Blog Reflection:

     Blogging this year helped me understand and clarify my thoughts on many subjects that we've learned this year. It was a helpful and simple concept that warmed up my brain for the deep philosophical conversations and analysis of books that we would later be doing in ELA. Although at many times it became challenging to keep up with the pace or amount of content that these blogs created, in the end it was worth doing. 

     Writing online instead of in a notebook besides the lack of physically keeping track of things, being able to design a blog, layout, and overall creative space helped me be more excited and interested in learning. I think that freed me from the normal reminders of a physical page or my hand getting tired and let me type to my hearts content. But, because of those things I also ended up rambling, not getting anywhere specific with my writing, and sometimes not writing as much material because I don't have that physical reminder of a page. This added some weak posts to my blog as well. The thing I really enjoyed though and what made it a positive experience was the control over the design of the way my writing looked or how it appeared and matched with the background of my blog. I want to do design as a career and being able to control the fact that my writing is horrible and sloppy or I could only find a crappy pencil to write with and replace it with clean cut fonts and pretty colors made it pleasing to do. This really inspired me and didn't limit me in terms of my blog. 

     But I do think that many people will disagree with this. I know many people because there were no reminders or physical pieces of writing had a hard time keeping up and feeling inspired with their blog. This also goes to show how although there are a majority of people including myself who use social media as a form of artwork or creativity there are also many who become overwhelmed and abuse there power on social media. This also shows how many teenagers feel they can speak their mind on whatever topic even if not appropriate over a non physical space that exists not "truly" in the real world. 

     Overall I think the blogs were a good way to remind teenagers that social media should be used appropriately and to show ideas that are well thought through and mature, as well as (blog comments ) being able to take and give constructive criticism respectfully 

Gun control Laws: Upfront

     "Does the U.S. Need Tougher gun Control Laws?" is an article stating the pros and cons of imposing gun control laws in the U.S. and how that will affect Americans in their everyday lives. These gun control laws include background checks and overviews of the buyers mental, physical, and emotional state to see if they should be allowed to use a gun. It also discusses whether or not guns are used more for self defense or to purposefully harm others. 
     
     Ladd Everitt says that gun control would help make the risk of a crime where a gun is involved, less lethal. These background checks and other restrictions would put whatever gun that's being bought in the right hands. 
    
      Erich Pratt rebuddle's this saying that guns are used 16 to 100 times more for self defense then for mass dangerous crimes or shootings. Everyday Americans use guns for self defense and self defense alone. 
     
      Everitt says that their are the equivalent of 87 deaths, per day due to gun violence in the U.S and an average of 32,000 deaths per year
Also, we are the only wealthy democratic nation in the world who hasn't imposed further restrictions on guns. 300 million guns are owned by Americans- more guns per capita than any other country in the world 
This means that a large portion of the 300 million guns owned are helping people protect themselves from harm and dangerous people who may own guns inappropriately. Although someone who is not the best candidate to own a gun can possess one, if the average American owns a gun they can protect themselves from that predator. 
    
      How could the children at sandy hook or columbine protect themselves? Guns should never be in a school environment with children so neither the teachers or kids could be saved. There are too many exceptions to the self defense approach at gun control and school shooting are rapidly becoming more frequent and publicised. 
     
      Overall, guns have many advantages and disadvantages. The huge debate over whether to impose these restrictions or not is growing more popular and important at a rapid rate and soon the government will have to make major advancements on their positions on this topic. This article convinced me that gun control laws were a necessary implement to societies safety. If someone who does not deserve to have a gun and possess it safely, can't ever buy that gun, it eliminates the possibility of a lethal situation involving a gun. This will help save millions of lives in America today. 

V for Vendetta

     In the book V for Vendetta, V represents in general the concept of anarchy and rebellion. What he does in the book is not justice; for the people he kills never technically killed him. In the books the author shows this is many ways. 
     One example of how he shows this with the scene where V approaches the Justice statue and says that anarchy is his mistress. This shows how he does not think justice so is important as anarchy anymore and how he is dismissing true justice. Another example is when V teaches the lesson to Evey that she is inflicting fear and self destruction on her self through the jail in the Shadow Gallery. He has not tried to be just and fair in this situation but just has no remorse towards it. This shows he can never truly hold justice closest to him. An example of an instance where this is not the case is when Evey is being attacked and almost raped and he saved her without question. This shows V's humane side and how he can have traces of sympathy and humanity left in him. This interferes with his cold emotionless exterior the tried to put forth. 
     Overall, V is a complicated character but something he holds dear is the belief that anarchy can break the system they live in. Because I believe he represents anarchy, I also believe that he can break the system which he had already been doing for months. This is why I think he represents anarchy and rebellion. 

Blog Post: Nocturnes

     A series of graphic and dramatically written horror stories is what the book Nocturnes by John Connolly consists of. The title alone is chilling let alone the 20 short stories that make up this 500 page book. Ranging from small towns to big cities and everything between, this book has insights on the concepts of sacrifice and mortality while still being entertaining.

