Reflective Essay Final

This year I have been blogging about a variety of different topics such as book reviews, small vignettes, and many classmate response posts as well as random free writes.  The free writes and classmates’ posts have helped my learn to blog about my own opinion  and helped show me that not all writing is boring. It makes me like having a blog  since I am normally used to the essays we write in class with structured topics and guidelines we have to follow. Bloggjng has made me appreciate writing a bit more.

Writing response posts to my classmates’ blogs helps me become a better thinker because it is a chance for me to review a topic and think about it in my own opinion. For example, mainly at the beginning of the year there were a couple of topics that got a lot of attention. These were good because people were able to state their own opinions on the topic and they could be compared to other peoples' responses and the original post. It was pretty much like online debating. There were a couple of these types of posts this year; one of them were about the topic on what it really means to be "emo" or "scene". A lot of people seemed interested in this topic and I think it was interesting in a good way for people to state their own opinions on the debate. It was a good opportunity for people to think about their own opinions and respond to others. Writing this blog has also helped me become a better writer, especially in the posts where we had to talk about current books we were reading in class. Writing these posts have also helped me become a better reader as well. This is because since we had to use quotes from the books as evidence for whatever point we were trying to prove, it made me read more closely and helped me learn how to analyze books and pay more attention for underlying meanings and messages. This tactic also helped me become a better writer because it helped me learn how to use evidence and quotations to prove my points and ideas.

    I like having a blog, mainly when we were able to do free topic posts and did not have to follow any guidelines. It was a good way to get out random ideas or feelings out by writing about them. Also, having a blog has made me think differently about writing in general. Usually I do not like writing because I don't like the whole process of going through three drafts with edits and changing parts. However, having this blog made me see that writing doesn't always have to be tedious and boring. When I was able to write about whatever topic I wanted to and respond to who ever's blog I wanted to, it made me realize that writing can be okay when you aren't restricted my rules of an assignment. Having this blog has also somewhat taught me about the way I can think about things. For example, when I respond to someone else's blog, I could either agree with what they are writing about or not. Sometimes the topics are very small and not very meaningful, but they can still bring up ideas in my head and give me a new way at looking at certain things. Other times the topic could be something very important that I can give my opinion and thoughts on. Blogging has changed the way I write in a way because when I would do free topic posts or response posts I didn't seem to worry as much about how my tone of voice sounded like I normally would if I was writing an essay. I liked this because I didn't feel stressed out or anything about sounding “professional” or not. All in all, blogging has made me realize writing isn't always boring, made me think about things differently, and helped me feel less restricted about my writing.

    As I mentioned before, writing on a blog is very different from the structured writing that is normally required in school. Usually when there is a writing assignment given in class there are a large set of guidelines that need to be followed in order to get a good grade. This sort of structured writing is good for practicing the more difficult types of writing we will have to do in college, but it can sometimes be very unpleasant and makes me not like writing. However, when we have blog assignments that are not book reviews or other strict writing assignments, it makes writing not as bad as I normally feel about it. When I am able to freely choose pretty much whatever I want to write about, it is not as hard for me to come up with ideas as it is sometimes when I have a guided writing assignment in most of my classes. Also, the rule that we have to use a quote from one of our peers' blogs when we are doing a response post has been good practice for writing this year. This year in many classes when we have an essay to write it is normally a requirement for the paper to use commentary details and then respond with commentary. This has been something we used in all of our response posts and book reviews throughout the year on our blogs and it is good practice for other classes as well.

    For next year, some goals I have are to blog more. Maybe not necessarily on this blog, but I would continue to do this because it is a good way to practice and become a better writer with out feeling like you are restricted. I also want to work on my tone and the way i sound when I am writing as a goal for next quarter/ year. I will try to continue blogging even if I am not in your class anymore

Book review final draft

In the realistic fiction book Crank by Ellen Hopkins, the life of a teenage girl Kristina is followed as she spirals down in life from addiction to crystal meth. In the story, Kristina goes and visits her father in Albaquerqe one summer where she first tries “the monster” which is what crank is oftenly referred to in the story. Once she returns home she vows that it was only a one time thing, but she ends up continuing her drug use once she gets back home. I believe that Hopkins' target audience for this book are teenagers, ages fourteen and up. I also know that the author's purpose in writing this book is to express events that effected her family.

Based on the topics discussed throughout the story, this book appears to be aimed at a teenagers from the age of 14+. The experiences and thoughts that the main character, Kristina goes through can easily be relatable to many teens today. Obviously, this book is mainly focused on drugs and one issue based on this is experimentation that many teens want to go through during their youth. 

" 'You don't smoke do you? I took a small puff. Struggled like hell not to cough. (pg.75)... It had been a tempstuous week, snared by emotions rubbing me so raw  I hurt at night... So when he asked about getting high, I didn't think, I agreed. We smoked some good California green (pg.85)... "' 'Okay, little girl. Ready to party?' Mom expected me home in ten days. Of course I was sure. Like magic, a mirror and razor blade appeared. I watched him pour powder, yellowish white.(pg.88)."

These three quotes from sections throughout the book are very important in explaining how Kristina slowly gets closer and closer to the drug that ruins her life. She first tries a cigarette, weed, and then "the Monster", crank. Also, I realized that every time she experiments with a new drug, it is under the influence of the boy Adam she met while visiting her dad in Albuquerque.  These two issues of "young love" and divorced parents are also a major part of some teenagers lives. Kristina felt very safe with Adam and they both loved each other so she trusted him and began her experimentation with him. However, when her visit is over and she goes back home to her mom, her and Adam break up and she rarely hears from her dad. She begins rebelling at home, meeting different boys, continuing her use of crank sneaking out of the house, etc. This is also relatable to many teenagers lives because while not every teen does crank  or drugs we all go through a stage where we feel like rebelling against our parents at least some point in our lives. Because of all of the events that take place in the main characters life, i believe that the author's targeted audience for this book are teenagers.
After reading the author's note at the beginning of this book, I have learned exactly how this book reflects Ellen Hopkins' life.

