Blog Post 8- Books Should Not Be Banned Essay

Steven Sinchi

Ms.Galang

ELA

December 14, 2014

Books Should Not Be Banned: The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Several challenges against books have been promoted in recent years , but what those people don’t know is that they are limiting information from all. The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is about Charlie, an adrift fifteen year-old who is trying to cope with growing up and adjusting to society. As a teen, Charlie is faced with high school and its “unsettling nature.” This book is one of a few being challenged. Fortunately, popular events, such as “Read Out,” an event in which banned books are publicly read aloud, and Banned Books Week, a week full of protecting books that should not be banned. Banning books restricts valuable, substantial, and meaningful information from all.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower comes from the perspective of Charlie, an aloof teenager lost in the way that society works. Charlie experiences multiple tragedies and explains them in detail. His view gives raw, real, and uncensored ideas, which is exactly what teenagers go through when transitioning to the phase of maturity. This book was aimed towards teenagers. In an interview, Chbosky shared what would happen to teens if ignored, “If we didn’t talk about sex and we didn’t talk about drugs, and all these other things that impact teenagers’ lives, literature would still reach teenagers. But the ones having problems in these areas would be totally left in the dark, and would unfortunately be more ignorant.” Chbosky claims that his responsibility was to guide teeangers by providing a way for teens to relate. Former teacher Maria Burel states that it’s wrong to censor  or ban books from kids. “They need books that deal with their physical and emotional awakenings and the turbulence of adolescence...Because somewhere, there’s a child dealing with scary issues...impacted by war, eaten by hurt, living with fear... we've ALL experienced middle school and know how horribly confusing that time can be. John Whitehurst, chairman of the English department at Antioch High School, claimed that, “[these banned books are] filled with positive, life affirming messages and has an especially strong anti-alcohol message…[the main character] uses this language to express his own feelings to himself… the protagonist in the story is a boy who is quite engaging, it would appeal particularly to those reluctant readers.” Burel and Whitehurst asserted the fact that teens are going through a difficult time, and books are an escape, a solution to their worries of growing up, making it aimed towards teenagers.

When banning books, the challengers are not only denying access from one family, but to a whole community. This is improper because a piece of literature is being taken away from all, causing an unbalance to what a student who has permission from their parents to read these types of books. Angela Maycock, assistant director of the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom, argues that books and material from a library should have free access for all. Maycock states that, “If there is one person in the community who could benefit  from a book, it is a crime to remove it.” What this means is that a parent has the right to limit the kinds of book their child can read, but that parent should not block this material to all other children. In addition, challenges are mostly because of authoritative figures who don’t want teens to have access to “mature” information. These figures want the teens to “mature” and then read this information, but this is only contradicting their point because they won’t be mature without reading the material. This is why books should be restricted from some, but not banned from all.

Perks masterfully shows coming of age in the eyes of a teen, a time in life that everyone goes through. It shows Charlie observing society’s, “offensive or sexually explicit language, their religious views, their portrayal of homosexuality, nudity, sexism,” just to name a few of real-world concerns. In contrast, parents find observing into these situations as, “lewd, obscene, and/or lascivious,” and so they do what they can to protect the innocence of their children. But in doing so, they deny the inevitable, produce ignorance in kids, and teach intolerance to children. In Chbosky’s own words, “I would think for parents, with the way that society is now, that they would prefer some of these issues to be discussed in a much more structured setting, as opposed to keeping them in the dark. The more you talk about it, the more you take away its power and its mystery, and people can make much more informed and mature decisions about these things. But most parents don’t want to admit these things exist, and they want to deny that these things exist, so they will blame the book or the TV show or the movie.” In other words, authority tries to hide the blatant truth, which only makes matters worse since these ‘innocent’ children would not understand what is happening around them. Some parents might have thought that censoring books was a good thing for teenagers, but it is not because it teachers intolerance, ignorance, and confusion.Coming of age is something everyone goes through and it should not be ignored.

In retrospect, books like The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky should not be challenged because they were targeted towards teenagers, it takes access from all, and because they show coming of age. What students, parents, authors, scholars, and teachers should do is make a curriculum related to challenged books (with permission), and study why they might be challenged. These authority figures are invited to events like “Read Out” and Banned Books Week for in depth perspectives. This doesn't only benefit an individual or even a school, but for society as a whole.

