Extra Credit Reading Response

Title: The Woods Were Tossing with Jewels

By: Marie St. John

Recently I had just finished reading “The Woods Were Tossing with Jewels” by Marie St. John. The whole story has described the migratory life of a farmer’s family at the beginning of the 20th century through the eyes of a girl of five years old Firstly, I think that the word “Jewels” in the title “The Woods Were Tossing with Jewels” have a lot of meanings to it. There are four implied meanings of “Jewels”: 

(1) The jewels stand for the happy life and enjoyment which happened in the woods.

(2) The jewels stand for the dedicate love among the members of such a big family and the harmonious life in the joint family.

(3) The growth of children likes jewels which were flashing in the woods.

(4) The jewels stand for the spirits of the father.

 I would like to talk about the understanding of this story on my own and explain why the jewels represented such four meanings I have mentioned above. The story started in 1899, when the century its turn. It was also the time when the American westward movement was gradually coming to an end. The American westward movement which had lasted a century more or less had an import impact on the formation and development of the American national spirit. It developed the American political and social awareness of democracy, especially cultivated the "American-style freedom, equality and competition", which had created the American spirits of audacity, adventure and the pursuit of wealth.

The father of this little five-year-old girl was affected by this. So the father was a man with an urge for adventure and independence. He made the decision to take his family to the southern tip of Florida where he staked a claim on one of the offshore islands. It did not mean the family had a bad living condition before this migration. Actually, they lived a comfortable life in palmetto. The father just wanted his children to have richer food and gave them a taste of the way he grew up, which could see the father was proud of his adventurous life he had experienced.  For the little girl and the whole family, this migration was full of interests and stimulation. Through the author’s descriptions, we did not see fear and dismay. Instead, what we actually saw was her the joy over the beautiful trees, flowers and birds in abundance, the excitement during the fishing tours, the happy memory of the “sumptuous” dinner table and the birth of a new baby. Nevertheless, there were also some misfortunes occurred to the author’s family, such as the bad living condition at first, the bully’s oppression. These unhappy and simple experiences were ended finally, which also made the author and her family cherish the time they lived in the woods still further. What’s more, after the family’s living condition became stable, the author’s grandmother, father’s little brother, and uncle were all moving to live with the family. The big families were living together in a friendly way, caring and understanding each other deeply. These admirable relationships like jewels which were shining in the woods.

Joy, vitality and care which happened in this big joint-undivided family have big influences to everything which was attached to the woods. Both the joy enjoyed in the woods and the happy life living in the big family was shining like jewels in the eyes of the little five-year-old girl. Then, what must be mentioned during their adventure was the guy--Edgar Watson, the infamous outlaw. Watson moved from Oklahoma to the Florida Everglades and built a sugar cane plantation in the late 1800's. It was thought that he murdered several of his hired hands who demanded pay for their work.  The author’s father was a man who lived with a heart of gold, a will of iron. Protecting the whole family from hurts which come from the animal and the people is the father’s most important task. Therefore, when Watson did not give the father full money agreed on, the father’s inside adventurous spirit led him not to bow his head to that guy. He went to meet Watson without gun, and finally took the money back which belonged to their whole family’s hard working.

The father’s spirits of leader took important roles in family and like jewels which were shining. Also, this matter showed that the father’s purpose had been brought about. As I mentioned above, Father’s purpose was to farm this island but behind this it was his wish to give children a taste of the way he grew up. When the bully, Watson raised a pistol and wanted to shoot father, he saw two boys in the boat, each with a rifle held in small, capable hands and bead drawn down on the man who threatened their father. Children have grown up. They began to care about their father and even could protect their father. The most important is that the children inherited the firm and indomitable characters, which their father had held in heart all his life. Obviously, the growth of the kids would be the brightest jewels for the whole family.

       In all, the story show us why more than seventy years later the author is still so nostalgic about that hard and simple life the family once lived. We could feel the author’s praise, and missing to her father, her enjoyable big family, including her admire to her father. We could also learn from the article that we should treat our life in positive, aggressive, passionate attitude. We should care more about our family than ourselves and regard protecting our family as the biggest and most important task we have taken. A happy and harmonious family is bound to be the most precious jewels in our whole life.

Reading Response~anything #3

Death of a Salesmam

By Arthur Miller

In Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the protagonist Willy Loman is a salesman, and he has been out of luck all his life but always dreams that his two sons, Biff and Happy, may become successful business men. The reality is that Biff has never had a decent job and Happy is a playboy. One day, when the two sons finally decide to start a business under the encouragement of their mother, Linda, they plan to meet at a restaurant with Willy to discuss their business plan in the evening. Unfortunately, after having worked for a company for 35 years, poor Willy is fired in the morning of the same day.  When he walks into the restaurant with the expectation of getting some good news from the sons, he hears that Biff not only failed to borrow the capital from his old boss, Oliver, to start their imaginary business, he stole Oliver’s valuable fountain pen because Biff has been a chronic thief since he was young. The hopeless old Willy is really disappointed with all of the things that are happening to him.  So he decides to end his life by staging an intentional car crash, leaving his family members and friend, Charley, in great sorrow.

