Organ Myths (blg #1)

Today during my research I discovered that people shouldn't be discouraged about the so called "Myths" of being a organ donor. In a website I discovered 10 main concerns of being an organ donor.

Listed;

Myth No. 1. If I agree to donate my organs, my doctor or the emergency room staff won't work as hard to save my life. They'll remove my organs as soon as possible to save somebody else.

Reality. When you go to the hospital for treatment, doctors focus on saving your life — not somebody else's. You'll be seen by a doctor whose specialty most closely matches your particular emergency. The doctor in charge of your care has nothing to do with transplantation.

Myth No. 2. Maybe I won't really be dead when they sign my death certificate. It'll be too late for me if they've taken my organs for transplantation. I might have otherwise recovered.

Reality. Although it's a popular topic in the tabloids, in reality, people don't start to wiggle a toe after they're declared dead. In fact, people who have agreed to organ donation are given more tests to determine that they are truly dead than are those who haven't agreed to organ donation.

Myth No. 3. Organ donation is against my religion.

Reality. Organ donation is consistent with the beliefs of most religions. This includes Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam and most branches of Judaism. If you're unsure of or uncomfortable with your faith's position on donation, ask a member of your clergy. Another option is to check the federal Web site OrganDonor.gov, which provides religious views on organ donation and transplantation by denomination.

Myth No. 4. I'm under age 18. I'm too young to make this decision.

Reality. That's true, in a legal sense. But your parents can authorize this decision. You can express to your parents your wish to donate, and your parents can give their consent knowing that it's what you wanted. Children, too, are in need of organ transplants, and they usually need organs smaller than those an adult can provide.

Myth No. 5. I want my loved one to have an open-casket funeral. That can't happen if his or her organs or tissues have been donated.

Reality. Organ and tissue donation doesn't interfere with having an open-casket funeral. The donor's body is clothed for burial, so there are no visible signs of organ or tissue donation. For eye donation, an artificial eye is inserted, the lids are closed, and no one can tell any difference. For bone donation, a rod is inserted where bone is removed. With skin donation, a very thin layer of skin similar to a sunburn peel is taken from the donor's back. Because the donor is clothed and lying on his or her back in the casket, no one can see any difference.

Myth No. 6. I'm too old to donate. Nobody would want my organs.

Reality. There's no defined cutoff age for donating organs. Organs have been successfully transplanted from donors in their 70s and 80s. The decision to use your organs is based on strict medical criteria, not age. Don't disqualify yourself prematurely. Let the doctors decide at your time of death whether your organs and tissues are suitable for transplantation.

Myth No. 7. I'm not in the greatest health, and my eyesight is poor. Nobody would want my organs or tissues.

Reality. Very few medical conditions automatically disqualify you from donating organs. The decision to use an organ is based on strict medical criteria. It may turn out that certain organs are not suitable for transplantation, but other organs and tissues may be fine. Don't disqualify yourself prematurely. Only medical professionals at the time of your death can determine whether your organs are suitable for transplantation.

Myth No. 8. I would like to donate one of my kidneys now, rather than wait until my death. But I hear you can't do that unless you're a close family member of someone in need.

Reality. While that used to be the case, it isn't any longer. Whether it's a distant family member, friend or complete stranger you want to help, you can donate a kidney through certain transplant centers. If you decide to become a living donor, you will undergo extensive questioning to ensure that you are aware of the risks and make sure you're giving away your kidney out of pure goodwill and not in return for financial gain. You will also undergo testing to determine that your kidneys are in good shape and that you can live a healthy life with just one kidney. You can also donate blood or bone marrow during your lifetime. Contact your local chapter of the American Red Cross for details on where you can donate or sign up.

Myth No. 9. Rich, famous and powerful people always seem to move to the front of the line when they need a donor organ. There's no way to ensure that my organs will go to those who've waited the longest or are the neediest.

Reality. The rich and famous aren't given priority when it comes to allocating organs. It may seem that way because of the amount of publicity generated when celebrities receive a transplant, but they are treated no differently from anyone else. In fact, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the organization responsible for maintaining the national organ transplant network, subjects all celebrity transplants to an internal audit to make sure the organ allocation was appropriate.

Myth No. 10. My family will be charged if I donate my organs.

Reality. The organ donor's family is never charged for donating. The family is charged for the cost of all final efforts to save your life, and those costs are sometimes misinterpreted as costs related to organ donation. Costs for organ removal go to the transplant recipient.(Clinic, Mayo)

Further on, I also discovered many answers today to questions that I haven't even though of. For instance, did you know that although you may have signed the back of your Identification card it doesn't mean that your organs may be donated? Doctors suggest that the best way to be a organ donor is to not only have it on writing, but to inform your family and even friends of your desires for your body after being presented dead. Some studies state that it makes it easier on the family to give the doctors a answer to the process.