Bibliography:

1. Beckerman, Marty. "An Interview with Stephen Chbosky." An Interview with Stephen Chbosky by Marty Beckerman | Word Riot. Word Riot, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
2. Burel, Maria. "Banned Books: I "Get It" (But Won't Support It)." Once Upon a Story. N.p., 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
3. Fuller, Ruth. "Some Parents Seek to Ban 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian'" Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune, 22 June 2009. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
4. "American Library Association." American Library Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
5. "Banned Books: Reasons for Banning Books." Reasons for Banning Books. Butler University Libraries, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.

Blog Post 7- Social Awareness Project

Steven Sinchi       811

Table of Contents:

Overview of the Project......................................................................................................1

Photograph Analysis and Interpretation.............................................................................2

Observing Surroundings.....................................................................................................3

Reading Response............................................................................................................................4

Works Cited.......................................................................................................................................5

Social Awareness Project-

Overview of the Project

For my social awareness project, I purposefully chose three different topics and social issues in the world to show different ways of looking at them. In the project, I observed the topics of religious pressure, controversy related to race, and death penalty. When I wrote this project, I kept in mind that a goal I wanted to use throughout is looking at these social issues from different perspectives, and it was effective for me because I realized that problems in society are complex and by looking at it through different lens, I could develop new meanings to past problems.

Social Awareness Project-

Photograph Analysis and Interpretation

In this picture, the tragic event of the bombings on September 11th, 2001 happened. The photographer, James Nachtwey, took a picture of the crucifix on a church, and the disastrous clouds of the debris from the collision of the plane and the Twin Towers. On the left hand side, an apartment building is on the point of being obliterated, and on the right hand side, there is the another apartment and one of the Twin Towers. In addition, the sky is full of smoke on the left, and clear blue on the right. It can be inferred that the clouds are about to consume everything in its path, including the cross.

First off, this picture can just be considered a coincidence that the cross representing Jesus Christ is about to be knocked off the building by the doings of alleged Muslims. This represents many meanings having to do with religious issues, political issues, reasons behind terrorism, and much more that do with a more personal topic. For example, a prominent reason in why the terrorists did what they did was because they believed that Allah told them to do it, and in doing so they will immediately go to heaven. This can be related to the picture, because the picture shows a dark cloud of ash about to destroy the symbol for Christianity, causing controversy to this situation as a whole. In addition, James Nachtwey must have taken this picture quickly due to the intensity of the situation, so he might have taken this picture on the fly, but also, he must have had a reason to take this picture. I predict that the reason he might have taken this picture is to prove that religion may have been the driving force of this catastrophe.

This photograph/work of art has made me feel like a lot of problems in the world are happening because of religion, and since religion is an enormous subject, the problems and the dangers are going to be great as well. This makes me wonder if more controversial issues like these will happen, and if so, will religion be the driving reason or an aspect of why it might have happened?

Social Awareness Project-

Observing Surroundings

In the past few weeks, on the news and in conversations, the controversy of the whole Ferguson situation increased, and it was because of what people believed was great injustice in the aftermath of the problem. Michael Brown, 18, and Dorian Johnson, 22, shoplifted a pack of cigarettes, and while leaving to return to their destination, Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson tried to stop both of them, and some sort of confrontation had occurred between Brown and Wilson. After that, Brown was shot by the officer. In the end, no charges were pressed against Wilson.

This tragedy happened in Ferguson, Missouri, a location known for the place of multiple protests, violent confrontations with authority, and a lot of controversy. There can be several issues seen in this, for instance violent protests can be less violent and taken through a nonviolent method of sending the same message. In addition, police aggression and brutality is another injustice that many are fighting against. When events like this happens, usually the area cries for morality and there would be multiple confrontations with police and angry protesters. No definite solutions can be placed so that these never happen again, but there can be ways to prevent many from happening and the response after. Solutions to issues like these can be looked at in many perspectives, but some of them can be controlling police brutality, especially among the African American community. In addition to this, instead of violently reacting to authority like the Ferguson community has shown in some cases, nonviolent ways can be practiced so that nobody gets hurt after the incident.