I think the book tells us about three main themes:

The first one is the American Dream----It tells us that Willy Loman has options. He has a lot of opportunities. Arthur Miller seems to be criticizing the American Dream, claiming that Corporate America drains the life out of people and casts them away when they are no further use. Yet, Willy Loman’s successful neighbor continually offers him a job! Willy Loman declines the job without ever explaining why. He has a chance to pursue a new life, but he won't let himself give up his old, soured dreams. Instead of taking the decent paying job, he chooses suicide. Arthur Miller would claim that the dysfunctional values of American society killed him. However, I believe that Willy Loman suffered from senility. He exhibits many of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s. 

The second one is abandonment. There is constant abandonment in the play. Willy's father leaves him and Ben when they are very young with no money. Ben departs for Alaska, abandoning Willy after Willy declines the offer to go with him. Biff abandons Willy after discovering his adultery. Happy abandons his deluded father in the washroom in a restaurant at his hour of need so that he can impress a lady.

The third one is betrayal. Willy believes Biff to have betrayed his ambitions for him. Willy has an affair and betrays his wife's love. Biff feels that Willy has betrayed him with his lies of personal attractiveness.

Personally, I feel that Death of a Salesman is a very well written play, an intelligent criticism of the American dream that effectively uses many respected literary devices. Although there is no suspense in the play, the end is concern-provoking.  All in all, I feel like reading this play. My life has been influenced by the book.

Nonfiction Reading Response #3

    In, “DDT Linked to High Blood Pressure in Women” by Lindsey Konkel and Environmental Heath News, women that are exposing to DDT when pregnant has a risk of high blood pressure later on in life. DDT is a commonly used insecticide; it is also a form of chemical. Even though DDT was banned in the U.S since 1972, it is still used in Africa as a “combat to malaria infected mosquitoes.” Research shows that women who are exposed to these chemicals could potentially develop high blood pressure later on.

 Exposure to DDT is very dangerous for pregnant women. “DDT interferes with hormones and it has been linked to decreased fertility, preterm delivery and diabetes” (Konkel and Environmental Health News 1). Since during pregnancy, whatever the mom is exposing to, the children does too, through the placenta. This can directly harm the growing fetus inside the womb. Statistics show that out of 111 children whose had been exposing to DDT, 21% had hypertension. Hypertension is caused by DDT and it might also lead to stroke and heart diseases. DDT is very dangerous for pregnant women.

       DDT also causes high blood pressure in women. It specifically targets the area in the body where the blood pressure is kept in control. Studies show that “pesticide applicators with high blood pressure had higher DDT exposures than those with healthy blood pressure” (Konkel and Environmental Health News 1). Approximately 2/3 of the people exposing to DDT had 2.5 to 3.6 times more likely to have high blood pressure before the age of 50. DDT causes high blood pressure.

       However, scientists cannot say that high pressure and hypertension is directly caused by exposing to DDT chemicals. High blood pressure can also be caused by previous diabetes, and factors like age, race, and body mass also contribute a part to it (Konkel and Environmental Health News 1). Many factors of high pressure and hypertension are not tested to confirm that DDT is the cause. “It also is impossible to know whether some women had undiagnosed high blood pressure or how blood pressure levels differed across exposure groups” (Konkel and Enviromental Heath News 1). High pressure can also be a result of obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and socioeconomic stress. There is not enough evidence to say that DDT is the cause.

       Scientific evidence, data, and research show that even though DDT does create a greater risk for high blood pressure, however many other factors can be contributed too. High blood pressure and hypertension are the worst things that we would ever want to be diagnose with. To prevent this from happening on any one of us, we need to make sure that we be extremely careful during pregnancy and keep track of what we eat every day.

                                                   Work Cited
Konkel, Linsey and Enviromental Health News. "DDT Linked to High Blood Pressure in Women: Scientific American." DDT Linked to High Blood Pressure in Women: Scientific American. Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc., 12 Mar. 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2013.

Reading Response~anything #2

Title: Great Expectations

By: Charles Dickens

     Great Expectations written by Charles Dickens is regarded as a masterpiece of English novels. It narrates the story of Pip, an orphan boy who has good luck and great expectations, and then loses both his luck and expectations. 

