Wednesday, November 28, 2012

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.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

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.

Friday, November 9, 2012

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.