Hold Still

Reading Response

Dear Caitlin, there are so many things that i want so badly to tell you but i just can't.

The book Hold Still, by Nina LaCour, shows many social issues in the world by using teenagers. The main issue the book revolves around is friendship and fear.

The quite above is a note that Ingrid wrote to Caitlin, her best friend, after she committed suicide by cutting her wrists, deeply. This shows that Ingrid has been living with fear of friendship. Throughout the story Caitlin discovers her best friend's journal, and after reading it, she regrets almost everything she has ever done.

She has never noticed the fear Ingrid had in their friendship. Ingrid and Caitlin have been best friends, but Ingrid took her life away because of the fear she had of telling her best friend her opinions, on everything. 

She wanted to tell her about everything, from her feelings, to what happened in first period. Ingrid was afraid that Caitlin wouldn't care, that it would affect their friendship. 

A while after Ingrid is gone, Caitlin finds a friend, who's lesbian, and has a girlfriend. Friends are found everywhere. The book is written from Caitlin's perspective, and it seems that Ingrid's death is used as a reminder of what mistakes not to make in her friendships.

Friendship plays an important role in the book. The main character's life depends on friendship. What happens at home doesn't matter, all that matters is friendship. Friendships can change your life in many ways.

The New Jim Crow

Reading Response


How does this text address the points of view (perspectives) of other groups, especially those who usually don’t get to tell their side?



The book, The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander, talks about segregation. She only talks about the perspective of one person, Jarvious Cotton, a black male. She talks about the history of his family connecting to his present, and future. She talks about only that persons perspective on what is going on, and what was going on. She connects this book to history. 


"We have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it." [2] this is part of the introduction. Alexander gives her opinion about society now. She clearly states that we have redesigned racism instead of putting an end to it. She states what we intend to do, which is end racism, and states what is being done, redesigning it, and makes society, or 'we,' look like a villain. Anyone can read this line and say that we have done something bad through the eyes of the author.


In the introduction, she introduces the character, Jarvious Cotton, and also states her opinion, which is also the characters opinion. "The more things change, the more they remain the same" [1] Th author states this in the introduction. She says that Cotton's story uses " the old adage" [1]. In the introduction, she explains how society was like in the past dealing with the issue of racism. She explains how freedmen were threatened and killed for trying to vote, and sometimes for voting. She states "denying African American citizenship was deemed essential to the formation of the original union" in history.

Social Awareness Project

#4~ Reading Response

a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people.-Dictionary.Reference.com

In the book, Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers, focuses in the topic of bullying and popularity. Bullying can be physical, verbal, viral, and more. Physical and verbal bullying, as well as cyberbullying take place. It all started with some drinks.

In the beginning, the Regina, the main character, and Anna ,her best friend, were staying at a home while still being drunk from a party the just happened, then, Anna’s boyfriend, Donnie, is too drunk that he decides to almost rape Regina. ALMOST. Anna was still there but she was knocked out and didn't want to wake up. Regina then runs out of the house into her “friend” Kara. She tells Kara everything. The next day, Kara tells the story to everyone, not the true one, the twisted one, she tells Anna that she had sex with him. After this, Donnie doesn’t get bullied, but Regina does, ALLOT. Donnie has loyal friends and Regina just has friends that would do anything to remain popular; they care of what people think. The bullying worsens.

The way the author describes Regina’s feelings makes me sick. The way Regina is being bullied seems ridiculous. Someone actually pushes her down one flight of stairs and causes her great damage. She gets beaten and left in a stranded area. She gets things written about her on the internet and images get posted. The whole school smirks at her and call her names like, “slut” and “whore.” She makes a friend though, Michael. It’s a rough start and with Michael, Regina doesn’t feel lonely, but doesn't feel safe either. Michael and Regina aren’t really close. But she feels a happier, not allot, just a little.