     Pip has lost his parents when he was fifteen years old. He was brought up by his sister and her husband--Joe Gargery, a blacksmith who takes Pip on as an apprentice, teaches him his trade and makes friends with him. One day before Christmas, when Pip went to the churchyard where his parents were buried, he met an escaping convict-- Abel Magwitch. Pip brought cakes for the hungry man, which touched Abel deeply, although he was caught by police. After the Christmas, Pip was invited to play with Estella, a beautiful girl adopted by Miss Havisham. Miss Havisham was the richest man in the village. But she was very strange. She was dressed a bridal veil all the whole life after her fiancé left her at the wedding day, taking her a large amount of property. So she lived in the revenge and hated all the men. She treated Estella as a tool to take revenge on all man. When Pip met Estella, he loved her, so did Estella. But Estella knew she was just a tool to carry out the revenge plan of Miss Havisham, so she pretended to be proud, indifferent and look down upon Pip- a relative of a poor blacksmith, which broke Pip’s heart. As a consequence, Pip was determined to become a real gentleman who is in possession of money, good manners, luxurious life and a great expectation for Estella’s sake. Under the help of a stranger who donated a lot of money to him, Pip left Joe and the village, and went to London to live a luxurious life to learn to how to become a real gentleman. Pip started to waste money, look down upon other poor people, even including Joe, his brother-in-law and best friend! Gradually, Pip lost himself in the whirlpool of money, although he has had a large number of debts. As the same time, Estella has become more and more beautiful, graceful and brilliant. She walked in the crowd of men and married one of them as the Miss Havisham’s wish, which really tore Pip into pieces. And, as the same time, the mysterious benefactor of Pip came out. He is Abel- the escaping convict whom Pip has helped. When he escaped from the prison again, he earned much money and wanted to pay back Pip in that way. But Abel soon was caught by police and died. The properties he gave to Pip also were confiscated by police. Pip fell from the heaven to hell. He couldn’t stand it. As a result, he had a serious ill.

After receiving a letter describing the bad situation of Pip, Joe came to London to look after Pip in spite of the bad attitude Pip ever towards him. After recovering, Pip realized his wrong. He decided to be a gentleman by his own endeavor. So he came back to the small village and spared no efforts to make business with his friend--Herbert. Several years later, Pip met Estella again at the old house of Miss Havisham. After knowing her husband has died and the real reason why Estella didn’t choose him before, Pip made a proposal to her. At last, the two lovers were in together and Pip found his real great expectation at the end. 

     Among the characters, which impressed me most are not Pip and Estella who should be regarded as the leading roles, but Joe and Magwitch. I feel awfully sorry that I was not brave enough to read the original edition that is as thick as a brick. Otherwise, I may appreciate Joe and Magwitch more. Yes, they are not the main characters in the novel. However, what they said and what they did deeply touched me. It’s interesting, isn’t it? They are quite the opposite guys. One is a totally good man without the least bit of wickedness while the other is a prisoner who is believed to have committed every evil. I believe that everyone who reads the book is to like Joe. When he talked about his heavy drinking father who hit him a lot, he said he had a lot of love. Faced with his rude wife, he would rather seem a bit weak or foolish than stand

     However, I appreciate Magwitch, the bad guy. Magwitch did a lot of evil things when he was young. But how can you be unmoved when you get to know that the old man kept himself going just by thinking of the boy who once did him a small favor？ He lost his only daughter and Pip had no parents, so he considered himself as the boy’s second father, making up his mind to help his dear boy became a gentleman. He did every kind of job and led a hard life in Australia. At last he made a big fortune and promised himself that all the money would go to Pip. He could have led a better life in Australia, but he chose to go back to London .with the simple intention of seeing Pip, he went back at the risk of being hanged! “Whatever the fault he had from the start, remember, reader, he had a good heart.” Joe used these words to describe his father. But I think these words can better describe Magwitch. He lived with the fear of death all his life. Who shuts love out, in turn shall be shut out from love. However, thankfully, because Pip finally realized his good heart, his ending was peaceful.

When I finished reading the novel, I also take consideration to the question “what a real great expectation is?” In my opinion, great expectation does not means money, luxurious life provided by others, even the benefactors are your parents. It is our own dreams that we want to realize by our own efforts. Great expectation may be the further study, a respectable degree, a good job, a warm family or something else. But we must know that our future and great expectation must be mastered by our own. We should work for them, fighting for them, even dying for them, whatever. Only when we got what we want by our own endeavor, can we say we have had a great expectation.

Nonfiction Reading Response #2

           According to the article, United Nations Panel Calls Hormone Disruptors a “Global Threat” by Brian Bienkowski and Environmental Health News, hormone linking chemicals are the main threat to the health of humans and animals. These chemicals are the organic pollutant chemicals such as, DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls, and ubiquitous chemicals such as biphenol A and phthalates. This had been growing increasing over the last decade. These chemicals are referred to as a global threat, for that it had been spread across the continent. Many people look upon this chemical as a living threat to humans and that it had to be eliminated, however, others thought it isn’t a bad thing.

            Chemicals like DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls are a major threat to humans and animals, “[They] are now banned in the U.S---traveled the globe, persisted in the environment and caused severe population declines in some wildlife species” (Bienkowski 1). These chemicals are very quick at spreading and contaminating the environment which resulted in the decrease of wildlife. Humans are not killed from this chemical, instead, their health is directly affected.