Clinic, Mayo. "Organ donation: Don't let these 10 myths confuse you." MayoClinic.com 04 04 2008 29 04 2008 .

the interview i had with janine!

So as you probably already know I have been researching child abuse! I wanted to know how could we get kids the courage to come forward on their abuse? So I took my search beyond just the Internet and books, I went to talk to someone.


Well I went and interviewed a lady that was a friend of the family named Janine. She is a very nice woman she majored in psychology as she says I basically learned about child abuse. So she learned so much over the years of working. Janine works at the native American society people inc. there program is kind of like a big brother big sister thing but it is a little more besides taking kids out to do things if there is family in need of food and clothing they will get it for them which is located on 100 main st. she actually told me the different kinds of abuse that goes on such as, physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal and emotional abuse, and also physical neglect. There are so many different kinds of abuse I learned about that day. Although I have found this out in other places!she also told me some possible ways kids tell as they talk to a adult that they trust on the phone by note ect....(also from the kidshealth.com)

In the interview she opened the way I was thinking about things. I thought of different ways to think and also what she told me I could research more and make things a little bit more clear. So I am looking forward to taking what she showed me and turning something bigger and clearer.



janine. personal interview. 4/21/08.

"kids health." child abuse. 2007. 21 Apr 2008 .

To Begin my Search

To began my search I typed in spirit into my Google search tool bar from there I search the list
of web sites that I an go to, to get more information on spirits. I choose the second (Spirit (disambiguation) ) link on the list, this link took me to an article on Wikipedia the free internet encyclopedia. Here I found that are seven different contents and fifty different definitions of the word Spirits. One contents is the Religion and spirituality definitions, this is the reason for my search. In my Protestant Baptist Christianity beliefs, I believe in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one third of the Holy Trinity that makes up the single substance of God and that it also helps you to lead a Christian life (Holy Spirit ). But with my interest in ghost haunting should I have reason to believe that there just might be more to my Christian belief then I though there could be.

According to answers.com the definitions of a spirit is a being inhabiting or embodying a particular place, object, or natural phenomenon. The problem is that most people don't believe in spirits. In today society people need hard evidence, scientific research or a personal experiences to prove to them that humans and animals are not the only beings, that it maybe possible that there is another side, that there is a spirit world, and that it is possible that they maybe trapped in our world. And there are people who don't want to believe in spirits or ghost because they are afraid of how there lives may change if they do believe in natural phenomenon.

In my search in the religious background I didn't find any answers to my questions. But I'm not going to give up, I'm going to continue my search through ghost, haunting, ghost haunting and ghost legends. To be continued.....

"Spirit (disambiguation)." Wikipedia2008. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.,. 08 May 2008 .

i found one of the answers

As you have read before I am researching the topic child abuse. My main question was how could we get kids to have the courage to come forward on their abuse? I have found out a lot on my subject and actually on all my questions that I had when I started this topic
As to find the answer to my question I wanted to find out some information of where people might help kids with their problems such as crisis centers.

Such As: a child advocacy center
556 Franklin Street
Buffalo NY 14202
(716) 8357807

I also found some compass house:
1451 Main Street
Buffalo NY 14209
(716) 8860935

Counseling:
Mid-Erie counseling & treatment
1520 Walden Avenue
Cheektowaga, NY
716-895-6700

I have also found different help lines that you can call such as 716-834-1144 or toll free 1-877-kids-400 or common sense 911!


So as one of my main questions I have a lot of different answers on where kids can get some help if needed. These are only a few different kinds of places out of many that I have found on my search for my essential question. As I said before in my last post I am looking forward to talking to Janine maybe she will be able to give me a hint on how to find my answer to my major question.


"Child abuse." crisis services hotline. 28 Apr 2008 .

Metals Sub-Genre's

Now there are some sub-genera's who do have a lyrical surrounding of "Satanic" themes. Many of these bands are from around the European area of the world. This genre is called Black Metal. Now there are some incidents where there were some burnings of churches."Headliners of the black metal scene claimed responsibility for inspiring (if not necessarily perpetrating) over 50 arsons directed at Christian churches in Norway from 1992 to 1996."(Wikipedia, Black Metal,Church Burnings) A lot, well most of these crazy things happen in Europe.

There was a quote that I really looked at, which was "Black metal is generally held to embrace anti-Christianity, misanthropy, nihilism, Paganism, and/or Satanism, and in some cases, nationalism. As an extension of misanthropy, there is often a link to nature emphasized, being a type of naturalism, with a heavy emphasis on mortality and the unknown aspects of death. More generally, most black metal musicians like to appear as strongly anti-collectivist, critics of religion and advocates of individualism."(Wikipedia, Black Metal) That statement kind of struck me weird. Now I am not one to listen to this music, for one, I can't understand them because they speak another language.