After reading this book, I felt disgusted. I felt that no one could possibly survive bullying. Reading the book literally traumatized me. The images are drilled into my brain. The author makes you understand the topic of bullying more clearly and explains everything that gives you a clear image, which makes more traumatizing. What the author is trying to say, is that bullying isn’t funny, especially not to the person who’s being bullied. 

#5~  Poem

I spend lunch alone and isolated,Everything I do gets you aggravated.

I don’t understand what I’ve done,My hopes as of now are close to none.

One day you will see,
Everything that you have done to me,

One day it will be over,Just when I get that for leafed clover.

School and home are the same,They don’t have a hint of shame.

Teachers swear they’ll make a change,It’s obvious that it isn’t in their range.

But now my hopes are none,You will see what you have done.

I’ll cut through flesh and veins,all to take away this pain.

I’ll have to cut deeper,Waiting for the grim reaper,

In the bathroom.Bleeding.You didn’t hear me out.It doesn’t matter now.


PROCESS:I wrote this poem thinking of the experience I had reading books about bullying, in the first person. I literally felt the pain in my gut and disgust. Even though I haven’t been bullied that much, the pain I felt reading was real. I used that experience in writing that poem. The poem is about a kid being bullied, and he takes too much of it. He tries to talk some sense to the bully/ies but fails and decides to cut himself. I didn’t include a happy ending because it seems that most stories have solutions to problem and there are actually people that have sad endings like this.

#2~ Stahp.

The word “stop” means to put an end to. I come across people being bothered about their beliefs, and even their likes. It may seem funny for a moment, but enough is enough. Of course, what’s popular now is One Direction, what used to be VERY popular, and still is, is Justin Bieber. I constantly hear people bothering fans about how they suck, and it never stops. I’m a directioner, and I get bothered constantly, people always say “One Direction sucks.” It can be easily ignored, but some people cross the line saying that they are gay and that we should go kill ourselves. This used to happen to beliebers, but now its on directioners. It hurts because it’s something we are passionate about. The point is, people should be able to know when to stop. What’s something you’re passionate about? It may be cooking, to reading, to watching TV, and playing video games, and it might also be a movie. This is basically bullying. The cause for this is questionable. There seems to be no reason at all to hate on others passions or dreams. The cause for this might just be if someone’s passion literally has done something to someone, which is highly unlikely. Some people do it to provoke someone and see their reaction to it, which they find funny.

The solution is simple, don’t cross the line. Crossing the line could lead to verbal and physical fights. I see this everyday. We try to ignore this, but unfortunately the passion drives us to different directions. Forget about our “obsessions” and “fandoms” for a moment and think about what your passionate about. Forget I even named directioners or beliebers or fandoms. I’m talking about dreams and passions and crossing lines. It may seems funny at first, but don’t pass that line.

The Future Of Us

Reading Response


In the book, "The Future of Us," the authors, Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, make Emma seem like an undecided person. At first when Emma and Josh, the main characters, found out about Facebook, Emma seemed to have a problem with her future. Throughout the book,  she changes her future even in the slightest way. She decides on not ever going to a particular college and decides not to move into a specific place.

On pages 220-225, Emma starts to make decisions about her future. She decides to play a game called "refresh," which is, she decides on doing things, like, dirty her room on purpose and not clean it, to change her future, partly because she doesn't like her future. On page 222, Emma empties a vase filled with dirty water on her white carpet and decides to not do anything about it, which changes her future. Before, Emma seemed to be trapped in her apartment, and after, she isn't trapped and she needs a babysitter.

Emma notices that she was living in Columbus, Ohio at the moment, but decides she doesn't agree with the place she was living in since she is a marine biologist. She then decides on never agreeing to moving to Columbus, Ohio. After Emma refreshes the page, she now lives in London, England. Josh then says, "This is scary. You're not even doing things anymore. You're just making up your mind and changing your life."

I still haven't finished the book, but up to what I am reading, Emma still hasn't decided on what future she wants. She just continues with school but continues to think about what is happening in school and how will it affect her future. All she can think about is her future, and her future husband.