Social Awareness Project-

Reading Response “To Kill Or Not To Kill”

 
     The death penalty in the United States is becoming a topic that everyone is beginning to wonder its reasons and why we should keep it or not. "To Kill Or Not To Kill," by Patricia Smith explains the entire controversy on examining the death penalty in the United States and whether it is reasonable and why or why not. The author wants the readers to know both sides of the argument and supporting details on why those arguments make sense, such as the death penalty being constitutional or unconstitutional, why government should or should not put people to death, does the death penalty discriminate against minorities, and various other reasons.

      The author of the article isn't emphasizing any point to the extreme, but in the passage, more is being talked about the numbers of the people that have been executed and how death penalty causes "significant problems." It may be that the author is biased towards the banning of death penalties because maps, graphs, cartoons, and a timeline all lean towards people wanting to get rid of death penalties. For example, the timeline shows different times in history where law has been edited and changed so that death penalty would be less and less of what it is, a punishment. "1972. Imposed a nationwide moratorium on the death penalty, which the court said was being applied in an arbitrary and inconsistent manner." "2002. Barred the execution of the mentally disabled." "2008. Restricted the death penalty to crimes in which the victim is killed, or cases of treason." In addition to this, the author puts two great points on why death penalty should be banned, and only one of why it shouldn't, "'The death penalty really is declining and on its way out.'" After this con about death penalty, one quote supports the other side of the argument. "'There are some crimes from which any lesser punishment is not punishment.'" After this quote, a quote by the President is placed to add some more bias, "'We have seen significant problems- racial bias, uneven application of the death penalty... situations in which there were individuals on the death row who later on were discovered to have been innocent because of [new] evidence.'" In addition to this, words that have stronger judgement to it are horrific, terribly, torture, innocent, inadequate, inconsistent with basic American values, cruel, punishment, striking, guttural, mishaps, succumbing, and other words that support the debate against death penalty.

      This article has changed my way of thinking that everyone wanted the death penalty, but as shown in the article, the pro death penalty side is sharply decreasing and more people are supporting the act of abolishing death penalties once and for all. This now makes me think differently about our government and why it makes the decisions it makes (ex. basing something off the constitution). If I were to continue to research, I would make sure to look out for biased articles, because I will most likely get information and arguments from both sides of the controversy.

Works Cited-

1. "Photographer James Nachtwey Biography -- National Geographic." National Geographic. Canon, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
2. Nachtwey, James. "James Nachtwey." James Nachtwey. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
3. Clarke, Rachel, and Christopher Lett. "What Happened When Michael Brown Met Officer Darren Wilson." CNN. Cable News Network, 11 Nov. 2014. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
4. Smith, Patricia. "To Kill Or Not To Kill." Upfront 17 Nov. 2014: 8-11. Print.

Blog Post 6- Nonfiction Reading Response

Steven Sinchi
811
ELA

Nonfiction Reading Response

       The death penalty in the United States is becoming a topic that everyone is beginning to wonder its reasons and why we should keep it or not. "To Kill Or Not To Kill," by Patricia Smith explains the entire controversy on examining the death penalty in the United States and whether it is reasonable and why or why not. The author wants the readers to know both sides of the argument and supporting details on why those arguments make sense, such as the death penalty being constitutional or unconstitutional, why government should or should not put people to death, does the death penalty discriminate against minorities, and various other reasons.

       The author of the article isn't emphasizing any point to the extreme, but in the passage, more is being talked about the numbers of the people that have been executed and how death penalty causes "significant problems." It may be that the author is biased towards the banning of death penalties because maps, graphs, cartoons, and a timeline all lean towards people wanting to get rid of death penalties. For example, the timeline shows different times in history where law has been edited and changed so that death penalty would be less and less of what it is, a punishment. "1972. Imposed a nationwide moratorium on the death penalty, which the court said was being applied in an arbitrary and inconsistent manner." "2002. Barred the execution of the mentally disabled." "2008. Restricted the death penalty to crimes in which the victim is killed, or cases of treason." In addition to this, the author puts two great points on why death penalty should be banned, and only one of why it shouldn't, "'The death penalty really is declining and on its way out.'" After this con about death penalty, one quote supports the other side of the argument. "'There are some crimes from which any lesser punishment is not punishment.'" After this quote, a quote by the President is placed to add some more bias, "'We have seen significant problems- racial bias, uneven application of the death penalty... situations in which there were individuals on the death row who later on were discovered to have been innocent because of [new] evidence.'" In addition to this, words that have stronger judgement to it are horrific, terribly, torture, innocent, inadequate, inconsistent with basic American values, cruel, punishment, striking, guttural, mishaps, succumbing, and other words that support the debate against death penalty.

