Would We Be Killed?

  American Indians/Native Americans have been marginalized since America was "discovered". First they were killed so whites could get more land. In "Would We Be Killed" it shows a different way that Native Americans were killed. Captain Henry Pratt was sending young Native American kids to a boarding school forcefully to "kill the Indian, save the man" which means he was sending them to berid their Native American ways until they were more "white". The article says that "Pratt believed that the children needed to completley abandon their 'Indian-ness' in order to succeed in America." This not only shows that he was actually going through with the plan, but also that he thought he was doing good. He believed that what he was doing was a good thing, that he was helping the young. People saw them as different and thought that what they did and believed was a bad thing and needed to be fixed.

Shanice Britton's essay was about her modern life on a Native American reservation. She talks about how similar she is to a "normal" teenager and how living on a reservation isn't much different from living in a suburb. I think the purpose of the essay is to get that fact across. Of course there are its differences, like traditions on how certain things are done, but it generally just sounds like another girl living her life. When she goes to university she says she meets different people of different places and beliefs. They ask her about her life because there aren't many Native Americans so it's all new to them. In the article she says that things like the clothes we see in drawings of Native Americans are only worn on special, traditional occassions. She also says that not every Native American is the same in terms of how they celebrate certain things and how they do small things such as hunting. In conclusion, I think the purpose of her essay is to say that her life is like any other life and, although they sometimes bring back old traditions, it is different from what it used to be back when Henry Pratt was alive.

Tolerance

 Tolerance : The ability or willingness to alloq the existence, occurrence, or practice of something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necissarily agree with.

 How can you be more tolerant of other people? I like to think of myself as a tolerant person. Having a big family there are a few who wouldn't be considered by intolerant people to be "normal". A way to be more tolerant is by thinking if their beliefs or ways could effect you in any way. You don't have to agree with their ways, just accept it and move on. It won't effect you or change the way you see things and if it does then that just means you're open minded. Open minded people tend to be the most tolerant because they see everyone having their own beliefs and maybe want to try it out if it interests them. There are things of course that they can't try out, you just have to be born with it. You know like GLBT, it's not something people choose to be, it's just the way they are. If you do think it's a choice then why don't you (if you're straight) try to be attracted to the same sex by choice. Can't do it. You weren't born with the gene. So, in conclusion, to be tolerant try have an open mind. You don't have to agree with every religion or way of living, but accept that that's the way people are and move on.

Invisible

 Everyone's felt invisible at some point in their lives. From when you don't kow anyone at a party or when everyone decides to scold you. I usually feel "invisble" around friends because to a certain group, I am the outcast. I don't relate to what they talk about or have expirienced what they have. That's not necesserily bad, I just tend to be left out. If there is a time I can jump in I would, but I perfer listening to the conversation and learning from others. They don't pay much attention to me even if I do jump in. Don't feel bad, it's mostly my fault because I don't want to sound ignorant. Like I'm talking about something I don't know as if I did. This only happens when there's a group of certain friends, not when it's just like three of us. I think I have gotten better at conversing when these kinds of things happen like asking them to explain so I could compare to something I can relate to. Still, I perfer to keep quiet and listen to others have their conversation while I do whatever I can do to keep myself distracted.

Seeing Red

 I like this book. I haven't read much of it and I already know I like this book. I will say way later. First, the book. Seeing Red is the story, so far, about a boy named Frederick Stewart Porter who goes by Red sometimes. From the beginning of the book we learn his father had died and he was left as the "man of the house". He tends to talk to his dad evn though he passed and he usually says, "Don't worry Daddy, I'm going to take care of this place. You can count on me." His dad and him owned a car repair shop and they used to have conversations about cars all the time, now that he was gone the place felt empty to Red. So he started talking to his Dad, alone. The entire first chapter is explaining mostly this. Later, we learn about how Red's mom is suffering through some depressing times after her husband's death. To move on she took the approach of getting rid of most if not everything that he used to own, except for one of the clothes that Red now wears. Red thought that was it, that's as far as she would take it, but this wasn't the case. By overhearing conversation and putting pieces together, Red learns that his mom was planning on moving from the little village Red had lived in since birth. He freaked out and ran being Mr. Dunlip's house where he met his daughter, Rose. He explained the situation to her and didn't know what to do until Rose suggested having a seance. You know, where you use an ouija board to communicate with the dead. Red didn't know what else to do and I guess desperate times called for desperate measures. That night Red brought the clothe his dad used to own, went to his dad's grave where they planned on meeting, and attempted to have the seance. It didn't work out becasue Rose's brother, who joined them because they were "too young to be at a cemetary at midnight", made fun of the situation causing anger and the whole thing to stop. That is all I have read so far, which means I should really start reading.

 Now, the reason I already like this book. I am going to compare it to a movie or videogame. When I watch a movie I haven't seen or play a new game, I make an automatic judgement based on how it presents itself at the beginning. Because I don't read books as much as I watch movies, I don't do it purposfully or as much. I also don't like making judgements until I finish something but it isn't easy to go through a book, movie, or videogame when you don't like how it starts. I liked how Seeing Red started because it jumped to a problem right away, Red's dad died. It used this to explain the plot, characters, setting, most of everything. It used Red's memories of ties with his dad where he lived to introduce us to the characters and not once did it feel like all the author was doing was explaining. It came naturally and I really enjoyed that. Books like The Hunger Games and The Lord of the Rings have slow beginnings and can be difficult to get into, which is why I haven't finished either of them. Same goes with any form of entertainment to be honest but I feel that with a book it requires a bit more creativity on how you present it thoughtfully, with a movie it requires thought about how you present it visually, and with a videogame it requires  thought on how you present it in an entertaining and simple so not to confuse the person.

