Media / News Immersion, My Response

              One social problem that I found was littering and animal abuse. Many people are abusing animals and our environment without even knowing it. One single paper littered on the floor, one small candy wrapper that could have been thrown in the trash. Every small piece of litter destroys a forest, and in turn, the animals in that forest die, when those animals die, we slowly kill our planet, and the balance of life is out of place. I found that the more people littler carelessly and the more people just forget to do the simplest things like throw your trash away, recycle, turn off the light before you leave the room, destroys our planet. The time for action is now, our generation's lives are at risk and we don't have much time before there are no more landfills to fill and no more street space to throw our trash and no room to walk or enjoy a clean clear breath of air. These are some of the things that the teens and kids of our generation will not get to enjoy anymore because people were too careless to throw that one piece of trash in the garbage, or unplug that phone charger when you're away at school or work. Make a change in our world be the first one to stop the killing of our planet, tell your family and friends to throw their trash away, live in a recycling house, shut the light when you leave the room, unplug chargers or electronics when not in use. SAVE OUR PLANET TODAY! ALL IT TAKES IS A SIMPLE ACT OF KINDNESS!  I found a song that truely sends out a strong meaning, to listen to it click the link -->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3xh6_jhlnU&feature=related. The Disney Artists come together to sing this wonderful song, I think they did a fantastic job. Hope you enjoy!

Mother to Son, My reflection.

                       
                       I read the poem "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes, and I really enjoyed it.  I found the deeper meaning within this poem, it's not just any poem, it's not just a mother's words to her son. It's about hardships, this poem tells a life story if you really think about it.
        Mother  to son, by Langston Hughes
Well, son I tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor--
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on them steps
Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now--
For I'se still goin' honey,
I'se still climbin'
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair
        One thing that I noticed about the poem is that it starts off kind of like a conversation and throught the poem you can hear her voice talking to her son, it's firm and strong, yet soft and caring.  The mother is giving the son words of wisdom because she's telling him that she had to do the same thing and she never got a break and so to survive in this world he has to keep going.
   Some translations that I came up with for words in the poem is for the words: Tacks, Splinters, torn up boards, no carpet, and crystal stair.
    For the words Tacks, Splinters, Torn up Boards, and No Carpet I came up with this definition. It could mean that the person proably grew up poor, life wasn't easy for them,  had rough patches, damaged, and shows struggle. I came up with this because when I think of something so beaten down so battered this is the first thing that came to mind when I had read this poem.
   For the word Crystal Stair, I came up with this definition. It could mean that the person had a easy life, perfect, flawless, may mean the person was born rich. I came up with this because I felt that this meaning best represented this.
    Something else that I analyzed about the poem is that, she doesn't want her son to just give up, she wants him to keep pushing on like she did and still is. She's telling him that life isn't perfect and it's going to be rough and you're not always going to be able to stop you're going to have to keep going because time waits for no one.
   Some emotions that I noticed in the poem were, that she was stressed, tired, depressed, always busy, she wants a break, worried, lifeless, blank, sometimes there is no emotion.
    By the way that the poem is written, grammer wise, I assumed that this was a african american speaking to her son. I assumed this because the poem was written in 1922, and african americans back then used to grow up in poverty, and have such a rough life trying to survive, so I imagined that this would be an african american mother speaking words of wisdom to her son.
    These are some of the things that I noticed in the book.

What I love about Stuart Little!