Such diseases include male reproductive problems, pregnancy complications…obesity and brain development. Many factors can cause such diseases, but the report concludes that given how fast some of these are rising, environmental chemicals are likely playing a role (Bienkowski 1).

            Even though these diseases can’t be comparable to cancer and other untreatable sickness, but they can be quit complicated. For example, pregnancy complications can directly lead to the development and growth of their offspring. It may also lead to stillborn and other severe problems. Obesity and brain development can lead to a person’s ability to remember, and to learn. Reproductive problems can interfere with a person’s ability to reproduce.

            DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls are still a threat to us, but other chemicals such as the bisphenol A and phthalates are found in everyday products (Bienkowski 1). These chemicals can come in direct contact with us and cause health problems. These chemicals are known as pseudo persistent because they don’t stay in the environment for long, but we expose to them all the time so it’s would have the same effect as if it was persistent.

            There had been more than enough evidence to prove that these chemicals are harmful and that it should be banned. But on the other hand, the government agencies and industry groups are not so convinced of this. In responding to the threat of DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls to wildlife, they say that, “…particularly killer whales and harbour seals. Both have high levels of PCBs and flame retardants that accumulate in ocean ecosystems” (Bienkowski 2). This means that this chemical only kill whales and seals and not all the animals. In responding to human threat, they made a point that, “…very low levels of human exposure to BPA through the diet are unsafe” (Bienkowski 2). There isn’t enough people who are being expose to these chemicals that are having health issues and they stated that the chemicals in the food does not have a major effect on humans. “Unless we know where the chemicals are used, and they’re tested, it’s tough to make informed decisions on how to protect people” Woodruff said. Many of these chemicals had not been tested, so scientists cannot decide whether or not it is absolutely harmful to us.

            Overall, I think that even though these chemicals had not been directly proved to be harmful, they should still be banned due to the health complications that it might cause. I think that if these chemicals are ban then there wouldn’t have been so many arguments on if it’s good or bad.

Work Cited

Brian Bienkowski and Environmental Health News. "United Nations Panel Calls Hormone Disruptors a "Global Threat": Scientific American." United Nations Panel Calls Hormone Disruptors a "Global Threat": Scientific American. Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc., 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.

Website: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=united-nations-panel-calls-hormone-dispruptors-global-threat

Reading Response~anything #1

Title:Walden

Author: Henry David Thoreau

In the book, Walden by Henry David Thoreau; human beings and natural things melted together without conflict, opposition, and the separation of social status. To Thoreau, nature actually exists and it was the mixture of the universal things. It was opposite to the ill-condition society. He hated the business society that was full of the stink of money because people in that society had become their own working tools. He said, “Business curse all it ran, you couldn’t get rid of the curse of the business even if you ran gospel of heaven,” He thought that to accustom the business atmosphere would ruin the characteristic of American. Thoreau needs to find a way. One of the ways was flying back to nature, for that only nature could purified people’s heart. They could get rid of the erosion of the luxurious material life and live a kind of, “true life,” which can be harsh, yet simple. He said that, “If one would like to live a and wise life, then it was not a hard thing for one to make a life, but a way of entertainment.”

Thoreau had his own ideas on education. He thought that education meant going deep into life and placing oneself in the world, no matter what you love or hate about the things discovered in it. When talking about running a school by himself, he said that he teaches not for the benefit of his compatriot, but for their livelihood. He also emphasized that human should pay attention to one’s own moral uplift without minding other’s thoughts. They should find and persist in the kind of life that fits them.

Walden was a milestone of the development of American culture. The book reflects the basic idea of Transcendentalist, which had been part of the American culture. Thoreau wrote in the conclusion part, “However mean life is, meet it and live it: do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not as bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poorhouse.” Those words reflect the writer’s faith of life: the poor the life is, the higher the people’s spirit is. Humans should try their best to reduce the pursuit of materials in order to pursue spirits in a higher level. I really like the writer’s attitude toward life. He said, “Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Turn the old: return to them Things does not change: we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do not want society.” Nowadays in a world full of material desires, I think his words really reflect who we are. Maybe most of us cannot accept Thoreau’s idea mention in the book, but his book blamed the destroying of society and denied the progress of the society, which had a reality meaning to modern society.

Reading this book reminds me of those people who work hard to earn money, waste them to buy luxury and expensive things in order to entertain themselves. In my point of view, they may easily lose themselves, and though their bodies are full, their minds are hungry. The real life is to make everything simple and enrich our heart and soul. In a word, just simplicity, simplicity and simplicity!

One of Thoreau’s thoughts about solitude attracts me deeply for that I’m the person who likes to be alone. When Thoreau lived alone in the woods, people did not understand him, even Emerson thought what he did was wrong. But I do think that Thoreau’s life was successful, meaningful and happy. I think that success and happiness of life all come from the exact same value. When you know what the value of yourself is, meanwhile you can enjoy your life according to the value every time. You will find that you will have full of energy and enthusiasm everyday to do anything. The most important thing is that your heart is peace and calm.

