Speak
Imagine this, it’s your first day of high school, and you have no friends, and you’re the schools laughing stock. That would be a very bad thing, especially if you are going from having a lot of friends and being a very popular person. Even worse, you end up having no friends and being the schools laughing stock for something you didn’t even do. And even after it being something she didn’t do she still feels really guilty and she blames herself for it when really it wasn’t her fault at all. This is what happens to Melinda, in the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Melinda is just a depressed girl who gets made fun of and laughed at all because she got sexually assaulted by some freak named Andy.
For most people, the most important part of just about all books is knowing all the characters. The main character is Melinda Sordino. She is a sophomore girl who goes through her freshman year feeling really guilty and bad about herself all because she got raped. Another important character is Andy Evans. He is the guy who raped Melinda and gets away with it and never has one word said to him about it. Then there is Mr. Freeman, he is the art teacher. Art is Melinda’s favorite subject and also is the only subject she is good at starting off the book, but in the end she gets better at school and improves her grades. But talking more about Melinda, she is just an average girl who growing up had plenty of friends, and was very popular. She was at a party with illegal alcohol, and that is also where she got raped. She ended up calling the cops, but all of her friends and students from the school think she only called the cops because of the illegal alcohol. Nobody knew about what actually happened to her that night besides her, and the idiot Andy Evans. What he did was wrong, and either worse he got away with it without even a slap on the wrist.
Has it ever happened to you that you are so popular at one point, you have so many friends, and it seems like everyone loves you, but then one thing happens and it seems like they all turned on you? Well that’s what happens to Melinda in the book, but she didn’t even do anything. If she would have came out and told the cops that she got assaulted then she would have probably lived a totally different life. Andy would have gotten in trouble, but people might have given her so much more crap, and people would call her names. So, either way she would get crap from people. She probably would have been better telling the cops though because that way Andy would have got caught and would have got in trouble.
After getting raped, and getting made fun of and getting crap from people like Melinda did in the book she starts going through depression. One thing that also didn’t help is she doesn’t have much of a family or any great friends. So, she doesn’t really have anyone to talk to about her problems. It is always good to let your problems out because you feel like there is someone there that cares and is there to help you. It also helps, because it feels good to get it off your chest. Since Melinda has no one she can’t tell anyone about what happened so she feels so bad, and so guilty inside when really she did nothing. It is always good to have someone you can trust and someone you can tell anything and everything to. That’s what Melinda’s problem is, because she doesn’t have someone she can talk to like that.
In the end, people find out that Melinda really did get raped, and everyone starts liking her again. Which means she has friends again, so now she can carry on with her normal life. So, she doesn’t need to think about her terrible past. Since she is so young, she doesn’t need to be thinking about her terrible past. She should only think about the good things, and what she has ahead of her in the future. The point of this book, in my opinion is to teach people not to think about bad things that have happened to themselves, because there is someone in the world that has had worse. So, you can feel bad for yourself but then you should think about other people to. Also, you should think about the future you have ahead of you, because you cannot get to the future if you don’t let go of the past.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Art Museum
Art Museum
When going to the art museum, I had many of different works of art to talk about. The one that I thought was the coolest and most interesting was called “Untitled.” This work of art was made by Robert Gober in 1997. This work of art can represent many different things. In my opinion I think it means a bad thing then a good thing.
I think that the suitcase called “Untitled.” In my opinion I think it means that a father died and got sent to heaven, because in heaven it’s supposed to be a perfect life, and maybe that mans idea was a perfect life was him with his little kid. In the work of art you see a man sitting with his feet in a pond and his little kid on his lap. Possibly this man was divorced and never got into another relationship so maybe all he had was his son. Family is practically the most important thing because without family your lonely and have no one to talk to or tell everything to.
So, in the end, this one of the best works of art I have ever seen. It was so creative and I have never pictured anything like that. When you were walking around all you saw was a suit case on the ground and everyone was like, “How is that so good?” and then you got closer and looked in it and it was the coolest and weirdest thing I have ever seen. It was very creative and whoever thought that deserves a lot of credit for a work of art like that.
When going to the art museum, I had many of different works of art to talk about. The one that I thought was the coolest and most interesting was called “Untitled.” This work of art was made by Robert Gober in 1997. This work of art can represent many different things. In my opinion I think it means a bad thing then a good thing.
I think that the suitcase called “Untitled.” In my opinion I think it means that a father died and got sent to heaven, because in heaven it’s supposed to be a perfect life, and maybe that mans idea was a perfect life was him with his little kid. In the work of art you see a man sitting with his feet in a pond and his little kid on his lap. Possibly this man was divorced and never got into another relationship so maybe all he had was his son. Family is practically the most important thing because without family your lonely and have no one to talk to or tell everything to.
So, in the end, this one of the best works of art I have ever seen. It was so creative and I have never pictured anything like that. When you were walking around all you saw was a suit case on the ground and everyone was like, “How is that so good?” and then you got closer and looked in it and it was the coolest and weirdest thing I have ever seen. It was very creative and whoever thought that deserves a lot of credit for a work of art like that.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
The Ugly Duckling
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have practically no friends? Which means you have no one to talk to, no one to hang out with or have fun being with. That’s how it was for the duckling in the story The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson. The duckling didn’t have any friends because of one little and one very stupid thing. The other ducks thought that the duckling was ugly. How pathetic. I am going to tell you about the theme, the lesson, and also another story that could be compared to this one.
