Superior Skydiving

I watched a PechaKucha about a woman who loves skydiving. She says that she is always asked, “Why do you jump out of a perfectly good airplane?” In her presentation she answers this quickly, she does it to live life.

She easily had a good presentation just based on the topic. The only thing I noticed was when she lost track of where she was and said “Sorry, Sorry I lost my place”, which made me forget about the focus of the story. She had a good story line to go off of, because it is interesting. If someone says that they have been skydiving we automatically become intrigued because it seems like such a crazy thing to do.  The only thing I would recommend for her is to try not to lose her place and stay on topic as best she can. The pauses make it kind of awkward but hey, they happen. No big deal. I am just being particular because of the lack of things to criticize.

Only Child?

I chose to write about China’s One Child Policy. I find this policy to be outrageous, but I understand that someone from China, or other parts of the world, may not. I have heard about the One Child Policy before but when reading my letter from Ann, one of my correspondents from China, I became much more curious. She wrote,

 “I am the only child in my home, so I get all love of my parents. In fact, I am a bit selfish and paradoxical in this matter. I don’t want a brother or sister in the future because I am not patient enough to get along with a baby who will share even snatch my parents’ attention in the rest of my life. May other people will be in euphoria to have a sister or brother, but it is not my reflection to this kind of occasion.”

Although Ann does not specifically say that the One Child Policy is responsible for her being an only child, it got me thinking. How does the policy work? Are there exceptions? What happens when women accidentally become pregnant with a second child?

               After further research I learned that in 1979 China’s population was a quarter of the world’s people and following the Cultural Revolution, the government found it necessary to prevent the baby boomers of the 1950s-1960s from reproducing multiple children as well. The State Family Planning Bureau sets standards that are to be followed by the population. Of course, there are special situations and exceptions. Some of the exceptions include if the first baby has a disability, if both parents work in high-risk jobs, or if the parents themselves are from One Child families. Despite its name, the policy only caters to a minority of the population. In rural areas a second child is usually allowed as long as there is a five year difference between them and the first child. Despite the exceptions, this policy leaves many women without a choice but to use contraceptives or get an abortion. (The Effect of China's One-Child Policy).

               I, personally, could not even begin to imagine my life without my brothers. I can’t imagine being a parent who wants multiple children but knowing that I could only have one. I understand it from the government’s point of view (to an extent) because they are trying to keep their population lower to preserve good living standards. I hope China decides that the time for the One Child Policy is over. After all, it has been 35 years.

SOURCES:      

"The Effect of China's One-Child Family Policy after 25 Years — NEJM." New England Journal of Medicine. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.

My correspondent, Ann.

My results from the Implicit Bias test were that I had no preference between African Americans and European Americans. I think this is accurate for me because I like people for their personalities and for who they are. Race specifically does not play a factor in who I talk to, and it never will. Who cares what race someone is? If they are a good person then I will like them. It makes me really angry when people try to categorize others because of things like race and religion. I view everyone as equal.

Today we looked at bias and racism in the world to see how it can effect us. These two factors are always there in the world, but I don't agree with them. Then again, I understand that how you are raised plays a large part in bias and what you believe, so every one is different. It was heartbreaking listening to those stories from Face to Face and hearing about how people were treated after instances such as 9/11 and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The fact that Japanese people were rounded up after Pearl Harbor and put into camps and were questioned about their whereabouts and actions. That angers me because it was such a generalization and assumption about the entire population of Japanese people in America.

I wish people as a whole could understand that every person is different and just because a group of people does something doesn't mean that their entire race is the same. I can't write this in a way to get my opinion across without feeling like I could be offending someone, so I am going to stop.

Reading Response #4

 I wanted to show the way he wrote the title.


Surprise! I am reading yet another book by John Green. (I am reading everything he has written so far so be prepared for next week as well). This one is called An Abundance of Katherines, and yes, it is important that Katherine is spelled with a "K." In this novel, a child prodigy named Colin has a rare preference. He only dates girls named Katherine (has to be spelled with a "K") and every single time he gets dumped. In John Green's own words:

"When it comes to girls (and in Colin's case, it so often did), everyone has a type. Colin Singleton's type was not physical but linguistic: he liked Katherines. And not Katies or Kats or Kitties or Cathys or Rynns or Trinas or Kays or Kates or, God forbid, Catherines. K-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E. He had dated nineteen girls. All of them had been named Katherine. And all of them--every single solitary one--had dumped him."

