Blog Post 10- Picture Book: Author's Note

Steven Sinchi
811
1/20/15
ELA

Picture Book- Author's Note

       "Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war." In the words of Donald Trump, failure is a way to success, which can only be gained by persistence. Everyone fails at some point in their lives, it is a necessary part of maturing and getting to know yourself as a person. "Even from a young age we have been taught that being wring and making mistakes are bad." Nowadays, though, a majority of people are interpreting failure as the 'end of the world,' which is the exact opposite of what failure should be. Failure should be a new beginning, a new way to look at things.The main message the book is trying to convey is that people should not be afraid of failing, and that by taking healthy risks, people can discover new ventures. As J.K. Rowling, proclaimed fascinating author, stated, "It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all- in which case, you fail by default."

      I chose this topic because it isn't a world issue, but more of a personal issue that many do not bring much light to. I care about this topic because it happens to many who don't expect it, especially to young children who dream of never messing up and being 'perfect.' I remember the first time being excluded from a group because I was not good at art, even though I persisted and took my time to improve. While I was drawing, similar to Sam, I came across a skill I didn't know I had: I could write for extended periods of time without feeling as much strain as others. Though small, the new skill I discovered boosted my confidence, knowing that I could do something that not many could do. I showed my friends and they were impressed. I tried to adapt my story so that it could be more prevalent to what people experience commonly.

      In my book, I wanted to recreate the excitement of finding strength under weakness, and that it is fine to share this weakness and accept our flaws no matter the situation. What I did was create a simple situation that did not specify age, gender, or race, because failure happens to all. Sam, the protagonist, goes through a roller-coaster of emotions and is specifically purple for a reason: persistence. Purple was chosen to signify several things. For example, a soft light purple can mean every thing is going to be okay, while a harsh dark purple can really pierce the character's heart in a bitter way. In addition, I wanted to reiterate that colors matter in my picture book, so what I did was have the feelings of the character be parallel to the background of the illustrations (Sam is sad- blue background. Sam is happy- yellow background). I also did this so that changes in emotion could be more visible, which makes the reader relate/swing together with the book, so if Sam is excited, the colors will make the readers feel the same way. What I want the readers to take away from my book is that failure is a step in life, and that it is great to see other creative ways of uncovering talent and ideas.

Blog Post 9- I Am The Cheese Synthesis Page

Steven Sinchi      1/6/15

811      ELA

Synthesis Page- I Am The Cheese by Robert Cormier

Critical Thinking Question: If the character in your book has problems, can you see how those problems are about identity, struggling with others for power, or being cheated or helped by society’s needs?

Life seemed normal for Adam, but it was all except that. In the book I Am The Cheese by Robert Cormier, Adam faced several life-changing obstacles. It became difficult for him to grow up because he questioned what was happening to his parents. His father, who is a journalist, once wrote something political that exposed a side of the government. Officials then secretly tried to get rid of him, consequently forcing their family to change names, birthdates, and their entire life. This took a toll on Adam’s life, and he shared his story of how he wanted to reach Rutterburg and meet his father, his ultimate goal. Throughout the book, three ideas were relevant; how Adam was searching for identity, how he struggles with others for power, and how he was being helped and cheated by society’s rules.

Adam struggled to identify who he was and what he had to do in the entire situation. In one part of the book, it is revealed that Adam Farmer was not his true name, but a fake name that was created when his family had to cover up when they left their home. Paul Delmonte, Adam’s real birth name, was a stranger to Adam. In addition to this, the title itself I Am The Cheese is hinting at what he believes he is. In the end, it is revealed that “Farmer in the Dell” (the nursery rhyme) finishes with “The cheese stands alone.” This signifies that he knows that his whole life he has never really had anyone there for him, making him “alone.”  Also, he had to worry about which type of identity to show, because he was never sure if one of the people sent to exterminate their family is there. When Adam explained what he meant, he said that "...there are the Never Knows. Never knowing who can be trusted. Never knowing who that stranger in town can be." The challenges that Adam faced were due to identity, and made his life difficult.

In the end of the book, Adam arrives at the doctors office. This twisted the ending he always convinced himself he would get, his father. It is concluded that he arrived at the same doctors office where he said he always wanted to escape. In the doctors office, it is seen that the so-called “doctor” feeds Adam medicine and only asks for answers that target the situation related to the government. It is also stated that he will be riding a bicycle around the hospital until he believes he finds his father. The twist is that the entire journey from Monument to Rutterburg is false. He is only dreaming of it so that he can believe his father is alive, which he is not. The final words in the book state that “Subject A” (Adam) will eventually be “obliterated” if he doesn’t tell them what they want. This shows why he was being cheated by society’s rules in the ending.

Throughout the book, levels of power were clear. For example, Adam’s family did not have the power to change their lifestyle meanwhile the people looking for them did have enough power. Also, Adam was held back in many ways, like when he had bullies try to stop him from doing what he wanted to do. Moreover, Adam doesn't have control over his life in general because the secret people are taking away his privileges, like spending time normally with his family.This denied him from many things he could have done by himself, but he struggled with others for power.

In retrospect, Adam lived a life full of secrets, obstacles, and several heavy decisions. From struggling with defining his own name to dealing with a mental institute, Adam went through difficult times that showed being cheated by society’s rules, searching for identity, and struggling for the most power.

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.