Nonfiction Post #1

  I have recently been reading the nonfiction book "Child Abuse", which is edited by William Dudley. The book is a series of articles about the social issue of child abuse. The article I am focusing on is titles "Child Abuse Perpetuated by Women is a Serious Problem", and is written by Carey Roberts. The main idea for this article is that Child Abuse, when caused by a woman, is not handled the same way as it would be for a man. Mr. Roberts tells us that the punishment for a woman is less than it would be for a man simply because of the woman's sex. Right off the bat, Roberts says this "Because when a man commits abuse, it seems the story is splashed all over the front page. But when the perpetrator is a member of the fairer sex, the story is regulated to the bottom of the Police Report on page C9." This shows us that an abusive woman gets less media coverage than an abusive man does. Roberts also tells the readers about how women have "A get-out-of-jail-free-card" by saying they had things like PMS or Depression when confronted about why they abused or even killed their child(ren). This shows the readers that women get are given more leniency, by being able to claim those things and not have to deal with the punishment, such as getting thrown into jail. Roberts also tells us about how the media also influences leniency by showing a great deal of anger to when a girl gets raped by a man, but when a Woman rapes a boy/child, it is often thought of as the child "getting lucky" instead of realizing that the child just MIGHT have been traumatized. This also proves that Women, when doing crimes against children, have more leniency.
    The author clearly wants us to see that there is a social injustice happening. For women to get off lighter than men on the same type of crime is horrible. How he encourages the feelings of disgust and anger is very crafty and intelligent. He starts off with stories of women abusing children. He then precedes to tell the readers that they probably haven't heard the stories because they usually are hidden away and aren't given much publicity, because the perpetrators are women. This causes a feeling of injustice to arrive. He also gives facts about how women usually are more likely to be the ones abusing children. This brings on a feeling of disgust. Roberts also brings up the concept of "Dumpster Babies", which he tells the readers were babies found abandoned by their mothers outside, and were usually dead when found. He then precedes to tell about how a new policy was made to prevent that, and to "accomodate" the abandoners instead of, "prosecuting them". "Under New York law, mothers can now anonymously drop off their infants up to five days old. But if she later has second thoughts, not to worry. She can come back and reclaim the child up to 15 months later. That satisfaction-guaranteed-or-your-money-back offer might work at a Macy's handbag sale, but that's not how a moral society treats its most vulnerable members." In the way he words this, he not only gets the reader to feel disgusted, by comparing the life of a baby to a regular object such as a handbag, but also angry that this is allowed. This is why the author clearly wants the readers to be disgusted by the leniency towards women abusers.
     Before I even read this article I knew that there was such a thing as "Women Abusers". I had read the sad tale of Dave Pelzer's life of abuse in his book titled "A Child Called It". I as a girl, have already known that people, in general, do tend to be more lenient with girls or women. The reason is, they think of girls as "weak" or that women need to be protected, and coddled. As a girl myself, I am disgusted that women who want to be treated like equals to men in everything else, don't want to be treated equally in the case of punishment. This shows a sign on bad character and makes me feel ashamed. I personally don't judge people by their gender, but by their actions, or if I know them, their personality. If a woman rapes a child, she is labeled to me as disgusting, and deserves to be punished the way a man would be punished. What I take away from this article is that the leniency towards women is despicable. It won't stop even when a child is the victim? It disgusts me that the woman is made to be more the victim than the innocent child who didn't deserve to be abused or even killed. The leniency towards women when dealing with punishment needs to be stopped. A crime is a crime is a crime, and crimes lead to punishment, and that punishment should be dealt equally and fairly according to the crime, no matter if the perpetrator is a woman or a man. This makes me want to know more about how women are given leniency when faced with having to "Own up" to their crimes.

Eclipse post #1

Eclipse
By: Stephenie Meyer
Terri Thampan

   I am currently reading the book "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer. This book is third in the Twilight "Saga". The main character is a girl named Bella Swan and in the first book she moves to Forks and meets a vampire named Edward Cullen. At the end of the book some Vampires come and try to kill Bella, but Edward kills one of them (James) so the other one (Victoria) wants to kill Bella, because she's Edward's "mate", as revenge for Edward killing her mate, James.
    Before I can actually start going on about how terrible this book is, I need to really show why it's so famous. Because really, I do understand why this book is loved by many (females).
    This book has very alluring points to it, I will admit that. I mean, come on, what girl doesn't want the "Dream Guy"? I mean, he's handsome, rich, smart, and is totally devoted to his girl and cares for her.
    But then, he's too perfect. He ends up having flaws that aren't intentional, but when you think about them, make him a very scary character. Edward Cullen is a creepy, stalker, pedophile, maniac! I mean, he comes into Bella's house at night, through her window, and watches her sleep.
    Now girls, if a guy ever watches you in your sleep, and your dad is a cop, I think the first reaction was to get the law on this guy. Watching someone sleep is kind of weird. I mean, I bet some couples do that, but like, sneaking into the other's house JUST to watch them sleep is really obsessive and VERY stalker like.
   Also, he's very controlling. He doesn't let Bella do anything, even though Bella constantly says he "spoils" her. Really, I can't call it spoiling her. I mean, he constantly refuses her requests to become a vampire. He says he doesn't want her to be a monster. I mean, I guess that's pretty normal, him looking out for her, but he still wants to date her?! That's really, kind of creepy. He doesn't want her to be a vampire, but will let her grow older and still date him. I mean, that's kind of horrible. She could get labeled as a pedophile, plus, it's really unfair to her. I mean, her humanity is her choice, and if she wants to throw it away, she can do that. But that brings me to the topic of Immortality, and I will fully talk about that later.
   He's controlling not just in that, but in her choices. She doesn't like expensive things, he goes and buys her expensive things. She doesn't like birthday parties (what a freak), he goes and throws her one (New Moon). He truly doesn't seem to care about her opinions. I mean, he could of got her a present and be done with it. But he has to constantly press his wants onto her. 'Oh, no one has ever truly aged here, so we want to at least throw a birthday party for you!' My response for that is: Go throw yourself a party, it doesn't matter if you age or not, a birthday is a birthday! If you want to celebrate it, do that, if not, then don't. It's the person's choice here! But not only that, he likes to open up all opportunities for colleges for her. Now Bella totally doesn't like that, which I can understand. I mean, I don't want to go to a college because my boyfriend paid for me to get into it/bribed my way into it. I mean, it's great that he does that, but he doesn't seem to be concerned about Bella's feelings, despite her telling him she doesn't want or like something.
   Now, here is my final piece of evidence. Edward Cullen is controlling because he does not let Bella do what she wants. I mean, she wanted to go visit Jacob Black, and he says no. His excuse: Werewolves are dangerous Bella! Yes, but so are vampires, I mean, Jasper totally went berserk when Bella got a PAPER CUT. If you still hang out with her, and let her near Jasper, then why can't she hang out with Jacob? I mean, I understand him being jealous, but to go all the way to prevent her visiting Jacob, not cool. I literally got scared for Bella's safety when I read one of the scenes in this book. She was going to visit Jacob, and it was dark. So she leaves her house and goes to her a truck. Now really, the reason why she's visiting Jacob is because her dad made her feel guilty. So she goes into her truck and tries to start the engine, but it's silent. So she tries again. Then she sees something from the corner of her eye. She jumps. Lo and Behold, guess who's in the car with her; Edward Cullen. He's playing with a car part, and is most obviously the reason why her car isn't starting. I don't know about you, but when I read that I freaked out. That is literally the scene in a horror movie where the character dies. That's one of the creepiest things ever. I would be scared for my life. But what's worse is that he tells her he won't visit her if she closes her window (because she's mad at him and he freaking KNOWS it), and so she closes it, but then OPENS IT! OH MY GOD! HOW STUPID IS THIS GIRL?! She literally is calling for danger.
    Now that that's over with, let's talk about another issue here: Immortality. Humanity really. So in this series, being a human sucks. You can't do anything. And basically, you age. I mean, Immortality is a very alluring thing as well. Who doesn't want to stay beautiful and young? As superficial as it is, we have to face it, humans are pretty superficial, we do like to stay in the prime of our youth. Though many often like to grow older. Growing older gives you many more experiences. Take Edward for example, he's forever stuck in the "mindset" of a seventeen year old boy, well a psychotic seventeen year old boy. I mean, I might be getting all philosophical here, but isn't the point of life to change and grow as you live, so that your life is never boring? But I guess it's all on perspective. But really, I don't like the human bashing.
   Someone I really like as a character is Jacob Black. He's actually a very fun character, especially in New Moon. I found his character very fun to just read about, and he made Bella have more personality and not just a boring Mary Sue. But sadly, in this book and the book after, he starts to become a huge jerk. Maybe it's a symbol about how puberty makes guys jerks? Maybe, maybe not. I don't know really, and it can't be true for all guys.
    What I found really creepy was how Edward is like the fatherly kind of person to Bella. He does act like she needs to be taken care of, and acts more like a parent towards her, which is creepy as he is going out with her. And Bella, has protective, maybe even maternal instincts come out when she's with Jacob. I feel like, even though she considers him a friend, she does have a more motherly side as she knows he's younger than her. Which makes it really creepy as Bella is in love with Edward and Jacob likes Bella.
    Creepy love of those who act like parents?
    I am now scarred.