Hurricane Sandy

"The patchy recovery from Hurricane Sandy exposed a fractured region on Saturday. The lights flickered on in Manhattan neighborhoods that had been dark for days, and New York’s subways rumbled and screeched through East River tunnels again."

The author of "Fractured Recovery Divides the Region,"tells us that after Sandy, New York was starting to recover from the damage of the storm and electricity was in most houses. With the returning of work, many New Yorkers, either for cars, trucks, vans, and for people who still didn't have electricity, generators, gas stations all over the city were packed. Many people were left homeless due to fires that Sandy started. Governors and Mayors cancelled events due to recovery still taking place. 


"Only about 5,800 customers in Manhattan awoke to find that they still lacked power," even after Sandy, people in lower Manhattan still lacked power. Making Sandy seem like the most powerful hurricane to even his NYC. This makes me realize that Sandy did more damage than I think it did.
“I just keep waiting for someone with a megaphone and a car to just tell us what to do,” said Vikki Quinn, standing amid a pile of ruined belongings strewed in front of her flooded house in Long Beach on Long Island. This shows the disorder in Long Island. Many people, like Vikki, are completely lost, not knowing what to do which makes me feel sorry for them. 

In my neighborhood, Sandy did little to no damage, thank God, but in my family's neighborhoods, Sandy completely destroyed everything that was theirs. Right next to my house, there's a gas station, and the day after New York's recovery started to take place, there were loud beeps of cars and lots of engines roaring, and even some screaming because of people fighting over gas.

The Author of this article makes me feel emotions like pity and anger. He uses many quotes, from people he's interviewed, of what they think about the storm and what they want right at that moment. It seems that what people want the most is order. They want someone to take charge. This makes me want to ask for donations, and donate money for them.

Future Of Us [Revised]

Reading Response #5


Fate.something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune;the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed; the decreed cause of events; that which is inevitably predetermined; destiny; a prophetic declaration of what must be; death, destruction, or ruin.- Dictionary.com

In the book, The Future of Us by Carolyn Mackler and Jay Asher, future and fate is discussed throughout the book. In the beginning, Emma, the main character, receives an AOL CD-ROM from her close friend Josh, and gets logged on to Facebook, which wasn't even invented yet. Facebook includes everyone's future in fifteen years, by their profiles. In the book Emma talks about her "Fate" changing, which is oxymoronic considering that fate never changes, in several parts of the book. Fate doesn't change.

In the beginning, Emma discovers, through her Facebook profile, that she does not have a job, and loves macaroni and cheese. Later, she concludes that she "changed" her fate. How? She found a post of her future self, "last night's lasagna heated up great, but work is stressing me out." [75] Stating that she has a job, and is heating up lasagna instead of making mac and cheese. She believes that the dinner she had [mac and cheese] "turned her off to it" [75] now, and in the future. When Emma says that she changed her Fate, the sentence itself is logically incorrect; fate NEVER changes, it is a planned future. No matter what anyone does, fate is fate. The only way that this could've actually happened is that her future self decided to delete her previous post, decide to cut on mac and cheese, and finally find a job.Going deeper into the book, Emma changes her future again. "-looking at the name of her new husband. Kevin Storm." [137] Emma's husband at the beginning of the book is Jordan Jones, now its Kevin Storm. She also found a job change. She is now a marine biologist. This is another change that she did in her future. It seems that Facebook is allowing Emma to change her future so that she would like it. It still doesn't make sense, the future is already written. One can't just simply change the future, it is scientifically impossible.

Science in this book, specifically physics, play a major role in this book. The laws of physics, in the book,  are permitting her to look at her future with no limits, and allowing her to change it so that she would like it. Why doesn't it make sense? When Emma grows up, she is going to live the future that she is "changing" right now. How is future Emma is living the changes? Is she going to actually witness the changes in her future? If fate were easily changed by Emma’s and Josh’s actions now, then fate would always be changing for them, no matter how much they try not to. That is why Fate exists. It is a planned future, unchangeable. 



