The Essay that I'm about to write is on a recent article that I've read. With that I've decided to write about the Trayvon Martin Shooting.
I read the article about the death of Trayvon Martin,and it shows an important problem in america. There is still injustice in america just upon the way we look.In the article, George Zimmerman claims that Trayvon looked suspicious as he was walking alone on a rainy day,claiming that the boy was "high and up to no good". In truth Trayvon was walking to the store to pick up snacks,scared because he was being followed by a stranger.In the end Trayvon was shot,a single shot to the chest ending the youths life,while Zimmerman gets away with this injustice by pleading this act was done in self-defense.
After reading this article I was both saddened and angry because of what happened. It may as well be said if someone looks strange we have a right to kill them,if so most of america would be gone in a night.Is it really okay to have a law that says it''s okay to shot somebody in self defense?This "Stand Your Ground" law protects you when shooting minors? If so we might as well shot everybody if they so much as touch us. Where would we be if this law was passed all over america,then this would happen: "I shot him out of self defense,so I'm free to go right?"
In all honesty, if Trayvon was white, this would probably never have happened. As much as people try to deny it, racism still very well exists today. A teenage African American walking alone in the rain with a hood on in a neighborhood with multiple break in, of course the boy would be targeted. It still doesn't give them the right to shot him for looking the way he did. It leads me to wonder if things were different in the past,would things turned out differently for Trayvon?
All in all,we can't change the past. But we can try to prevent something like this from happening again,as many people have been doing in the Trayvon Martin "Million Hoodie March" where people show their support. It just goes t show what can happen to you based on how you look.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Never Plagiarize
I have just finished reading my ELA teacher's blog post on plagiarizing work,about what a crime it is and why It's wrong.After reading a students work who had been caught,I saw the mistakes the kid made,and I want to point out how this kid could have not gotten into trouble.
This student,instead of copying word for word,could have just cited their source and used it as an example by paraphrasing or adding quotes.
Here are some examples on how the student could have done this:
"I remember the description Bran had given of the wildlings in George R.R Martin's book,A Game of Thrones in his recollection from Old Nan's Tales: "The wildlings were cruel men,she said,slavers and slayers and thieves"(13)
or("Game of Thrones" 13)
Then at the end the student could have constructed a list of all sources they had cited.
Three ways to avoid plagiarizing are:
This student,instead of copying word for word,could have just cited their source and used it as an example by paraphrasing or adding quotes.
Here are some examples on how the student could have done this:
"I remember the description Bran had given of the wildlings in George R.R Martin's book,A Game of Thrones in his recollection from Old Nan's Tales: "The wildlings were cruel men,she said,slavers and slayers and thieves"(13)
or("Game of Thrones" 13)
Then at the end the student could have constructed a list of all sources they had cited.
Three ways to avoid plagiarizing are:
- Be original with your work
- Cite your sources correctly
- Just don't steal another persons work
Old Blogs,New Ideas
For this assignment,I was told to read two blog posts from my fellow students.The two posts that I decided to read were by Jake L. and Alexandria N. I enjoyed reading both student blogs because each on had given me new ideas on what to work with in my blog posts to come.I am to list two elements that I favored from each blog and why I enjoyed.
In Jake's blog post he spoke of the connections between characters and the details that he found important to the story.I liked this because I mainly focus on the characters and why they are unique and interesting,and how you may relate to them. Like Jake I notice the details and relationships they have but Jake exploits then in his post. Alexandria's blog post is much more on the plains of being deep and meaningful. She takes a lesson or quote from the story and thoughtfully explains them while trying to make a connection to the reader's life while doing so,while I do nothing of the sort in my posts.
From reading these two blog post I can see new ways to make my blog post better and find new things to work with from my reading.Next time that I write a blog post I may try to show of some details that I noticed in the story like Jake,which I hadn't done before because I didn't want to give bits of the story away to potential readers.Or I can connect a lesson or quote I read to real life like Alli. After reading these two blogs I learned some good new ways to improve.
In Jake's blog post he spoke of the connections between characters and the details that he found important to the story.I liked this because I mainly focus on the characters and why they are unique and interesting,and how you may relate to them. Like Jake I notice the details and relationships they have but Jake exploits then in his post. Alexandria's blog post is much more on the plains of being deep and meaningful. She takes a lesson or quote from the story and thoughtfully explains them while trying to make a connection to the reader's life while doing so,while I do nothing of the sort in my posts.
