Ceremony of Death

             Barbaric means savagely cruel or exceedingly brutal. In the book, "The Hunger Games," Suzanne Collins, gives the feeling of barbaric ways of living with the hunger games. There are huge amounts of people from all different districts that excitedly await to watch people that they may even know fight to the death with each other. Katniss and the rest of the recruits on a road to death. The people care more about an insane battle of citizens than the well being of a family with no money. Collins may have also been trying to portray our society's bad choices of what is important to fund and support. The overall message being shown here is, the society they live in has many issues that could be fixed if the people in power cared enough to make a change.
             When Katniss and the other selected people arrived at the Capitol it was sick to find out that the people had a opening ceremony where the contestants got dressed up by designers to look amazing so people could sponsor them. For example on pg. 70, "The crowd's initial alarm at our appearance quickly changes to cheers and shouts of  'District Twelve!' " Here the crowd is cheering for Katniss and Peeta as they make their entrance to the tournament. Even  though this book sort of takes place in the future it seems like a very past-like situation where there is a crowd of people watching intently without a problem as these fellow people are headed to death. It is a very undeveloped way of thinking and living which is another meaning of barbaric. Another place where it shows that they don't really care about these people being sent off is pg.71 "It's not really fair to present us as a team and then lock us into the arena to kill each other." This is Katniss' thought when the stylist makes Peeta and her hold hands. It is wrong and also sick to get them to a friendly state where they can accept each other and then have them kill each other. The people are cruel to let the people bond and let them spend time together because then there is even more of a resistance to wanting to be a part of the games. It is a little bit like sacrifices people used to do because they didn't care which person it was or what reason they shouldn't they just did as they felt.
             Collins made an effort to make the situation in the book relate to our government and the choices them and the people make. When the government of Panem made this a tradition and made it so severe and large among their land it made many citizens' lives miserable. In our country the government has made and makes a lot of bad choices that affect  many lives. It is a different kind of choice but SOPA is an example where the government just decides to do something they think is right and then affects everyone else and makes people angry and powerless. Collins also made a very strong connection to barbaric ways and that period of time by having horrible traditions and feelings of happiness to death and she made the government and country all seem undeveloped. Their were many connections used in the book and she made things a lot more understandable by doing so.

                                                                                                                         

The Meaningful Men

             This week my blog post is on a piece of art that I selected from the MoMa collection and what feelings and ideas it provoked in me. The piece of art doesn't have a name though it is from "88 Maps". I chose this while looking through the gallery because it came out to me because it is specifically made ideas in it yet it is abstract because it isn't actually anything specifically made. My theory is that in one it shows a man who is unsure of himself and the other man on the right is more aware and feels safe. I also think that the guy on the right has many beliefs such as heaven and hell.
             I thought that the first man was unsure of himself and unaware because it was all white and and not certain making it feel like the middle of nowhere (lost). The other side is more filled with colors like a blue sky and green grass and feels more secure with a more certain idea of where he is standing. With more features included the man feels more aware and grounded with himself. I also think that the white mass or circle above him might be heaven/ holy and the red below him at the bottom of the ground is hell. These are his beliefs showing in the picture because he is sure of what he believes.
             I think that this photo connects to me because sometimes I feel like both of the men in the photo. I feel lost and nowhere with out any comfort and confidence. I also can feel very on top of things and aware and I do have my own beliefs and ideas of things like religion. I think this photo connects to the world because throughout the world there are a lot of people who definetly take sides on religion and each person thinks and acts uniquely from one another.

The Stunningly Well Decided Best Blogger

             The person who I think should be voted as the best blog writer of the class is Anouk. Part of why I chose her is because every week she takes the time to make a well-written post and in my opinion goes beyond standards. Her posts are sometimes longer than the 3-paragraph minimum and she doesn't use too much retell to finish her blog quicker. She also shares her ideas and opinions from reading the book and gives reasons of why her point is right. When I looked at some other kid's blogs they were also good except still gave a lot of retell or didn't explain their point. After using her as a mentor I hope to get better at my own blogging as the year goes forward. To look at Anouk's blog and maybe even follow it, go to: Anouk's Blog. One of my favorite posts of hers was the Harry Potter Gnome Post because first of all I love Harry Potter and secondly she gives just enough text and retell needed and then explains her feelings of such a small, simple topic and makes it into a well written response. Good job Anouk!

A Great Integrated Friendship

             In the book, "The Liberation of Gabriel King" by K. L. Going, Gabriel and Frita have a really great friendship. She always looks out for him whether it comes to protecting him from a bully or giving him motivation to cheer him up when he feels alone and hated. He is one of the few people that is friends with her and he cheers her up just by being a good friend to talk to and do things with. I think that they have developed a strong friendship where they are able to look out for each other and not have to hide secrets from each other.

