Non Fiction Blogpost

For decades, the offensive of football has ruled the game. Teams are better known for their offense then their defense. Then came the Seattle Seahawks. The Seattle Seahawks turned the fun from offense, to defense as well.

According to the article Seahawks Remind Offense-Obsessed NFL that Defense Still Wins in the playoffs, defense wins games. "If there is one takeaway from the 2013 season, it is this: good old-fashioned, simple defense still wins football games." The article suggests that even in this era all of the great offenses can be stopped. By one defense in particular. The Seattle Seahawks. On every tackle of the super bowl, 3 or more defenders collided with the oncoming wide receiver, or running back. Many passes were disrupted by safety Richard Sherman, and Earl Thomas. The Seattle Seahawks defense has brought in a new factor in the game of football, which side of the ball wins the games?

All around New York, people are saying "The Super Bowl was horrible" "One of the worst games I have ever seen" One reason this is, is because they expected to see Peyton Manning rock his last game in the NFL. They expected to see Denver running back Knowshon Moreno burst through the line of scrimmage and rock the game. However, only one offense showed up to the Super Bowl, in terms of speech. There is only one reason this blog is being able to be written, and that is because of defense. Every down, every second, one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to hold a football in his hands got denied. Rejected. Terminated. All due to the Seahawks defense. According to the article, "Super Bowl XLVII was merely the latest example of a stout defense overcoming a great offense in the biggest game of the year." Sports reporters, professionals, everyone agrees that the defense in any football game can win the game, and will win the game. 

There have been other teams like the Seahawks defense. According to the article, "It happened seven years ago when the Giants held the record-setting patriots who scored nearly 38 points per game in the regular season, to 14 in their Super Bowl victory. It also happened in the Super Bowl after the 2002 season, when the best defense in the league (Bucs) buried the best offense (Raiders)." This shows that good defenses have won major games in the past. However, the broncos averaged about 38 points in each NFL game this past season, and only scored 8 in the super bowl. This shows that because the Seahawks defense could stop the Broncos offense, they basically won the game. According to a post game interview "The conference championship against the 49ers was the real Super Bowl." Richard Sherman taunted. 

Offenses have ruled the NFL for decades. They won the games, made fans excited to watch the team for offense, and was the reason for the road to the playoffs. However, teams like the Seahawks completely destroy offenses and walk off with a win easily. The Seattle Seahawks are changing the way analysts look at football teams now, for the better, or worse.

We didn't start the fire

We didn't start the Fire. No we didn't light it but we tried to fight it. Those chants rang out of many parties in the late 20th century. This song was written by Billy Joel and was released october 17, 1989. To me, this song is absolutely amazing. It has all of the potential to me of being one of the best songs ever.

The reoccurring line "We didn't start the fire" in the song means the people didn't start the problem. The song says many people and actions that took time during the time period and Billy Joel is saying the citizens in the world didn't start it. Whatever the problem, don't blame it on any person because it has been going on for a long time. The line after that states "no we didn't light it but we tried to fight it" This means that the problem during the time period that got everyone all mad is trying to be stopped. This line calls out all of the people in the world who try to help a clear problem that must be stopped. The brilliance of this song is that Billy Joel relates all the problems in the world at the time to a fire. It says "no we didn't light it." This line got me thinking and I came up with one conclusion. How do fires start? A person simply lights it and wallah you have a fire. Billy is saying that no one just simply lit the fire, and that it has been a fire that has been going on forever.

That is only half of the song though. The other half is all of the problems that everyone was mad at at the time. For example: "Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnny Ray South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, Television North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe." This is all people, places, and actions that took place at this time period. This first line, each thing here could have had a song written just about them. But Billy Joel brought them all together to say: "Hey everyone what all of these people/things that is happening was started long before them." The repetition in this fantastic song is also a factor. Eight times in the song Billy Joel repeats the same paragraph. He is telling everyone that you can't take all of your anger out on something that a person or place is continuing, you can only tell that place/person to stop.