By the time he has graduated high school and is seventeen years old, he has dated nineteen different Katherines. After being dumped for the nineteenth time, him and his best friend Hassan decide that they need to get away for awhile. Thus began their road trip to no where in particular. They decide to stop at a tourist spot in Gutshot, Tennessee that claims to have the remains of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. They start talking to the tour guide, Lindsey, they realize that a summer in Gutshot, Tennessee spent working for Lindsey's mom may be exactly what they need. Once they make the decision to stay in Gutshot for awhile, Colin begins to work on a formula for being dumped. It goes as such:

This above picture is Colin's actual equation as written in the book. I am using this as my picture because the formula is a very important part of plot and sets the motivation for most of the story.

Book Response #3~ Paper Towns

 

 

I happen to be writing, once again, about a novel by John Green. I have yet to find a book by him that does not continue the seemingly effortless flow of words. His novels are mostly well written so that it is not difficult to keep up with the words, however, the plot of Paper Towns is proving to be difficult to understand. But that may be due to the fact that I am only 63 pages in so far.

The book is written from the perspective of Quentin. He is a senior at Winter Park High School in Florida. As a child, a girl named Margo Roth Spiegelman moved next door to him. They became play mates, for lack of better words, and were friends. The opening of the novel takes you back to when they were nine and on their way to a park in which they often played in. Upon arriving, they could tell something was wrong and noticed a dead body lying against a tree. This is not a major turning point, nor seemingly important, so don’t get upset about the spoiler. Upon the discovery they ran home and Margo told him that she was going to investigate. This leaves him ending the first few pages with, “Margo always loved mysteries. And in everything that came afterward, I could never stop thinking that maybe she loved mysteries so much that she became one.” (page 8)

Years later, Margo and Quentin are no longer what we would consider to be “friends.” They haven’t talked since they were young and the cliques and popularity in high school seemed to have also separated them. Margo is a very popular girl, along with all her friends, which leaves Quentin to just admire her from afar. Until one night when she shows up and asks for his assistance in getting much needed revenge. He reluctantly agrees and an action packed night begins. The night ranges from catfish to spray paint to boxers to guns and nothing Margo does is expected. She has devised the perfect way to get revenge on someone who wronged her and has also perfectly planned it out.  

If you are confused by my summary, don’t worry. I am confused by the book so far so I don’t necessarily expect people to understand what is going on. I love John Green and I am sure that the book will begin to answer my questions soon enough, so I will continue reading.

 

I chose a picture of a map of Orlando, Florida because during the crazy night of revenge they drive all over the city and considering the title of the book, I figure that this will be important.

The Fault in Our Stars~

I honestly read this a while ago, but I decided to re-read it. John Green amazes me with his incredible writing that flows so effortlessly from paragraph to paragraph. I know that most of us has either read the book or seen the movie, but for those few out there, I will try not to give away the ending.

The novel is from Hazel’s perspective. She is a 16 year old girl with cancer. Her parents force her to go to a support group, which is where she meets Augustus Waters. Augustus is an amputee who is there in support of his friend, Isaac, who is about to get surgery for the cancer in his eyes that will make him legally blind. Hazel runs into him (literally) and there is immediately something there. Throughout the novel you get to witness their love grow stronger and stronger no matter what they have to go through. As Hazel’s cancer gets worse, Augustus decides to use his Wish to take her to Amsterdam to meet her favorite author, Peter Van Houten. When they get there, they discover that he is actually an awful person and they instead spend the trip together on what I consider a multiple day date. On the last day, Augustus reveals some information that really tests their relationship.

You have to read it to learn what the information is and what happens next, but I can promise you that it will be an enjoyable, emotional, and good read. You will become attached to the characters and find yourself rooting for them in every step that they take.