Last but not least, I envy Thoreau so much for that he lives in a beautiful and comfortable natural environment. He can breathe the fresh air, live with wild animal friendly, and appreciate the scenery of the Walden Pond. Meanwhile in modern society, people pursuit their own interest to kill and hunt animals, cut down trees, and pollute the environment. As a result, the number of wildlife is decreasing, the area of lake is shrinking, and the water is not pure anymore. Environmental problems such as global warming, and climate change had become increasingly serious. This book made me be more aware of the environment and also to realize the harmony between human and nature.

Nonfiction Reading Response #1

   According to the article, Why America’s Kids Need New Standards for Science Education by Anna Kuchment, science education needs to be improved. It is said that in America, barely any high school gets education on areas like Earth and space science. Thus, a group of scientists, educators and policymakers decided that what we need is the Next Generation Science Standards. This designs what we should be learning at each grade. It is a comprehensive set of K-12 students’ expectations for different areas of science: Earth and space, life and physical. This standard has to be made due to the fact that too many people are damaging the environment without out knowing that they are. The only to solve this is by teaching. Learning about the Earth, the environment, and the world around us can tell the kids what we should and should not do. Just by integrating the science programs in the state, it allows the kids to learn more and up-to-date information. This cannot be convinced by only textbooks and words, it has to be done through hand-on experiment with a full understanding of the subject. These are all the things that the New Generation Science Standards encourages. Even if our generation is the one polluting and harming the environment, we should at least make the most effort to assure that the generation after this would be different.

       Wysession convey this message through flashbacks of how we, humans are the main threat to our own environment:

And I thought about the long string of volcanic eruptions, rapid climate swings, tsunamis, droughts, floods, and other geoscience catastrophes that have routinely devastated the human population and prevented any one civilization from lasting very long. Then I thought about the nearly unbelievable changes that we humans were making to our planet, most certainly replacing the 10,000-year-old Holocene Epoch with the new Anthropocene Epoch. And I wondered how we would know at what point these human impacts would be severe enough to justify replacing the 65-million-year-old Cenozoic Era with a new era, the Anthropozoic Era, the sixth major extinction of life, brought about by the current dominant agent of geologic change on our planet (Wysession).

This quotation illustrates the many aspects and how we change many things. It also shows the fact that many people have been the long term causes of these devastating disasters. Even though many humans had been wiped out, we contribute to the start of these disasters as well as geologic changes. These things occur because humans don’t know about the damages that it can make; we don’t know that we need to protect the environment we live in. And we shouldn’t be blamed because we had never been taught well enough to keep these in our mind. This is where Science comes in, children, from as young as 1^st grade to learn and realize about the environment around themselves. Every tree being cut down reduces less oxygen for us, every piece of garbage we litter; every smoker, car driver, factory worker are releasing harmful chemicals into the air. “It is well known that most Americans get nearly all their science education after they leave high school” (Wysession). Education starts early and we need to make sure that kids get all their science education before high school.

What America needs is the Next Generation Science Standards.

       The Next Generation Science Standards benefits students in many ways. It not only insures that kids get all their science education before college, it also integrates other important things as well. “They integrate concepts of engineering and technology and develop ties to the math and English “Common Core” standards” (Wysession). This helps to bring more lively classes as well as not always staying on one subject. It helps the kids to realize how everything is related and how everything works together. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) also have listed the steps for a kid to understand science:

The aim of NGSS is to identify what students can do, not what they know. After all, if you want to know how many planets there are, you can always look that up on the web. If you want to understand why they are important and how they function as part of a system, the solar system, then there are a set of practices you should do, which the NGSS identify as (1) Asking Questions and Defining Problems, (2) Developing and Using Models, (3) Planning and Carrying Out Investigations, (4) Analyzing and Interpreting Data, (5) Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking, (6) Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions, (7) Engaging in Argument from Evidence, and (8) Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information (Wysession).

The NGSS created this list to insure that every student studying science will have a full understanding of it by the time he/she walks out of high school. Words in a textbook cannot summarize what happening outside of the classroom. We need well-trained scientists and teachers who would work with these kids on projects, hand-on activities, and even as simple as going on a field trip to observe plants. Every outside experience contributes to a major part of the kids understanding of the subject. Reading words is not as the same as feeling it. When you see it and feel it, you have a clearer visual imagine of it and you actually see what the condition it lives in, in person! These are the things that a book, a picture, a magazine cannot tell you.

       Overall, I think that the New Generation Science Standards is really efficient and helpful. It takes science to a whole new level and it makes it so that everyone can understand it. NGSS is providing the opportunity for you, me and all of us to know about the earth, the environment; so that we know the importance of our surroundings and how to protect them. I hope that NGSS will be presented to all the science programs in schools around the city.

                                                                 Work Cited

Kuchment, Anna. "Why America€™'s Kids Need New Standards for Science Education Budding Scientist, Scientific American Blog Network." Why America€™s Kids Need New Standards for Science Education. Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc., 8 Jan. 2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2013.