Science in this book, specifically physics, play a major role in this book. The laws of physics, in the book,  are permitting her to look at her future with no limits, and allowing her to change it so that she would like it. Why doesn't it make sense? When Emma grows up, she is going to live the future that she is "changing" right now. How is future Emma is living the changes? Is she going to actually witness the changes in her future? If fate were easily changed by Emma’s and Josh’s actions now, then fate would always be changing for them, no matter how much they try not to. That is why Fate exists. It is a planned future, unchangeable. 

The Future Of Us

Reading Response #5

Fate.

Fate is a both a noun and a verb. Something destined to happen, or the development of events outside a person's control, a supernatural "thing." In other words, Fate is already planned, it is also known as 'Destiny.'

In the book, The Future of Us by Carolyn Mackler and Jay Asher, future and fate is discussed throughout the book. In the beginning, Emma, the main character, receives an AOL CD-ROM from her close friend Josh, and gets logged on to Facebook, which wasn't even invented yet. Facebook includes everyone's future in fifteen years, by their profiles. In the book Emma talks about her "Fate" changing, which is oxymoronic considering that fate never changes, in several parts of the book. Fate doesn't change.

In the beginning, Emma discovers, through her Facebook profile, that she does not have a job, and loves macaroni and cheese. Later, she concludes that she "changed" her fate. How? She found a post of her future self, "last night's lasagna heated up great, but work is stressing me out." [75] Stating that she has a job, and is heating up lasagna instead of making mac and cheese. She believes that the dinner she had [mac and cheese] "turned her off to it" [75] now, and in the future. When Emma says that she changed her Fate, the sentence is oxymoronic; Fate doesn't change, it is a planned future. No matter what anyone does, fate is fate. The only way that this could've actually happened is that her future self decided to delete her previous post, decide to cut on mac and cheese, and finally find a job.

Going deeper into the book, Emma changes her future again. "-looking at the name of her new husband. Kevin Storm." Emma's husband at the beginning of the book used to be Jordan Jones, now its Kevin Storm. She also found a job change. She is now a marine biologist. This is another change that she did in her future. It seems that Facebook is allowing Emma to change her future so that she would like it. It still doesn't make sense, the future is already written. One can't just simply change the future, it is scientifically impossible.

Science in this book, specifically physics, play a major role in this book. The laws of physics are permitting her to look at her future unlimitedly, and allowing her to change it so that she would like it. Why doesn't it make sense? When Emma grows up, she is going to live the future that she is "changing" right now. How? Exactly. How? is the question. Is she going to actually witness the changes in her future? That is why Fate exists. It is a planned future, unchangeable. The authors are making the character decide on the future she wants, even though fate is unchangeable.

The Drummer Boy of Shiloh

Reading Response 4


The story The Drummer Boy of Shiloh, by Ray Bradbury, shows how much we all need a guide, mentor, or mother figure. We all had some moments where we feel useless because of someone or something. We may not realize it right away, but someone needs us. In the story, Joby, the protagonist, is going through the same thing. He soon realizes he needs to continue in the war, not only for his well being, but for the soldiers and the country. Everyone has a purpose, not only in their own lives, but in other lives too, and in fate.

How did Joby even get to the war? He ran away from home. Thinking that it will solve all of his problems. How did his family feel? Joby's actions had taken effect on his family. His family had to react in a motherly like way: worrying about him everyday. What if Joby dies in the war? His family would be devastated.

"Me, thought the boy, I got only a drum, two sticks to beat it, and no shield" (50) Joby views himself as a useless little boy that will eventually die in the war no matter how much he tries; he feels that he has absolutely nothing to do in the war. Like us, Joby feels that if he dies, absolutely nothing will change and no one will notice his death.

What the general has him understand is that everything will change after his death. By everything, I mean the whole nation and the nation's fate.

"The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" stresses this fact by placing the protagonist in war, and having the general tell him his purpose, therefore, making it obvious that his family, the soldiers, the general, including the nation, would be affected.