To me, this song has no overall problem. There are reoccurring problems that has everyone hold anger in themselves towards, but there is no overall problem. Billy Joel is saying that there are many problems in the world, not just one huge one. He is saying that we as a whole have to tackle these problems as best we can. He is not saying to relinquish the fact that these people/places did these things. No, he is saying: "Hey world, lets attack the problem rather then the person so the whole problem will be terminated, not just one person being the victim of the ever so long problem" What I love so much about this song is Billy Joel makes you think every line. He could have written a song on each line in this masterpiece, but no. Joel decided to make one big song with a very catchy tune to make people realize his overall message.

The song "We Didn't Start the Fire" is brilliant. It makes the listener think about every single thing that Billy Joel says. It teaches the listener many things, and has quite a catchy tune which is hard to forget. This song for me will easily be on my top 5 songs ever. This song makes every listener think deeply about problems, and changes some peoples perspective on life.

Facing reality: a blogpost about "A Stolen Party"

The story "A Stolen Party" is mainly about where you stand in society, facing reality, and not thinking you are better then you are. In the story, the mother knows what will happen all along. She knows that her daughter will get hurt, but she wants her to feel the pain herself; so it will not happen again. Throughout the story as well, power and resistance is shown through characters thoughts, and actions. Facing reality may hurt you for a while, but once you learn the hard way that you are being used hurts the most.

In the story, Rosaura never realizes that she is being used. She thinks that she is one of the rich kids and is actually friends with Luciana. This led to her thinking that she got to go into the kitchen because she knew the house the most, but in the end she learned better. Through Rosaura, the author showed that you must realize when people are using you. Rosaura thought she was going to get a yoyo AND a bracelet at the end. This was do to her thinking she was better then everyone else. She didn't realize that she was just the maids daughter. I think that people have to realize what is going on around them. Rosaura didn't think that she was serving the hot dogs, and the cake because she was being the maid. She thought she was actually a friend of Lucianas who was celebrating with everyone else. This is what hurt her the most in the end. Señora Ines is a complex character as well. She acted as if Rosaura was another one of friends of Lucianas, but just could help out more then the other kids. I think she did this because she knew if Rosaura knew that she was being used then she wouldn't have come. This makes me think that Señora Ines just uses Rosaura and her mother and that to her family, they are just the maids. This is unfair. Señora Ines got Rosauras hopes high and made her think that she was better then everyone else, but in the end it just made her feel way below everyone else.

In the beginning of the story, Rosauras mother tells Rosaura not to go to the party. Rosaura thinks that her mother is crazy and jealous. The mother knew all along why Señora Ines invited her, to use her. I think that what Rosauras mother did was right. She wanted her daughter to know that they were not one of the rich families. She wanted her daughter to come back to her mother and say "sorry I should have believed you." I think Rosauras mother is the smartest character in the story. This is because she knows in the end what will happen, and she knows her daughter will be hurt. This relates to facing reality because Rosaura didn't realize in the end that she was seen just as the maids daughter, and in the end, its what hurt her the most.

Power is a huge part of this story. The characters who have power, and the characters who don't all act differently. Rosaura is the character with the least amount of power. She is just being used. She has no power over the other kids, her mother, and Señora Ines. I think that she also has the least amount of power because she thinks so highly of herself, while others think otherwise. To Señora Ines, Rosaura is just the maids daughter. To Luciana, Rosaura is a girl who she does homework with everyday then doesn't see her. Señora Ines has the most amount of power in the story. The author shows this in many ways. One way is she is the host of the party. Everything goes through her. Another way is she tells everyone what to do. For example: Señora Ines tells Rosaura to go bring the hot dogs to the table. The last way is she hands out all of the party favors at the end. This shows power because it says: "thank you coming to my daughters party and here is something for joining us." It shows power because she says she is chief. She has the money, and fame.

