China's Cram Schools

The article " China's Cram Schools" by Brook Lamer tells us about China's harsh ways of getting into college and how students are desperate to pass China's college entrance exam. This test is called "Gaokao" and is somewhat like the SAT or ACT.  It is different in that it is twice as long and the stakes in China are much higher than the SAT or ACT in the United States. The most important difference is the Gaokao test is the only thing that matters for admission to Chinese universities. I find this to be very unfair that one exam can decide if you are able to go to college and get a good job or if you have to work at factories or in the fields.

            This exam causes so much stress. Students are studying around the clock to decide their future. The article talks a student named Xu and what he does and how he prepares for the test. " [he] fills every spare moment with studying, testing himself between classes, on the toilet, in the cafeteria. After the lights went out at 11:30, he sometimes used a battery-powered lamp to keep going." This shows that this way of studying is very unhealthy. Instead of having a normal high school experience the students in China are spending all their time studying for the Gaokao. The article also says "it stifles creativity and puts excessive pressure on students. Teenage suicide rate tend to rise as the Gaokao nears." This shows that this test must be making students so depressed and unhappy or they just cannot deal with the pressure anymore that some of them kill themselves.

            China puts so much pressure on their students. Many of them spend their whole childhood studying and preparing for exams. One school mentioned in the articles does not even allow dating or electronics. In the article it says "the school prides itself on eliminating the distractions of modern life. Cellphones and laptops are forbidden. The dorms, where about half the students live, have no electrical outlets. Dating is banned. In town, where the rest of the students live, mostly with their mothers in tiny partitioned rooms, the local government has shut down all forms of entertainment. This may be the only town in china with no video arcade, billiards hall, or internet café.” This quote proves that schools and parents in China are making it their goal for students to pass this exam. Every type of amusement is removed to not distract students.

            On the other hand there are around 1.357 billion people in China, which means a great number of students are trying to get into a college. This test is a good way for colleges in China to screen and reduce the number of applicants. The article compares China to the U.S. saying that the number of students taking college entrance tests annually is 3.5 million students taking the SAT and/or the ACT. For China the number of students taking a college Gaokao is 9 million. This shows that there way more students taking a college test in China that in the U.S. Maybe the Gaokao is a good tool that can help weed out the students that are not good enough.

            In conclusion, I still think that the Chinese testing style is a terrible way and students should not have to spend their whole childhood studying for a test and then have that one test decide their future. It does not seem fair that because of one test you either are going make it big or become a worker on a farm or at a factory. I think that it is unfair for China to base students’ future on one test that they spent most of their childhood studying for.

Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, book club

The book Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is famous book that came out in 1864 is a book that tells a story about a young women named Hester. The story behind Hester is that she committed a great sin back in the time it was set for which was she had a baby out of wedlock. This isn't that big of a deal now but back in the seventh century this was considered a great sin and the consequences were big.but no matter how big are they were Hester refused to tell why the actual father was and her consequence for this was that she had to wear the scarlet letter which a "A" that stood for adultery and she had to stand in the town square for everyone to see. But even after all this Hester still has such a strong image and seems to always be looking at the best of these things. In the book Nathaniel Hawthorne gives Hester such a strong image at seems like nothing can take her down.

A few story plots  that support my idea of Hester and how strong of a women she is mentally is. One time  when the towns people of Boston gave her the option of leaving the city or staying she choose to stay which I felt showed that she wasn't scarred of this sin that she had done and the the towns people or nothing like that was going to scare her out the town. I felt that this also showed the strength that most people thought women in the 17 century didn't have, which I thought was really cool the Hawthorne gave her this characteristic. Another sense in the book that I felt Hester was really empowering was in the beginning of the book when Hester walked out of the jail cell. In this sense Hester has to walk out of the jail cell wearing the embroidered A and walk into the town square. But when she comes out of the cell the first thing people notice is how amazing the A is stitched on to the dress. I liked this since because I felt like it showed that Hester was able to turn something that was supposed to be bad and shunning to something people are jealous about because of how well embroidered it is.

I think this connects to teenagers all over the world because this book sends out many lessons like you are always able to to turn the worse into the best and never run away from something that is trying to scare you. I felt like another's message that was in it was that you are strong even if people try to put you down. I thought this connected to teens because it put across messages that sometimes I think teenagers need to hear or just learn so it can help them get through something.

Band Books

Moira Griffin

808

           

Dear Ms. Berner,

I do understand that the school is receiving a lot of emails from parents stating that some of the books held in our library are not appropriate or ideal for their children for different reasons and that they would be happy to see those books taken off the shelves. Some parents may feel that some books may give their children wrong ideas. Even if this might be true, I think it should be up to the students to decide if he or she can handle reading the book.