The Theme In Hold Still

The book I'm currently reading is "Hold Still," by Nina LaCour. The current theme in the book seems to be connected with the five stages of grief and loss [or the Kubler-Ross model]: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

In the beginning, the main character, Caitlin, is going through the stage of denial. Her best friend, Ingrid, committed suicide. Caitlin's true feelings are obvious, but she denies them, and says that she feels fine. Going deeper into the book, a friend comes over, and talks to her about Ingrid, then says, "It was harsh, though, the way you told me. I learned the stages of grief once. I think you might be in the anger stage." [page 75.]

That is the first time the stages of grief are ever named in the book. Not only is she going through a stage of anger, but she's still in the stage of denial, depression, and going a little into the stage of acceptance. She accepts the fact that Ingrid is dead, but feels angry at her, and herself. She also denies her emotions to the rest of the world, and denies it to herself to calm herself down.

Caitlin shows the stages of grief through actions, not only by words. In the book, she finds Ingrid's journal, and struggles in deciding whether to read it or not, which shows the stage of depression and denial. After reading the first two pages, she shows the stage of anger by throwing the book into her closet.


The five stages of grief can be expressed in different ways, depending on the person's character. But the stages are impossible to evade. The way a person goes through the stages reflect how great and hurtful the loss was to them.

Reading Some Responses

•  http://whatireadsofar.blogspot.com/ {Xiao Qing's Reading Response}

Title: Marley and Me

Author: John Grogan

Xiao Qing's reading response was one of the two reading responses I found interesting.  What's interesting is that John, the protagonist, has bonded strongly with Marley, so strong, he "disobeys" his wife into giving the dog away... What about his two other children? What seems practically impossible in the book is that John can actually train a full grown labrador dog. Xiao's reading response has mace me want to read the book.

• http://nellyslibrary.blogspot.com/ {Shanely's Reading Response}

Book Title:  The Future of Us

 Shanely's reading response is the second reading response I found interesting. VERY interesting. Her reading response is mostly a summary though. It's interesting how Facebook wasn't invented yet. REALLY? What year were Josh and Emma in? The fact that a future is already set for them seems impossible. The likely reason for their future being set for them on Facebook is that their parents are behind it. Since they are  the only ones who have access to their information. If that happened to me, I'd freak out and hit my computer a thousand times with a mallet, perhaps another five thousand. Then forget about it. FOREVER.


rest of the blogs I read:

• http://justreadthisbook.blogspot.com/
• http://natforela.blogspot.com/
• http://heavenreadsandwrites.blogspot.com/

Reading Response

Reading Response


Lately, I've been re-reading, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days," by Jeff Kinney, mainly because I forgot about the whole book. The main character in this book is Gregory. This book is about the struggles Greg is having throughout his summer. It mainly focuses on his mother forcing him to "enjoy" summer, while she has no idea she's messing it up. Completely.

I can relate Greg, mainly because my mom messed up my summer, and is currently still being nosy in my business. Greg, like me, got caught up with the paradise that video games offered him. and spent a few days playing video games all day, and all night. Until sadly mom takes note of his, and sees it as a bad thing for his brain. My mom sees it as the devil's work...

Greg doesn't talk much about the video game paradise, but just counts it as a background detail. As if something with more value will be coming up next.

His mom wants him to spend the summer reading books, and going to the town pool, which is EXTREMELY DIRTY, very crowded, while entering the male locker room, there is a load of nude men showering, and the people there have no respect at all. The only thing Greg likes is the life guard and girls. Just like when my mom sent me to Ecuador. Ecuador is like the town pool. Besides dirty, I don't like it, I can't. I cannot like the food, mainly meat; I'm a vegetarian. I cannot like their ridiculous accents; I find it very annoying. I cannot like their games; I find them simple, and not very challenging. Most of all, I cannot like the fact that they cannot respect my privacy. I'm a girl. I NEED privacy. The only thing I like is swimming the hot springs. Me and Greg are on the same page.

Just that, I've already entered school, and writing this.