The Hobbit

The Hobbit or There and Back Again
By: J.R.R Tolkien
Terri Thampan 804

   I have recently read the book "The Hobbit" by J.R.R Tolkien and I have to say it's amazing. It was really descriptive, and had an amazing plot. 
   The story is about Bilbo Baggins. He is a hobbit, and hobbits are creatures that like to be normal. Well to really explain normal, you are going to hear some personal bias here, it's actually very boring; it entails staying home, and doing normal things, never doing such ridiculous things like having adventures or other things so rambunctious. It actually reminds me of the Dursley family in Harry Potter. I guess J.K Rowling got her inspiration from Mr. Tolkien.
   Then, when Gandalf ( a wizard) comes, he sort of forces Bilbo to go on an adventure with Dwarves. These Dwarves are out trying to reclaim the treasure that belonged to "The King Under The Mountain" Thror, who also is Thrain's grandfather (Thrain being the leader of this little adventure). But, they must steal it from a dragon, and who better to steal than a "burglar" (what Gandalf told the dwarves what Bilbo's occupation was)? As they travel, they face many dangers, and learn as they go on.
    While I was reading, I felt like I was travelling along with the dwarves and Bilbo (And sometimes Gandalf). It's crazy, but what a good book does.
    What really amazed me was how subtly Bilbo changed. It was like you were Bilbo, as you never realize how you're changing in real life, and the same thing happened in the book. Usually in books that I read, I can pretty much "see" where the character starts to change. But this time, it was so subtle it was amazing. When you look back at the book you realize how much Bilbo has grown.
    The major change in this book, started off as a normal hobbit, that liked to be normal. The most noticeable change in him, is that at the end of the book he started to like being different and didn't care about that the other hobbits thought of him being "queer" or weird, or about fitting in and being normal. Going back to the whole Harry Potter story I was talking about, you don't see the Dursleys gain that change; and it's really sad because I only think that happens because Petunia was so jealous and hurt, she wanted to be something entirely different from her sister, normal.
    ANYWAYS, back to the Hobbit (sorry I'm a complete Harry Potter lover, which is why I always like to compare to HP when I can) , like I said before, Bilbo changed in more subtle ways. When I first thought of the book, and what to write for this blogpost I was like "uh, It's a really good book and I loved it," but I had no idea what to say. And then I started to think more about it, and started discovering the more subtle things involved in this book (Or maybe I'm just slow to not realize it before), like how Bilbo was actually pretty prideful at the beginning of the book. In the beginning of the book, he was blowing smoke rings in the air, and was very proud of how he blew a smoke ring and it flew over a mountain without breaking. You could also see his pride as he wore very nice clothing, and just the way he acted, you thought of a high class noble. By the end of the book, through many trials, he became a very humble creature, perhaps the most humble character in the book!
   He also becomes braver. In the beginning of the book he would be scared of such things like dragons and goblins. And though he is wary of those creatures, at the end of the book, he is a lot braver; so brave in fact, that he even gives up riches to do what is right, even though his friends would get angry with him.
   I think this book is amazing for anyone! I really can't wait to find the first book in the Lord of The Ring series (which sadly wasn't in the library)! But it also teaches us an important lesson; sometimes being normal, isn't the most fun or best thing, try to be different ad you can have many experiences you would have never had before.