"While this work is fiction, it is loosely based on a very true story- my daughter's... The monster did touch her life, and the lives of her family. My family."

In this book, crank is often referred to as "the Monster".  Just after reading this particular section of the book about the author's life, it is pretty obvious that she wrote it about her daughter and the struggles her drug addiction put on the author and her family. As the reader, we already know that Kristina is soon going to find a way to get crank once she arrives back home. The  author's note also mentions a baby at the end of the book.

“The “baby' at the end of the book is now seven years old, and my husband and I

have adopted him. He is thriving now, but it took a lot of extra love.

Towards the end of this book, Kristina gets pregnant after being raped by one of her classmates on a date. When she finds this out, she makes a promise to herself and the baby that she will not use drugs ever again and that she will be a good mom for her child. Unfortunately, once the child is born Kristina quickly breaks that promise and leaves her family and her child to go back to crank. I also visited the authors website, and learned that Hopkins and her husband have raised her daughter's child all his life. I haven't found any information on the author's real daughter, but I do know that she is not a part of her family or her child's life. The same is for Kristina I believer, an the author has written one other book about this same topic, about Kristina.

Peer Review Comments

Billy: I think you should write more about the actual relationship between these two characters. it seems like you sort of just explain Zero and X-Ray as people, but you don't really expand on their relationship between each other, if that's what you're trying to do.

Sam: *will be visible after comment is excepted.


Vinh:I thing that in order to make this post stronger you should include which book you like better. Also, is the other book Eragon written by the same author as this book you are reading now, or are they written by different authors and you are comparing the two because you find good points of comparisons for them?   

basic book review draft 1

In the realistic fiction book Crank by Ellen Hopkins, the life of a teenage girl Kristina is followed as she spirals down in life from addiction to crystal meth. In the story, Kristina goes and visits her father in Albaquerqe one summer where she first tries “the monster” which is what crank is oftenly referred to in the story. Once she returns home she vows that it was only a one time thing, but she ends up continuing her drug use once she gets back home. I believe that Hopkins' target audience for this book are teenagers, ages fourteen and up. I also know that the author's purpose in writing this book is to express events that effected her family.

Based on the topics discussed throughout the story, this book appears to be aimed at a teenagers from the age of 14+. The experiences and thoughts that the main character, Kristina goes through can easily be relatable to many teens today. Obviously, this book is mainly focused on drugs and one issue based on this is experimentation that many teens want to go through during their youth. 

" 'You don't smoke do you? I took a small puff. Struggled like hell not to cough. (pg.75)... It had been a tempstuous week, snared by emotions rubbing me so raw  I hurt at night... So when he asked about getting high, I didn't think, I agreed. We smoked some good California green (pg.85)... "' 'Okay, little girl. Ready to party?' Mom expected me home in ten days. Of course I was sure. Like magic, a mirror and razor blade appeared. I watched him pour powder, yellowish white.(pg.88)."

These three quotes from sections throughout the book are very important in explaining how Kristina slowly gets closer and closer to the drug that ruins her life. She first tries a cigarette, weed, and then "the Monster", crank. Also, I realized that every time she experiments with a new drug, it is under the influence of the boy Adam she met while visiting her dad in Albuquerque.  These two issues of "young love" and divorced parents are also a major part of some teenagers lives. Kristina felt very safe with Adam and they both loved each other so she trusted him and began her experimentation with him. However, when her visit is over and she goes back home to her mom, her and Adam break up and she rarely hears from her dad. She begins rebelling at home, meeting different boys, continuing her use of crank sneaking out of the house, etc. This is also relatable to many teenagers lives because while not every teen does crank  or drugs we all go through a stage where we feel like rebelling against our parents at least some point in our lives. Because of all of the events that take place in the main characters life, i believe that the author's targeted audience for this book are teenagers.
After reading the author's note at the beginning of this book, I have learned exactly how this book reflects Ellen Hopkins' life.

"While this work is fiction, it is loosely based on a very true story- my daughter's... The monster did touch her life, and the lives of her family. My family."

In this book, crank is often referred to as "the Monster".  Just after reading this particular section of the book about the author's life, it is pretty obvious that she wrote it about her daughter and the struggles her drug addiction put on the author and her family. As the reader, we already know that Kristina is soon going to find a way to get crank once she arrives back home. The  author's note also mentions a baby at the end of the book.

“The “baby' at the end of the book is now seven years old, and my husband and I

have adopted him. He is thriving now, but it took a lot of extra love.

Towards the end of this book, Kristina gets pregnant after being raped by one of her classmates on a date. When she finds this out, she makes a promise to herself and the baby that she will not use drugs ever again and that she will be a good mom for her child. Unfortunately, once the child is born Kristina quickly breaks that promise and leaves her family and her child to go back to crank. I also visited the authors website, and learned that Hopkins and her husband have raised her daughter's child all his life. I haven't found any information on the author's real daughter, but I do know that she is not a part of her family or her child's life. The same is for Kristina I believer, an the author has written one other book about this same topic, about Kristina.

Mini Basic Mook Review #2

2.For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?)

In the realistic fiction book Crank by Ellen Hopkins, the life of main character Kristina is profiled as a terrible drug begins to take over her life.  The topic of this book is closely related to the author's life. Hopkins' daughter became addicted to crank and it was a tremendous struggle for their whole family, according to the "About the Author" page at the beginning of this book. 


