The Glass Castle (updated)

       I just finished reading the Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. It is her Autobiography. It follows basically from her earliest memories to today.Her first memory is catching fire from trying to cook hot dogs by her self at the age of three. This first memory is very reflective of the rest of the book. 
       
       She describes in detail her family and their personal life. From her alcoholic father who would take odd jobs as the went from town to town and try to the kids about science and math.Also her mother was very unstable she would hoard in the houses they had not assist the children in any way.One time she drowned several kittens they had cared for because she said that They had cared for them and put them on this earth so it was also their decision when to take them off this earth.
      
        Jeanette focuses a lot on the interactions between her and her parents. Probably because these were the most traumatic of the times.This book has many different themes and archetypes. But it all center's around her family. The "Mother Figure" was actually not her mother but her older sister who basically raised her withe her older brother.

       This shows what a family really can be. Not just the phony definition of it.The children may be supporting the parents. 

Nonfiction Response Post

         I just read the article in then newest issue of upfront magazine about the Cuban Revolution. The article tells about the history of Cuba from 1959 to the present.It follows the events after the Revolution and the events that followed.

         In the article one of the first events mentioned is from 1933-1959 is when the dictator Batista ruled over Cuba. Finally though in 1959 at the end of his reign Fidel Castro a  Socialist Revolutionary overthrows the government . He establishes a communist state in Cuba which began a many decade long bitter confrontation between Cuba and the United States.

        Recently however Cuba hasn't been doing well.There are food shortages and very few people can have their own private businesses. The only cars in use are from the 1950s because that was the last time they traded with the United States of America. They also have very little access to the internet and they have regulated television.

          Cuba as a country has been doing terribly recently but things are looking somewhat up.Even though things economically aren't doing well the US is taking steps towards negotiation with Cuba.
       

Final Draft

                            Poetry Essay on “Photography”                                             

The main focus of the poem, “Photography” by Nikki Giovani is to remain aware of the world around you. You need to leave your personal comfort zone sometimes and think about the world outside of what affects you.  The poem uses imagery throughout the text in various ways.  The poem uses metaphors and similes with items having to do with photography; like various parts of the camera.

“The eye we are told is a camera”, is a direct quote from the poem “Photography”.  It shows that people can be like a camera’s lens seeing only what the photographer chooses to see. In the summer it is easy to focus on the sun and not the ice. This example suggests that people like to remain oblivious to things they would rather not know about.

Another quote is “The film is the heart”.  This means that our memories define us, making us who we are today because the film is technically like the “memory” of a film camera.  It also shows that people have strong emotions about memories and things that they experience.  The way that this connects to the overall theme of “Photography” is that people may not want to see things that contrast with their personal beliefs about the world, particularly things that distress them.

Another quote from the poem is “It’s easy sitting in the sun to forget that cold exists”.  This quote I interpret to mean that it is easy when you’re happily living your carefree life (this would be the warmth of the sun) that there are people who are suffering. and that terrible things happen (this would be the cold).

In conclusion, an internal theme in the poem “Photography” is the way people act when they are happy with life and ignore the misery that constantly goes on day to day.  The poem does not just focus on peoples obliviousness.  It also emphasizes that you need to be aware of what is happening in the world. 

1st Draft

The main focus of the poem, Photography by Nikki Giovani is that to remain aware of the world around you need to leave your personal comfort zone sometimes and think about the world outside what affects you.  It shows this through imagery throughout the text in various ways. The poem uses metaphors and similes with items having to do with photography like various parts of the camera.

“The eyes we are told are the a camera” is a direct quote from the poem Photography. This shows that people can be like a camera’s lens seeing only what the photographer chooses to see. It shows how people like to remain oblivious to things they would rather not know about.

Another quote is “The film is the heart” . This means that are memories define us making us who we are today because the film is technically the “memory” of a film camera. It also shows that people have strong emotions about memories and things that they experience. The way that this connects to the overall theme of Photography is that people may not want to see things that contrast with their personal beliefs about the world and distress them.

“Its easy sitting in the sun to forget the cold” is another direct quote. This quote I interpret to mean that it is easy when your happily living your carefree life ( this would be the warmth of the sun) that their are people who suffer and terrible things happen (this would be the cold).

In conclusion an internal theme of Photography is the way people act when they are happy with life and ignore the misery that constantly goes on day to day throughout the world. The poem does not just focuses on peoples obliviousness but it also emphasizes that you need to be aware of what is happening in the world. 