Secrets, Lies, And Algebra *Sorry Tess. B if you read this*

Secrets, Lies, and Algebra
By:Wendy Lichtman
Terri Thampan 804

   Technically, I never took this book out of the library, or Ms. Rear's room. It was simply on the table, and having already finished the book "Blonde Roots", and also being too lazy to work on its blogpost, I couldn't really return it back to the library. I like to have the books with me when I make a blogpost. So, because the book was on the table, like I previously said, I read it. And the only thing that made me continue reading that book was to see how the plot went.
   So the book I read is called " Secrets, Lies, and Algebra", and it's by Wendy Lichtman. When I first read the blurb, I was like, 'Oh great, a teenage drama, let's see if this is good.' Then, what really threw me off the loop was that there was a "murder" involved. The story is fairly simple, the main Character Tess is just your average eighth grader. She deals with problems, ranging from the scale of someone she knows being a possible murderer, and a kid cheating on a test. She and her friends get closer, and average stuff like that.
   It's a pretty cliched book, I mean it's definitely good for those who like your average teenage girl book, oh and math, don't forget the math. The thing is, I looked at the back of the book and found this out, the author is a Math tutor or teacher. Anyways, she likes math. And the book, is written by a girl who sees the world like math. As a person who doesn't mark math as her favorite subject in the world (Don't tell Ms. Vissa or my other math teachers!), when I see this much math, I tend to zone out, and feel like the book is trying to force learning math into my brain.
   When reading this, I found Tess's personality annoying (No personal offence to Tess B. If you read this!! I work alone~). She goes on about justice; now personally I don't think that's bad or anything, but when her mom tells her that she (the mom) thinks that Rob (Guy who her mom works with and is friends with) could have murdered his wife (Who committed suicide), and she starts thinking she has to tell the police about this because it's the right thing to do. I got annoyed by that because really, if he isn't a murderer, and it really was suicide, her mom would have to switch jobs because it would be awkward working with someone you accused of being a murderer, and plus, he would have a ruined reputation.
   Well, whose perspective do you think is missing in this story? Well, I think Rob's perspective is missing. I mean, his wife is dead, then some stupid kid (friend's kid actually) goes off and tells people that your friend thinks you killed your wife. Already you're saddened by the fact that your wife is dead, maybe a bit relieved to be out of the failing relationship, but also guilty, because you were cheating on her, and because of your failing relationship she died. What horrible emotions. How mixed up. How you must suddenly realize how delicate people are, how they can just break, snap, and then, their lives are just as delicate, and then they can disappear and leave you. Then, people start to think you have murdered your wife. Then the guilt starts to chew you away. What if I did murder her? She died because I couldn't fix our relationship! Because I didn't know how to break it off! To live with the guilt of all that, it will grow and break him. And that's why I dislike Tess so much. I knew right away that telling wasn't a good idea. She didn't think of the consequences. But really, where is Rob's justice? He now has a ruined reputation. and maybe, he has more emotional problems. Just because one girl realizes her mistake, it doesn't make a difference. She never even said sorry to Rob, or tried to fix his reputation. That's why I was really annoyed with this story.
  This story was just to be light, but adding that darker element of suicide really annoyed me. Because I like darker stories, with punishment and consequences, this was really annoying because, the only consequence that Tess faces is that her mom is angry at her and that one time thought that she might have ruined Rob's reputation.
  Another person I really was curious about was the girl, Lori, I think her name was. Well she was like an outcast, and Tess is like a total jerk to her. She is never really polite to the girl, and calls the girl a liar. Well, as I don't really like Tess ( I mean, this girl has no manners, she likes to correct her parents and adults, about MATH things, when really, it was just used as an expression! I mean, if I ever did that, my mom would go on and on about some random things, how I think I know everything, and then in the end I ultimately get ignored and have to deal with a huge lecture, this girl, gets like no punishment) I get interested in this girl. She says something about how she hates a girl who told a secret about her. I start to wonder, does this girl have friends? I think that Tess is really critical in what she thinks of this girl and others. She's basically really kind of mean about people, judging them if they don't know math well, wow, and basically is only nice about Miranda, who she says is like always positive. But anyways back to this Lori girl. I think her name is either Linda or Lori, but I know it starts with an L. I want to know why she's a loner. I think her perspective is missing as well. Does she get justice? Not really. She never seems to hang out with anyone and I feel so bad. She's like a loner, and she says she's friends with Tess and her friends (Miranda and Sammy). And then Tess goes on about how the girl is such a liar and annoying. But if I heard from Linda or Lori more ( I mean, if only she had been mentioned more, I could have remembered her name!) or had it from her perspective, it would totally drown out Tess's perspective. Because Tess is boring, and when I first read her description of herself, I thought she was a mary sue, what with her trying to downplay nice looks; but no, Tess is just annoying.
   Basically, this book sucks, and I only wanted to read it because I wanted to see if there was a plot twist. Which there isn't. So, I find it distasteful (to myself it is anyways) that this author adds something as serious as suicide to it, doesn't really make it that deep of a book, and pretty much makes the main character criticize other on math (maybe she should get criticized for grammar). I guess, adding a weird darkness to the book (which Tess does think about a lot) when the story is pretty light is the only way to make people read it still.
 So my review: DON'T READ THIS BOOK!  TESS IS ANNOYING!!!! (Sorry Tess. B if you read this!)   

Blonde Roots

Blonde Roots
By: Bernardine Evaristo
Terri Thampan 804

     I have recently read the book "Blonde Roots". It's a flip side on history, what could have happened if it was the Africans (spelled Aphrikans) enslaved the Europeans (called Europanes). I found this very interesting, me being totally fascinated by history and all. The main character is an European woman named Doris Scagglethorpe, who is a slave. She is given the chance to escape slavery, and escapes it. The book, is her tale.
     I found it weird that the book was a satire. I mean, what kind of humor is there in making fun of slavery. But the whole thing just points fun at slavery, of course, white supremacists would be angered that the mere idea of being enslaved themselves by "the lower race" even existed. But what I found funny, was that The author purposely made it so that Doris had to have the initials of her masters' name branded into her skin. That isn't funny, but what the Author made the initials read was pretty funny. PIG, was the first one. But the second was kind of bad in humor, but I still understood the joke, The second master's initials to be branded onto Doris's skin came out KKK. Oh, is it just me, are some white supremacists rolling in their graves that the initials of a black SLAVE OWNER are the initials of their group?
     Anyways, the story is about Slavery. But you want to know more than that, right? What's even more complex about this story? Well, it really touches upon what is humanity. Weirdly enough, a lot of my blogposts relate to humanity. But really, in this book, you also see from the perspective of Doris's master. And when you see his thoughts and the inner workings of his mind, he's just as normal as any hardworking man. You see his morals, and then you think, hey, he's not that bad of a guy. Because people, aren't just black and white, they're gray (no means to the actual skin color, but in their personalities). And then you see what he thinks about those with different skin colors than his own, you can see the difference between you growing.
      Bwana, that's what Doris refers to her master as. Bwana, thinks of those who have different skin colors as inferior. He thinks them as less than a man, like an animal. It reminds me of how Charlie is treated, not human like, except these people, the ones who are made slaves, are aware of it. The big issue is that of recognizing the humanity of others. Through the perspective of Doris, you can clearly see that she has her own emotions and thoughts and ideas and feeling to make her human. Like I have stated before, being human is to have those feelings, emotions, and thoughts that set us apart from other animals. But what if we don't believe that others have the same humanity as us? That is the problem Bwana faces. He doesn't believe that the white people have emotions and thoughts of their own, that can make them human. This is where the more complicated ideas come in. How do you treat something when it isn't human? Before, people treated animals badly, or didn't care how they treated their pets or animals. But now a days, in our own culture, treating our animals in a horrible way, is a crime.
    This makes me think of the book "Uglies". That's because in the book, the people were all basically raised in an environment that made them think they had to be pretty to be worth anything; they had to think that they were ugly. In this world, in our own history, we treat anything we deem inferior to ourselves badly, until some Radicals come along with the plan or a change. These people thought that the White people were less than human. This story isn't just about humanity, this is about having your human rights, the mere thought of you having humanity, all taken away. Instead, these people are being thought of like pets, or little robots to do what they are told, and not to feel or think or disobey.
   Another thing that piqued my interest was how the continent of Aphrika was flourishing. It made me think, maybe the reason why Aphrika and India are known as "third-world" countries now a days, is because we ruined them, when we started to take over their lands, and enslave the people there.
   Another thing I realized, was the huge culture difference. Women who are fat, are thought of more beautiful. Not only are there differences in beauty, but also in fashion, religions, and many different things. Men can marry more than one woman, and in today's society (of America anyways) that is looked down on, in fact, a man can only have one wife, and if he cheats then he is considered lowly. Even back before women had rights, you were to only have one spouse.
   Also, instead of people converting others into Christians, this time people are trying to convert people to Voodoo. When you read this book, you realize just how different the world can be, if this actually happened instead of Europeans enslaving Africans. You start to look at the world more closely. And of course, who can ignore the blatant comparisons of The United Kingdom of Great Ambossa and The United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Flowers For Algernon