       This article has changed my way of thinking that everyone wanted the death penalty, but as shown in the article, the pro death penalty side is sharply decreasing and more people are supporting the act of abolishing death penalties once and for all. This now makes me think differently about our government and why it makes the decisions it makes (ex. basing something off the constitution). If I were to continue to research, I would make sure to look out for biased articles, because I will most likely get information and arguments from both sides of the controversy.

-Works Cited:

Smith, Patricia. "To Kill Or Not To Kill." Upfront 17 Nov. 2014: 8-11. Print.

Blog Post 5- NYC Activism Museum Trip

Steven Sinchi
11/9/14
ELA Trip

What The Trip Made Me Feel/Think/Wonder

       To start off, the trip was about the history of activism in New York City and how that shaped our current New York City, including our role in today's social issues all around the world. As a student in the eight grade, activism isn't a large part in what we learn today in schools. This trip made me think that perhaps bringing more awareness to the topics that we discussed, such as religious discrimination, suffrage, segregation, LGBTQ rights, and even bicycle rights (I didn't know that a modern issue included bicycle laws) is extremely critical. This made me wonder that some of the issues present are extremely hard to solve, but solvable if everyone does works together.

       In addition, the methods that the tour guide explained to us made me wonder if some of them ever work. In the nonviolence method that Dr. Martin Luther King had done, it did inspire a lot of ways to fight for a cause without hurting anyone, but it was only a few rare cases that the nonviolence method worked. What I had seen was that violence was usually the way people were able to get attention and actually get a problem solved. In addition, the trip made me wonder how many other issues were out there and what I was able to do about it. We created pins and that made me feel like I was able to represent something, even if it was as small as a single pin.  

 Extra Credit:

Blog Post 4- Perks of Being a Wallflower Reading Response

Steven Sinchi
11/6/14
ELA Reading Response/Literary Essay

Reading Response/Literary Essay- Why this book may be banned: Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

       Teenagers grow up, not knowing exactly what adulthood may be like, whether it can be extremely dangerous or very fun. Because of this unsure trait going on, authority, including teachers, schools, and parents, may not want the content to be exposed to their kids due to the maturity it takes to comprehend the book. Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky happens to be a book about a boy named Charlie who embarks on the journey for the transition to teen hood. This means explicit words and parts may contain sexual activity, drug abuse, and violence, topics that authority may want to shield students from. Though mature and harsh, the topics of sexual content, drug abuse, and violence should be exposed to students thirteen years and older.

       Sexual content is dappled all over the book. For instance, Charlie's aunt, Aunt Helen, is illustrated as a great person in this book (Aunt Helen is one of the few people in the book given a name), someone Charlie could really connect to. But in reality, Aunt Helen had gone through an extremely rough childhood which was gone into detail about drugs, domestic violence, and most importantly molestation, "My Aunt Helen drank a lot. My Aunt Helen took drugs a lot. My Aunt Helen had many problems with men and boys. ...She went to hospitals all the time." Taking advantage of Charlie's innocence and trait of a wallflower, she molested Charlie and he did not know how or why to respond properly. Because of that, years later he came to the conclusion that what aunt Helen did was not her fault (it wasn't, in a way, but she still made the decision to molest Charlie anyways) and that it was okay that she sexually abused him. This may not seem appropriate for teenagers to read, but authority should keep in mind that the world isn't a soft place where everything will be okay, because that clearly isn't always true. World topics that include molestation should be widely known about so that teenagers could be aware of how to take action when these types of events due occur.