            Books can have a huge influence on you and some books can change the view on things. This can be good or bad. For many reasons, especially books geared toward teens tend to have a lot of sex, drugs and other form of abuse in them. Even though most young adult books deal with these kinds of topics they also include messages or lessons that not all movies, TV shows or even parents can teach them. For most readers the character comes to life and the reader then connects and often identifies with the character. The reader feels as if he or she is going though this experience just like the character. This offers the young reader to go through this experience in their imagination without the actual danger. The article by David Levithan “Teen fiction plots are darker and starker” says “Teens can explore this fearful things and it makes it approachable to these themes and use them to deal with daily issues.” This quote supports the idea that books let the teen reader explore an issue in a safe and reasonable way without having to go through the real life experience.

Books can also be helpful because it shows that other people (characters) experience these problems. “Yes, teen fiction can be dark but I shows teenagers that they are not alone.”

            “From war on TV and pornography on the Internet the (Judith) Blume brouhaha seems almost quaint,” the article says. I do agree with Levithan, as most books seem harmless compared to the pictures teenagers can easily access on the Internet and on the TV. There is so much more violence, sex, drugs and other unhealthy things on TV or the Internet than in books. I do understand that some parents feel that certain books will influence their children for the worst but taking away a book will not take away the issue in the book. Parents need to understand that it is not their choice but it is up to the students on what they feel they can handle.

On the other hand, some people might argue that parents do have the right to choose what books their children should read. One might say that parents do have a better understanding of what their children are able to handle. One reason why parents may feel they have a better perspective they may have gone though some of the experiences or they know how dangerous or painful some of these topics are.

Levithan say. “Darkness in YA literature is inappropriate and denotes a slipping of moral standards.  This quote supports that some young adult books have turned away from fairytales but now tell more gruesome stories about violence, sex and drugs.

I believe that students in middle school should be able to read what they feel they can handle. Our library should not be affected by what parents think about the books. Parents need to understand that any book is valuable no matter what the topic is. Parents also need to understand that students will not be influenced by the topics that some of the books write about. Connecting to a character in a book is a lot safer than watching TV shows or looking at some inappropriate pictures on the Internet.

I also believe that teachers usually make a good choice in ordering books for the library. They know what students can handle because we talk about books in class.

In conclusion, I think parents should not decide what kind of books we can read. Students are able to make their own choices.

Social Justice: Looking at the World Through a Lens of Justice and Fairness

Social Justice: Looking at the World Through a Lens of Justice and Fairness

- Choose an article from a newspaper or magazine that deals with injustice in some way (provide a citation if you cannot provide the article and a link on your blog). Write about why you consider this an example of injustice and what makes you think about in your own life.

            I choose an article about Malala Yousazai and the fight for girls’ education. I choose to write about that topic because of some of the ways it deals with injustice. For example, Malala says, “ in 2007 terrorism started in swat valley, and women were not allowed to go to markets or to schools.” Another ways the topic of denying girls right to education is, in the village swat Valley more then 400 girls’ schools were destroyed. I consider these examples of injustice because you don’t here anything about boys schools being burnt down or men not being allowed to go to the markets, this is sexism in many ways, letting the male get the better education so he can become smarter. The article made me think that there are so many women out in the world that are fighting for women’s equal rights just like Malala. This makes me want to go out into the world and help the fight for gender equality.

- Observe your school or neighbor. Write a list of all the scenes or situations you come across on a daily basis that you think are unfair to your human rights (or someone else’s). Pick one idea from you list and write a long entry about it.

            List of unfair situations I come a cross everyday in my neighbor hood  

·      Women have you wear hijabs, or scarves.

·      Some women cover everything on there body from head to toe, except for there eyes

·      When elections happen for the Muslim community you only see men voting and only men running.

·      When there are prayer ceremonies only the men will pray.

·      Some women have to shave of all their hair and wear wigs.

Some families don’t through the girls bat mitzvah but only the boys.

The situation I choose to elaborate on is that girls have to wear hijabs to cover up their body. I choose this one because I feel that it is injustice to make a females cover up her whole body except her face (sometimes even the whole face except the eyes). Women are not allowed to so there body at all even in the summer they have to cover up not showing any thing except there faces, well men are able to wear a shirt and they don’t have to cover up at all they are able to show off there body how the want.

-Interview someone you know. Ask them their opinion about what they believe is good about our world and what is unfair about our world. Record your conversation (in writing) and write and entry discussing your thoughts about what had to say.

            Interviewer: Moira Griffin (me)

            Interviewee: Susanne Griffin (my mom)

Me: what do you believe is good about our world?

Mom: hat even though the world still does get in wars we are still together and there might be problems every once in awhile but we still mange to work together as one big world and that’s a really amazing thing.

Me: what is unfair about our world?

Mom: there’s a lot of things in the world that are unfair like global warming for example, there are plenty of people out there are doing everything to stop polluting the earth, but there are still people out there that don’t do anything to help stop it and its ruining the earth, which isn’t fair for the people how are trying to stop it have to get the same punishment for the people because of the people how didn’t do anything to help stop it.

            I felt that what the interviewee had to say was very true. I do thing that it is a very amazing thing that are world is capable of getting along at points and not always trying to kill each other. This shows that the world is able to act and be a community and not trying to take over the world all the time. I also felt like the interviewee said very true things about how things are unfair in the world but there’s really nothing you can do to change everyone around, all you can do is change yourself and you own actions.