Greek Mythology (part 2)

 It's been a while since I read my book on Greek Gods, but the story that I read recently was on the goddess Athene. The story based around a little girl who was the best at weaving clothes that people said her clothes were warmer than anything yet still comfortable. Out of excitement the little girl claimed she was "better than the goddess of weaving herself, Athene." According to the book, gods and goddesses are easily jealous and very stubborn so naturally this made Athene very mad. One day Athene visited the girl and declared she would kill her for saying she was better than the very goddess who introduced humans to sewing and weaving. But the girl, before dying, gave Athene a gift, "Before I die, great Athene, let me give you a present" she said. She brought a cloak she wove and gave it to Athene. Out of empathy Athene decided to allow the girl to duel her to see who can make the best...anything. If she wins she won't die, if she loses...well, she dies. When they dueled the girl went first and all who saw were astonished by how easily she wove. When it was Athene's turn she did not weave with normal fabrics. She used rays of the sun and other forms of energy to make her quilt. As she left everyone in awe the girl ran into the woods to hang herself. After Athene was done she found the girl hung, again out of empathy she gave her a chance. She turned the girl into a small black creature with eight legs and the rope she hung herself with into a thing white string for her to use. This, according to Greek Mythology, is how the spider came to be.

 These stories are really interesting to me, they explain how things came to be in a simple and intriguing way. Every story is connected to the real world somehow. This book was written in modern days so it's easier to read than stories written when they were thought of. Greek Mythology was made as an easy way to explain things in life and I find that amazing because of the detail that went into making the stories. You couldn't tell what it was going to conclude by reading the beginning.

The Corps of the Bare-Boned Plane (Part 3)

 Okay, I really need to finish this book. I've had it for a while. In the last post I mentioned that the fact that Jocelyn was crying was not important to the story but it actually was. Because she was crying Meline wanted to get her to do something rather than going into the muddy wet forest to cry. She came up with building a plane from the destroyed planes that crashed when the Corps of the Bare-Boned Plane was taking place a long time ago. The parts weren't obvious and out in the open so for four days they looked but found nothing. They woke up everyday at 2:00 in the morning to go out and find some pieces from planes but found none. Until, one day Jocelyn though she saw the glaring red eyes of an animal but when closely investigating found out that it was a part of a plane. They struggled to carry it to a nearby barn behind their house but when they got it there they left it and went to sleep. Because it always rains on the island Ms. Mendlebaum and Meline were caught with a fever. This meant that she couldn't go outside to find plane parts for a while. Ms. Mendlebaum did eventually hire a butler named Humdinger (Hum-dinjer) so he was able to cook and clean while everyone else was doing their own thing either being sick in bed or studying god knows what. Christmas was coming up so the house was a little more festive putting everyone in a happier mood than normal. There was a lot of fuss over who would cook but only because Ms. Mendlebaum was unaware of Humdinger's doings. After a while everything calmed down, a doctor met with Meline, and Jocelyn got some time to herself for once.

 The conflict in the story is different for each character. Meline and Jocelyn are mostly Person vs Self conflict. Trying to beat their grief after their parents had died and bored out of their minds on the island until they found something to do. Jocelyn is also under Person vs Society being the only one there that was raised with the thought of always having manners. Mr Martin is also under Person vs Society because he's normally by himself then in a matter of days, his house is full of people. He once locked himself in his room by putting a drawer in front of the door to be away from everyone, but forgot he put it there and thought his door suddenly disappeared. 

The Testing

 I only just began The Testing for a group called Battle of the Books. The story starts out in the main character's graduation day, in her home, as she's getting ready. Her name is Cia and she's sixteen. She's putting on a red dress to resemble her step into adulthood rather than the pink clothes she would usually wear. "Red. I'm wearing red. No more pink. I am an adult." She is graduating from whatever education she had, they don't really explain that, and has to make a really good impression because only a very few get to go to the testing. Only one person gets chosen into adulthood and not have to continue working or studying. Before she actually goes into the testing she hangs around with her friend Daileen. She is a very close friend to Cia and is the only person Cia talks to when it comes to things like fears of the future. Because she is kind of afraid they go to get ice cream and because they're in a hurry, so not to be late to the testing, they run to the ice cream. By the time they get back from getting and eating ice cream, Cia's hair is a mess and causes trouble to be re-combed. Cia doesn't live with a very rich family. Her home is a far distance from the center of their district which means it costs less. This also means they need to leave their house early to get to the center in time. That is as all I read in the book The Testing.

 Now, I didn't read much of The Testing but I did notice some sort of connection from the book to real life. Me being an eighth grader, I am about to graduate from Middle School and go into High School like Cia graduating whatever it is she is graduating from and going into adulthood. Students going into High School are expected to act more mature and expected to be somewhat prepared to deal with whatever the change throws at them but most of the time the students are still immature and afraid. Of course over time they will get used to it but at first they will be childish and afraid of the change. Like with Cia, she was nervous but acted as if she wasn't. People expected her to just suddenly adjust to adulthood immediately after her graduation. All she accomplished so far was running around, eating ice cream with her friend, and talking about how afraid she was.