             One example is on pg. 14, " 'Just see if anyone picks on you again after this' Frita said." She is saying that because she is about to go punch Duke, one of the boys who was bullying Gabriel. She risks getting in trouble or getting hurt to help him out since he doesn't have the nerve to do anything about it. But someone could also say that they have a so-so friendship because sometimes she is forceful in getting him to go with her idea of what he should do and he doesn't always want to do it and she doesn't give up on getting him to do it. I think that the two of them work well together because he is soft and scared person and she is a tough and brave girl so they kind of give each other their opinions and ideas in their perspective.

             Their relationship is like how it is in the real world where people have a friend that they always love to hang out with and feel comfortable with. Also Duke and Frankie picking on Gabriel is like what the news was talking about when there was lots of cases of bullying and kids were really affected and got depressed. When they picked on him he also felt really sad and worthless but he was lucky to have Frita there to help and cheer him up.

The Sad Ancient Loss (SPOILER ALERT!)

             In the book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling, Harry and many other people in the wizarding world are in grief after the burst of green light, knocks the Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore dead. Throughout out the series of books I have grown very attached to Dumbledore's  sweet, calm, and intelligent quietness with dealing with issues making this also very sad for me. Dumbledore was a kind, powerful wizard, though when he knew he was ready to die he let the wizards who would never actually be able to defeat him, take him down.

             For example on page 592, " 'They thought I'd die in the attempt, but I'm here... and you're in my power.... I'm the one with the wand.... You're at my mercy...."

             'No Draco,' said Dumbledore quietly. 'It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now.' " This scene shows that he has the power to take down his opponent yet he stands there giving his life. I see Dumbledore as a honorable, great man for this and all the things he has done in the past. On the other hand someone else would think that what he is doing he is a weak and that he made a bad decision. I thought it was extra dramatic to have all the people to have loved him over the years cry together when they found out the news and when they were at the funeral.

             I think that this part of the story relates to religion and powerful people in the real world. I think it relates to how a few years ago there was a guy who had become one of "the head people" in the Jewish community and people believed that he was the Messiah. After he died people said when he comes back all the  people will resurrect and things will be good again. Dumbledore dying is related to this because he had basically   become a head and a hope of light to the good people of the wizarding world just as "the Messiah" guy had been important and gives hope to the Jews.

                                                                                                                               

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

             Today I went to the link from the class blog page about slavery and was shocked by the things I learned from them. Not only was the information very interesting but also the results to my survey was angering. This website made me realize that there is still the issue of slavery going on throughout the world and I am tied into the reason why they are enslaved. I also couldn't believe how some of the simple daily life things we own caused so much trouble for someone else in the world to get the material and make it. I feel very stirred after visiting this website because my family and I are so against slavery and discrimination against races that to now know that basically everything I own was at least partly worked on my enslaved people and I am not okay with it.

             I was really disappointed with myself when I found out that the number of slaves that I basically have working for me is above average. This website is very interesting because it gets the person accessing it have many questions and also can cause people to make a difference. After discovering this I think I want to join in to help find a better way of getting all the collecting and manufacturing done. Maybe it could be a job where they are at least paid a decent amount for the endless hours of  hazardous work that they do if not better. Another way I have now thought of changing is to by less clothes and other products that I don't really need and  not be so wasteful of the things that I do have. It gets me very annoyed that there is anywhere in the world where they do not try their best to fix the issues that have been going on throughout history for a long time and shouldn't have ever started in the first place.

             For those who are reading this I would suggest going to http://slaveryfootprint.org and seeing what affect you have on this issue because it may get you thinking and if not, it is simply an interesting thing to see and do. I wish that many people would take on the challenge to help prevent an issue together so the goal would be stronger and probably quicker/more obtainable. In a way I sort of relate this in a minimized way to the fact that our class keeps on getting in trouble and that we cant just say we'll change or have some people trying to do the right thing; we would all have to work together in order for there to be a solid affect. I hope for the future that this issue is solved and people all understand that they actually have to be the ones to take action when trying to get the change they want to see in the world.

Pushing on Through

              In the book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling, Harry is a very strong and courageous boy as I have said before. In the book there are a lot of parts where he really is so fearless and more brave then anyone I know of. Throughout the series he has developed a lot into who he is now. He started out as a little, sort of nervous boy and has become helpful to others and brave at battle.
              He helped many of the other students with a private club called Dumbledore's Army (D.A.) where they learned new spells to prepare for battle because Umbridge wouldn't teach them anything. I feel that by Harry doing this action showed how kind and advanced he is. It also shows true friendship because Umbridge, Filch, and Slytherins were trying to get them into big trouble by catching them yet he agreed to keep up his training to them. This ended up not working so well because they got in big trouble once they finally found them training in action.
              The major event in the book that shows that he is brave and strong is when he is at the ministry and all the death eaters and Voldemort  and they all broke into battle. In this scene he was very brave by staying and fighting instead leaving the problem behind and going. This scene showed that Harry is a very strong person because even after Sirius his godfather is killed by Bellatrix Lestrange (they are cousins) he continues to fight while holding in all the grief of the event that just happened. Harry goes through a lot of hard times and still always manages to make it through alright.