Blue

Blue

All the other colors they think that I am

The tears in the eyes of the sad

The breathless lips of the dead man

The blood lost its oxygen as the man lost his last breath

I am not the title wave to tear down the town

I am the rain

after a long drought

I am the blues

of the sea

reflecting the infinite cloudless sky

I am the blue

icy stalagmites formed by water to make the teeth of the cave and

bright blue electric flames burning brighter than their orange and yellow kin

I am the silence

between words that is necessary

for comprehension and meaning

I am the contrast

I am nothing but what gives meaning

Unsouled Reading Response

Currently I am reading the book Unsouled by Neil Shusterman. Unsouled is the third and final book in the Unwind trilogy that takes place in a world where parents can choose to have their children ages thirteen to eighteen unwound. Unwinding in this world is the process of the organs removed held until a transplant is needed this includes the brain so technically the child is still alive just in a divided state. The book focuses on multiple escaped teens who face abandonment not only from their parents but also from each other.

A main character named Starkey feels the loneliness two times as much as the other children. He was “storked” as a baby which means his birth parents abandoned him on the door steps of his adoptive parents legally making him their child. Then his adoptive parents decided to unwind him. Also he was abandoned by Connor for being overly violent and aggressive. Connor was an older escaped unwind that kids including Starkey looked up too. 

Starkey is the most troubled of all the children. He hangs four people working at a Unwind Harvest Camp in the cold blood as a part of the Unwind rebellion. He also is creating an army of storks that were going to be unwound in preparation for a battle against the government. Also Starkey enjoys changing his appearance to not be recognized which makes sense because he is a run away but because he feels like he is disowning his past self when he changes his appearance.

Overall the main issue focused on in the Unwind trilogy is abandonment. The book also focuses on its affects on the children. Starkey is a specially good example but all the children deal with it in some way even those who are not unwinds themself but are helping with the effort.

I read an article about three people, two American cell biologists and a German biochemist who won the 2013 prize for physiology or medicine. The Americans names were James Rothman and Randy Schekman and the German man’s name was  Thomas C. Südhof. James Rothman of Yale, Schekman of the University of California and Südhof of Standford.

The winning discovery of theirs was the discovery of vesicles. Vesicles are bubbles surrounding  membranes that transport  things from cell to cell. They carry out every day sort of processes like delivering chemicals throughout your brain when ever you think a thought. Vesicles also deliver hormones through your body. They didn’t discover this all at once they all worked towards this amazing discovery in different parts of the world.

Schekman discovered how the transportation system was organized. He did this by experimenting with the well-known genetics of yeast as a model. These experiments help lead to the discovery of three mutant genes that the cellular delivery system to break down.

Rothman discovered how the cell delivers to the correct place every time. This he was able to find by doing experiments with proteins and mammalian cells.

Südhof discovered how the cell delivers on time. He worked on experiments with nerve cell communication, his specialty. He observed that the trigger was calcium ions.

In my opinion it is surprising that even now people are discovering different parts of cells and entirely

 different cells. It gives you hope for future scientific discoveries of importance involving the human 

 body.

Jude Olson                   Revised Draft of Best Reading Response

 In order to teach a newborn child its first language, that language must be spoken around them all the time. The same principle works when teaching a baby chimpanzee sign language. In "Half Brother" by Kenneth Oppel   the Tomlin Family adopts a newborn chimpanzee named Zan to conduct a scientific study about raising a chimpanzee like a human and teaching him sign language. I think a theme of "Half Brother" is what it means to be a family.


     One example of the this theme is when Zan's Human Father decides to make Zan's learning sessions more productive by strapping him into a metal chair for hours. Normal parents wouldn't do that to a teenager, let alone a baby. The father isn't treating Zan like he's really part of his family.


     Another way this theme is expressed throughout the text is when Zan is having a fit and biting some of the volunteers (chimpanzees are dangerous and can seriously injure someone that they bite)  and his father bites him on the ear to make him behave. This must be really confusing for  poor Zan. Half the time they are rasing him like a chimp and half the time they are raising him like human. 

 SPOILER ALERT

     My final example has to do with his relationship with his older brother and mother and how they treat him more like a human. For example, he ends up in a sanctuary when he gets too strong for the family to take care of. They specified for him not to be given to a lab but they weren't able to get the agreement on paper. They end up stealing him from a sanctuary before he can be given away to a research facility. This act of courage shows their love for Zan that their father seems devoid of.



     In conclusion,  in "Half Brother" the Tomlin Family isn't exactly your average Canadian Family with their chimpanzee son and their father who treats everything like an experiment. To me, they still seem like a family though. Also according to the “google definition” of a family "A group consisting of parents and children living together in a household" they do  count as a family, up until Zan leaves them. But, in some ways I think they are still a family long after Zan leaves them.