Link:http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/budding-scientist/2013/01/08/why-americas-kids-need-new-standards-for-science-education/

Creative Reading Response

The Great Gatsby 

By F. Scott Fitzgerald

   In the eye of Nick or most readers, Gatsby is great. As a child, he dreamed of wealth and luxury, and he has attained them with his own power. But as for me, Gatsby is great for his tragedy. 

     In Gatsby's entire life he has perused two things, one is spiritual comfort, Daisy; the other is materialism. However, what he is always long for, at last, becomes illusions.

     Five years ago, Gatsby felt helplessly in love with Daisy when he was a young officer in WWI, World War One. But Daisy married Tom for his wealth. Since then, Gatsby decided to win his love and his success in whatever ways. But the glamour and excitement of American life has affected Daisy a lot. She has become materialistic, vain and selfish. Gatsby has made a wrong choice at first for that what he wanted never exists. 

     “Her voice is full of money.” Gatsby is clear about reality, but he can’t get rid of his dreams. So he had to cheat himself and found many excuses for Daisy’s abnormal behaviors. “Five years next November.” For five years he is alone to run after a dream which no longer exists. Poor Gatsby! His loneliness was typical in the vivid picture of the modern America in that era. His romanticism is that he has devoted all his “magic” to an image, which leads to his ultimate destruction.

     If Gatsby’s spiritual comfort is a bubble, his material pursuit can also be concluded as a fail. There exists a national ethos of USA in which freedom includes a promise of possibility of prosperity and success. “Life should be better, richer, and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability regardless of circumstance of birth.” Gatsby hold this belief firmly in his heart. He had had strict demands on himself and cultivated good habits in his youth. But it was impossible to become wealthy without illegal trade, which at least proves true at that era in America. Being a bootlegger, he made a fortune, even though there was a law that forbade selling and drinking of alcohol. 

     If the whole society was not in the wrong way to seek fortune, fame and power, then Gatsby wouldn’t have done these criminal activities. This likes a scam. Gatsby seemed to be a piece of the chalkboard of the American society. At last, he became very rich, but the upper old class, well bred and far more refined, didn’t accept him. 

    Tom’s shameless affairs, Myrtle’s violent death caused by Daisy, Gatsby’s framde killed, these crimes went unpunished. Older generation, like Tom and Daisy, would just be “careless”, no fear, and no judgments. A social order has developed the benefit of classes rather than simple human being.

    I witness Gatsby’s kingdom became foam. The world of parties, bright lights, heavy drinking and jazz music suddenly disappeared, turned into disillusion. Gatsby’s life is like a leaf floated onto the ground, covered by the dirt, quietly. 

    What is tragedy? As Lu Xun said, “Tragedy is valuable thing that is doomed to be destroyed and we see the process of its destruction, doing nothing.” Whatever the wealth and Daisy had brought to Gatsby, one thing is clear; he feels neither peace nor any real pleasure. His attempt to fulfill his simple beautiful dream is like a boat rowing against the current. I can’t help clapping for his persistence. In a basis of sense, he is like a worshipper before a shrine.

Social Action Reading Response #1

 
       In“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, the main character is facing the Vietnam War right now. In the beginning of the story, O’Brien describes what the soldiers carry with them to war. These things include fear and guilt. Cross himself carries the memory of Martha, a college crush. However, Jimmy finds that he can no longer think about her due to the fact that she is a constant distraction to him at war.

        In the beginning, Cross is very obsessed with Martha. He thought about whether or not she was still a virgin and why she had sign the letter “Love” But only Martha doesn’t return this feeling back for him. Cross started to lose focus at war. “As he is lying in his foxhole, he looks at pictures of Martha he can’t help to fell more than anything, he want Martha to love him as he loved her”This quotation it shows that Cross really loves Martha and he wants to be with her. He would always think about her; in the foxholes, while marching, and even when there’s a danger.

        This feeling has changed when Ted Lavender, Cross’s fellow soldier die. Lavender was killed because Cross was unfocused at war due to Martha. Cross had blamed Lavender’s death on him. When he sat in the hole crying he thought he had,“love Martha more than his men.”Because of Martha, Cross had defeated his ability as a leader. Martha has possessed him so much that even "without willing it, he was thinking about Martha." This shows that he has lost control on where and when is the right time to think about things like that.

        Cross had finally realized that his feelings for Martha were never real. He just uses Martha as a way to escape from war. Cross even questioned himself is he was actually a leader, a lieutenant. But now it was already too late, Lavender is dead and there’s nothing he can do to change that. The morning after Lavender was dead, Cross decided to stop his love for Martha. To completely forget her, he burns her letters photos. As he thought what she wrote in the letter, Cross began to hate her even if he still loves her, it was the, “hating kind of love”He told himself that he was going to forget about her and put the army in front of love. He was "determined to perform his duties firmly and without negligence."