In the band "Mercyful Fate", the lead singer King Diamond was quoted as saying
"He does not follow any specific religion, and expresses concern that religion has led so many people to kill and destroy each other. According to himself, he has problems comprehending why religion has caused so much death and destruction, when it is logically impossible to prove the presence or absence of any god. He reveals that he has reached a point in his life where he has completely given up believing in anything religious and that he simply does not know what to answer when asked whether he is a Satanist or not." (Wikipeia, King Diamond)

So I heard in an interview with Marylin Manson on "Heavy: The Story Of Metal", that everyone blamed him for the deaths at Columbine High School in Colorado. He said something to this sort " They blame me and my lyrics because the kids came into the school dresses like me." and he even cut short his tour because of the massacre at Columbine. (Marylin Manson) So That goes to show you that Heavy Metal artists don't worship the devil. If he did, than he would have not shown any sympathy for the families of the victims of the Columbine tragedy.


____________________________________________________________________________________
"King Diamond." Wikipedia. 2008. 24 Apr 2008 .

"Death Metal." Wikipedia. 2008. 24 Apr 2008 .

"Death Metal." Wikipedia. 2008. 24 Apr 2008 . - church burnings
Heavy: The Story Of Metal. Marylin Manson (Musician). VH1 Classic, 27 April 2008.

Evilness in Metal

When Mr.Malley told us about the infotrac website I kind of thought it would help me out a lot. But it is turning out to be a little bit tougher than he said. Even though my last entry was basically done by using wikipedia (which works good), I decided to go a different way.

It turns out the evilness in metal helps sell product, it has a high selling point in the evil sub-genres of metal."Fueled by a resurgence in heavy metal music and its numerous dark sub-genres, Halo makes and sells evil-looking instruments with bodies carved to resemble rotting flesh, distended eyeballs and bone. The demonically themed guitars primarily find their way into the hands of death-metal musicians."(Harris) The fans like to see that kind of things when they hear the music, it's just a visual."Ford takes his designs to the extreme and his guitars boast names such as "Satyr," Hellfire," and "Fallen Angel." The "demon" headstock, where tuning pegs adjust string tension, looks like a horned profile of Lucifer himself."(Harris).

Selling is good, like they would say in economics "It's all about supply and demand." Minarik Guitars sells between 115 and 130 pricey custom model guitars per year, and more than 2,000 lower-priced machine cut models annually.(Minarik)

"So what exactly is the allure of the whole demonic metal scene? The deafening crunch of eight-string metal guitars on stage? The fake blood and white pancake makeup? The screamed "Cookie Monster" vocals few listeners can comprehend?"

"'Cause there's always kids and your parents tell you not to listen to it," Ford said. "It's a really good outlet for your aggression."(Harris) "As for his mean guitar designs, Ford put it simply."(Harris) "Some people like skulls," he said. (Ford) This comes from a interview between Harris And Ford from the Winnipeg Free Press.

So now would you say that it's all about devil worshiping. If you ask me, I think when most bands talk about Satan, they are just telling story's. But I have heard that bands from different countries that make metal music actually worship the devil.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"Instruments of evil; The resurgence of death metal means a new market for gruesome-looking guitars.(Music - Articles)." Winnipeg Free Press (Sept 6, 2007): E8. Custom Newspapers.. Gale. McKinley High School. 23 Apr. 2008
.

I started my search by looking into the drop out rates across the country. I wanted to know how widespread the problem was. I searched a couple of websites but I was really surprised to find nothing that could help answer my question. They all talked about what they think is the problem or what can students do to be more interested in school, when the reality is that no student is the same and they all have different perspectives about school. Like for example I visited a website in look for clues so I can answer my question. I couldn't see where did the author of this website and I agree with most of what he said but when he spoke about what was the solution for this problem it spoke in the perspectives of the schools statistics and information about the students, but it sounded like he never took the time to speak to any of them to see what were there motives for dropping out or what types of situations where they going through that made them drop out of school, with all my respect I thought that the information was inconclusive, I think that there is a lot more reasons for a student to lose interest for there education.

What I mean to say that they say what they think is the problem without even asking anyone why is this happening to them. Is like a person that is trying to explain how does the propulsion system for a spaceship works when they don't know anything about it. They don't know what is in peoples minds to tell us what is wrong with people that motivation problems for school. What I plan to do is to ask people why to they feel like this, and try to find an answer for my question. That is if I can...

Paulus, Peter. "Why Children and Teenagers Lose Interest in School." Essay Writng Power 2006 7. 4/30/08 http://www.essaywritingpower.com/prodl29/Why_Kids_Lose_Interest_in_School.pdf.

