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.

Reading Response: Looking for Alaska

Moira Griffin

808

Reading Response: Looking for Alaska

            Have you ever wanted to change your life? Be someone different? Maybe happier, or more popular or funnier? Well many things in life can cause major changes, like love or birth or death, but we can also can also be changed in smaller ways by the people we meet or by the books we read. Looking for Alaska by John Green is a book that tells a heart-wrenching story about death, love, mystery and fear, with a character going through difficult changes in life.

            The story begins with Miles, the main character, alone at his own going away party. The party is to celebrate him leaving to go to a boarding school in Alabama. This is a big part in the story because it will show how Miles changes throughout the story, from a lonely and unconfident kid to someone who knows who he or she is and who feels more self-assured. Throughout the story Miles reflects character growth by meeting new people and trying new things.

            “I was more or less forced to invite all my ‘school friends’ i.e., the ragtag bunch of drama and English geeks I sat with by a social necessity in the cavernous cafeteria of my public school, and I knew they wouldn’t come,” says Miles on the first page when he is telling the reader about his going away party and how no one showed up. This quote introduces the character Miles as someone that doesn’t have any friends. So over time he develops this friendship with Alaska, her friends and other people. As his friendships grow he also grows and changes into someone more confident and social. In the next line, Miles mentions, “the Colonel (one of Miles’ friends) didn’t tell me where he was going to spend the evening he just shut the door behind him and left, so I guess I wasn’t welcome.” This quote shows that he automatically thinks he wasn’t invited because he didn’t know what Colonel was doing. This gives the impression that Miles is not that confident around his friends. Throughout the novel you can see Miles is able to socialize more and he begins to take down some of the walls he has built up over the years.

            Miles changes as a character in the story as the challenges he faces grow. Towards the end of the book Colonel says “But we will deal with those bastards, Pudge. I promise you. They will regret messing with one of my friends.” This shows that Miles, also known in the story as Pudge, has grown as a character because in the beginning of the book he does not really have any friends. For someone to call him a friend shows that Miles has developed stronger relationships. Miles has changed from someone who might have been more shy and timid to a person who is now more outgoing and sociable. In another section, Miles stands up for his new friend and says, “He walked out of the room, again just assuming I'd follow, and this time I did.“ In this case, Miles makes the decision, showing how he has developed as a character.

            In the end my opinion about the book Looking for Alaska is that it is remarkable and holds many different stories of both love and death. John Green wrote a beautiful book, which holds many wonders and many adventures that Miles goes through, but mainly the author shows Miles going through changes to find himself.

Ashes by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Moira Griffin                                                                                                                    808

Many writers use symbolism to appeal to the reader’s emotions and to clarify the meaning in the story. The story is about a teenage girl named Ashleigh (nicknamed Ashes for short) who has divorced parents, with her mom as a on top of it parent and her dad as a lazy, not really caring parent, she still seems to think very fondly of her dad in the beginning, thinking he’s the best parent. As the story goes on her opinion on him seems to shift. As we follow ashes though the story, the author uses symbolism to keep the reader understanding whom she is and ultimately, to guess who she will decide to be

            Throughout the story, the weather mirrors ashes relationship with her father. An example of this would be “That winter, it felt like every time I saw my father, the sun cast off just a little more warmth than it had the day before. I don’t remember a gray day when I saw him.” Ashleigh says this line on the first page, showing that her father makes her very happy and she looks forward to seeing him. On the last page Pfeffer writes, “ I looked out the window and saw only ash gray sky.” The quote here is showing that her opinion on here dad changed out through the story. This is presented by the change of weather, which was from always sunny and warm days to gloomy and gray days. This shows that Susan used weather to compare to the dads relationship with the Ashes.

In the story, the necklace is symbolized with the dad and how he can never keep a promise. The reference by Ashleigh “ when I was little, dad used to promise me the stars for a necklace, but like most promises, that one never quite happened.” This symbol stands for how her dad always made promises he could not keep. It also displayed the little bit of distrust that she felt in her dad because he could never keep to anything he would say.

During the story the teapot, symbolized the dream life the she will never get. The quote that Ashleigh says is “ it was shaped like a little house with a curtained window and a flowerpot on the windowsill. It was the sort of house I would never live in.” The quote symbolizes here dream that she knew she couldn’t get. The quote also demonstrates that Ashleigh’s dreams of living in her dream house are crushed by reality.

            Symbolism helps tell the story by showing the growth of Ashleigh. This story has a lot of symbols to show how Ashleigh, the main character, deals with her issues of the father. In the end we are able to see the character growth that Ashleigh has gone through. The author shows us the change of character by using symbols instead of words.