Skink No Surrender - Blog #1

Summary

I have finished reading Skink No Surrender by Carl Hiaasen during my winter break and finished it in three days.  The story takes places in Florida with a teenage boy named Richard who is walking around in beach where many turtles make nest and lay their eggs for example Loggerhead turtles.  He is walking around waiting for his cousin Malley who does show up.  While waiting he meets a man named named Clinton Tyree but calls himself Skink.  After Richard meets Skink he then receives news that Malley isn't home and find out himself that Malley lied to her parent's about an early orientation in a school Malley is forced to go.  Now reporting to the police that Malley left with someone online named Talbo Chock, Skink tells Richard that he is off to find Richard's cousin since it's been a month or so from her disappearance.  Now Richard is on a adventure to save her cousin with an unknown stranger who was once Florida's governor but faked his death.

SignPost

While I was reading Skink No Surrender I found an Aha-moment, that made me think how is it going to change the situation?  While Richard was in the car with Skink to find Malley he received a call from Malley.  She said to Richard that she spotted an Ivory-billed Woodpecker who are thought to be extinct.  Only Richard solved the reason behind the message.  They think Malley is trying to tell them where she's at and the lonesome part she says's is indicating she wants to go back home.

"The second call was from a blocked number.
"Sup, Ricardo!  Yours truly, checkin' in.  Everything here in paradise is just amazingly awesome.  Guess what I saw up in a tree this morning?  An Ivory-billed woodpecker!  It sounded so lonesome, it made me sad."
On the message, Malley was coughing and her voice sounded rough.  When I played it for Skink, he raised an eyebrow. "She calls you Ricardo?"
"First time ever.  Weird?"
"She wants you to pay attention."
"Also the Ivory-billed woodpeckers are extinct.  I did a project on them for science fair in sixth grade, and Malley helped with graphics.'
"I know where those birds live," Skink said.
"You mean lived."
"Only once place in Florida, Ricardo, and it's not an island."
"I know that."
"The girl's trying to tell you where she's at."
"And the 'lonesome' part-that means she wants to come home."

This was in page 72.  This is my evidence for Richard having an aha-moment finally realizing that Malley wasn't really enjoying her runaway with a stranger and instead was started to get scared.  Probably think the Talbo Chock was somewhat abusing her.

2015 goals

Academic goal:

For the New Year of 2015 one of my academic goals is trying to better understand and get better in mathematics.  Every time we get assigned homework I start to struggle on almost every subject.  I usually ask my mom if she can help me but she always says she doesn't remember or never says this but only when she has no clue.  " I was never taught that."  I do my best on understanding or finish my homework, but I know that I must've gotten it wrong.  Then there is the test I study for but I either fail or get a grade I am not satisfied like a C.  I don't want to fall behind in the rest of the world since it's mostly all about math and reading.  A therapist told my mother I'm suppose to be 6 months late from learning, everything else I'm fine but I think I am a few months late on math.  So when I think about it I keep a goal to myself.  Try to catch up and understand.  I don't have trouble on other subjects especially Science ( one of the subjects that I am exceeding) but math always seems to catch me and likes to interrogate me with questions I don't know how to answer.  So for this subject my steps will be focus in class and give all of my attention, jot down notes that can help me and study for everything to get ready in my test and ask for help.  I already been keeping up in the notes and studying I just need to focus more on how to solve each problem.


Personal Goal:

For my 2015 goal is to become a better digital artist.  For about 5 months I've been drawing in Photoshop and I was a little rusty on my first time but I have been progressing.  So now I want to use nearly every tool on PS CS6 to make my drawings more color and feeling.  All I've been using is opacity and other tools that are to easy to us and haven't really been go further.  So I usually go to youtube and watch Speedpaint where people draw in the computer and add effects along with many other things.  It does sometimes help but not many times.  So my steps are keep using Photoshop and try to use a new tool to see how it looks.  The other is draw in pencil and paper or mostly called traditional and work on the human anatomy and retrace it in the computer.  Maybe go to websites where professional digital artist are or artist who know how to use it well and take lessons.  last of all is try my best and hope it works.