''How is it like being albanian in the US in 2008''

My point of view is that i thing is great being albanian and living in the US. I like it here mainly because i am abe to take care of my self(be independent ).The thing that's good about being from a different country is that i know more about the world and the people around.I am able to know and see how people from albania and people from US live.I was rased in albania but now im growing up in the US .I love that I am able to lising and understand 2 kinds of music,be able to eat differend kinds of foods able to know and live different then most people do. I'm enjoyin life right know and hope to be something good in the future.hopefully something that I can make good moey and live the way I want to .Hey i know money is not everything but it's something you always need ..so stay tunedddddddd./....If you wanna know how other girls from albania live in the US.....

i began my search to the answer

I began to start to search for some information and clues to find the answer to my question and if you didt read my first post my question is how can we get kids to have the courage to come forward on there abuse? Well I did't find much actually it was hard because I typed different things.
What I came up with is many different crisis centers that help kids and different things that people have organized to make kids feel love that they don’t from home. Such as baby coddlers where u go to orphanages and hospitals to just like hold a baby feed it ECT... I also found like different kinds of socials. I only found like one program located in buffalo ny not like counseling or nothing like that but a more hands on program to help abused kids and stuff and that and was the big brother big sister program they take time in there day to hang out with a kid even if they just listen to them!
I am actually planning on going to talk to a lady name Janine which is like my little cousins big sister she mainly focuses on child abuse that what she majored in so I am looking to getting to talk to her and see what she knows and what she has found out over the years she has learned. Also stories that she might have but I wont are able to talk to her till like the end of the month like next month.
So hopefully in my next post I will have some foundation facts about either my essential question and or my foundation!







Places I have went to find some info that I have was on:
Www.kidscrisis.com/abuse.html
I also received some places that help kids like counseling and groups from a family friend so that helped also.

When i first became introduced to organ donation i was a young boy around 9 or 10 years old. It started when my mother had an conversation with her friend. I paid no mind to it, not that i didn't care but because i really didn't know what it exactly meant or the importance It had. Further on, as time passed i remember my freshman year in high school my health teacher elaborated on the term organ donor. I then began to truly realize the importance of being a organ donor.Never the less, I proceeded to get information about the topic. Not only because it is interesting, but that i am a awaiting bone marrow donor for my mother. Although i was a little more informed of the topic i still had some questions.
For instance, I wonder if organ donation is fair? Can doctors be bribed? are they other alternatives to people in need of organs? Also can people that are rich bypass the list with money? Most importantly what do people do that need a organ transplant but can't afford it? As i think of the topic my mind begins to create more questions. I am hoping throughout my research my questions can be answered.

Japhet's Citation Pratice

Hmueli, Sandra. "'Flash mob' craze spreads." CNN 08 08 2003.18 04 2008 .

"Global warming." Wikipedia 17 04 2008 18 04 2008 .

Life Plus The Help Of Video Games

I started the search with one question and from that many more came to mind .The first thing i did was to going to Google.com and searched video games research. I fund that games just don't teach teens but they pick up some habits.The things they pick up are good and bad.Video games there are many types of games there are sports, racing, action, fantasies.These games all teach different things .The research I have done so far has brag up that games help hand eye coordination ,math skulls, problem solving, and strategy .

I have readed many articles by doing my research and all of these articles have the same thing in comin people learned some thing from a video game some were in there life and didn't now that they did.I read in one article that this guy never played football a day in his life. The man learned how to play throw madden games. In anther article this kid had bad grades in math. One day teacher saw him making a program for the computer. Teacher didn't now how the kid could be doing this if was bad at math than the teacher noticed that the kid was have fun making the program.


____________________________________________________________________

Psychologists attack violence in video games." The Buffalo News (Buffalo, NY) (August 18, 2005): A8. New York State Newspapers. Gale. McKinley High School. 22 Apr. 2008
____________________________________________________________________

Talbot, Margaret. "My Son, the Cyborg." The New York Times Magazine (June 15, 2003 p11 col 03 (24 col): 11. New York State Newspapers. Gale. McKinley High School. 22 Apr. 2008
____________________________________________________________________

"Gaming Pros and Cons." The New York Times (June 12, 2003 PG7(L) col 05 (4 col): G7(L). New York State Newspapers. Gale. McKinley High School. 23 Apr. 2008
____________________________________________________________________

"More than 70 percent of Americans playing video games." San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, CA) (April 2, 2008): NA. Custom Newspapers.. Gale. McKinley High School. 24 Apr. 2008
.
____________________________________________________________________

"GLOBAL WARMING." WIKIPEDIA 4/16/08 .

Sandra, Smueli. "Flash mob' craze spreads." 8/08/03 4/16/08 .