Based on the topics discussed throughout the story, this book appears to be aimed at a teenagers from the age of 14+. The events and thoughts that the main character Kristina goes through and experiences can easily be relatable to many teens today. Obviously (by reading the title) this book is mainly focused on drugs and one issue based on this is experimentation that many teens want to go through during their youth. 

" 'You don't smoke do you? I took a small puff. Struggled like hell not to cough. (pg.75)... It had been a tempstuous week, snared by emotions rubbing me so raw  I hurt at night... So when he asked about getting high, I didn't think, I agreed. We smoked some good California green (pg.85)... "' 'Okay, little girl. Ready to party?' Mom expected me home in ten days. Of course I was sure. Like magic, a mirror and razor blade appeared. I watched him pour powder, yellowish white.(pg.88)."

These three quotes from sections throughout the book are very important in explaining how Kristina slowly gets closer and closer to the drug that ruins her life. If it isn't clear she first tries a cigarette, weed, and then "the Monster" , crank. Also, I realized that every time she experiments with a new drug, it is under the influence of the boy Adam she met while visiting her dad in Albuquerque.  These two issues of "young love" and divorced parents are also a major part of some teenagers lives. Kristina felt very safe with Adam and they both loved eachother so she trusted him and began her experimentation with him. However, when her visit is over and she goes back home to her mom, her and Adam break up and she rarely hears from her dad. She begins rebelling at home, meeting different boys, continuing her use of crank sneaking out of the house, etc. This is also relatable to many teenagers lives because while not every teen does crank  or drugs (thankfully) we all go through a stage where we feel like rebelling against our parents at least some point in our lives. Because of all of the events that take place in the main characters life, i believe that the author's targeted audience for this book are teenagers.

first book review - Crank

[5. Find out about the author. How did they end up writing this particular book? How is the author's life reflected in the book?]The book Crank by Ellen Hopkins is fiction story about a girl who struggles to fight a drug addiction. In this book the main character Kristina/Bree (it isn't clear, but it seems as though she has some sort of split personality disorder?) goes to Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit her dad for a few weeks. She hasn't seen him since she was a little girl, so she is somewhat surprised to find that he is a 30 -40 year old man who works at a bowling alley, lives in a run down apartment, and does drugs during his free time. While she is on this visit, Kristina meets a boy named Adam and together, he gets her to try crank. During this trip she somewhat becomes addicted to this drug and when she gets home she begins looking for a way to get it.

After reading the author's note at the beginning of this book, I have learned exactly how this book reflects Ellen Hopkins' life.

"While this work is fiction, it is loosely based on a very true story- my daughter's... The monster did touch her life, and the lives of her family. My family."

In this book, crank is often referred to as "the Monster".  Just after reading this particular section of the book about the author's life, it is pretty obvious that she wrote it about her daughter and the struggles her drug addiction put on the author and her family. I have so far made it about half way through the book, however it is just at the part where she is back home with her mom, step dad, little brother and older sister. As the reader, we already know that she is soon going to find a way to get crank, but I haven't reached the part where the author clearly goes into depth about Kristina's addiction. The  author's note also mentions a baby at the end of the book (which is kind of a spoiler to the reader) and that this baby is real and that the author and her husband now takes care of this baby. However, there isn't much mentioned about what happens to her daughter, but maybe the end of the book will be the same as what happens to Ellen Hopkins' daughter in real life.

Vignette Project Reviews

After reading through the vignettes of my classmates, I have come to realize that many have some sort of connection to a family or multiple family members in at least one of their vignettes. Three of these vignette projects which I found this pattern in were in Tony, Justice, and Ashli's. All three of these vignettes included  some sort of comparison between multiple family members.

In Tony's vignette "Humerus" he discusses the different senses of humor that are present in his family and compares each one to the other.

"My dad’s idea of a joke [...] an range from very light and funny to really funny and a crying little brother... My brother has not yet developed a sense of humor ... My mom’s sense of humor on the other hand is very subtle. It is sometimes hard to tell when she thinks something is funny."

 In this specific vignette, the comparison is sense of humor within Tony's family. He goes through each of the members in his family and discusses how their sense of humor varies and how they compare to one another. He also talks about his personal views of each of these peoples sense of humor. For example, Tony talks about how he sees his dad's jokes very funny, while his little brothers are very juvenile and do  not seem funny to him, and how most of the time he can't understand his mother's sense of humor.

In Justice's vignette "Shoes and all Their Necessities", she talks about the different types of shoes her family members wear and how much they care about them, including herself.

 "My mom loves boots that sit high on her legs [...] My dad's shoes spell out sports... when he's going to work he pulls out the fancy shoes [...] [My little brother] always has to have the latest kicks whether it’s blazers to the new pairs of jordan’s [...] Im simple open to any shoe as long as it’s cute and I’m not thinking about it."

Here Justice compares the different shoes her mom, dad, little brother, and herself wear and how important or picky a person is on what shoes they have. She talks about how her mom likes to wear boots, her dad wears sports shoes and dress shoes, and how her little brother is obsessive over which shoes he has. She compares him to Paris Hilton since he cannot seem to go a couple of weeks with out having the latest shoes that are out. Justice talks about herself and how she is very far from caring so much about shoes like her brother. This is another vignette which multiple family members are compared through a certain topic.

Finally, in Ashli's vignette "Hairs" she talks about the many differences in types of hair of people in her family.

"Everyone in my family is different even their hair is different including me..Everyone in my family, that includes: my dad, my mom, my sister, and me, our hair all have our differences."

The differences Ashli discusses are hair texture, color, and hair styles that each person in her family wears. She compares her mom, dad, sister and herself and discusses each of these points of comparisons of different type of hair that are present within this group of people.  Again, this is another vignette that uses a point of comparison to show differences between multiple family members.

What's Next For Esperanza?