Flowers for Algernon
By: Daniel Keyes
Terri Thampan 804

    As I have said in my last blog post, I went back and re-read the book "Flowers for Algernon", and yes, I have cried. Don't Judge! It's a book, you wouldn't understand! Anyways, what surprised me was that this time reading it, I got a lot more from it then I did the last time I read it.
   The story is made from the Progress Reports of one Charlie Gordon, a 30-31 years old, mentally disabled man. He undergoes surgery to make himself "Smart" as in to raise his I.Q level. He is made to make progress reports so that the doctors who did the surgery can understand how his brain develops and grows, and for us as the reader to get into Charlie's mind in a way.
    The surgery before had been tested on mice. One mouse, named Algernon, had survived and showed signs of increased intelligence for a long time. What really interested me, was the relationship between Charlie and Algernon. Algernon had been the animal experiment, while Charlie had been the human experiment. They were connected, and in the book, Charlie can feel it as well. Charlie can place himself as Algernon, but tries to stop it. I feel like this is because, they were both made "intelligent" from a surgery. Charlie says that he and Algeron are both the "Man-made" geniuses.
    Charlie, when he starts to get smarter, starts to understand more about the people in his life. He starts to fall in love with the woman who suggested he try to operation (His teacher at the Center for Retarded Adults, who had always seen him try hard to be "smart"), Alice Kinnian. They both all in love, and what really touches me deeply about this, is that Alice, was always there for Charlie. She was his teacher, she was touched by his determination to become smarter, even before he became "Smart". She ad him then connected mentally. they started to understand each other, though soon he went past her level of smartness. Though what really stood out to me was that she still was there for him, trying to help him even though she herself didn't understand half the things he said because they were over her head. They started to cherish each other, and you can't help but want them to get married, and have a life together.
   Charlie also starts changing, in a bit more of a negative way. He realizes how people made fun of him. As a human being, I am disgusted that people would treat someone that way, no matter what was "wrong" with them. You don't bully, hurt, or make fun of a mentally disabled person. It isn't their fault that some things just don't stick with them. When Charlie recounts the tales of his "friends" I couldn't help but want to cry for him, because he was like a child. He wanted friends, he wanted to fit in, and play with them, so when they laughed at him, ad they played cruel jokes on him, I couldn't help but want to punch those jerks who did that. Because all Charlie did was smile, and laugh, and think you were the best friends ever. And that broke my heart. It really did. Because how can you live with yourself, knowing you got him beat up, you beat him up, you were making fun of him, you put him down, and he still laughs and smiles and thinks your the most amazing thing ever. It disgust me, so damn much.
   The realization that people made fun of him, makes him feel as if everyone is making fun of him, even when he becomes a genius. Dr. Strauss, the Doctor more for the psychology part, and Charlie's therapist, has to tell him that no one was making fun of him, and that the reason they didn't respond to some of his comments was because they didn't want to show that they didn't know. This gave Charlie a new look at these people. He suddenly didn't hold them up in the high position he used to. He realized that he had surpassed them. But I found kinda cool, was that Charlie told himself he had to be patient with them. Even though he saw their true faces, hypocritical, lying, greedy, he told himself that they were all just human beings like him. Then he reminded himself that he once, didn't even understand them. I feel, that because Charlie was once a mentally retarded person, he could hold himself back, from becoming a more dis-likable character, from letting his negative thoughts on those who didn't understand as much as him, overwhelm him. Now, I thought he was a bit stuck up about that, maybe more than a bit, but really, when someone smart talks to someone who doesn't understand as much as them, I guess their nature is to be a bit impatient and want to like think themselves higher than them, or to like leave them out of impatience. But Charlie got over that negative bit of his own nature, because he himself was once on the lower level of intelligence.
    What I found really sad, was when Charlie started regaining his memories of the past, when he was younger, that he forgot because it "didn't stick". His mother Rose, was always pushing for him to be "normal", to have an average I.Q. I found it really sad, because she kept pushing him to go see different doctors and the like. Matt, the father, was always sticking up for Charlie, trying to get Rose to accept Charlie the way he is and to leave him alone, he seems like a kind-hearted man. Rose, was a bit more shallow, always trying to be the perfect woman, with the perfect house. She sort of reminded me of Petunia Dursley from Harry Potter, Petunia always tried to be normal, and really hated Harry who was different, as in being magical. The same thing applies here, as when as soon as Charlie's sister is born, Rose favors her, and starts to treat Charlie badly. How horrible. To be so shallow as to hate your own son for being disabled mentally; I mean, how would Charlie feel. All of a sudden, his mother who was always kind to him, started being cruel. It didn't help that His sister was a downright jerk to him, ad hated him and was mean to him. But she also had it hard, as you find out when Charlie sees her again, and you start to be a bit more sympathetic to her cause. What I found so disturbing was that Rose was willing to kill, KILL Charlie, HER OWN DAMNED SON, so that her daughter could have a normal life! That is not how you act! First of all, the mom is clearly CRAZY! Killing your son because he's different; I mean, Charlie woke up in the middle of the night to hear his parents arguing over him again (how horrible is it for a child to know that your own parents fight over you because you have a disability), and he hears his dad tell his mom to put something down before she hurts someone, and then to hear your mom say 'if he's not out, then I'm going to make him never ruin our daughter's life again!' And the, when your dad takes you away, to see your mom with this big kitchen knife! WHAT THE HECK!?! A normal child would be terrified, hurt, scared, and plain, just plain TRAUMATIZED! But poor Charlie, he gets the sense that his MOTHER INTENDED TO HURT HIM WITH IT! That's so sad, when he can sense that, coming from his own damned mom. What I actually found pretty hilarious, was the sister's name, which I purposefully omitted from other sentences mentioning her before, Norma. What a nice NORMAl name, without the L of course if you can get the joke.
       I'm going to go back to the whole Algernon-Charlie relationship here. Charlie got really offended when Dr. Nemur (The other Doctor who was a major role in the operation) kept referring to Charlie as not being human before the operation. That was pretty, I mean VERY VERY VERY RUDE! You do not insult one's humanity, especially when they are now SMARTER then you, basic rule (Must be why Charlie's SMARTER than him, if he doesn't know this rule). But, it also made me think of how Charlie and Algernon had a connection. Like, Algernon's I.Q was also increased. It made me wonder if Algernon sort of gained a self awareness besides his primal instincts, a more Human side. He seemed to recognize Charlie, even when he was deteriorating/dying. I found that was kind of cute and sad, because it showed they had a special bond.
     Another thing that interested me was the 2 Charlies. It was kind of interesting, as there was the intelligent Charlie and Not so intelligent Charlie. It's described that Not So Intelligent Charlie (NSIC) was always watching Intelligent Charlie (IC) from like a window inside his mind. I from this sort of symbolizing how back when he was younger, Charlie remembers watching the other kids play, and this time, he's watching this other self, this other him, going out and experiencing the world. I found this really sad, because, they both wanted to live, and IC tried not to forget, but he knew his own body was simply on loan from NSIC, and he had to return it. I feel like this time, IC is watching from the window, and watching over NSIC. What I found even more bittersweet was that both Charlies found a deep love and care for Alice Kinnian, whether it was as a teacher or lover, which also points to a special role she played in the lives of Charlie. I remember crying when Alice found Charlie back in the retarded center, and that he had forgotten all that they had together, and running out from the room crying. How sad to know that your loved one has now forgotten you, and you can never see them again. The last couple of pages were really sad and made me cry so much. But this is a really good book, that has so much depth and feel. And because this is such a sad post, I'll tell you something funny. This is my second favorite book. The Tale Of Desperaux is my favorite book.
Funny how both of my favorite books have pictures of Mice on the cover? xD