The book also shows resistance. One way in which the book shows resistance is through the "girl with the pony tail." She claims that she is Lucianas cousin and knows all of Lucianas friends. She says that she has never seen Rosaura before so she must not be a friend. This shows resistance because the girl with the pony tail resists to believe that Rosaura is friends with Luciana. Another way the book shows resistance is through Rosauras mother. Rosauras mother resists to not her daughter go to the party. This is because she knows Rosaura will learn her lesson. I think this makes her mother a smart character. In this case, resistance was the best answer to the problem. Finally, the last way that the story shows resistance is through Rosaura. Many times in the book Rosaura resists to think a certain way, and all the times it ends up bad for her. For example: when Rosaura is putting out her hand expecting a yoyo and a bracelet, she is disappointed. In the end, she gets hurt the most. The way the author puts it is saying that if anything moves, it could shatter the feelings of a young girl.

This story had many different feelings to it. It made us feel a certain way towards a character, then in the end it completely changed our thoughts of them. The overall lesson of the story is facing reality. People must realize where they stand in society, and if they don't, it will hurt them the most in the end. The story also shows power. The characters who have power and the characters who don't all act differently. The authors lesson that was shown through power is to not think you have more power then others. Rosaura learned this lesson in the end of the story. Finally, the book showed resistance. Many times, Rosaura and other characters resisted to believe something. In the end however, it just hurt them the most.

Unfairness and Inequality

        Unfairness and inequality is shown in different ways throughout books. Through books I have read, fairness and equality are factors left out. Often times in books racism, and hate crimes are shown to people who have different skin colors then us. In books, fairness and equality is shown very poorly.
       One way unfairness and inequality is shown poorly in books is by other characters picking on a kid who was a different skin color. in the book "Leverage" the main character see's people who are African American and Chinese get picked on but he just walks away from the scene. In these scenes the bully is mad at the kid for not doing his homework and calls him racist names. This is an example of inequality. The kids who are getting bullied did nothing wrong they were  just helping the bully out. This is one example of how unfairness and inequality is shown in books.
       Another way unfairness and inequality is shown throughout books is through the big kids of the school, and the "nobodies." In the same book, "Leverage," one of the main characters is on the football team. Him and his friends own the school social-wise. They get all of the girls, fame, and popularity. The other main character is a little puny kid on the gymnastics team. He notices the unfairness of how the big jocks in the school pick on the little guys. This is another way unfairness is shown throughout books. The little kids of the school get taken over by the big football players who work there butts off on the field, but not outside of it.
         Finally, the last way that unfairness and inequality is shown through books is by the mood of the book. Unfairness is shown in between the lines. In the book "Night John" the main problem is slavery. The author never says that what the master of the plantation is doing is horrible but hints it. He puts signals like long hours in the field, and whipping the slaves. Unfairness is shown in between the lines of books. A lot of the time the author makes the reader think about the problem being shown but not just saying it.
      Unfairness and inequality is shown throughout many books. It is shown between the lines however. Racism, and size difference make up the vast problem of inequality. I think that unfairness and inequality are a big thing shown in most books.

TRASH

Reading the World 

TRASH

One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing people leave their food on the floor after eating it. It is unfair, unkind, and just disrespectful. I hate seeing people throwing candy wrappers, and chip bags on the floor. I hate seeing people drop their empty water bottles in the middle of the block, and most of all, I hate seeing the dirty city streets.

One day, while I was playing soccer at Washington Park, I noticed a group of people sit down at an area nearby, and start eating lunch. The area before that was spotless, due to the sanitation worker who had just left the field. I couldn't help but keep glancing at them eating. They had chips, candy, water bottles, and a whole bunch of junk food. After about fifteen minutes or so, they got up and left. That area, that was spotless twenty minutes, was now filled with all different types of trash. It hurts me to see something like this happen. These people will now have workers pick up their trash for them, when all they had to do is walk twenty feet to a garbage can. This is very unfair, and unkind.

While walking back from camp one day in manhattan, I looked around at the streets surrounding me, and couldn't believe my eyes. There was trash everywhere! There were plastic bags, cardboard boxes, candy wrappers, and all other different types of trash. At the time, I couldn't  believe it because just that morning, these streets were fairly clean. Now they were filled with trash. I think this is very unfair and mean. People don't have the common courtesy to pick up their own trash, and they don't think about the people who do pick up their trash. Its not just the people who have to pick up after them that suffers, it's also the people who left the trash there. This trash is hurting our earth, and making the city streets filthy. This is unfair, and mean.