One of my favorite quotes from the novel is when Augustus comes over and they decide to make an ad to get rid of Hazel’s old childhood swing set. They have fun and laugh at what they can come up with for the ad and then Hazel makes a wonderful suggestion. “Lonely, vaguely pedophilic swing set seeks the butts of children.”

“Okay.”
I chose these two pictures because I honestly want to focus on the text of the book. John Green's writing style is so good that I can't even think of a picture that would significantly impact my understanding. Thank you to the wonderful John Green!

 

 

Every Day~ First Book Response

“I wake up.

      Immediately I have to figure out who I am. It’s not just the body—opening my eyes and discovering whether the skin on my arm is light or dark, whether my hair is long or short, whether I’m fat or thin, boy or girl, scarred or smooth. The body is the easiest thing to adjust to, if you’re used to waking up in a new one each morning. It’s the life, the context of the body, that can be hard to grasp.

      Every day I am someone else. I am myself—I know I am myself—but I am also someone else.

      It has always been like this.”

 

                The opening of this book is so powerful. It automatically brings you into the story because you want to understand what is going on. Here is the story:

                A is a person… well kinda. I don’t really know what word to use to describe A. Every morning A wakes up in a different body as a different person. He has the day to just live their life as they would, which has caused A to see some interesting things. Gender does not matter nor race. The only consistent factor is that the person is always the same age as him.

                As A goes through this routine learning about the person of the day, he meets a girl named Rhiannon. He is in her boyfriends body for a day and he falls in love with her. Every day A comes back to talk to Rhiannon as a different person, and finally tries to tell her the truth. Of course this begins a rollercoaster of events. I feel like A’s main questions are: Are there others like me? How would I ever know if there were? Is it possible to stay for longer than a day?

 

                The writing in this novel can be compared to no other that I have read. The odd story pulls you in and makes you think about being in A’s place. The life of A is so sad… but it is not. Everything bout the plot is complicated but once you understand what is going on, it is a wonderful read. I highly recommend this book to anyone. As long as you don’t try to guess the ending. I guarantee that you will not be correct.

 

This is a picture of a beach in Maryland. When A was in Justin's body, he and Rhiannon decided to go to the beach. This happens to be a key part of the book because the beach in Maryland is where A completely fell in love with her. A's love for Rhiannon drives the story line, which also takes it's place in Maryland.

Facts about me!

                                                              ~FACTS ABOUT ME~

• I am only slightly obsessed with the Harry Potter series. Slightly.
• Two Door Cinema Club, Panic! At the Disco, and Parachute are some of my favorite bands.
• I have broken 4 bones including: my elbow in two places, my toe, and my wrist.
• I am extremely accident prone. (^see above)
• I love every type of animal. Snakes? Yup. Cows? Adorable. Dolphins? Beautiful.
• You will probably never see my kill a bug. I tend to cry if I do that. I have been known to save spiders and all other bugs in class and everywhere else.
• I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. Other than a princess of course.
• I am involved in 7 clubs so far. I am also a member of TRiO. (college prep program.)
• I have had a boyfriend for the past four months and he is okay.. I guess. :)
• Tumblr is an addiction of mine.
• I'm very independent and love to get things done on my own.
• You will not EVER see me bully someone, or support bullying. I will also not be happy if I see it happen. I also will not be very nice to the bully. Fair warning.
• I went to an agricultural camp at MSU this summer and had a blast!
• Sarah Holt and Elias Jardell are my favorite people. They are pretty great.
• I have a shopping problem. However, I have turned over a new leaf and decided to knock it off. (After I get those super cute sandals.)
• I enjoy fashion more than I probably should.
• Please don't take me too seriously... I am very sarcastic. I'm always kidding.
• I am also hilarious. I may be the only one with that opinion though.
• What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta. See? Hilarious.
• What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear! Okay, I'll stop now.
• I have been in 5 theatrical shows. They are as follows: Les Miserables, The 36 Dramatic Situations, Hairspray, 13 Reasons Why, and The Scarlet Pimpernel.
• Family is very important to me.
• I think 22 is a good stopping point.