Some Examples

The first thing was looked at some songs and some biography's on some singers ,In the song "Black Sabbath" by Black Sabbath the lyrics are this "What is this that stands before me?Figure in black which points at me...Big black shape with eyes of fire
Telling people their desire,Satan's sitting there, he's smiling". This is not saying that they worship the devil, from a documentary that I saw on VH1's "Heavy: The Story Of Metal" It was said that "According to the band, the song was inspired by an experience that Geezer Butler related to Ozzy Osbourne. Geezer painted his apartment matte black and placed several inverted crucifixes on the walls. Then, one day, Ozzy brought round a book about witchcraft, which Geezer became extremely fascinated by. One night, he read the book and fell asleep. He recalls waking up and seeing a black figure and, as he put it, "crapped myself". He then told Ozzy, who wrote the lyrics to what would become Black Sabbath: "What is this that stands before me? Figure in black which points at me".(Ozzy Osbourne,Black Sabbath) So it's not about worshiping the devil, it was about a bad experience.

Some people say that the members of Slayer are devil worshipers. But their lead singer Tom Araya commented on it saying "Yeah,yeah I think that's one of the biggest misconceptions towards the band, but next to that just the fact that we're normal."
Most of the people who sing about the devil have really,really strong catholic (Christian) beliefs. He also showed up on a documentary entitled "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" in which he was asked about his religion, but then he was asked "God Hates Us All, How does it fit in [with religious background]?" In which he replied "God doesn't hate, it's a great [expletive deleted] title"(Araya,wikipedia). So basically what he is saying is not to judge a book by its cover.

With the search I did today, I feel it was a prevalent search. It was easy to find some examples for this topic. You and I now know that many people who make metal music, no matter how "Demonic" sounding could be catholic. Meaning nothing towards saying "we are devil worshipers". But my search has only started. We will see in the coming weeks.



________________________________________________________________________________________
"Black Sabbath (song)." Wikipedia. 17 Apr 2008 .

Metal :A Headbanger's Journey. Various. VH1 Classic, 13 May 2008.

Heavy: The Story Of Metal. Various. VH1 Classic, 13 May 2008.

"Tom Araya." Wikipedia. 18 Apr 2008 .

Citation Thing

Shmueli, Sandra. "'Flash Mob 'Craze Spreads." CNN 08 08 2003 17 04 2008 .


"Global Warming." Wikipedia. 17 Apr 2008 .

Citations

('Flash mob' craze spreads )

Shmueli, Sandra . "'Flash mob' craze spreads." CNN 08 08 2003 15 04 2008 .


("Global warming")

"Global warming." Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 17 04 2008 17 04 2008 .

Why do we lose intrest in school?

My situation is that I have lost all my interest in school, I know that without education your basically nothing in this world and I know the consequences of not having an education, but that is not enough to push me nor give me conference to do my work, I tried different ways of becoming more interested in school but nothing works . I really don't know if is because I am having problem at my home, I just don't have time for school , or maybe I just lazy. But all that I know is that I really need to find out what wrong with me before is to late.

I became interested because this is a situation that many students have but they don't about it, it is also something that I'm going through at this moment, and I think that this research for this activity is really going to help me find an answer not only form e but to other students as well. So I hope I'm able to help anyone that is looking for an answer as well.

Information that I already know about this topic, is that I know that many people are going to through this type of situation but it differs for different people. Like for example when people don't want to get up in the morning because they don't want to come to school, or when people don't want to do there homework, or even school work because is to boring or they just don't have the time. What I want to find out is why do students and even adults fell this way, and how can I help the people that want to find an answer.

before the search!

I have always been interested in the subject child abuse or since as far as I can remember. Child abuse is a big problem in the world whether it is physically or verbal abuse. Expecally being verbally abused almost everyday of my life makes me really think on this subject because I know how it feels. Also the interest in this subject can help me in the next part of my life college, which I will major in like counseling social worker, something to that extent I really want to help kids get away from all the abuse! The thought of a child being abused physically makes me sick. It makes you think that being verbal abuse is nothing. Another influence on this subject was the book ”a child called it” I don’t understand the background thought s of child abuse. Child abuse is so important and it happens everyday all over the world makes it so much more interesting to find out more information
To be honest I don’t really know too much about child abuse, but it happens like everyday to millions of kids. Everybody thinks they know so much about child abuse but do he or she really? Child abuse is a very difficult topic because there are so many different aspects and opinions.

The book a child called it by David Pelzer is what got me really interested in the subject well that and being verbally abused my self. The book was so sad though while I was reading that book u had like had visions on what happened to him. So it got me to think, so many thoughts and questions went through my mind. When I sat there and really thought I came up with my essential question. So the main question I want to focus on answering is how do we help kids build up the courage to come forward on their abuse? Many other questions have to be answered to find the main answer, which is called the foundation questions such as what are the hidden secrets behind child abuse? If there is places that try to help these kids what do they do and where are they? ECT….

I am very excited to find out information on child abuse I will be able to answer questions that I always think about. I want to be able to find out the answers not only peoples options on that subject. This is what I thought before the beginning of my search!