    A reason that I chose to read this book is because it looked like it had true content in it. As eighth graders, we tend to slack off in every aspects of our life-family, school, and responsibilities in general. I had noticed that for one, I hadn't read all that many books this year and two, everything I read was easy and relatively short. I wanted something long, but not tedious and still fun to read. This was just the thing. I also think short stories are really a great thing to read because they are basic concepts that aren't  fully developed and leave room for creativity and personal interpretation while reading them. Another reason I wanted to read the book because I hate horror and scary things; I have convinced myself of this. But after realizing that I had watched American Horror Story, a story that middle schoolers hide under their blankets from, and never even flinched when someone was set on fire or impaled- well I thought id give it a try. I honestly would have no interest in this book if it didn't have great original concepts and strong writing. I think its a splendid coincidence that I didn't pick up the suspense thriller, Pretty Little Liars series or other book stat would completely spoil my spontaneous willingness to dive into the horror genre.

Overall I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants the simplicity and efficiency of a short story while still intaking a large amount of content. Also, I would recommend this to anyone who in general likes good writing and concepts because you can definitely find them in John Connolly's, Nocturnes.

Nocturnes.

The book Nocturnes by John Connolly is a series of beautifully written horror stories that array in ideas and style. For five stories I have read so far, I will list specific elements that I found interesting and that I think contributed to each story.

The Cancer Cowboy Rides: The number one thing that stood out to me in this piece were the shifting point of views, and Connolly's bravery in choosings whose point of view was shown. When we barely encounter one character, the author has no problem with putting the reader in their shoes. This helps tell the story very effectively for the reader, while still being realistic and showing that not every person understands the full encounter of events occurring.

The Erlking: This one really creeped me out. I think that Connolly really captures the classic “deep, dark, mysterious woods” idea not only by mentioning it but combining the deepest fears we have of the woods and creating into this monster. I think this is a very specific style of writing and quite interesting for the reader because we get a similar range of emotions from reading a normal text but portrayed through one being.
The New Daughter: The length and simple nature of each plot point in this story helps it flow and keep it clear and easy to understand. This story really sticks to the actual events taking place and therefore does not go quite in depth with detail. I believe this is what made it so easy to make a movie  ; because there was so much room in the story to build and elaborate in the filmakers desired fashion.

The Underbury Witches: The details and pace of the story make it seem very poetic. This story used imagery through in depth description and detail to fully develop the world that it is all occurring in. Also, the plot twist and sudden unexpected changes in events make it suspenseful every step of the way.

Overall, Connolly’s work has impressed me and proven to be diverse and well done in style, pace, detail, and everything in between. His writing style cannot be defined by a couple of words because he stretches the expanse of almost every way of writing and is a truly exceptional horror writer.

Voting for Teens?

The upfront article on Voting restrictions for people under the age of 18 was an eye opener and really interesting for me because I am under 18. What is being proposed in many states is that 16 year olds should be aloud to vote in national elections. Supporters of this initiative reason argue that teens have a fresh and well developed opinion on their political views and if they begin voting at a younger age it will be more likely for them to keep participating in future elections. I think that this is actually quite a good idea to do because only about 30% of legal voters actual vote and adding this whole other sector of people who can vote will definitely help boost those numbers.

Although there are many positives to this idea there are many negatives. For example, many people who are against this idea believe that teens will still not come because many 18 year olds now, dont go to elections and it will be an unnecessary law to pass. This being said, there are still large majorities of people who want their opinions to be voiced and should still have the right to do that being under 18. Other nay-sayers of this law believe that teens do not have fully developed and mature opinions and therefore should not be able to vote because of this. The common belief that young people can’t be talking as seriously as adults is flawed and wrong in terms of political views and they should be taken as seriously as anyone else.

Overall I think that sixteen year olds should have the right to vote in important elections because they have a well developed and mature opinion as well as fresh new views on the world around them. Many teenagers take what they believe in seriously and appreciate that there are initiatives to get their voices heard. The vote in america is not truly the american people speaking if its only 30% of them voting. So why don’t we change that and get this law passed!

Romeo and Juliet

The classic Shakespearean story of Romeo and Juliet plays with themes of passion, desire, death, and overall forbidden love. These themes are portrayed through two teenagers from two feuding families that find themselves madly in love. Teenagers and people in our grade can learn from this story and about young love. It gives kids a sense of freedom and independence when reading and this is why I think many eighth graders like this.

Although teenagers do like the themes in this book, because it's told through old shakespearean language it creates a barrier that many teens are not willing to try and cross or attempt to understand the language. This is why I am very happy the teachers are helping to interpret this text with kids and teach it to them. It creates a basic foundation for the english language. Being able to interpret prefixes and suffixes and everything that makes up a word will help in the future when trying to understand more complicated modern text.

When reading this book I have found that I was neither scared by romeo and juliets love nor in love with it. It just fascinated me how far they would go for eachother. For kids these days they need guidance in terms of relationships but enough freedom to feel like they are making their own decisions. This play helps show some kids who do not have that guidance to see the possible consequences of their actions even if it is dramatized.