When Esperanza finally leaves Mango Street, I predict that she intends to do for herself what the other women in er neighborhood were unable to do. Throughout this book there are many women and girls mentioned who are stuck on Mango Street and either didn't or won't have the opportunity to get an education so that they could live their lives with out relying on a man.

"Not a man's house. Not a daddy's. A house all my own. With my porch and my pillow, my pretty purple petunias. My books and my stories [...] Nobody to shake a stick at. Nobody's garage to pick up after." (p.108)

This quote clearly shows that Esperanza intends on having a house of her own completely without  the help of a man weather it is her father, or her husband, she definitely wants to be independent. The last two sentences of this quote also make it seem as though she doesn't want children to have to pick up after either, at least at the moment. She want to be able to be alone and do well for herself before she had to take care of other people.

When Esperanza leaves Mango Street, she seems to be glad to finally get away and go on and give to herself what many of the other women she encountered couldn't give to themselves, which I think is an education. I also think that she mainly wants to get a job good enough to be able to provide for herself. However, she mentions that she won't forget to return to Mango Street.

"They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones  I left behind. For the ones who cannot out." (p. 110)

When she says "... I have gone away to to come back for the ones I left behind," it seems as though Esperanza is saying that once she has achieved her goals in the new place she has left to, she will come back for others. These other people that she "left behind" are most likely the women she mentions throughout the book. By coming back I think Esperanza means that she will return to help these women leave Mango Street and succeed for themselves just as she intends to do herself. She would like to help them achieve accomplishments so that they would no longer have to rely on a man to provide for them and so that they won't have to be stuck being a house wife. Esperanza wants to do what is best for herself and then use her achievements to help the women that made her realize she doesn't want to rely on any man when she gets older like they had to. 

The House on Mango Street: boys vs. girls

In the House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the series of events are told through the perspective of Esperanza and I've noticed that a majority of them are about the many women she meets and has encounters with throughout her time on Mango street. I would say Cisneros is definitely in favor of women rights because of the way Esperanzas perspective is, but in these vignettes many of the women mentioned appear to be very weak and the main cause for this seems to be by a male in their life, weather it is their husband or father, or some other male figure.On the topic of raising children, I think Cisneros would agree that boys and girls should be raised a little differently, but mostly the same. However, by reading her book it is obvious that she understands that people in society raise their sons differently to their daughters.

Assuming Cisneros is a strong believer if women rights, I conclude that she believes boys and girls should be raised roughly equally in society. However, she definitely addresses the reality that this is not the case for most families.

"Her father says to be this beautiful is trouble...He remembers his sisters and is sad. Then she can't go out. Sally I mean."(p.81) "But who believes her... A girl who comes in with her pretty face all beaten and black can't be falling off the stairs. He never hits me hard." (p.92)

In the first vignette that Sally is introduced , Esperanza explains how she is a beautiful girl, who seems to have no freedom. She mentions that she is always running home after school and doesn't really stay to play with the other children after school. When I first read this vignette, it wasn't really clear to me what her home life was like. However, the second time Sally is mentioned in the vignette, "What Sally Said" it becomes pretty clear that Sally's father abuses her at home. When Cisneros mentions that Sally's father's sisters left and that he's afraid that Sally may do the same, it seems to me that Cisneros is saying that since Sally is a girl she is treated a certain way by her father. This makes me think that it may be a cycle. Maybe Sally's father saw what his sisters did and assumed Sally would do the same since she is a girl. This shows that Cisneros realized this is un fair, but it is a reality in the world that girls are sometimes raised differently than boys.

In The House on Mango Street, there are also a few places where Cisneros mentions the stereotypical views of what women should do with their lives that are common in this neighborhood. It seems as though most of these women are expected to wait until they find a man to marry and they will be the care taker of the home and take care of the children. This view is addressed in the vignette "Alicia Who Sees Mice".

"Alicia, whose mama died, is sorry there is no one older to rise and make the lunchbox tortillas. Alicia who inherited her mama's rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and studies for the first time at the university [...] because she doesn't want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin."

Since Alicia was the oldest girl left after her mother died, she was the one that had to take on all her duties and responsibilities.  This vignette shows how Alicia is sort of forced to take on the roll of a caretaker since she is a girl. However, it also shows how she continues to work hard and go to the university because she doesn't want to be one of the stereotypical women who just stay home and take care of children. To me this vignette shows that Sandra Cisneros thinks that girls should be raised to achieve greatness- getting an education, getting a job to provide for themselves etc; It seems she is giving the message that girls shouldn't be brought up and just be expected to be stay home moms, but they should have an equal chance to achieve things in their lives just like boys.

Thoughts of the Past by Karisa Coleman

Thoughts of the Past

by Karisa Coleman

Table of Contents

He Pushed the Puppet House...................................................................................................1

Cabin Scars.............................................................................................................................2

Summer in Hawaii....................................................................................................................3

Hair.........................................................................................................................................4

Worst Summer ever.................................................................................................................5

“He Pushed the Puppet House”

When I was younger- about six or seven years old, me and my friend Tatiana went to this program for kids at this school called Synergy after school on certain days of the week. I remember one day all of the kids were playing and running around the room after taking their naps as they waited for their parents to come pick them up. Me, Tatiana and a few other kids were playing behind the puppet pox where kids could put on little puppet shows. As we were all playing, having a good time, this other little boy came up with rage in his eyes. Neither I, nor any of the other kids were quite sure what he was so upset about. However, we knew he was pretty mad as he aggressively pushed the wooden puppet house down on all of us. As a fifteen year old this doesn't seem like a harmless act, but in the back of my head I can still remember the horror that went through my mind as this seemingly enormous figure fell on top of me and all of my friends. Now that I think back, it seemed as though this square figure could have crushed me and my friends, but as you grow up, what seemed large and a big deal to you can seem like nothing.