Why Hauntings Interest Me...

I first became interested in ghost hunting a few years ago. The year I become interest in ghost haunting I'm not really sure what year that was. One Sunday afternoon I was watching the Discovery Channel when I started to watch a show called ("The Hunting"). The Hunting is a show on the Discovery Channel that is based on the true stories of people who have experienced ghost haunting in their home or in their jobs or businesses. The very first episode that I watched was about a family who moved to a new city into this big beautiful house the was surprising affordable.

The family had a husband a wife and several children. The two boys bedroom was located in the basement and the parents and the rest of the children's room was up stairs. The mother started to see things like blood on the floors in the kitchen, and other unusual things throughout the house, and her oldest son (oldest child) began to act strange. He wasn't like himself at all it was like he was someone else. The house was haunted, everyone was afraid to go into the basement accept the oldest child. The family soon began to realize that the oldest child was being controlled by an evil spirit. He became more and more unpleasant and more antisocial. The parents were worried and they began to confine in friend of the family who told them that they should get help from a Priest. They began to learn that there was a gateway to hell in their basement and that their son was possessed and began the perpetration for an exorcist to rid the house of any evil spirits. When I first began watching The Haunting it kept my interest because the show is based on true story and it brings the experience to life to maybe make you feel the way the the people who really experienced the haunting it feel.

As a result to my interest I have decided to do my own research. In my research project I want to find out, if the belief in ghost, spirits or haunting ever be proven to exist? And if proven to exist will the hunting's of peoples homes and businesses ever be proven either. What are ghost made of? Are there people who can really talk to ghost or spirit, or are they just doing that to get attention or is it all in their head. Why are some spirits or ghost nice when others are seem to be out to hurt you and scare you off? And I would also like to know if spirits and ghost cant take over you body and if they can then how can they do that.

I my belief I don't really believe in ghost but at the same time I don't disbelieve in ghost either. In my research my goal is to see if I can persuade myself to believe in ghost fully or to not to believe in ghost fully. I also hope to persuade other's like myself.

Satanic Symbolism : Pre Search

I became interested in this topic when I heard on the news that at Columbine High School back in 1999 when the two boys went on a rampage at their school and killed 14 students and 1 teacher, and wounded 24 more and then took their own lives. The news and media all said that " They were influenced by listening to Marylin Manson and that 'Devil music'" or something to that sort. That's when I looked at the music that I listen to and think "How could they get that from a simple song?" I didn't feel that way.

When I first heard about there being demonic (Satanic) symbolism in Heavy metal music, or in any other type of metal music I thought "This is preposterous, there isn't any of that in metal music." In metal music yeah, they talk about the devil and incorporate the devil into many of their actions and songs, but that doesn't mean a thing. Well that's just my opinion.

There are many metal bands that do this. These bands are Black Sabbath, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth, and Rob Zombie but there is more. Now if you want to take the lyrics in a different manner that's all you. If you want to say that Iron Maiden's "Number Of The Beast" is all about worshiping the devil, it isn't. But as I said before it's all in the eye of the beholder. Just like in Metallica's "Creeping Death" the one verse is "Die By My Hand, I Creep Across The Land, Killing Firstborn Man". There not saying go kill. It's from the story in the bible, it's the "Tenth Plague". But thats all I can say for right now.

Video Games + Learning Pre search

I became interested in the subject why my mother always told me that's games never teach anything the real world would.I have learned many things from playing video games.Some of the games I've learned from are Socom for PS2 ,Need For Speed Most Wanted for PS2, Command & Conquer General 1,2,3 for PC . I always tell my mother that games help me learn some of the stuff I my not learn in the real world .

I now that video games can teach. I have learned that from playing Socom to analyze what i read because if i don't I'll be lost in the mission , to think quick in combat . Command & Conquer helps you plan and strategize.

My opinion

The Client by John Grisham Pg.312-385


I cant really find anything bad about the character Mark Sway. I like many things about him. I enjoy reading this book, and feel that If I could ever be a character in a mysterious book then I would like to have some characteristics like Mark. I also feel that I can compare to mark because of his attitude. I am very over protective when it comes to family, and some friends. I believe that many of his issues in his life happen to people all over the world in some way. I also believe that the way he handles his issues are far way than I would. I mean come on, If i had problems with the mafia I wouldn't go running to a lawyer or to the authorities. In fact the would be the last thing Id do. I would go get a couple of my buddies and fight violence with violence ( hey I guess that I'm just an typical Puerto Rican lol just kidding). If i could ask the character Mark sway 1 question, I think i would ask him " where does he gets his patients from?" The reason Id ask him this Is because its very interesting that a person with not that good of an childhood, or family can have the ability to think as well as he does. Once I found out that he had issues with the mafia I thought he would go "west side story" and retaliate against him. What would you do If you had problems with the mafia? How would you handle It?