- Watch the news. Respond to something you see in the news by putting yourself

In the shoes of someone the newscaster is reporting about. What would it be like to be in that situation?

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/diane-sawyer-sits-inspirational-malala-yousafzai-20499735

           

I watched a news clipping called “Diane Sawyer Sits Down With the Inspirational Malala Yousafzai”. Diane Sawyer on Abc 7 interviewed Malala Yousafzai about her story and how she ended up where she is today. If I had to be in Malala situation I would be terrified of it all I think this because she had to be so brave to keep fighting for what she believed even after she got shot, she got right back up and even fought for what she believed in harder and didn’t give up at all.

-Find a true story about someone you know who changes the world everyday  (even in a small way). Interview and write about them.

            Interviewer: Me

            Interviewee: My uncle

Me: what do you do for a living?

Uncle: I travel the world and take photos for a magazine (a photographer)

Me: do you consider this to help change the world and why?

Uncle: I do consider this to be helping the world change, I think that photos can say a lot about a scenario, if its from a photo showing sexism to a photo of a empty fridge, they all tell a story in a different way then words do.

            I think my uncle does help change the world everyday because, even though he might not be out in the army or doing something really amazing he is traveling thee world and being able to capture a moment in a photo so other people can experience that same moment if its good or bad.

-Collect a poem or a lyric that expresses a significant issue about social issues. Write an interpretation and analysis.

http://schoolnetuganda.sc.ug/newsupportcenter/articles-and-poems/the-girl-child-by-nabaterega-jesca

Girl Child

Oh Girl Child! 
How unlucky you are
All bad winds blow on you
Look, the eagles make you their prey
You are a slave to every man.

Oh Girl Child! 
You are denied education
And forced into early marriage
Even if you are one month old! 
Men can’t spare you for defilement.

Oh Girl Child! 
It is you who become pregnant
Your ignorance have taken you to be
A house girl

Oh Girl Child! 
What can you do to fight all these problems? 
Girls, stay in school
And consider yourself expensive.

My opinion on this poem is that they wanted to show all the terrible unfair things that happen to girls and not men. Like how girls must marry young no matter the age or how the girl must pretty much be a slave to every man. But I think the author was trying to teach the girls that they are not property but they are people and they deserve education and everything men get. In the last sentence it says to solve these problems stay in school and I think that’s very true.

-Watch one or more movies or TV shows (a channel that shows returns of older shows might be interesting). Think about how people your age are portrayed by Hollywood. What are “ normal” teens supposed to look like? What race are they? Where do they live? How much money do they have? What is their family like? Write about what these images of teens make you think, know and fell. Are the portrayals of teens accurate? Are there stereotypes being perpetuated?

             I watched the show “The Goldberg’s” this show is supposed to be about a young boy and his family growing up in the 80s. I found this show to have some stereotypes, for example the mom, she is a thin stay at home mom that only cooks, cleans and loves here kids very much. The 3 kids also have some stereotypes like the oldest sister, she is tall, thin, no glasses or anything that is considered “dorky”, and is very popular. The other brother (the youngest) loves, video games, action figures, wears glasses and is considered a “dork”. Well the last kid portrays the qualities of someone that is full of him self and thinks he’s better then everyone else. Lastly the dad, who is overweight, lazy and is always watching T.V. the family, lives in the suburbs with, a classic 80s house.

Reading Response for Finally 12

            The book I’m reading is called “Finally 12” by Wendy Mass is a young adult book about Rory Swenson the main character growing up. Rory has been waiting all her life to finally be 12, for her parents to finally live up the promises that they have said over the years. She thinks she ready for anything now that she’s finally 12… but is she? Through this journey of Rory Swenson life, following her through the months of growing up we find out that maybe everything she ever wanted isn’t what she thought it would be.

            Rory Swenson isn’t the most popular girl you could say but she has a plan for that. On her 12^th birthday she has kept all the things her parents have promised her for her birthday over the years. In the book she even says “I bet my parents are hoping I’ll forget some of the things they’ve promised me over the years. But I’ve been writing them all sown so not a single on slips through the cracks.” The quote shows that Rory is very persistence to get these promises and won’t let one single one slip out of her sight.   One of the first things she does when turning 12 is get rid of all the kiddies things in her room, this means her favorite teddy bear called Throckmorton, when she does this is thinking to be grown up you have to throw away your childhood which is very wrong. In the end of the book I think she learns that she can still be a little kid no matter how old she is, the last sentence in the book is “maybe Sawyer (her little brother) and Throckmorton would like to join me in the fort.” This is a really important quote in the sentence because she thought that growing up was the best thing and she couldn’t wait for it, but towards the end of the book she realizes that growing up isn’t everything and she learns that she can always still be a little kid no matter how old you feel.

            I felt that this related to teen issues a lot because every teenager wants to grow up already and leave his or her child hood behind. I think the author was trying to get across the message that you can never leave behind your childhood because that’s such a big part of who you are. I think at a point people forget that you can try as hard as you want to forget your childhood but it is a huge part of you and will always have a place in your heart.