From reading these two blog post I can see new ways to make my blog post better and find new things to work with from my reading.Next time that I write a blog post I may try to show of some details that I noticed in the story like Jake,which I hadn't done before because I didn't want to give bits of the story away to potential readers.Or I can connect a lesson or quote I read to real life like Alli. After reading these two blogs I learned some good new ways to improve.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Much Ado About Nothing:Play Review
Last week I had gone to go see my first Shakespeare play: Much Ado About Nothing, a love story crafted by the legendary bard and acted out with a slightly more modern twist. Until I saw this play I had thought that Shakespeare only wrote sonnets along with love and tragedy plays. The play had involved much love but the whole story in my opinion was crafted through one character's lies and deception. The plot of this play had caught my attention and how each event in the story crashed into one another had grabbed me entirely.
The plot revolves around two pairs of lovers: Claudio and Hero and the warring couple of Benedick and Beatrice. The love between Claudio and Hero was simple enough, each had liked one another and wished to be married to each other but the villain Don John had spread terrible rumors and played tricks on the couple to make Claudio believe Hero was unfaithful. All the while the is the "loving hate" couple of Benedick and Beatrice, both claiming to hate each other and than easily tricked into revealing their love for each other. Throughout this play there are plots and schemes from both sides that bring these couples together.
The plot revolves around two pairs of lovers: Claudio and Hero and the warring couple of Benedick and Beatrice. The love between Claudio and Hero was simple enough, each had liked one another and wished to be married to each other but the villain Don John had spread terrible rumors and played tricks on the couple to make Claudio believe Hero was unfaithful. All the while the is the "loving hate" couple of Benedick and Beatrice, both claiming to hate each other and than easily tricked into revealing their love for each other. Throughout this play there are plots and schemes from both sides that bring these couples together.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Reading Response: A Game of Thrones
I've just begun the one series that may keep me from reading the whole thing in the course of a week. I begun the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire series with the epic story of A Game of Thrones George R.R Martin, and have to say I don't think a book has every grabbed my attention so quickly. This tale of fantasy tale if held in a place where winter's and summers can last decades, and in this medieval time period also sets up a story of glory and deception in a way that I've never seen before.Not only is the plot and world interesting but each character has a path that makes me feel like I'm reading individual stories with each chapter.
My favorite character by far is Jon Snow, the bastard son of Eddard Stark, ruler of Winterfell (when a bastard is born, they aren't allowed to take the last name of their father and must take the name "Snow"). Jon is a strong-willed character that has a rough life not because he was born a king's son, but because he was born at all. His father had him while being married to his wife for a year and is looked upon by the world as the boy who disgraced his family and as someone who shouldn't be. This makes me drawn to this character because he is the outsider accepted by a few people, which is who I am most of the time. In the story, Jon decides that if he must be the outsider, he will take the road to where even a bastard can be looked upon in greatness, as a part of the Night Watch, the warrior's who guard the outer wall's of the land. I wish to see more of Jon in the story but as the character's keep alternating it keep's my attention away as I look at their lives as well.
In this book there are definitely some things that throw me off. An example would be who are the conflict's fall between, because there seem to be quite a bit of hate to one group but other hates rise out under it from the past as well. I would also want to know what type of fantasy am I dealing with in the story, in terms of magic and creature among other things. The main things that I wish to know more about are the outer wall, the Night's Watch, the Dothraki and the Targaryen's. And these are just my main concerns, not even mentioning my other haunt's of this book.
My favorite character by far is Jon Snow, the bastard son of Eddard Stark, ruler of Winterfell (when a bastard is born, they aren't allowed to take the last name of their father and must take the name "Snow"). Jon is a strong-willed character that has a rough life not because he was born a king's son, but because he was born at all. His father had him while being married to his wife for a year and is looked upon by the world as the boy who disgraced his family and as someone who shouldn't be. This makes me drawn to this character because he is the outsider accepted by a few people, which is who I am most of the time. In the story, Jon decides that if he must be the outsider, he will take the road to where even a bastard can be looked upon in greatness, as a part of the Night Watch, the warrior's who guard the outer wall's of the land. I wish to see more of Jon in the story but as the character's keep alternating it keep's my attention away as I look at their lives as well.
In this book there are definitely some things that throw me off. An example would be who are the conflict's fall between, because there seem to be quite a bit of hate to one group but other hates rise out under it from the past as well. I would also want to know what type of fantasy am I dealing with in the story, in terms of magic and creature among other things. The main things that I wish to know more about are the outer wall, the Night's Watch, the Dothraki and the Targaryen's. And these are just my main concerns, not even mentioning my other haunt's of this book.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Reading Response: Romeo & Juliet
This week I've been reading the legendary Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare, and I have mixed feelings about the book so far. One part of me likes where the book is going but another part of me says that I should drop the book( even though I can't). So I'll highlight the good and bad parts of the book for me in this response.