“Cabin Scars”

For as long as I can remember, my family and I have gone on annual camping trips every summer. I always had so much fun playing with my cousins and enjoying time with my aunts and uncles, and all my other family members. One summer I distinctly recall because I still have a scar on my knee that prevents the memory from fading. On one camping trip we went, to we were all sitting around the brown wooden tables eating lunch and my mom asked me to go get a drink for her from our cabin. I remember running there and when I tried walking up the two small steps I tripped and fell on my knees. This probably wouldn't have hurt so bad if it was just wood I fell on, however the front of the porch in this cabin had some sort of sand-papery material on the floor, probably to prevent people from slipping. Unfortunately it is what gave me the scar I still have on my left knee today. It severely scratched me, and my knee was bleeding tremendously. I was crying and in so much pain as the red blood flooded from my leg. What made it worse was that after this I was afraid to go swimming because I was worried that it would make my new cut sting. Although my trip and fall on my camping trip was unpleasant at the moment, it is now a marked memory of one of my family camping trips.

“Summer in Hawaii”

The summer of my transitioning year to seventh grade was probably one of the best summers a kid could have. I was so happy when my parents told me they would let me go to Hawaii during the summer, and the coolest part- I got to go with out them. When I was about to enter the seventh grade my parents agreed to let me fly to Hawaii on my own to spend about a month with my cousins who lived there. While I was there I had a great time staying on the beach and wandering around the island with my cousin. We also met another girl who was from California as well and we all had a pretty good time. We would go to the beach at least once day and would get ice cream just as often. Back then, although I tremendously enjoyed my vacation in Hawaii, I didn't think I would want to live there because of the sun. That may still be the case, however despite the constant hot weather I don't think I would mind living there at all.

“Hair”

I have a very large family and everyone has a different kind of hair. My mom has curly hair that is a little less curlier than mine, which I love and wish mine were the same. You can't tell because he shaves it, but my dad also has curly hair which is closer to resembling mine rather than my mom's. I have many cousins who have different kinds of hair. My cousin Nasia has dark blonde hair than stretches down all the way to her hips. It is silky and straight and reminds me of mermaid hair. It's super thick, which makes it hard to comb, but it is very nice. Another one of my cousins Sophia used to have the same kind of hair except it was black. When she was a teenager and in her early twenties, her hair also swept all the way down her back. I remember when I was little and I loved playing with is. A few years ago she cut her hair to a bob, but it is now growing back and is at her shoulders. Although it isn't very long anymore, it is still silky and healthy- which I envy, and always smells like flowers. These are just a few members of my family to name who have different types of hair.

“Worst Summer Ever”

Summer is supposed to be one of the most exciting times in a kids life. Unfortunately this was not the case for me in the year 2006. When I was about ten years old, my friend Michele and I went to, what was supposed to be a “super fun” summer camp. It was located in the forests of Santa Cruz and was my first time going to sleep away camp. As Michele and I sat in the back seat of her mom's small silver car, we were so excited to reach our destination as we drove through the mountains, past the ten feet tall, dark green trees. When we each said our goodbyes to our parents I was a bit nervous, but I tried to convince myself that everything would be fine and that I would have a great time. However, the complete opposite is what happened. The next morning I realized that we would be woken up every morning to pray. This was a religious camp, but even at this time of my life I wasn't too “spiritual” since I never went to church. However, I stuck through it as we sat around the unlit campfire with the smell of pine trees in the air and participated in the morning activity. As the next day came I was wondering what we were doing during the afternoon and I soon found out what this was: raking leaves in the forest. The counselors and all the other adults who ran the camp said this was good “service” for the place we were staying at, but I just thought it was ridiculous. Aren't leaves meant to be in the forest? But all I could do was continue to soldier on and participate. On the third day, I began to have a reaction to the pollen that filled the air and my eyes became red and puffy. By this time I couldn't wait to go home and when the day to be picked up finally came, I couldn't wait to arrive back home in the bustling city. Now, I know I will never go back to that camp again.

Significance of Trees in The House on Mango Street

In The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, there are many symbols scattered throughout the book. Last week we focused on windows, but another symbol i noticed in this book were trees. Trees were mentioned a couple of times in The House on Mango Street and it seems like they are used to represent Ezperanza's feelings of not fitting in and feeling like she doesn't belong.
In one of the vignettes, Esperanza describes the trees as being tall and skinny and not belonging where they are, but they're there anyways. She relates this back to herself and you can tell that she feels out of place in her society, where she's growing up and that she feels like she is just living there, but she doesn't really belong there, like the trees.
Esperanza also states, "I am the only one that understand them" and they are the only ones that understand me. This is another quote that shows that Esperanza feels like she doesn't belong because she is saying that nobody truly understands her besides the trees. This shows that she feels alone and that she can not exactly find anyone where she lives who can relate to her or make her feel like she is important or that she actually belongs.
She also makes a comment about her sister having no respect for the trees and not recognizing them and their significance. It isn't very clear or really mentioned in this vignette, but it makes me wonder if this is how she feels about herself. I wonder if she feels unnoticed and/or unappreciated by the people around her because she does mention how the trees are the only ones who understand her so, this makes me think that another commonality she may share with these long, skinny trees is that people don't recognize the significance in her, similarly to her sister not noticing the true beauty that Esperanza sees in the trees around her.

All in all, it seems to me that these trees mentioned throughout The House on Mango Street are used to symbolize the main character Esperanza's feelings of not belonging or fitting in in the society in which she lives in. I also infer that she may also feel unnoticed or unappreciated by the people around her, however I am not completely sure.