The other that could easily be compared to this one is the book Speak. In the book Speak there is that girl named Melinda. Melinda starts of having lots of friends and being a very popular girl. Then one night, she went to a party and got raped there by some idiot guy and she called the cops about it and the cops came to the house and stopped the party but she did not say what happened because she was scared and embarrassed. That would be very weird and embarrassing for that to happen. But, nothing like that happens to the duckling. The thing that relates the two is that the duckling has no friends because they all think that he is ugly. Melinda has no friends because of how she called the cops so everyone thought she did it to get everyone at the party in trouble.
This story had a really good lesson that does compare to the everyday human life. We as humans walk around and laugh, or judge people based on their appearance. Life I know that when I play basketball and when we play against a guy with a ton of arm bands and stuff like that I think they are cocky. Really, you should not judge people like that. In The Ugly Duckling the other ducks judged him and they all thought of him based as how he looked. You should not think of someone based on their appearance. You should think of someone based on who they are on the inside.
Now I will talk about the theme. The theme for this story is man vs. society. The reason it is man vs. society is because the duckling is battling the other ducks around him. He is trying to make friends and he is trying to get the other ducks to stop calling him ugly. When you are called ugly it makes you lose self confidence and it also makes you very self conscience. Being called ugly really makes you feel bad. The sad thing is that when you get called ugly that means people are judging you. Normally when or if you are called ugly the person doesn’t really know you because if the person really knew you they wouldn’t want to hurt you. Since they don’t know you they don’t know what kind of person you are on the inside.
In conclusion this was overall a very good story. I feel that the most important part of this story was the lesson. The lesson was incredible. The golden rule. Treat people how you want to be treated. Before you judge someone put yourself in their shoes, think how you would feel if people were talking crap about you, talking behind your back, and judging you based on your appearance not who you really are. The main thing everyone needs to do is think twice before you say something or do something.
The other that could easily be compared to this one is the book Speak. In the book Speak there is that girl named Melinda. Melinda starts of having lots of friends and being a very popular girl. Then one night, she went to a party and got raped there by some idiot guy and she called the cops about it and the cops came to the house and stopped the party but she did not say what happened because she was scared and embarrassed. That would be very weird and embarrassing for that to happen. But, nothing like that happens to the duckling. The thing that relates the two is that the duckling has no friends because they all think that he is ugly. Melinda has no friends because of how she called the cops so everyone thought she did it to get everyone at the party in trouble.
This story had a really good lesson that does compare to the everyday human life. We as humans walk around and laugh, or judge people based on their appearance. Life I know that when I play basketball and when we play against a guy with a ton of arm bands and stuff like that I think they are cocky. Really, you should not judge people like that. In The Ugly Duckling the other ducks judged him and they all thought of him based as how he looked. You should not think of someone based on their appearance. You should think of someone based on who they are on the inside.
Now I will talk about the theme. The theme for this story is man vs. society. The reason it is man vs. society is because the duckling is battling the other ducks around him. He is trying to make friends and he is trying to get the other ducks to stop calling him ugly. When you are called ugly it makes you lose self confidence and it also makes you very self conscience. Being called ugly really makes you feel bad. The sad thing is that when you get called ugly that means people are judging you. Normally when or if you are called ugly the person doesn’t really know you because if the person really knew you they wouldn’t want to hurt you. Since they don’t know you they don’t know what kind of person you are on the inside.
In conclusion this was overall a very good story. I feel that the most important part of this story was the lesson. The lesson was incredible. The golden rule. Treat people how you want to be treated. Before you judge someone put yourself in their shoes, think how you would feel if people were talking crap about you, talking behind your back, and judging you based on your appearance not who you really are. The main thing everyone needs to do is think twice before you say something or do something.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Journal On Black History Month
One of the people I admire most from black history month has got to be Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson was born on January 31st, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. The thing that is so special about Jackie is that he was the first african american man to play in the MLB (Major League Baseball). Before he played in the MLB he played in the Negro League which is a baseball league that is for all african american baseball players. He made an MLB debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers. While he played for the Dodgers he was a 6 time all star, 1947 MLB rookie of the year, 1947 NL(national league) MVP, and he also won the world series in 1955. Not only was Jackie a great ball player, but he was also a great man. Without Jackie Robinson there might be no african american people playing in the MLB today. Can you even imagine what the world would be like without all of Martin Luther King Jr.'s work? There would be a bathroom and water fountains for white and for the colored. The world would not be anything close to what it is today. With all the hatrid our world would have it would be nothing but chaos. The world would be a painful place to live in and a painful place to look around at. These people are so great there is a month just to honor them. All of these people deserve something more than just a month of honoring them. I'm sure Martin Luther King Jr. would love to see what he made the life like today but sadly he didn't live a very long life because of his assasination. I'm sure he would be pleased and very proud of what his work and effort made the world like today.
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