Uglies

Uglies
Terri Thampan 804

  I have very recently just finished reading the book titled "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld. The main character is a girl named Tally Youngblood. She lives in a post apocalyptic time period, where the technology has improved drastically, and people of our own era are so lovingly, and I say that sarcastically, dubbed as the "Rusties". She basically lives in this cramped up little section, which they call a city (not as great as our own though), where everything follows the technology, and everything is a controlled environment. At age 16, Uglies undergo surgery that turns them from what they believe is ugly (any normal looking person) into pretties (really freaky, super beautiful, perfectly structured looking beings). Some Uglies escape so as not to turn pretty (though that is rare), and Shay, Tally's friend is one of them. Tally is then forced by Special Circumstances to find Shay, and the Ugly Runaway hide out called The Smoke, a place where everyone can be ugly passed 16.
   When I switched to the story, I was in a bit of relief as the font was considerably larger than that of "Interview with The Vampire", and it was much less "adult like" in its word choices. I simply treated this as a break from complex sentences and big words, which I do enjoy at times. This book though, is just brimming with lessons.
   The most obvious lesson that one can learn from this, is that you should love who you are ad how you look. The whole point of this world is to become "Pretty" and agree with everyone. Tally learns that she herself isn't as ugly as she is cultured to believe. She also learns to treasure who she is and how she looks, that people can still be pretty without having to be a "Pretty".
   Something really complex that goes on in here is the way one thinks. I myself am being raised in a culture where there are people telling you the lessons of loving who you are, and accepting your own beauty. Tally was raised in an environment where the idea of looking "Ugly' or normal forever was so disgusting, and people thought themselves ugly as a normal thing. Shay was one of the few uglies that like the way she looked. When she got the operation, her whole attitude changed. The problem with that was, Maddy (a doctor who ran away/started the Smoke) made pills to help reverse the effects the operation had on its patients' brains. But Shay, with the new way of thinking, didn't want to go back to the way she was thinking. This made me think of the story "Flowers For Algernon", which is about a mentally retarded man who takes surgery for the brain to become smarter. You see his thought process through out the whole thing through journal entries he has to make as a patient of the surgery so doctors can record his brain process. You start to feel really bad, because suddenly, he starts to learn these new things, and learns more than he was able to before. He starts to understand others, he starts to understand emotions, how others think of him, and he himself starts to make his own thoughts and ideas. He could finally be independent. Then the surgery backfires, slowly his brain deteriorates and he starts to lose all the thoughts and ideas he had and turns back into the dependent mentally retarded man who once had a time where he was a genius, but all those thoughts and calculations are gone, and he cares nothing for them. You read the book, and you cry, which I most certainly did, and you cry as other characters also realize that this was once a man who loved his knowledge. You feel sad because as a human, you realize how horrible it must be to be as smart as you are now, and even smarter, and know, that you will lose all your individuality, because you will turn back the clock, and your thought process will return to that of a child's and everything that has held interest to you, will never again hold your interest. This is what happened to Shay. They have changed her brain to make her agreeable, more "Bubbly", and they have changed the way she used to think, and it hurts Tally so much because to do something to her now without her consent is still bad, because through all the surgeries, it is Shay making the decisions. Because as humans, we should value our own thought processes and the way we can look at things, and understand and feel, because some people lose that and some people can never experience that. Now excuse me as I go read Flowers For Algernon again and bawl my eyes out.

Interview With The Vampire *spoilers

Interview With The Vampire

Anne Rice

Terri Thampan 804

   I have recently put away the book "Interview With The Vampire", not because it was badly written, but because if I read anymore "detailed" scenes with blood, I would start to get really squeamish. It's more like, if I see a lot of blood, or actions such as "slitting wrists" are written out, to help the vampires get blood, my wrist automatically goes on spaz mode, just to stop freaking out about how gross that is. 

   The book is really, just Louis, a Vampire, having an interview with a boy, telling him the story of his life so far. How he was turned by the Vampire Lestat, and his Vampire "Daughter" Claudia.

   What I really liked about the whole book was how deep it was, how like For Louis, the main character and the one telling the story, it's like getting more in touch with his humanity, even though he is a vampire.

   Louis, is more of an intellectual character. He prefers books and deeply thinking. He likes to use his heightened senses to look at the beauty of the world, think more deeply about things, and realize how fragile and precious life is. He, is the more, human-like, in the three main characters.

    Then, we have Lestat. He is described as the type of man who who does most things as revenge. He is angry at the world and wishes for revenge. He also likes to live lavishly. Louis thinks the reason Lestat even stays with him is so that so he can still live the life of luxury, while Louis makes the money for them, Louis being educated in money making skills to keep his plantation running. Lestat, can also be described as flashy, a show off. In the beginning, while his father was alive, I feel like the times Lestat were nice to him, were not only partly because he did care for his father, but because he wanted to make a show of it, seem like a nice guy. He's described as taking great joy in playing around with his victims, which gives him a sadistic personality.

   The last Vampire is Claudia. She was a young five year old girl who was crying over the corpse of her mother, pleading for someone to save her mother, who she thought was still alive and sick. Louis, who was already thirsting for blood, suddenly couldn't help but try to drink her blood. Lestat stumbles upon Louis drinking Claudia's blood, and shamed, Louis stops. Louis at first thinks that Claudia's dead, but then Lestat shows Louis that he has turned Claudia into a vampire. Louis feels as if Lestat gave him Claudia, so Louis wouldn't leave.