Behind the Bedroom Wall |Blog #5|

Summary:
Now finished with Behind the Bedroom Wall Korinna still debating whether to trust Rita, report her parent's and trust any other Nazi member and is facing the Jew problem also.  She starts to switch from a Loyal German to a person who has sympathy for Rachel's conditions behind the wall of Korinna's bedroom.  She learns all about Ruth, Rachel's older sister and Rachel's old house.  Instead of ignoring the little girl she starts to open her eyes wide and see what Jews are going through.  Then one day the Gestapo barge in the Rehme's house and destroy everything trying to find any Jews but leave anything involved with Hitler, like for example his portrait.  Not finding anything, Hans (Rita's older brother) is angry and nearly kicks Korinna's kitten for Korinna's confession on why there was a missing page on her journal.  After the Gestapo leave the Rehme's make a choice.  With that it ends.

I had a question on the part where the Gestapo did NOT break the portrait of Hitler.  This would be smart if the upstander actually had a hidden room behind the portrait.  If the Gestapo really do appreciate Hitler then there is a really good chance that the Rehme's would be able to keep the Krugmann's in a 60% chance of safe.  Also I asked myself, Couldn't they just break the portrait just to make sure the Rehme's aren't hiding anything behind, because if they are then that is a smart plan.  Especially to the fact that Hans and the rest did not touch the picture?  Of course the Rehme's couldn't think of that since they never have been untrusted by the Gestapo and the Gestapo ruining their home.

Reading Strategy:
While I was reading the book  Behind the Bedroom Wall I was really interested in the conflict.  There are some books that only one conflict but this book had around 3 or more.  First conflict was that Korinna had to face her parent's helping Jews, since Korinna is more of a loyal German.  Another is self conflict, she couldn't decided whether to report her parent's or not, or trust her friends and other Nazi members.  Then there was the fact that people were getting suspicious of her.  Her Jungmadel leaders were watching her especially the one who slapped her.  Then there was the ending.  It left with a cliff hanger.  The conflict was still there but a new one was rising.  There was so many of them I had a hard time trying to keep up.  Throughout half of the book Korinna was looking at her parents as enemies.  She was more entranced with the Nazi and Adolf Hitler that she didn't see how Jews were actually feeling and being treated.  She wanted to report her parents before anyone else does report her and her parents.  This meant she wanted to still be a loyal German than be mistaken as a traitor.  Then she wrote something in her black notebook that could have given some one a clue to what is happening.  Rita her best friend found this and who knows maybe even turned her back away from Korinna.  There's so much conflict in this book that just leads to, too many questions.

Another thing is.  If I were to compare the Jews on a tense situation on being found to the "today world" I would compare them to immigrants hiding in cars while crossing the border with the help of american citizens.  I mean if you think about it, a jew hiding in a little room and an immigrant hiding under the car seat or wherever they can hide and next thing you know the Nazi and the Border police check.  They are so near the Jew and immigrant that they start to become tense and uneasy.  A jew's heart would start pounding as if it is about to jump out of it's chest and an immigrant would be the same.  Course the immigrants goal is to cross to the country they want to live in without being caught, illegally.  A Jew's goal is to hide somewhere safe from the Nazi without also being caught and trying to get to another place safe untill they finally survive.  I just think that when the predator is near it's prey, you know the prey would start panicking thinking if they are about to get caught and their whole world would tumble into pieces.  I just think that in that situation of being caught is the same as an immigrant and a jew when the authority and Nazi are near.  That's just my connection.

Behind the Bedroom Wall

So far in the book Behind the Bedroom Wall a girl named Korinna Rehme who is a member of the Hitler Youth or the Jungmadel is taught to hate Jews and report them. But she then learns her mother and father are sheltering Jews and acting as if they are "true Germans". This all takes place in 1942. As Korinna is slowly progressing that Jews are in her home, her friend Rita and her Jungmadel leaders are starting to get suspicious for her especially for not attending 2 meetings for being "sick". Korinna is also in a tight situation and having a man vs. self conflict whether to report her parent's as enemies of Germany and whether to trust her best friend Rita and anyone else who is involved in the Nazi.

Behind the Bedroom Wall has so many parts that what to make you shake and nearly scream from the suspense. One of the interesting parts is once Rita reads a statement Korinna wrote about her parent's. Rita ask Korinna why she was writing it. Korinna only responds that it was because she was angry. Rita only replies saying she won't tell no one and her secret is kept with her but looks at the wardrobe for a long time, where the Jews are hiding (behind the wardrobe and behind Korinna's bedroom wall). I had a twisting feeling that Rita was only saying that to escape and tell some one especially her brother Hans who is a Gestapo officer. Another is while Korinna was sleeping the Gestapo police started to barge in her house searching for the Jews and not finding any. Hans was also involved in it making me think that Rita must've told her brother about what she read. What surprised me a lot in the plot is how everything is building up and getting it more complicated for Korinna to handle with the Jew situation. I think we're almost there in the climax making the book more exciting to read.