       Drug abuse is also heavily mentioned in the book. To what I comprehend, drugs is a means of escapism and allows for troubles of reality to leave temporarily. Specifically, there was a moment in which Charlie's cousins invited him to a "joint" to smoke, and all he could do was deny, "I went with all my Ohio cousins, who promptly pulled out a 'joint' and passed it around. I didn't smoke any of it because I wasn't in the mood, and they said what they always say. 'Charlie, you're such a pussy.'" This may be encouraging smoking to students that don't understand what this section actually meant. In addition, Charlie's dad also used liquor as a temporary "escape" from reality, "I should mention that my dad usually just sits real quiet and drinks. My dad is not a big drinker at all, but when he has to spend time with my mom's family, he gets 'loaded,' as my cousin Tommy says. Deep down, I think my dad would rather spend the holiday with his family in Ohio. That way he wouldn't have to be around my grandfather. He doesn't like my grandfather very much, but he just keeps quiet about it." As shown, liquor and cigarettes serve as a way to take a break from life, and this may be misleading because now kids will want to take a break by smoking and drinking, which is not the way to actually solve problems. The reason this book should not be banned is because it teaches people that drugs isn't the way to solve issues, and being aware why people make the mistake of believing that.

       Violence in the book can be a way of expressing power and abolishing problems, like bullying. Going through the teenager phases, every one knows that bullying comes somewhere in their lives, and for Charlie it seems to be in others, not him. For example, Patrick and Brad are two men who are privately gay. Brad doesn't want this to be out there because it may ruin his reputation, so what he does is call Patrick a "faggot," which commences a brawl between Brad's friends (excluding Brad) and Patrick. With the intentions of protecting Patrick, Charlie enters the fight and threatens to "blind" Brad's friends. Another example can be when Charlie recalls a time when his sister was slapped by her boyfriend because she told him to stand up to his bully (which was ironically her). After the slap, she continued to stay with him. All of these examples are promoting the wrong kind of violence, that problems can only be solved with violence. This is not true, and rather than promote violence, it can strengthen the fact that in the end of these situations, no benefit of the violence was ever received.

       In retrospect, the topics of sexual content, drug abuse, and violence may be harsh because it can be misleading, but if the right teachers and the right lessons are being taught, then banned books like Perks of Being a Wallflower can be extremely beneficial in explaining the transition of childhood into teenagers into adulthood, which is why it shouldn't be banned. Exposition to these topics bring awareness, and they not only teach us how to face them, but it also gives us the freedom to read at any maturity level at any age but knowing that reading these topics early don't make a big difference.

Blog Post 3- Perks Of Being A Wallflower (Synthesis Page)

Steven Sinchi                                                                                                                  11/14/14
ELA                                                                                                                                              

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky: Synthesis Page

Claim: Charlie is having a difficult time adapting to the world he is recognizing as he is going through this phase of growing up and maturing. 

Symbols:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show:

This is a location, an auditorium, in which Charlie and his friends get to forget about all the stress and hardships that are happening in all aspects of everyone's lives. In this location, Charlie and his friends find a way to connect as opposed to worrying about others, and through acting in a play, it strengthens their bond. As readers, we also remember that in the 80's and 90's, there weren't many efficient ways of communicating, so acting was a great way of socializing. "I won't go into detail about the whole show, but I had the best time I ever had in my whole life. I'm not kidding. I got to pretend that I was singing, and I got to dance around, and I got to wear a 'feather boa' in the grande finale, which I wouldn't have thought anything of because it's part of the show, but Patrick couldn't stop talking about it."

Books and Music:

Charlie isn't someone who generally focuses on reality. For example, reading books is a way that Charlie can find himself (the books are mostly classic books) and he doesn't profoundly connect with the book, but use it as a tool of keeping himself stabilized in the real world. In addition, Charlie makes several references of songs from the 60's, 70's, 80's, and early 90's, and although he doesn't make deep analysis, he lives through the books and movies as the protagonist, "I think it would be great to have written one of those songs." This shows how Charlie may have been thinking about the books and movies, but doesn't go into depth about it.