        Overall, Cross had been stuck in the middle of love and war, not knowing which one to choose. Neither one he chooses is going to take something valuable away from him, his love for Martha or his fellow soldier. And in the end he did made a choice. He chose his men over Martha even though it’s too late. And maybe the only way to make it up to him is by putting leadership in front of love.
  
      The message this book wanted to tell us is that we should make the right choice and not waiting until you lose something to finally know how importance it is. Cross regret that he had not been able to save Lavender when he could. He blamed himself for his death, for that he did not do his responsibility as a leader of the army. For that he hated himself for choosing love over his men. I think that we should all make the right choice or what you considered to be right because we can’t choose two things at once; which every choice we make will meant losing the other one. So choose wisely.

       I learn lot from this book, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. I learned that we should make the right choice in life to avoid regretting what we did later on. I also learned that we should be able to put down the things that are obviously not realistic. I think we shouldn’t be thinking things that are not going to come true, especially at Cross’s view. Think about the unrealistic thing will just distract us from the place we are. Cross is using the memory, the past, and Martha, to help him escape from the war. You might think that imagining will make you feel better, but it doesn’t, it sinks you down deeper into the hole until you are completely desperate, until the point you can’t stand up again. Living in the past is like avoiding the future, it’s okay to remember the past, but living? Just not the way it’s supposed to be.

Blog Post #2

Anne of Green Gables
L.M. Montgomery

     The book called, “Anne of Green Gables" is a book based on a red-headed girl called Anne who is an orphan. She was adopted by a Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. But this was a mistake because they requested for a boy. Part of this was because they needed someone to help them with their farm. After spending one week with Anne, she turns their world in to her way of doing things... And on the other hand, the couple begins to adapt to Anne and begin to "like" her and decide to take her.

     Throughout the book, Anne is a very unique girl. I think what makes Anne very unique is that she acts according to her instincts and not according to manners. She doesn’t behave like the way that a lady is supposed to be. For example, when she attends church for the first time, she screams at Mrs. Rachel for making fun of her red hair. Another example is that when Anne tries to follow the rules of social conduct, she makes a lot of mistakes such as using liniment instead of vanilla in a cake, letting a mouse drown in the plum-pudding sauce, and delivering a heartfelt but ridiculous prayer on her first try to pray before bed.

     I also notice that Anne is sensitive. She is takes what other people said as an insult. For example: The visitor of the Green Gables who came to see Anne had said, "What a skinny, homely girl you are! Did you ever see such freckles and bright red hair?" This made Anne very angry and in reply she said, "You are a rude, nasty woman and fat, too!" I think Anne didn't exactly mean it; it’s just that she can't stand people commenting her like that. If the visitor didn’t say that to Anne in the first place, Anne would not have said this. She is also imaginative, daydreaming, and questioning at every single chance she gets! I think that these are what make Anne different and unique from everyone else.  She doesn’t change just because of other people’s comments, but she continues to be the way she is.

     I used to think that Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert would potentially send Anne back to the orphanage and have her replaced with a boy because that’s what they wanted in the first place. Also, at first they don’t like Anne because she is a girl, very judgmental, and rude. However, now I think that they have realized that Anne is a truly lovable girl, who has had a very sad childhood, and is need for a decent home.

     Based on the book, it seem like everyone has gotten used to Anne, I predict that all everyone will learn to love Anne in their own individual way, and will eventually establish what a bright and unique girl they have.

Non-Fiction Blog Post #1

   Hurricane Sandy, striking the mid-Atlantic region on October 29th and 30^th; It is with powerful gusts and storms that cause large damages in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. Hurricane Sandy is classified as a post-tropical cyclone which means a scientific name for its powerful winds, heavy rains, and life-threaten storms. According to the National Hurricane Center, its wind is about 80 miles per hour. According to researchers, midlatitude trough, a system that causes severe winter storms was added to Hurricane Sandy when it moves across the country from the west. This gives the storm more energy causing it to be the most ferocious storms ever occurred in centuries. Hurricane Sandy causes many devastating things across the country.

     According to the New York Times, Hurricanes and Tropical Storms (Hurricane Sandy) one of the devastation Sandy causes is that many properties are damaged as a result. An estimate shows that the damage from this storm could approximately reaches 50 billion dollars. Approximately 20 billion dollars are from economic activity.  Thousands of houses in Lower Manhattan were without power. Power companies were trying to find out how much this storm had damage their wires, transformers, and substations. They even call thousands of crews from around the country to help out. This shows had badly they are. Approximately 30 billion dollars are from the damages to the properties. Many homes in Long Island suffered from flooding and explosions due to wires and power disconnecting. Many trees were carried down and houses were severely damaged. There were more than 80 deaths in the U.S, 41 of the total in New York City, 8 in New Jersey, and 4 in Connecticut. 