  "When Mrs.Fredrick .C. Little's second son arrived, everybody noticed that he was no bigger than a mouse. The truth of the matter was, the baby looked very much like a mouse in every way. He was only about two inches high; and he had a mouse's sharp nose, a mouse's tail, a mouse's whiskers, and the pleasant shy manner manner of a mouse"   
     By this description you wouldn't think much of Stuart, I know I didn't. At fist I didn't think much of Stuart at all, actually by the picture above in that first page I thought of Stuart only as an average mouse. But as you read deeper into the book you can come to find out that Stuart is quiet the little pioneer. He goes on many adventures in the film and in the classic children's book. I think that Stuart is a very valiant little mouse, for example take this excerpt from the book:
    "One day when Mrs.Little was washing out the bathtub after Mr.Little had taken a bath, she lost a ring off her finger and was horrified to discover that it had fallen down the drain. ... "Why don't we send Stuart down after it?" suggested Mr.Little. "How about it Stuart, would you like to try" "   
   I feel like Stuart was kind of like the Little's  family tool because since he was small enough he was able to fit in places where the Little's couldn't fit at all. As you continue through the book you'll find that the Little's send Stuart on many "Journeys" as you would put it, he goes underneath the radiator to get the pool ball that had rolled underneath by accident. Another time, Stuart is asked that he hold the key in the piano that won't play right. I feel that all these small actions make Stuart brave because for any little mouse to have to go somewhere which is not dangerous for humans at all, but  is somewhat of a battlefield for a mouse is very fearless of him. Stuart could have gotten burned in the radiator, and Stuart could have been hit on the head with that piano key, but Stuart doesn't care because he's brave and he's selfless. Throughout the book you'll come to learn that Stuart Little is more that just a mouse, he's a friend to all.
      While I was reading the book one thing I noticed was that Stuart is a very brave, and valiant mouse, he's very selfless and will go out of his way to save his newly found best friend Margalo. As seen in the movie and read in the book, Stuart little goes on this dangerous journey to save his new best friend Margalo.
         On the way he faces many challenges, for example, when he first starts out Stuart went to his newly found friend the owner of the boat the Wasp.  There he was given a small car and when he went to set it up he accidentally hit the invisible button and the start button, Stuart could have gotten run over by that invisible car. 
       Then right after Stuart had gotten his small invisible car he met a very sad man on the road, and Stuart being Stuart wanted to help him out. The man said that one of his teachers was sick and he needed someone to substitute classroom number seven, Stuart said he would do it. Stuart was so small that when he went to substitute the class he could have gotten trampled by his own students. 
      After he's finished substituting the class, Stuart enters this whole new little town and he learns about a girl almost his size who maybe shorter, named Harriet Ames. Stuart is frightened at first and he doesn't want to introduce himself to her but then he overcomes that fear and actually does it. I appreciate that Stuart is not afraid to try something new and no matter what the challenge he’ll always make it through.

      Stuart goes to dangerous places all the time and is almost never scared. One thing is that Stuart lives with Snowbell the cat and he’s not afraid of him.  Stuart is a very confident mouse.

       The author created Stuart little in such a way that people all over can relate to him, Stuart can do anything that he puts his mind to. Kids love to read this book as a bedtime story, and adults sometimes love to read the classic as a pastime. Stuart goes on many adventures and I can connect to him because when I was little I would sit at home and watch the movie and read the book. I wanted to do what he did; I wanted to be independent and go out into the world on my own and do what I wanted to do for a change. Stuart got to do all of these things.

Another thing is that Stuart doesn’t let his size get to him; he doesn’t let it define who he is. Stuart is small but mighty at the same time, if I were his size I don’t think that I would be able to do half of the things that he does. Sometimes whenever Stuart would walk on the street or go to buy something people would stop and stare but Stuart ignored them and kept his head high. Stuart uses his size to his advantage and doesn’t really think much of it as a disadvantage.

One thing that I came to find really interesting was the author's reason behind creating the classic childhood book Stuart Little. This is a question that is most commonly asked, so before the author passed away, he wrote an online letter to all his readers answering many common questions about his book. Many years ago he went to sleep in a railway car, and during the night he had a dream about a boy who acted like a mouse. This is how he came to write the book Stuart Little.

            I would recommend this book to everyone because it's so timeless. This book has been such a joy to read and I just adored it! I hope that anyone who comes to read it enjoys it too.