Kit Missing People

Down A Dark Hall
Duncan, Lois
Pg. 40 - 58


Kit has been at the school for over a week.She has meet new kids at the school which are Natalie, Lydna, Sandy, and Professor Farley, Jules Duret. Natalie and Sandy are her new frenids. She likes Jules alot but his mother runs the school. Kit has these dreams that people would get after whiching a very scary movie. She told her frenids but she keeps geting them and plus they feel real in the dream.In the drak she feels a presence but no one is there.

what due the dreams mean. what about the presence in the drak and is any budy there!!!!!

They Meet The Sister!!!!!!!

I Know What You Did Last Summer, Louis Duncan
Pgs.95-106

When they meet David Greggs sister, the aythor really goes into the setting. Louis Duncan gets you to visualize what the house looks like "It's an ordinary enough house, and the front yard had a bedraggled, uncared for look." She also mentions the stubble of the grass was not a summer green. Saying the door was half open, and that they saw a green chair with doilies on the arm rests. First of all, how modern can a house look if they have a green chair, it's an ugly color.

But Ray notices how the house trim has been painted from top to bottom. And he couldn't figure out how it could have gotten done. I mean come on Megan is short, as Louis mentions. Julie comes in and says "Maybe it was a neighbor" and Ray really isn't buying that comment. He is adamant about the father being the one sending the message. There is no way that she could have possibly done it. Unless her father wasn't with her mother, and he wants revenge on his only sons death.

Now really could it have possibly have been the father, or is the sister just playing dumb? What do you think?

Things get very Interesting.

The Client by John Grisham Pg. 200-312

The book continues its extraordinary suspense. OK, now the book is pretty much finished explaining marks characteristics. But now the thriller part of the book comes into play. one day Mark and his younger brother Ricky, stumbled upon a boy named Jerome Clifford. He was a heavy set man, But wanted to commit suicide due to a secret that he knew. Jerome revealed the dangerous secret to Mark which made him a dangerous target to the mafia. Once people found out that Mark new the secret everyone wanted a piece of him. So all mark did was the only thing he could of done and that was to get a lawyer. The story intensifies with the connection mark has with the lawyer. The lawyer was a sweet women by the name of Reggie Love. mark began to not only revale his issues that he had with the mafia, but also his emotions and daily activities which bothered him. This connection Mark had with Reggie became very deep and serious. Mark began to care about Reggie as if a mother he never had. Marks issues became both of there issues later down the road. My question to my fellow students is..What would you have done if you had problems with the mafia due to a secret?

finally we find out what happened! P.50

We finnally find out what happened after all this time, when a friend gets not a note stating i know what you did las summer but this time it was more, it was a clipping from the paper stating what happened! Barry wanted to tell and turn him self in but julie didt waqnt him to take all the blame thy were all in the car.
Barry had dinner with his parents and they were talkking about what he wanted to do for the summer. When his mom asked if he wante to take a rive to see his aunt he didt know what to say as he was scared i think as someone knew his secret.
So here is wqhere it will be interesting what do you think will be next? Its not a joke anymore or is it? were there any wittnesses?

Flashback!!!!

I Know What You Did Last Summer, Louis Duncan
Pgs. 42-53

Ray got an envolope in the mail. He opens it and there was a clipping of the article. He read it and he flashed back to when he was younger. But then he went back to the night when the event happened.

There were many things that led up to that event. One, Barry and all of them were drunk and high
at the time of the accident. Not to mention that Barry was driving a smidge too fast. But it wasn't entirely their fault, they couldn't see the kid. It was dark and he had no reflecters to alert people that he was coming on his bike. Ray and Barry didn't want to go to jail. They went and called for an ambulance. But then they said SCREW IT and just left.

Was it right to just leave the kid to die or should they have said they saw it happened? Think about it, no one would know, unless there was other witnesses.

Kids At New Schools

Down A Dark Hall
By. Duncan,Lois
Pg.12-40


Kit is at a new school without anybody she hows . The teachers are kind of weird to her and the way they act is new. The rooms there are very strange because they as if they were made for royalty . Kit is there with out her best friend they both toke the test but Kit was the who get in but Tracy is much smarter then her . Kit thinks that the school is hiding more then she knows.

Kit knows there is some thing evil at the school because in some places she gets a strange feeling . Blackwood is runned by Madame Duret which a weird old lady who is scary to the other students.

How wood u feel one of your prants find someone new and leaves u at a new school for a while?

It All Begins

IKnow What You Did Last Summer, Louis Duncan
Pgs. 10-22

Julie, Helen And Barry all get together to talk about the letter. There was one person missing from that night which was Ray, he moved away. Barry tried to help ease their minds saying, "maybe it's a crazy kid just playing a little trick on you." Julie realized her name isn't in the phonebook. Helen says maybe it's a guy trying to get your attention because he has a crush on you at school. You know it's possible. But the odd thing was when Barry was going back to the frat house, a car was following him. But it passed as he stopped, it passed. Coincidence???