Significance in Windows - The House on Mango Street

In The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, there are many different objects that are mentioned a significant amount of times throughout the book that are symbols/references to things the main character Esperanza experiences throughout her life. One of these symbols are windows, which are mentioned in a couple of vignettes in the book. Behind these windows, there always seems to be a women trapped on the other side of them for one reason or another.

For example, in the vignette "No Speak English," Esperanza talks about a woman known as Mamacita who is the wife of one of her neighbors that has worked very hard to bring her and her son from Mexico to the US. Mamacita never seems to come outside from her house and people have said that it is because she is too fat to fit through the door or doesn't want to walk down the stairs (No Speak English, pg.76). However, Esperanza comes to the conclusion that she doesn't want to come out side because she is afraid to since she can't speak English. She also describes how this woman is trapped behind the window of her house and longs for her old pink home back in Mexico. It seems as though this window holds her back from experiencing the world outside her new house.

Another example of a woman being trapped behind a window is in the vignette where Esperanza talks about the woman who is locked up in her  room by her husband because she is "too beautiful to look at". Unlike Mamacita who stays locked in the house by choice and fear, this woman is forced to stay inside. She is also described as sitting, staring out of the window looking at the world outside of her room. She also has to ask the children to run errands for her since she can not go out side. This is another example of a window keeping a woman from living her life in the world on the other side of the glass.

One final example of a female being trapped is in the vignette "Sally" (pg.81) In this part of the book, a girl named Sally is described as a very pretty girl, who all the boys like and the girls envy. However, Sally's father tells her that "being this beautiful is dangerous"(82). Esperanza also makes the observation that everyday after school, Sally rushes straight home with her eyes starring down at the ground.Her father is stopping her from exploring her own life for herself.

After analyzing these vignettes, it is obviously a reoccuring situation in which there is a woman trapped behind a window. These windows symbolize how a lot of woman in this area are held back from achieving there goals. Also, besides  the vignette about Mamacita, these woman/girls are also being held back by a man. For the woman who is "too beautiful to look at", it is her husband who traps her in the house; for Sally it's her father. So, based on these conclusions i've made, i believe that these windows represent a higher power or feeling that holds these women back.

The Color Purple: Nettie vs. Nettie Essay

In the book The Color Purple by Alice Walker, the lives of two sisters, Nettie and Celie, are followed through a series of letters written. Although these two are sisters, they both end up living separate lives, experiencing many different things. However, these events that they experience help shape their views on different topics of the world. Two of the main topics that each sister changes their views on is religion/spirituality and gender inequality.

For religion and spirituality, it seems like in the beginning of this book that Celie and Nettie have similar views on this topic. However, as they are separated and begin to live different lives from one another, it seems like this topic means more to one sister than it does the other. It seems like Celie goes through her life using God just as a figure to help herself.

“You better not never tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mammy.” (pg. 1)

The very first opening line in this book is a quote that Celie was told by her dad. While she was living at home with him he would rape her and she would end up having his children. He told her that she better not tell anyone but God about what happens and I think this is what begins her series of letters written to God. Celie gets married off at a very early age to a man who is much older than her. Unfortunately she faces many challenges throughout this marriage and is forbidden by her husband to keep in contact with the one person whom she is most close to- her sister Nettie. The writing of her letters addressed to God begin before this, but I think the reason why she continues writing to Him is because she probably feels like she has no one else to confide in besides Him. Since she is no longer allowed to contact her sister and her husband isn't very loving or caring at all to her, she feels like the only person she can tell everything to is God. However, later on in the book we discover that Celie begins to loose faith in God and realizes that she doesn’t really know who he is. Shug Avery explains to her that God doesn't have to be a he or a she or any race, He can just be referred to as an “It”.

However, the difference with Nettie is that she seems to use God and her spiritual and religious views to help other people. While Celie is living her life raising children and being a wife, Nettie gets an opportunity to travel all the way to Africa. While she is on her trip she serves as a missionary and helps the people there learn about faith and religion. She also seems to actually have a strong belief in God and higher powers and unlike Celie, she doesn't seem to ever really doubt weather there really is a God or not.

Another aspect that Celie and Nettie experience in their lives is gender inequality. Although these sisters grow up and live very different lives this is an aspect in which they experience similar experiences on. For Celie, it seems as though pretty much all her life she has struggled with being mistreated from men. Before she got married and was still living with her father, Celie was constantly put down by him and was told that she was ugly. He also completely disrespected her and her body my raping her while she lived with him. Once, she was forced by her father to marry Mr. ___. Celie is disrespected by him very similarly. She works very hard for him and takes care of his kids, but he still finds reasons to beat her.

“Harpo ast his daddy why he beat me. Mr. ____ say, Cause she my wife. Plus, she stubborn. All women good for—he don't finish... Remind me of Pa.” (pg. 22)

This quote shows how Mr.____ doesn't really seem to have an actual reason as to why he beats Celie. Besides saying that she is “stubborn” which she really isn't considering she does pretty much anything he asks her to do, he doesn't really seem to have an actual reason to explain why he beats Celie. When his son asks him this question his main reply is just “because she my wife.” This here shows that Mr.___ feels that because he is the man and because Celie is the women, he is automatically entitled to the right to do whatever he wants to do to her. Celie mentions how this reminds her of her father which shows how she has been dealing with this gender inequality for a very long time.

Since Celie and Nettie are sisters and share the same “father” , Nettie may have had some of these experiences in her home, but definitely not as much as Celie. Nettie was viewed as the prettier, smarter sister out of the two and therefor wasn't degraded as much as her father. However, as she grows older and when she travels as a missionary in Africa, she views a culture where women are pretty much viewed as nothing in society. It is somewhat similar in back in America during this time, but not as much considering that during this time most of the discrimination is racial. So, although these sisters face differences in views on religion and spiritual beliefs, they still share somewhat similar experiences with discrimination against being a female in their society although they experience it in two very different parts of the world.