Charlotte's Web, My response

          Something I noticed in the book was that Wilbur was too quick to judge Charlotte. Wilbur fist met Charlotte, well really when he had his first encounter with Charlotte was on page 31. Charlotte tells Wilbur that she had been watching him all day and for quite some time; she really liked him. Charlotte offered to be Wilbur's friend.Although Charlotte made Wilbur wait until the morning to show Wilbur who she was Wilbur was still excited to meet her. He was restless all night constantly waking up but he still waited. For once the barn was quiet. I think that Wilbur was excited because of this mystery figure wanting to be his friend. I know I would have been super excited and super hyper if I was in Wilbur's situation.
        The next day on page 35 Charlotte finally introduced herself to Wilbur. She comes off as kind and loving. One thing I noticed about Charlotte's character is that she's always kind and loving to Wilbur throughout the whole book, even to the very moment of her death. She doesn't seem to want to do anyone any harm.Wilbur was happy that he finally got to meet Charlotte and he's happy that he made a new friend. Or so we think, Wilbur actually is processing Charlotte's character through his mind to see if she is 'worthy' of his friendship this is another thing that I noticed about the book.
        When Charlotte introduces herself Wilbur is absolutely fascinated with her. He's fascinated that she's a very tiny grey spider no bigger than the size of a gumdrop. Wilbur is in complete awe of Charlotte and he tells her how beautiful he thinks she is. They're going off really well and having a great time when Charlotte demonstrates to Wilbur how she catches flies in her web and how she traps them to eat them. Wilbur is no longer in awe of her but looking at Charlotte as a blood thirsty creature. Even though that Wilbur dislikes files so much it's almost as if he loathes them he feels sorry for the one that Charlotte is turning into her breakfast. I think that this part of the book really shows Wilbur's innocence and ignorance to the real world and how there are other creatures out there that have to do some pretty gruesome things in order to survive. I personally think that Wilbur should be grateful that Charlotte is not lying to Wilbur and she's not trying to hide her true nature she does what she has to do to survive she has to live too. Wilbur thinks that when Charlotte kills flies and drinks their blood and likes it that, it automatically makes Charlotte a blood thirsty killer. At least in my opinion Charlotte was kind enough to put the fly to sleep before she ate it, it's not like Charlotte chose who she wanted to be or what her diet was. I think that Wilbur was too quick to judge her. 
              I think that Wilbur was too quick to judge her because he feels that based on Charlotte's diet and her life style that, that's what makes her who she is. Wilbur is absolutely disgusted by Charlotte's diet. I think that Wilbur should have really thought about his actions before he did them because Wilbur is a pig, literally. Wilbur eats table scraps and garbage and sleeps in a huge pile of cow manure. He shouldn't judge Charlotte like that. I can relate to this situation because in the sixth grade I only started out with two friends and I had to take a chance to gain them first. When I first met my best friend Kamillah I thought that she was weird and out of place but then I thought to myself that's no way to treat people. It's not right to judge people by their appearance it's what's on the inside that counts. I realize this now because I took a chance with Kamillah and she turned out to be a really nice person and now she's one of my closest friends; I'm really happy that I took  a chance with Kamillah. Everyone has to take a chance at least every day. Later on in the book Wilbur realizes that Charlotte really wants to be his friend, and that she only wants to help him, because after all Wilbur is a pig and bacon comes from pigs, she truly does not want her friend to be the Zuckerman's next breakfast.  Wilbur took a chance and I took a chance sadly Charlotte passed away protecting her babies, my friend however is still very much alive.  
         This is how I thought that Wilbur was too quick to judge Charlotte, and I was too quick to judge Kamillah.

Just an Every day routine

Just another ordinary day and I come home from school. I throw my books on the floor,greet my grandma,and greet my grandpa. I sit down and have a quick snack.
"How was your day at school?"she asks.
"Fine I guess," I mumble under my breath.
I guess you could say that I'm not the most cheerful person after a long day at school. Especially on Wednesdays when I have SHSAT Prep classes from 4:30 to 7pm. I mean who wants to be bothered by an adult when you come home right? So usually after that I'll start on my homework and halfway through it I'll get bored and pick up my book. So I'll sit there and read for hours on end and my mom will yell at me from the other room telling my to stop reading. I think that I'm the only kid on the planet who's mom tells them to actually STOP reading. Crazy right? Some people think that reading brings families closer together, well that may work for them but not for me, and I'll tell you the truth, reading can also break up families...kinda. It can break up families because when you read you go to your own little world am I right? Right. So most people do not enjoy reading the same as others. I am the only one in my family who loves to read books about vampires, I don't really know why but I find them to be very interesting. Okay, so, I love to read romance/realistic fiction/ fantasy, compared to my family who love to read mystery, and adventure. I mean not that I'm trying to imply that I hate those genres but they're just not my cup of tea. So I read what I like in my own little corner/world while my family is bonding with each other. I guess I'm a loner, which is kind of true because I really do not liked to be bothered when I'm doing something. But, anyway, this is basically how I am when I'm reading, you can say I'm sort of a reading fanatic. If I could I think that I would make a school dedicated to reading, and we would read all day and have book discussions and such. But that's just my opinon on it.