselves. They're the leaders of the "country", and they should really be more aware of what's going on in it. I'd really hate to be there, and have to deal with the crap that the citizens put up with.

5.
                 I'm responding to the song "World on Fire" by Sarah McLachlan. Honestly, I don't like the song. I understand the message, and what she's trying to say. But the song is just so depressing. First off, her music video is all about how "x" amount of money can do "x" amount of things. It makes me not want to spend any money. Second, she says absolutely nothing happy or pleasant in the entire song. It sounds like she's some suicidal who wants to make everyone else be the same as her and never experience the feeling of joy. She seriously could have gone about this a completely different way, and not make everyone sad whenever they hear the song. But hey, that's just me.

Respons to "Mother to Son"

             "Mother to Son" written by Langston Hughes is a very down to earth poem in my opinion. It says and explains how things are straight up. It doesn't attempt to try to put something of a veil over the truth. It tells the truth, no matter how graphic or emotional it is.
              It is written from the point of view from a mother. The whole poem is her speaking to her son, relating life to a staircase. It is an amazing speech about how although life may get hard, you have to keep going, and eventually you will find success.
              I think this a really good poem. I like how the mother is talking to her son about this, and using this metaphor. It talks about how life is hard, and some things affect you forever. I also noticed that the mother says that she's still climbing her own staircase, and that she doesn't plan on stopping. It really says a lot about what a perserverer she is.

Songs of the Day:

Do the ___________!

A song from one of the best movies ever :)

8th Grade Appreciation Final Draft

“I never had a brain until Freak came along.”

            This is probably the most significant line in the book. It explains how big teamwork is in this amazing story. Without teamwork, Freak the Mighty wouldn’t even exist. It’s amazing the feats they are able to obtain and the obstacles they’re able to overcome.

            At first, it was just Max. All his life, he was made fun of. Stupid. Dumb. Slow. The whole 9 yards. Not to mention he had dyslexia, and he was 6”Monster. Max lives with his grandparents. His father murdered his mother when he was 4-ish, so his father is in jail. Max had learned to live alone.

            Then Freak comes along. He’s pretty much Max’s counterpart – 3”Midget and an enormous brain. You’d think they’d avoid each other. But no. They are the perfect match, and together, they’re able to do anything.

            This shows that through teamwork, you can accomplish anything. In my opinion, I think that even when the final climax has ended, teamwork still lives on in Max’s life. Even after Freak has “left”, Max has been influenced by him so much that it affects his future decisions. I love that. It just goes to show how far teamwork can get you.

            So if you ever read this book, just keep that in mind. The fact that teamwork is an amazing thing, and how much it applies to the book. The world would be so much better if people in charge could just adapt to being open to new ideas from new people. Instead of arguing and just being so self-centered, just stop and listen. You should think about it.

Appreciation 1st Draft

“I never had a brain until Freak came along.”

            This is probably the most significant line in the book. It explains how big teamwork is in this amazing story. Without teamwork, Freak the Mighty wouldn’t even exist. It’s amazing the feats they are able to obtain and the obstacles they’re able to overcome.

            At first, it was just Max. All his life, he was made fun of. Stupid. Dumb. Slow. The whole 9 yards. Not to mention he had dyslexia, and he was 6”Monster. Max lives with his grandparents. His father murdered his mother when he was 4-ish, so his father is in jail. Max had learned to live alone.

            Then Freak comes along. He’s pretty much Max’s counterpart – 3”Midget and an enormous brain. You’d think they’d avoid each other. But no. They are the perfect match, and together, they’re able to do anything.

            This shows that through teamwork, you can accomplish anything. In my opinion, I think that even when the final climax has ended, teamwork still lives on in Max’s life. Even after Freak has “left”, Max has been influenced by him so much that effects his future decisions. I love that. It just goes to show how much teamwork can get you.

            So if you ever read this book, just keep that in mind. The fact that teamwork is an amazing thing, and how much it applies to the book. The world would be so much better if people in charge could just adapt to being open to new ideas from new people. You should think about it.

Entry #7: How Research Deepens Thinking

          Alright, so I'm reading "Freak the Mighty." The research exercises I decided to use were Biography Squats and Freestyle Cool Down ('cause I'm black like that). And I have to say, it was pretty interesting.
          First, Biography Squats. I went to Rodman's Philbrick's website, and found a lot on not only the book, but on Philbrick himself. He grew up on the New England coast, and actually had a friend who lived a few blocks away who had the same growing disorder as Freak. And one of his friends used to carry him around sometimes. I thought that was really cool. And it helps me see how a lot of writers don't usually write just off the top of their head, they write from things that have happened to them. And now I see how Philbrick was able to make the book seem so realistic.
          Freestyle Cool Down didn't go so well, on the other hand. All it was for like 7 pages of research was a bunch of reviews and trivia questions. So that wasn't so great. Sometimes, I hate Google.

           Oh, and from now on, I'm going to have a few songs every human being should listen to before he/she dies. This week's blog songs are:

I won't put the song here, so it will be a surprise every time. :)

This too.

Have fun!

Entry #6: Respond to a Note

Post-it: I hate it when I'm compared to someone like Max is on pg. 4/ Don't judge a book by its cover


       Seriously though. I want people to talk about me like "He's Awesome!" and stuff like that rather then "He's just like..." I want to be remembered for me and my accomplishments, not compared to someone else.
      In the book, Grim keeps comparing Max to his father. That's just retarted. He raised him for mad long.You'd think he would trust him. But no, it turns out he's just gonna kill you in your sleep. Honestly, he deserves a slap across the face. It's like "Hey,let's raise this kid for 10+ years, and then train our eyes to stay open at all times so we don't get our throats slit by Godzilla in the basement."

A Big Idea/Theme in Charlotte's Web

     There are a lot of thees in the Charlotte's Web.  Probably the biggest one is friendship.  Friendship is big between a lot of the main characters (i.e. Wilbur, Charlotte, Fern, etc.).
     One way friendship is visible in the book is just looking at Wilbur and Charlotte.  It's pretty clear that Wilbur & Charlotte will be great friends.  Their relationship just gets stronger throughout the book, to the point where Wilbur befriends the 3 children of Charlotte that stayed at the barn.
     Fern & Wilbur also have a great friendship. From the beginning of the book, Fern & Wilbur are inseparable.  They do everything togetyher.  And even though they don't see each other as much towards the end of the book, they are still amazing friends to the end.