   Louis and Lestat are like Fathers to Claudia. She learns from Louis the ways of the intellect, and from Lestat, how to kill. She froever will remain looking five years old, but her mind changes. She is described as the least human among the three. She kills Lestat, in order to free herself and Louis. She clings to Louis, and says she loves him, but Louis feels that the only reason why she does so, is because he is the only one closest to "Her Kind".

    I feel, that even though they are Vampires, Lestat, Claudia, and Louis, all describe the different sides of humanity. Louis being the most close to humanity, and Claudia being more in touch with her creature side, her animal instincts. Louis is of course, the more good things about humanity. Reading, looking deeper into things, discovering more and more, wanting more answers. 

    Lestat, is more of a bitter side. He is the side, that wants revenge. Everything that has happened to us, every bad day, every single mean look, insult, or punch in the gut, he wants revenge for. He is the side, that likes to spite things. He enjoys the life of luxury, which is something most people dream for. He likes to show off his expensive clothing, and items. He likes to spite. I feel as if he does this, to spite his own past as well, a past he wan't too fond of, ad tried to gain everything he didn't have then, and have it all as a vampire. Everyone, in one point of their lives want to spite others. Want to get back at someone for what they did. It is like the more Bitter side, has taken up the role as boss of the more human like side, and the more animal like side.

   Claudia, is like a human's more primal urges. She has instincts, ad she has intelligence. But she lacks humanity. The reason why we think of animals like dogs, or cats, or pigs, and such, as inferior, is because of their lack of humanity. They cannot talk like we do, they do not feel, the same way we do, they don't understand things the way we do. If anything, Claudia has not enough emotions as to recognize her as human. She can feel anger, hatred, and negative emotions, but the more positive emotions in human life might be different to her. I have no doubt she can feel joy, or happiness, but I feel she cannot feel things that people say come from the heart, like passion, remorse, guilt, or even compassion. She does not understand these things, and represents the part o us, that is different. Some times we don't feel those things, this is the more darker part of humanity, where we get rapists, and murderers, and terrorists. They lack those more human feelings.

   I feel like the reason Claudia is like this is because she was turned into a vampire at too young of an age. While being a child has its innocence, it also meas you know less. She has not developed her humanity yet, and because of that, her mind developed differently. She has less humanity then both Lestat and Louis.

   I think that, age isn't the only reason why Claudia has the least amount of humanity. It's also because, in the story, Claudia killed the mother and daughter couple, which is around the time Claudia started to ask who turned her into a vampire. This makes me think that Claudia started to remember more about her human past, or what little of it she has. I think she struck out, killing the mother and daughter because she thought of her own mother, and how her mother had died of sickness. I think she felt a bitterness, over her mother's death.

   The thing is, monsters like vampires and werewolves are only there to look into the darker parts of human nature. Anne Rice definitely knew that, and started to help me look at characters, and their more human like features. 

The Host

The Host

Terri Thampan 804

   I have recently read the "book" "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer.  I started reading the book with hopes that Stephenie Meyer had made a good book (the Twilight Saga, which I have already read, are horrible books!) and determination to actually read the book, the whole thing. Sadly, I was greatly disappointed, for both were wrong. Now, I know I shouldn't be really writing a blog for a book I don't like, but, I only just started my newest book, and, I'm a good ranter/rantist.

   The book, is about how “Aliens” also known as souls are taking over the world. They are the kindest, most perfect beings. And they take over the world to help make it perfect. Wanderer, is our protagonist, and she learns to love humans or something like that, because I didn’t finish the book.

    Now, first of all, why don't I like this book? I have many reasons for disliking this book. One, I hate how the "aliens" are being made to be "perfect". In the book, they are referred to as souls, and are described as "all things good. Compassionate, patient, kind, good, Virtuous, and full of love". First off, as a person who likes darker stories and characters and plots in general, the whole description, was kind of stupid. What the author tries to do, is make them the perfect characters (*cough Sparkly Vampire Edward cough*) but epic-ly fails. What SMeyer describes humans as in her story, are vile, violent, evil creatures. She gives us many flaws, as a species in general. SMeyer, knows perfectly well that people aren't perfect, thus including herself as she is a person. Because of that imperfection, it's really hard to write a perfect character, a.k.a the Mary Sue: epitome of bad character writing, because there will always be flaws. The "aliens" in SMeyer's book, are very flawed.

   First off, they're conceited. They think themselves as the perfect race, and thus, deem themselves worthy to go and change the rest of the universe by taking over the bodies of other species, on other planets. Well, I don't know about you, but if someone thinks they're perfect enough, and start changing the world to be just like them, that's pretty egotistical, and in my definition, a character flaw. If that was done on purpose, it would have been more tolerable, but throughout all that I have read, it paints the Aliens as the more "supreme" race, better than the humans.

   Secondly, the aliens are described as kind, and compassionate. Again, they are supposed to be all things good (blegh). Really though, if they were all things good, they would have thought, 'Oh, this body that I'm being a parasite to, is actually someone else's and it was never mine, so I shouldn't steal it, from them.' But really, Wanderer, or Wanda (I skipped to the end before I put the book back, just to see how it ends) decided to give back the body to Melanie, and like die or something, because she wanted to be selfless. That pissed me off to no end. First off, they aren’t being selfless by giving back the bodies to the rightful “hosts”. That’s like saying; a guy who stole a valuable artifact, something priceless, and gave it back is a selfless man. Being selfless doesn’t work like that. If they were the ones who gave their bodies up out of their own free will, to others, that would be selfless.

     Another thing is, the whole race is prejudiced. They are all prejudiced towards the seekers, who are basically like police. They shun the seekers for choosing a life of violence, which they do so to protect the other souls from dangers. They protect souls from humans, and basically, kill off stragglers that can be violent. They are greatly disliked by many of the regular souls. I think this is also counted as a character flaw of the whole race; they are prejudiced against their own kind, and think of humans as barbaric monsters.