Archetypes:
Reluctant Hero/Wide-Eyed Innocent Hero:
Growing up, Charlie doesn't have a choice on what happens around him, but he does have a choice to do something about it. As a reluctant hero, Charlie isn't given an opportunity to grow up, but it is forced upon him, resulting in confusion and a realization about how the world functions. Charlie is exposed to new experiences that may seem nebulous at first, such as a social life, drugs, sex, family, and adjusting to all of these topics that were never imposed on him. 

Mother Figure:
Although they may be friends, Patrick shows Charlie that problems do occur in the world, and that they are normal, but they can be solved with patience and right choices. For example, when Charlie makes the decision of choosing to kiss Sam, his friend, versus Mary Elizabeth, the girl he is dating, Charlie creates a lot of tension and unsettling feelings in everyone, and Patrick was there to guide him through these issues, "When he dropped me off, Patrick told me the best thing to do was keep away for a while. I guess I already told you that. He said that when he knew more, he'd give me a call. 'Thanks, Patrick.' 'Don't mention it.'"

Blog Post 2- Thirteen Reasons Why (Book Club)

Steven Sinchi
9/30/14
ELA

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

     Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher depicts the struggles of Hannah and the impact of her issues and her suicide on Clay. Hannah Baker was a freshman in a new high school, in which she had difficulty fitting in with. Through many back stabs, hardships, and love problems, she finally decided that taking her life was the solution. Hearing Hannah Baker's words shook Clay, and so he couldn't stop listening to the 13 tapes from beginning to end. Hannah was excited in life at one point, but as time passed on, she found herself more isolated every day, resulting in a suicide. 

     In the beginning of the book, Hannah was thrilled to be able to make new friends (Jessica and Alex) and was exhilarated at being able to achieve her first kiss. She didn't expect anything bad to come out of what she was doing. "I couldn't believe it. Justin, you lied to my mom. So why did that make me so happy? Because our lies matched. It was a sign." This shows Hannah's enthusiasm for little things such as matching lies with someone she likes. After she had her first kiss, everything seemed fine until rumors started spreading about Hannah being a "slut" because of her first kiss. She began to realize that everyone started seeing her differently, and her good image as a person deteriorated from there.

     After that, Hannah's rumors started getting worse and worse. One of her supposed friends, Courtney, back stabbed her by telling lots of people about Tyler, a guy from the school who was supposedly peeping in on Hannah and Courtney in her room, which created a lot of suspicion on Hannah. In addition, this bullying went on in a form of a list. Hannah was named in a list of "who's hot/ who's not" as "hot" which stirred up sexual issues. Following up to the past rumors, Hannah was touched by another one of her peers in a bar. "You know I'm not even going to interpret this. I'm just going to tell you why it pissed me off. I've had my butt grabbed before -no big deal- but this time it was grabbed because someone else wrote my name on a list. And when this guy saw me upset, did he apologize? No. Instead, he got aggressive. Then, in the most condescending way, he told me to relax. Then he put his hand on my shoulder, as if by touching me he'd somehow comfort me." Here, we can see the negativity it has influenced on Hannah, almost as if traumatizing her. Adding on to this sexual abuse, Tyler Down was a creeper in Hannah's room, taking pictures of her. This made Hannah feel insecure and in danger in her room, a private place that was supposed to be her only safe space. Again, another incident occurred in which Marcus Cooley was Hannah's Valentine. He promised a date in a diner, and in the end, he appeared extremely late. When he did arrive, he brought Hannah to the back in private so that he could take advantage of the time and place with her. She felt desperate for someone to calm her down and understand how she is doing. As you can see, Hannah is having trouble event after event having people realize who and how Hannah actually is as opposed to fake rumors.

     Towards the end, Hannah has trouble beginning to connect to people at all, and as a result, becomes isolated from everyone else. The one moment she did have a chance to connect with someone is with Clay, but after the scene in which they have a conversation and kiss, she throws a tantrum so that Clay would leave. This was the only chance Clay had to maybe turn around her ideas of killing herself, which failed. After this final connection with a person she might have had her life saved by, she continues to force down her mind into this depression against her will. She explains that around the end of her life, she gave signs about her suicide. She asked a boy if she could give him her bike, which is one of the signs. She also asked for a handheld recorder to record the tapes. "The haircut. Averting your eyes in the halls. You were careful, but still, there were signs. Little signs. But they were there. " In the end, Hannah could not have taken any more, so she willingly gave up and suffered the suicide.