Holocaust Blog 12/3/14

After reading about bystanders and upstanders I believe many people stood by and watched the holocaust take place was because of fear.  Not everyone was brainwashed for hating Jews but they knew if they betrayed the Nazi and Hitler there would be a consequence.  Of course there was others who did sheltered Jews and when they were caught they would be killed or put in camps.  That made others fear of their lives being taken away and facing a group that has military weapons.  Other Germans took the risk to actually save Jews and I think the reason why is because they knew they were being killed and mistreated.  Unlike others who were brainwashed to say hurtful names to Jews they took the risk to shelter Jews knowing their life could be taken away.  What I would think I would have done is maybe take the risk of helping the Jews.  Even though there is much fear like being placed in camps and killed also being called a Jew lover or something like that.  Also if I was an upstander then I would take the non violent route.  I would listen to forbidden allied broadcast radios, and read or produce clandestine anti-Nazi newspaper.  Though I will of course need to act normal like all Germans so no one knows that I am hiding something from everyone.  Staying away from killing high ranking informers and trying to assassinate Adolf Hitler would at least help me be disguised as an Nazi follower.

Bad Boy blog

Summary

So far in the book a boy named Walter Dean Myers who lives in Harlem.  Has a twist of family from biological parent's to adopted parents.  To his father marrying one woman then to another.  Also being a negro boy and going to a school with whites and other blacks he's more of a student who is feared and teachers despise of him.  He comes home with bad marks and in conduct "Needs Improvement".  Another thing Walter faces is the Wicked Witch.  Also he has trouble speaking fluently.  Walter who is the author of this book wrote this as a memoir of his childhood.

Note and Notice (signpost)

While reading Bad Boy I noticed something different from Walter.  In school he would beat up a boy if they offended Walter.  Walter would mostly read comic books and sometimes disobeyed his mother by asking for money and buys comics or icy pops, punch boys if they made fun of Walter.  He kept getting in trouble in school.  Until one day when they all had to write a poem he read his aloud.  Mrs.Conway complimented on his story she liked it very much until a kid named Sidney Aronofsky said he was pretty sure Walter didn't make it.  Walter was angry that he punched Sidney in the face and Mrs.Conway yelling Walter she was getting tired of his acts.  He was told to not participate in any class events like reading out loud until he brought his mother with him.  While being in the back he was reading a comic book and was caught and Mrs.Conway gave him a novel called East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon, he started to like it.  I asked myself why he would like such a book when he's more into comics?  I was more into the book, he said he kept a secret from everyone else that he loves reading books and writing poetry.  He said he loved how reading books was like entering a different language not like entering a different world.  This would be Contrast and Contradiction because he went from being tough and reading comics into books and writing poems when all the boys are tough and into fighting than writing poems and reading.

- X.S.

Sweatshop assessment

In the article "Fight for fair treatment of workers: Don't buy Nike" is that workers in the Nike sweatshops are being abused.  If a worker did a mistake they were either slapped, hit with shoes, kicked and being forced to stand under the hot sun.  They are also being payed $1.25 a day.  Nike can also have a profit from athletes.  For example Lebron James made a supportive deal to Nike worth $90 million.  Tiger woods also a deal worth $100 million.  What I think of this issue is unacceptable.  Abusing your employees and getting huge profits from famous athletes like Lebron and Woods is violating human rights.  Nike isn't giving a second thought on their workers but they're trying to make a big profit.  Of course there are other sweatshops like that, but disrespecting your workers is more like controlling their lives.  What I found most upsetting is that if they wanted to buy hygiene they had to give up paying for food because they're payed $1.25 a day  I didn't know it was that complicated for them to live like this.

In the poem "The Sweatshop poem" the argument is that workers in SweatShops workers sometimes considered themselves slaves.  One piece of evidence is "My self is destroyed I become a machine" this shows that this person thinks that they have become a machine from working in long hours.  Second piece of evidence is "I lose my mind, forget who I am" showing that they get so focus on work and they don't even remember who they really they are only having work in their minds.  Reading the sweatshop poem was different from reading the article is by the point of view.  In the article the only point of view is a report or journalist.  In The Sweatshop it has a worker's perspective of how they feel while working their point of view.  This form of reading affected my understanding of the poem by seeing how even though workers are living a complicated life they write poems to express themselves.  Or have some else write ir for them, or show the public how sweatshops take care of them.