Social Networking Rebuttle to Luis

In Luis' blog he writes how social newtworking websites, such as Facebook are benificial. In his post he mentions that it can help people learn about current events going on in the world, ask for help from friends, and Facebook's ultimate goal: to "unite the world." I do agree with his statement that social networking is good for staying in contact with friends, however there are some ways Luis could improve his debate. It would be helpful to include important quotes from these websites he placed links to because sometimes people may not want to read all of the three articles he used as his recorces. Also, another way he could improve his debate is by including some of his personal experiences with Facebook and other social networking sites. For example, I would write about how Facebook helps me stay in contact with a lot of old friends. I am friends with many people from middle school and Facebook is one of the ways that helps me stay in contact with them if i don't have their phone numbers. Also, I've even reconnected with a lot of people from elementry school. Even though you may not talk to everyone of your friends that you have on Facebook, it's still interesting to see how other people are doing and I also find in kind of interesting when I find out that two of my friends from different places know each other. Another reason why I agree with Luis and believe that social networking sites are benificial is because it is also a good way to plan events to meet up with multiple people, as he stated. Some of my friends post invitations and date reminders for parties or get togethers they may have and in my opinion, it is a lot simpler and easier  to post a group invitation of Facebook istead of going to every person personally and giving out a paper invitation. Also, i think this is a good way to make sure that people don't feel left out because you do have the possibility of fmaking you're events private.

For the most part I do agree with Luis and his views on the pros of social networking just for a few different reasons, but mostly for the same.

The Color Purple

In the book "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker, Celie is a young girl who deals with many complications in her life. Her mother dies, she's had two children by her own father and she gets married off to a guy who loves her sister. This book is written as a diary/ a series of letters written to God. In my opinion i think that the reason Celie writes to God is because she feels like he is the only one she can confide in. Also, at the very beginning of the book, there is a quote from her father that says, "You better not never tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mammy." I'm pretty sure he was referring to the fact that he rapes Celie and I I'm sure that this had a major effect on why Celie titles each entry with "Dear God". Because her father told her this and she fears her Dad she probably had it stuck in her mind that the only one she could tell everything to is God. I also think Celie writes these letters to God because, although her mother already passed away, she doesn't really have anyone else to confide in her feelings. When she moves in with Mr._____ he isn't really a loving husband because he isn't really in love with her. Unfortunately he beats her repeatedly and she feels obligated to do everything he tells her to do because she is afraid of him. Also, Celie isn't really allowed to see her sister anymore according to Mr.____ and she was the one person she was closest to. Because she now just lives with Mr. ____ and his children, there isn't really anyone Celie can really talk to about her feelings and tell every single thing to. This is another reason i think she writes to God.

Should Young Stars Have to Be "Good" Role Models for Their Young Viewers

I chose to write about this question because it kind of made me think of another blog post I did in the past on Disney Channel and their stars. However, that time I was talking about the success of their stars' careers and now this topic is focusing on young stars in general and if they should be entitled to being a role model for their viewers.

In my opinion I think that they should be a good examples to the kids who watch their show if they are really young, but only to a certain extent. I think that if an actor is on Disney channel or Nickelodeon or some other kids TV channel, and they're around the age of 13-15 or 16 they should act their age and try to send a good message to their young viewers who may or may not look up to them. However, I really believe that when these actors hit the ages of 16-18 and older, they shouldn't constantly be attacked for doing certain things that kids 4 years younger than them shouldn't be doing.

For example, it seems like Miley Cyrus has been getting attacked by the media a lot lately for doing certain things that "aren't appropriate" in their eyes. Her new music videos are said to be too "inappropriate" and I agree that it is a big change from when she was on Hannah Montana singing about ice cream, but she's a lot older now. She started that show when she was 13 and it's been around four or five years since then. There's also a video of her smoking from a bong and everyone seems to be freaking out about that too. I mean it's not a great thing for her to be doing but come on, she's 18 and isn't even on Disney anymore! It's completely normal for people her age to party and experiment. I don't even think she was doing any hard core drugs.

In this article, it talks about how some parents need to understand that Miley Cyrus is growing up and isn't going to be a kids' TV star her whole life. It also mentions how stars like Brittney Spears and Christina Aguilara.

America has to get over the fact that Miley Cyrus won't be a teenager her whole life as the Disney star blossoms into young adulthood...

Cyrus is not alone in dealing with the double standard, as Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears also ran into the impossible "don't grow up" demand as their careers matured

There are some people who are her age and were on kids shows who aren't doing that stuff, but not everyone can be a perfect goody too shoes. What comes into my mind when I think this is Selena Gomez. It doesn't seen like she's made any mistakes and shes staying true to her squeaky clean Disney Girl image, which isn't a bad thing, it's just that not everyone can be this way and some people want to grow up.

What I'm saying is that young actors should be good role models for their viewers when they are at a certain age. They should act their age and shouldn't be going out partying and smoking when they're 14, but when they hit their late teen years they shouldn't be criticized so much for growing up and doing what many other kids their age are doing.

I Want To Move :(

Not that I really have anything against Alameda or the Bay, but I really want to move. I don't know when this stated, but lately I've just really been having the feeling that I want to pack up and move somewhere totally different. Not that I wouldn't want to stay in California, but maybe southern California... I don't know, a place with a beach seems nice. My cousin that lives in Hawaii really wants to move here and I can understand why. Pretty much our whole family lives here and she's been there all her life which I guess is why she's wanting to leave Hawaii, but the life style there just seems so nice. I guess she sees living here the same way. Not Alameda, but living really close to San Francisco is also what she likes about living here. But, like when I look at her pictures on Facebook it just seems like it would be so cool to just live there and go surfing and hang out at the beach after school.