In the book, I sort of enjoy looking at the hidden messages of the story, like how one thing means something else entirely. But another part of me just wants to scream from the mental anguish their manner of speaking has caused me, wanting to think that it means the way they say things but it just doesn't want me to do this apparently. Another thing is the characters. New characters rapidly appear throughout the story and the each seems significant in their own way, but since it's in the format of a play I don't get to truly know the characters like I would be able to in other book and it bugs me to no end. I'm I reader who likes to understand most of what he's reading, and this book isn't really helping.
In all I would say that I have to read more of this book before I develop a real opinion of the story I think I would have to read more of it before I start crashing down on books the way I normally would. If my opinion leans to one side, that's most likely the opinion I'll stick with for the rest of the book.
In the book, I sort of enjoy looking at the hidden messages of the story, like how one thing means something else entirely. But another part of me just wants to scream from the mental anguish their manner of speaking has caused me, wanting to think that it means the way they say things but it just doesn't want me to do this apparently. Another thing is the characters. New characters rapidly appear throughout the story and the each seems significant in their own way, but since it's in the format of a play I don't get to truly know the characters like I would be able to in other book and it bugs me to no end. I'm I reader who likes to understand most of what he's reading, and this book isn't really helping.
In all I would say that I have to read more of this book before I develop a real opinion of the story I think I would have to read more of it before I start crashing down on books the way I normally would. If my opinion leans to one side, that's most likely the opinion I'll stick with for the rest of the book.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Letter to a friend;Understanding Shakespeare
Dear God Brother,
It's been a while since we've spoken to each other and I was thinking that we may be able to reconnect, talking about what's new and what has changed. In my ELA class we have begun to read Romeo & Juliet by the legendary bard, William Shakespeare. I have just finished the first scene of act one, as this tragic love story has been written in the form of a play and through reading this I have found the story slightly hard to understand but nevertheless interesting. I am sending this letter to you in hope that you may get a better understanding of the story crafted by Shakespeare and I hope that after you have read this, you will somewhat understand Shakespeare and perhaps gather a better understand of the bard's work than I have.
To me, the story begins as two characters planning to take action against the apposing side, until the opposite side see's them insulting them openly and a fight breaks out in public, swords drawn. In my opinion, this was a foolish thing to do in the first place, declaring hate openly when you are outnumbered. But reading this has also taught me that as words are spoken, they can mean something else entirely from what you would think it had meant. Truth be told, I had to look at their definitions for words at least several times to learn what they meant because at first it seemed like a bunch of words strung together to make meaningless sentences. But after learning what their words meant, I was thrown of quite a bit because they had boasted about doing some rather disturbing things to others.
I hope this may be of help to you if you decide to take up reading Romeo & Juliet, knowing that you have to look out for hidden meanings while reading. I would recommend this to you but than again this type of reading isn't really for everyone, but since I don't really know about your tastes in reading I can't be sure.
My best wish's go out to you brother, and I hope that you can keep in touch.
-Your Brother Through God, Tyler
It's been a while since we've spoken to each other and I was thinking that we may be able to reconnect, talking about what's new and what has changed. In my ELA class we have begun to read Romeo & Juliet by the legendary bard, William Shakespeare. I have just finished the first scene of act one, as this tragic love story has been written in the form of a play and through reading this I have found the story slightly hard to understand but nevertheless interesting. I am sending this letter to you in hope that you may get a better understanding of the story crafted by Shakespeare and I hope that after you have read this, you will somewhat understand Shakespeare and perhaps gather a better understand of the bard's work than I have.
To me, the story begins as two characters planning to take action against the apposing side, until the opposite side see's them insulting them openly and a fight breaks out in public, swords drawn. In my opinion, this was a foolish thing to do in the first place, declaring hate openly when you are outnumbered. But reading this has also taught me that as words are spoken, they can mean something else entirely from what you would think it had meant. Truth be told, I had to look at their definitions for words at least several times to learn what they meant because at first it seemed like a bunch of words strung together to make meaningless sentences. But after learning what their words meant, I was thrown of quite a bit because they had boasted about doing some rather disturbing things to others.
I hope this may be of help to you if you decide to take up reading Romeo & Juliet, knowing that you have to look out for hidden meanings while reading. I would recommend this to you but than again this type of reading isn't really for everyone, but since I don't really know about your tastes in reading I can't be sure.
My best wish's go out to you brother, and I hope that you can keep in touch.
-Your Brother Through God, Tyler
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