    What I didn’t like, was how SMeyer made the character interactions. Melanie, the host for Wanderer, shows different memories throughout the text. Her first memory of Jared, the man she is in love with, has him kissing her as soon as they meet, and he finds out she’s a human, not a soul using a host. I liked how Melanie forcefully removed him from her person because really, even if aliens are taking over the world, a girl who has the very determined, and strong, dominant type of personality like Melanie would not let some random guy kiss her. But what really aggravates me was that as soon as she got the kiss, Melanie realized she wanted more, and let him kiss her again. What the hell? You don’t kiss a random person you just meet! And then, it makes them really close, but like in a span of weeks, but we barely see the romance, except for how Melanie’s all over him, and wanting to kiss him, (BellaxEdward), when there have been no scenes with the characters getting closer. Also, The Seeker (who sadly has no name and is my favorite character) comes off very annoying to both Wanda and Melanie. Now, I don’t really care about that, but Melanie and Wanda get closer through this dislike for the Seeker, and then Melanie just starts spilling all her secrets to Wanda. I don’t care how much an alien invading your body is infatuated with the idea of your lover because of your memories, you don’t just spill all your secrets to them because you think, oh they won’t hurt them, when one has already took over your father and got to you (even though you escaped), which hurt you! Plus, when the Seeker seems really annoying, Melanie thinks ‘Let’s kill her!’ and Wanderer (Wanda) is like, ‘this is why we took over, ‘because you humans are so violent!’ That just angered me to no extent. First of all, if someone says that, they are CRAZY! Not all humans go around killing! And even if it is a survival thing, we aren’t going to kill you, unless you pose as harm to us. This just got me so mad; I hit my head against a table.

    Now, I think this book would be so much better if it was a romance between The Seeker (who deserves a name) and Fords Deep Waters (who deserves a better name). Now, the pairing might seem a bit like a crack pairing, but I really believe they would be a good couple. If Fords, was the kind, good guy doctor, who suddenly finds a temperament when Seeker is around, learns to live a little and understand Seeker, was the main story romance, I think I might have read the book. Seeker, if you couldn’t have told, is my favorite character in that whole book. I think it would have been much better if it was told through her perspective, rather than Wanderer’s. I can see Seeker as a more cool character. She’s a woman, who is determined, stubborn, passionate, not afraid to be violent, and can deal with the prejudice her world has against people like her. I feel like she would be an amazingly strong character, and that she is one of the more tolerable alien characters, because she herself is more human like, ad more realistic.

     The last thing that really bugged me about this story was the whole “For the Greater Good.” I read that line a couple of times and it put me so on edge it wasn’t even funny. The reason why, I don’t like that phrase, is because of Harry Potter. Grindelwald, tried using that as his saying, when he tried to exterminate all the muggle-born children. Dumbledore, as awesome as a character he is, he makes mistakes, which he humbly admits to, and has been quoted doing things for the greater good. Not all his choices are the best, and it puts me on edge when people say that line. It feels like they’re trying to justify what they do. Adolf Hitler must have used that line, “it’s for the greater good if we kill all Jewish people” so I’m a bit wary. But I’m going to go do something you should never do with Stephenie Meyer’s books. I’m going to look very deeply in to this book (which is bad for your health and mine) and say that, the aliens were trying to justify themselves. That deep inside them, they knew they weren’t as perfect as they said they were, and so tried to justify their weird craving for immortality by saying it was for the greater good.

   Oh, another thing I forgot to mention. These Aliens are basically just striving for immortality, switching hosts like that, and living multiple lives (Reminds me of Orochimaru from Naruto). They don’t need to die unless they want to. Voldemort, and many other super villains must be rolling in their graves.    

The Secret Life Of Bees *spoiler ALERTS*

   The Secret Life of Bees

Terri Thampan 804

    I have recently read the book. "The Secret Life of Bees" By Sue Monk Kidd, and it is a very deep and heartwarming book. The main character, Lily, is a girl who lost her mother when she was 4 years old. She wishes to escape from living with her semi-abusive father, and sees the chance when Rosaleen, the black woman who her father picked from his pickers (helpers) to take care of Lily, gets put in jail for spilling snuff juice over three of the most racist white men's shoes. Lily, has a picture that belonged to her mother, and goes to the address on the back of it. This leads her to the Pink House. There she meets the three sisters June, May, and August. With them, she learns more about her mother, matures, and finally gets over the tiny bit of racism even she harbors within herself.
    What's really great about this book is that you learn a lot from it. Lily, goes through many changes in her thinking, and how she perceives the world around her. In the beginning of the book, she harbored the feelings of superiority for being white. But it wasn't so much that it was noticeable, but it was a little bit that even she wasn't aware of. When she met, the month sisters as I like to call them, or June, August, and May, she started to realize she did have these feelings inside of her. This made her ashamed, as she thought that August was a really knowledgeable woman,   but before she met August, somewhere inside her, she thought that Black women could be smart, but not as smart as her because she was white. She also falls in love with a black boy, and starts to think of people not by race or color, but without those things, slowly starting to think that such things don't matter.
    Another thing I really like about the story was, it isn't just all "Everything's going to be all right" type of story. Lily, had to work hard to make June like her. June disliked Lily for being white, which gave Lily some insight that it wasn't just white people disliking black people, but also it's later revealed that June didn't like Lily's mom because August used to work as Lily's mom's nanny.
     Also, you have a character like May. May is a very kindhearted woman. Everything that's bad that happens in the world, and May hears about it, it feels to her that it personally happens to her. It's also made known that May had a twin sister named April, who committed suicide. In the book it says how whenever April felt something, May felt the same thing as well, and as soon as April died, it was like the whole world became April for May. What I found really sad and symbolic was that May also committed suicide. It was when she found out that Zach (The boy who Lily fell in love with, also August's godson) had been put in jail, and no one told her about it, did she go out and commit suicide.
      I found that really touching because, it was the same way her twin went out of this world. Like two twins, destined to share the same kind of fate, to end their life by suicide, I feel like, the wight of the world became too much for May, because no one should ever have to burden that. May is a character that tried, and it broke her so much, to hold the world on our own frail shoulders. It will kill us, just like it killed May. But we should really live our lives to the fullest, and try to correct the world, so there really isn't so much to shoulder. May gave the advice to her sisters in her suicide note, to keep on living and that it was her time to join her parents and twin up in heaven.
     What I sort of think in my reading was that T. Ray, Lily's dad, mixed up Lily with her mother, Deborah, whenever he saw her. Because, in the story, Deborah tried to leave T. Ray, because his attitude towards her started changing more. I feel like, he started getting a bit more violent with her to get her to stay with him, because even though Deborah was falling out of love with him, T.Ray was still in love with her, and didn't want her to leave him. I eel like, because she left him already, T. Ray didn't want to take that chance with Lily, the only thing he had left of his wife. He treated Lily the opposite he treated Deborah (Which was Princess like for Deborah) as if he was scared that if he treated her like her mother, she too would walk all over him and leave him. I'm not trying to justify him, but understand his character a bit more, how he treated Lily was bad. He also says, "You're not leaving me again Deborah!" to Lily when she tells him she wants to stay with the month sisters. I heard that sometimes, parents mistake their own child for the deceased spouses. I feel bad for these kids, because half the time, the parent may treat them like the spouse, or differently, which can make them uncomfortable.
      The biggest thing that happened in the story was how Lily's thoughts on her mother changed. In the beginning, she was like the dream mother, the one who was prefect in every way. But then, nearing the end of the book, she finds out that her mother left her with her father, when she ran away from them. Her mental image of her mother started to change. No matter that her mother was depressed, she had abandoned her. It made Lily see her mother as something else than what she had thought. Gone was the woman who was perfect. What I really liked, was that she started to see her mother as she truly was, a human. And humans make mistakes. The thing is, her mother tried to fix her mistakes, by going back or Lily, but unfortunately, she died from the gun exploding by accident (Lily tried to give it to her mom, but the gun went off) before she could take Lily with her. I feel like, people when they think of their deceased parents, they sort of paint them out to be perfect. Harry, in Harry Potter, has this amazing mental image of his parents, but he finds out that when his dad was a kid, he used to bully others. This shattered his image of his dad, but he learned to accept that his dad had grew up from the child he once was.
   This book gives you so much from it. It only takes some time to look for the lessons.    
 