     All in all, Hannah suffered a slow pattern of people taking her spirit as a person a little by a little which ultimately resulted in a big part of Hannah that was gone. She felt empty by the end, something that wouldn't have been inevitable if someone could have acted properly. In the end, this comes to show how little or big actions can have equal impact on a person going through deep depression/reflection of life, and if we could in one way or another, help that person.

Blog Post 1- A Long Way Gone (Summer Reading)

Steven Sinchi                                                                                                                9/13/14
811                                                                                                                                 English

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

      Ishmael Beah sees the world in a different perspective than most people have seen. In the book, "A Long Way Gone", Ishmael is trapped into a society in which kids are trained and forced into a bloody war. This maltreatment is what the soldiers are obligated to, and one of these teens being Ishmael, he grows up with a sense that all is savage and brutal. Growing up in the bloodshed that is Sierra Leone, Ishmael learns that life is bleak and full of danger that may end with him even losing his own life, which leads me to believe that Ishmael is a fighter and tenacious.

     Ishmael learned to sharpen his instincts as a child, since the war had traumatized him to a feeling that death is right around the corner. You normally wouldn't have to look every corner, not sleep nights, double check behind yourself, and wait until a loud noise stops, because safety is everywhere for us. Ishmael does all those things, because as a twelve year old in a battlefield at Sierra Leone, he isn't safe. At one point in the book, young Ishmael's area is attacked and ransacked by enemies, and he is stunned when he finds out that he has to leave his family in order to stay alive. "It was during that attack in the village of Kamator that my friends and I separated. It was the last time I saw Junior." Junior was Ishmael's older brother, and he was separated from Ishmael. At this point, Ishmael only relied on the trust of his friends and no one else. The community that he was in when he got separated from his family was also perishing from the rebellion, "Mothers lost their children, whose confused, sad cries coincided with the the gunshots. Families were separated and left behind everything they had worked for their whole lives." Ishmael was too young to comprehend the seriousness that this was, and like a sponge, he absorbed all of it in. The lesson that Ishmael learned at this point of his life was to expect the unexpected.

    As a teenager, the war was the pinnacle of his life, since it was that at this age he would begin to understand what was happening around him and to him, and Beah begins to accept the tragedies knowing that the moment of freedom and peace may be a long way gone. For example, the moment he was finally going to reach to his family, a place he was desiring to reach ever since he lost contact, was taken away because another attack consumed the district into piles of bodies. This is life-changing for Beah because at this point he realizes how grim this entire experience may be, "I didn't care. I wanted to see my family, even if it meant dying with them." Stuck in this mindset, Beah was getting used to the violence, and in the next few years, he decides to confront the challenge of rehabilitation. In other words, Beah will attempt to forget about the life he has been living for the past decade or so and relearn how to live in a society. This is extremely difficult, as having been discommoded with the struggle of surviving every minute of his life and flash-backing to the children that he might of killed, Beah strives to be in the now, "But we were still traumatized, and now that we had time to think, the fastened mantle of our war memories slowly began to open." This part of the memoir emphasized the fact that it will be extremely difficult to forget the bloody kills and deaths that a young man had to experience. At these moments, though, Ishmael works to his fullest to stay strong, and will do whatever it takes to succeed.

    As a pre-adult going through a unstable rehabilitation, Beah decides to take the route in which he will learn from others of how to live in a stable society. In this case, Ishmael is placed in his uncle's home that's fairly far away from the attacks. Living with his uncle, Beah values company from someone who is willing to give it to you. Unfortunately, Beah's uncle was only able to live for so long,  "I was always losing everything that meant something to me" "Why did this happen to us in these difficult times?" Beah knows he loses what is dearest to him, but he is an indefatigable person who won't stop until he knows what's right, what he should value the most and find the most important things in life and prioritize.

    In retrospect, Ishmael has illustrated to us that growing up in his conditions is transformational because he had to live in the bloodshed of losing friends and family through killing others. By seeing the world of violence through Ishmael Beah's eyes, we can see how difficult it can be to expect the unexpected, stay strong, and be determined to never give up.