However, I wouldn't want to live in Hawaii because I would definitely get sick of the weather there. I don't mind it being hot, but I think everyday would just be too much for me. But I wouldn't mind living in SoCal, even though some people there can be kind of irritating and fake.. but not everyone is like that, you get those people everywhere.  I don't know i've also been seeing all these pictures of people who live in Australia and other places and it just looks so fun! Seriously I am so jealous of those people who can like ride their bikes or skateboards with their friends to the beach. I mean you can do that now, but kids don't really do that because the beach is too freezing to actually be active and have fun there. Not saying that I'd want to move anywhere as far as Australia or anything, but change is good and I really feel like I need change right now.

Unfortunately I know that this is not going to happen anytime soon as long as I am controlled by my parents. But this is one of the reasons I am looking forward to college because then I can go to school somewhere far away. I can't wait until I'm old enough to drive somewhere and make my own decisions on where I live. O well. a couple more years...

RE: What is emo/scene

Earlier this week I came across Lhadze's blog on her views on what being emo/scene really is. In her post she says,

"Most real scene kids wear Gloomy Bear, Hello Kitty, Invader Grim, Metal band shirts. They wear anything from skirts, shorts and fishnets to skinnes or just leggings ripped....Cause all you people who say "I'm Scene" your all posers. Scene kids have the hair. Yes you heard me. The crazy hair. teased, dyed, curly on the bottom.  Bows, flowers, anythign you want as  long it represents you! I mean go with the craziness...We don't care what people think."

So, I don't mean this in a bad way AT ALL, but honestly I think this whole battle on who's really scene and who's not is getting kinda old. I mean I don't think it's really that big of a deal if someone wants to be scene. Lhadze writes in her post some, what seem like guidelines on how to be scene. It's really cool how she can feel so comfortable with herself to have this kind of style and not care what people say about the way she looks, but I don't think it's that serious if someone else wants to be scene too.

I can understand if someone is constantly copying everything you do, that would annoy me too, but I don't think it's right to just automatically say that everyone who says "I'm Scene", is a poser. I mean in that case someone else can just come along and say you're a poser.

It's just my opinion, but I think that people should just care about what they do and not what someone else is... unless they're biting off of certain specific things you do. However, if someone wants to dress or do their hair a certain way, I say just let them be. In a few years you'll realize getting so worked up about it is just a bit silly.

Does it Matter Where You Go to College?

Out of all 7 of the debate responses, the one that I found the most persuasive was "Graduate School Matters More" by David W. Brenemen. The reason that I found this one to be more persuasive compared to some of the other responses was because he makes the point that I personally think is the answer to this question, "Does it matter where you go to college?". Brenemen basically says that what school you go to in the begining can have different effects on different people because not everyone learns the same or thinks the same. What really matters is what you do in graduate school.

"An equally bright but more reticent student, one who is not sure about his or her future path, may get lost or overlooked in such a setting, and have a less than ideal experience...The quality of graduate or professional school will matter more in the long run to a student’s success in life than the ranking of the undergraduate college."

 These two points really made me agree with Brenemen because he points out how some students don't know exactly what they want to major in when they first get to college. Undergraduate school is good for the student to try new things and determine what they want to study when they arrive at graduate school. This is where things will matter for your future jobs.

The response that I found least persuasive was "Merit and Race" by Luis Fuentes-Rohwer. In his argument he states,

"Attendance at elite colleges and universities has a positive effect on the likelihood that a student will graduate; on future earnings; on the likelihood that a student will attend graduate school; and even to lower divorce rates and better health."

Maybe his statements might have persuaded me more if he would have at least included where he got this information and statistics from. First of all, the idea that going to Harvard, for example will help you stay healthy and not get a divorce compared to if you went to a less prestigious school  is absolutely ridiculous to me. I have cousins who have gone to UC schools and they aren't having heart attacks and getting sick all the time. I actually think that Rohwer's quote here just sounds really dumb. He couldn't even prove the information with statistics. For me if you give me information I'd like to have proof of where you got it from and this is the reason why I found this response the most non persuasive.

People Change

While i was on the Internet, I came across a quote on one of my friends blogs  (not from ASTI). It said, "People change. They end up having nothing to say to each other, even if they were best friends the year before."

This quote really stood out to me because recently me and one of my really close friends from middle school have become very distant. It seems like this first all began towards the middle of summer. Me and this friend were supposed to go visit our old school with a couple of other people since they started back a lot earlier than us. I was really excited to see her and other people that I missed and we both planned on meeting each other there. I caught the bus all the way to my old school since we both had agreed on meeting each other there. However, when i called to see if she got there yet, she told me that she was stuck in traffic and she would me there in about ten minutes. I figured that i'd just wait for her, but a couple minutes later she called me and said that she got in a car accident and wasn't going to be there for another hour. I told her that I would just stay and wait for her downtown in San Francisco and she agreed to meet me there. When she called back she told me that she was about to get off of Bart. This confused me because I thought she was in a car accident... I didn't ask her and i just figured I'd ask her about it when I saw her.

To my surprise, when she came and met me she was with two of her other friends that I'd never met before. I was kind of confused... so she was in traffic, got in a car accident, and caught Bart to the city ... with these people? It didn't seem to make sense, but I didn't really feel comfortable asking her in front of those people. Anyways, the rest of the time was really awkward because they were talking about things they'd done together and i felt like a major fourth wheel.

Now, I haven't talked to this friend in a really long time. I miss her, but she doesn't really seem to care. It's kind of sad because she was one of my closest friends in middle school and now we never talk. Just like the quote said "[People] end up having nothing to say to each other, even if they were best friends the year before."