According to the book Its Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, the author illustrates a clear picture of what the city streets look like according to the character. Vizzini says that there is trash everywhere and the streets were very dirty. I agree with this description. Other people need to recognize that littering is unacceptable. not only does it hurt us, but it hurts every person that has to walk around that banana peel that you threw on the ground, or that last bite of bagel that you couldn't finish. This is very unfair, and irresponsible. 

I believe that everyone has to clean up after themselves. It is unfair for others to clean what they ate. Also, I believe this is irresponsible. People have to clean up after themselves. They can't just throw all different wrappers on the floor and forget about it. Seeing people litter, and dirty city streets make me think, would I like living in a garbage-filled city?

Non fiction reading response to Darkness too visible

The article Darkness Too Visible from the Wall Street Journal is mainly about why books with drugs and other bad things should not be on shelves of public schools. One way she supports this is by saying that kids who read these types of books are left an image in their mind that is harmful to them and could damage their life. Another way she supports her main idea is by stating some of the most banned books and why she thinks they should stay banned. One thing that the author says is "a girl's spiral into drug addiction, rape, prostitution and a fatal overdose." Here she is trying to show the reader that books that deal with bad topics for kids should not be on the shelves of public school libraries. She ends with the idea that no parent should let their kid read these types of books because they could damage the way the kid thinks, and how they act.

Meghan Cox Gordon uses many craft moves to emphasize that books about dark topics should not be on public school library shelves. One craft move she uses is uses very strong adjectives to enhance the way she feels about the topic. Another craft moves she uses is she concludes each paragraph with a wrap up of what the paragraph was about.

I disagree with what Meghan Cox Gordon is saying. I believe if kids see what happens when their character takes drugs and drinks alcohol than that will make the kids not want to do it even more. I think that it should be the kids choice to decide. I noticed the article was written for the parents, not as much the kids and i think that she should have gotten a kids opinion. Another reason i disagree with what she is saying is because when kids see these problems that the characters have the appreciate what they have more.

You Never Know When Your Actions Can Hurt You

       Have you ever been in a situation where you just don't know what to do? Anita in Before We Were Free taught me that sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to just let it happen. She shows me this in many problems that come her way.

         One way that Anita solves her problem by just being silent and just by going with the flow is  when the police come to her house. At first she has no idea what to do because this has never happened to her before. In addition she didn't even know what was going on. She goes with what everyone else is doing, stays quiet, and eventually the police are out, and the decoys are released. This shows that if you be quiet, go with what everyone else is doing, and don't ask questions your problem will be solved.

         Another way where Anita solves a problem by just going with the flow and staying quiet is when her cousin leaves to go to New York City. At first she doesn't know how to react because it all just happened so fast. She can’t get the words out to say goodbye because she doesn't believe this was it. So she just stays quiet, stays close to her mother and holds her crying in until she gets home. This shows that sometimes the best way to be strong is to as well be quiet and stay close to the people you know. You never know when your actions can hurt you.

         In late October of 2012, Hurricane Sandy destroyed New York. I was sitting on my couch with my family listening and watching the horrific view outside our warm house. My mother finally decided she had enough of the natural disaster outside and decided to make some warm popcorn to lift our hearts. My whole family went into our kitchen when we heard a huge BOOM! outside. We all jump but acted like we didn't hear it and just went along with our business. My brother on his phone seeing all of the facebook statuses, my sister on her phone as well checking the facebook statuses, and my mom watching the television about the news around New York. The wind outside was pounding against my window like a never eating drum beat. Rain filled the streets flooding the road. I think it was around 9:30 when my sister glanced outside and noticed the huge tree covering our house. My sister yelled “MOM, CAM, BRANDON COME” We all hurried over to the window to see the huge tree blocking our view and all the branches and twigs covering our stairs and door. My mom was so confused about what to do at the time. Me, my sister, and my brother all just stayed quiet and returned to what we were doing. Eventually the storm passed and the workers came to clean up the tree. Sometimes I wonder what could have happened if one of us decided to go outside and check the tree, or if someone didn't just stay calm. Would my family still be here today?