     Including the damages to economy, there were also damages to public schools around the city. The school was going to open Monday November 5^th but some schools were too damaged to reopen to students. As a result of this many schools had to find a new place for its students. Of those eight schools are serving as shelters for those people that are currently homeless due to Hurricane Sandy. On Sunday, 29 schools still remain without power and some with no heat. Another reason why students can return to school is because the subway is not fully recovered from the storm. Many stations are filled with water and some with grasses and tresses stack in the middle of their railroad.

     Overall, Hurricane Sandy had cause allot of damages including: no power, flooding, damage of houses, schools, and subway. In addition due to these, many lives of people had been lost. I think that if we had known that this storm in advance then we could prevent this devastation from happening.  We could do things like buying supplies we need in case of power lost and moving away from the ocean to prevent flooding. Through this experience, I think that the next time a storm like Sandy occurs we can be more prepared.

Blog Post #6-Revised

Drummer Boy of Shiloh
Ray Bradbury

    When I was little, I used to be always compared to my older sister who’s tall, pretty, talented, and smart. I hated when my dad compares my test score to hers. It almost happened all the time. I remembered him saying, “You should get 100% like your sister did.” My family depended on her and for that I hated her, envy her, wished that I was the one who had gotten the higher grade. I almost wish that she didn’t exist at all, until this day when things changed.

     I came home tirelessly from school, knowing that scolding awaits before me. I had gotten an eighty on my English test. I don’t want to open the door. I knew that my sister will probably be laughing at me, thinking I’m stupid. How would you flunk that easy test, it’s almost impossible. I still had to face it; so, slowly I opened the door and walked in. Waiting before me was a birthday cake. I forgot it’s my birthday today, and they didn’t. I wanted to laugh, to thank them, but tears rolled down my cheek, it was of happiness. “We know that you’ve tried your best all these years, and we want to reward you for all the hard work you’ve done” They did notice. They did know all the things I did. They'd put it in a spot of their heart even if they didn't say it.. For once, I was importance to them. For once, I was recognized.

     This was similar to what happened to Joby in "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" by Ray Bradbury. The peach blossom throughout the story signified Joby and how he had changed.

     The peach blossom in the beginning of the story symbolized Joby’s feelings and reactions to the war. “In the April night, more than once, blossoms fell from the orchard trees…fell swift and unseen, struck once, like panic, which jerked the boy upright. In silence he listened to his own heart ruffle away, at last gone from his ears and back in his chest again.” (49). Joby feels very cautious, even the slightest sound (the peach blosson) can wake him up. He knows that the war can happened at anytime, and he is alert. Through this quotation: “Beyond the third-three familiar shadows, forty thousand men, exhausted by nervous expectation, unable to sleep for romantic dreams of battles yet unfought, lay crazily askew in their uniforms.”(49). We can see that Joby and the other soldiers’ are looking forward to the war; consequently, they think that the war is a way to escape from where they’re before. At the same time they were nervous and afraid that they will die. In the beginning, Joby feels scared of the war, though this feeling changes throughout the story.

     The peach blossom in the middle of the story symbolized Joby’s confusion of the war. “The boy turned on his side. A moth brushed his face, but it was peach blossom. A peach blossom flicked him, but it was a moth. Nothing staying put. Nothing had a name. Nothing was as it once was…” (51) From the quote, Joby thinks that the war isn’t the way he imagines it to be because it says in the quote that “nothing was as it once was.” He had to face the war right now, and it’s not the romantic battles he once used to think. In addition, Joby doesn’t understand the war. “…soldiers put on their bravery with their caps, perhaps they might go away, the war with them, and not notice him lying small here, no more than a toy himself.” (51) In this quote, Joby regrets being a drummer boy and he wants to escape from the war. Joby doesn’t get the purpose of a drummer boy’s job; he doesn’t want to face the war. In the middle of the story, Joby had mix feelings about the war. He feels regretted and confused. Furthermore, he didn't realize his importance to the war until the general came into place.

     The peach blossom at the end of the story symbolized Joby’s figures his importance to the war. After the General’s talk with Joby, “…I was the drummer boy at the battle of Owl Creek or the Tennessee River, or maybe they’ll just name it after the church there. I was the drummer boy at Shiloh.ʼ …when we must get up on our legs and move!” (54) Joby finally recognize the importance of a drummer boy and how much the war needed him. He realizes this through the general’s encouragement. The drummer boy is a big part of the war because it gives the soldiers’ hope that they will win the war. “He lay next to it, his arm around it, feeling the tremor, the touch, the muted thunder as, all the rest of the April night in the year 1862, near the Tennessee River, not far from the Owl Creek, very close to the church named Shiloh, the peach blossoms fell on the drum.” (54) The peach blossom at the end gives a sense of calmness and peace.  Joby is no longer afraid of the war, and he is ready for the war the next day. In the end, Joby had recognized his importance to the war.

     The peach blossom throughout the book symbolized the changed Joby goes through. He used to be an afraid, scared boy and now he is a strong and brave solider. I finally recognized my importance as well as Joby’s.