Am I Blue?

           Am I blue?

By: Terri Thampan 804

     I have recently read the short story, “Am I Blue?” by Bruce Coville. The story’s protagonist is named Vince. When we first see Vince, he was beaten up for being gay, even though Vince himself has no idea what his sexual orientation might be. In comes Melvin, Vince’s new Fairy-Godfather. You got me, Fairy-Godfather. Melvin comes and helps out Vince, teaching him that being gay really isn't that bad, unlike what some might say, and also turning the world’s gay people the color/shade blue.

    When reading this story, I got the general message quite clearly. It’s okay to be gay. But what really drew me into the story was the character Melvin. To me, he seems like a really cool guy, I wanted to see his history. I wanted to know more about this character, even though Vince’s is history is a bit vaguer just like his. He also teaches Vince, which makes his character more interesting as he's a mentor.

    First off, what got me interested in Melvin was that he had a description. Unlike the many other characters in the short story, I might have just ignored Melvin’s if he did have one; I could actually visualize this guy. It was stated quite clearly in the text that he was tall and slender. It also gives us more information in the text, “He had dark hair, a neat mustache, and a sweater slung over his shoulders. He was kind of handsome-almost pretty. He wore a gold ring in his left ear. He looked to be about thirty.”

     Right off the bat, I can see this guy. But what I also noticed was that the way he looked, seemed to show off his personality. In the world, many people judge you based on how you look, the more messed up, and ruffled you look, the lower the people think of you. In the text, apparently, Melvin’s clothes can’t get dirty, and his mustache is neat. This makes you think, ‘well, look at this chap right here! He must be a fellow gentleman!’ (In a British accent because everyone knows sophisticated people have British accents ;P), or they will think you as more of a scholarly type.

     But he also has an earring. When I generally think of guys with earrings, I’m a bit disappointed to say, that I have a bit of a stereotype and think of rebellious kids and delinquents. To me when I think of Melvin and rethink about his character, I can totally see it as Melvin’s sign of being rebellious towards a world that discriminates gay people, who he is one of. I find that really cool, and very encouraging to others to not be afraid of the world, and stand up and be rebellious for what they believe in and who they are.
     Another thing I like about Melvin, is that the author gives hints about Melvin's past, which makes him pretty interesting. "Honey, I gave my life to be able to walk like this. Don't you dare try to stop me now." Is what he says when Vince asks him to stop walking so swishy-like. We then get the whole story in this part, "It's how I met my maker, so to speak. I was walking down the street one day last year, minding my own business, when three bruisers dragged me into an alley, shouting 'We'll teach you, faggot!' They ever did explain what they were going to teach me. Last thing I remember about life on Earth is coming face to face with a tire iron. Next thing I knew I was knocking on the Pearly Gates." This tells me that even before he died, he was determined to walk like he wanted to, not caring what others say about him. It also makes me even more curious about his history, because usually, many are afraid to do that. It makes me wonder if Melvin met someone in the past who made him be courageous enough to act like he wanted to, and not get hurt by those that call him gay. In act, he and his friends called each other faggots so they would be less hurt about the word, and show that the word had no effect on them. They were taking the famous saying "Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" to heart apparently.
     Another reason why I like Melvin is because he wants things to change. He became the first Fairy Godfather, because he wanted to, and was determined to get it to be so. He also wants it so that people would stop ignoring the fact that being gay isn't abnormal, and start realizing that everyone knows someone who's gay. He wants it so that gays don't have to hide, in fear that what happened to Vice and Melvin will happen to them.
     I find Melvin's character very cool. His personality is very nice, and has determination all over him. He is a very encouraging character that tells people it's okay to be different and not fit the social norm. So I guess everyone who is bullied and beaten down on for being different should put on their earring of rebelliousness and face the world, knowing there are actually many others waiting to help you out.

The Drummer Boy Of Shiloh

 The drummer boy of Shiloh

By: Terri Thampan 804

    

   The story, “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” by Ray Bradbury is, undeniably, a tale of war. War. The word is short and not very sweet. It is like the many deaths that litter the grounds because of this thing, this, war. It’s something that only fools lust after for, fools who have illusions of grandeur, glory, bloodlust, and winning. They barely even think about what war really is, trapped in their greed.  War, is when humans fight their fellow humans, and only after they truly experience this horrible event, they realize the cold heart truth, how grave the situation really is.

    Joby. He is our main character. He’s just turned fourteen, and it makes me scared. What if I was a boy? Joby is around my age, and yet, he’s in the war. I feel great sympathy for him, and wonder, would I too be sent to war if I was a boy living in that time?

   Joby is scared. You can feel it, and really, you can’t blame him. Many people, even “grown ups” are scared about war. Because, when war is among us, we start to realize how fragile and quick life is. It’s a scary thought. One day, I could just die, just like that, because life is the most unpredictable thing, a thing that many like to cling to. In Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort, desperately clings to being “alive”, by splitting his soul to be immortal. But then that makes you think, if you didn’t have a soul, would you still truly be “alive”?

    Joby only has his drum and two sticks. This makes him even more scared. He feels like, he can’t protect himself, and that brings him closer to the thing called death. I feel like, everyone is a little bit scared of Death, of what happens when we die. Even I, in all my own teenage angst, have thoughts in the morbid zone of death. But of course, every time I think such thoughts, no matter how sad I may feel (curse you teenage angst!) I cling to life. I fear what lies beyond, and I realize, I’m scared of Death.

   Joby cries. Cries and his fears come out. It makes me wonder, does he miss his parents? To be left out in the world, during war, without anyone who will protect him. Is that how all the soldiers feel? Do they miss their families, do they miss the feeling of being protected, rather than being the one who has to protect? I can’t imagine what it would be like, to have to suddenly grow up, because the people, who have always protected you and cared for you, are gone, and you’re lost in the world all by yourself with no one to guide you. I wonder if Joby weeps because he misses his parents and family.

    The General comes. He talks to Joby, giving a speech that fills him up with encouragement. This makes me again think of Harry Potter. Harry, who even though has never had his parents to protect him, has had his friends. They were the ones who gave him encouragement, like the General to Joby. He then, overcomes the fear of Death, and sacrifices himself so that Voldemort can be defeated. I feel like the speech the General made, made Joby think of how he wanted to protect his family, and fight for what he believed in, and he wouldn't be scared of death, and he had an important job in the war.