Now wouldn't you be scarred when someone is following you from a party after talking about this very subject???

Down A DarkHall

By Duncan , Lois
Pg.0-12

So far the book is kind of slow . I mean the book is just takeing alot of time to get interstimg.So far the book starts off with Kit and her mother and step father driveing her to a school. Kit trys every thing to get out of going.They drive for ever to the school and on yhe way Kit telling u her life and how mother has givin up alot for her and that should go on her honeymoon.

The Story Is Plling Me In

Post Title: The Story Is Pulling Me In
Title, Author: The Pact, By Jennifer Sturmaan
Pages Read: 213-219


As I read this novel more and more I feel the story pulling me in. The pages in this book keep turnoing as I continue to read because I can't put this book down. I have a strong erge to know what going to happen next. Who the murder, is it Emma, or is it Peter, and why did they do it. Everyone thinks it was Emma because she was the last one seen with him. But Nobody wants to believe that Emma can commit such a crime, Emma is a loving caring perso she could never do anything like that. Plus with everything going on, ther will be no wedding first of all, second of all Emma's parents are separtated, and thrid Emma's mother is going crazy. What are the going to do to find out who the murder and convince the police that Emma is innocent.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (Impression)

My first impression of the book was that maybe it might be a little bit boring. Ok this girl is excited that she got a acceptence letter, whip di do. She is upset that she doesent want to leave her mother. But then it got interesting, she got a letter and on it, real large it said "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER". Thats when i thought this book might actually be intriguing.

I mean a girl with a whole lotta pep chaning her thoughts just because of a little note. Who knows, maybe its one of her friends playing with her. But her friends knew nothing about it though. Her friends thought she was crazy, untill she showed them. Their lives were never the same after that, it seems.

I was wrong (p.33)

Well as you know julie the main character recived a note stating "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER", when she went to he friends the wierdest thing happened julie friend reciev the same note. As they all thought aabout what could be going on they were thinking about what they did( which i sill hvae no clue) ray poped ino here mind as he came into town. so julie had decided to go pay him a vist to see what was going on. while i was reading all i keep thinking in my mind was to stop talking about all these dumb things get to the point talk about hat had happened whatever that may be or is he the one playing the game!
In the story when she asked it was ackward he way the author has it wriiten. Julie studie his face and got nothing. the way he got concerened i dont think it was him!But who could it be?
So i m back to square one with having nothing just knowing something happened which evreyone knows that.In this book when you hink that you have someting or a clue you learn that you dont. Whats next?

Characteristics

The Client by John Grisham
Pg. 127-200

Further more, ...The book continues it's astonishing surprises. The character Mark Sway (who didn't care about anything but his family) is the type of person who instead of letting obstacles hold him back, but over come them. I like this character because he is very strong, I think it is very interesting how a character can have such an fear full heart. Some reasons why I feel this way is because when I was reading a part of my book it discusses how the character Mark use to get pushed around alot during his childhood but still held his grounds. Mark is a good kid, and is a character with many interesting characteristics. To think that such a boy that is warm hearted and protecting when it came to his family, but serious and dominating when it came to the streets. Some other interesting facts about the teenage boy is that he got into some issues due to a kid named Jerome Clifford. The issues caused Mark to get an lawyer. Once Mark started discussing his problems to his female lawyer named Reggie Love he began to build a connection with this women. From reading this it seems that Mark had allot of emotions gathered up inside of him that he really never got out. As i read this book I am discovering more about Marks personal characteristics and it never gets boring. I like how Im learning something new everyday about him.
Do you feel as If Mark Sway has had an rough child hood so far?

Tragic Changes A Person title:A stranger is watching by Mary Higgins Clark(pg50)

Throughout the story the character changes.His name is Neil and at a very young age as he is he had to face a tragic when his mother got murdered.Imagen even seeing it with your own eyes and from being so scared he wasn't even able to move,having nightmares every night of how your mom was murdered. I don't think any kid or even anyone else for that matter should have to go through it because from that they will never be the same again.Just like Niel ever since that horrible night He wasn't the kid that He use to be.He hasn't been happy anymore.always thinking the worst.Like just because his dad has a girlfriend he thinks he is going to marry her and leave him.So what do you think should the kid have to do to help him with something like this ,or do you think that is something that He is never going to get over?

A stranger is watching by Mary Higgins clark(pg26)

My impression of the book so far is that its preaty good . In it everyone has its opinons and peoples different opinons might mean life or death . Steve views his sitauation different then Sheran.He has a reason to do so thought because his wife was murderd.If that was your case wouldnt you want the person that killed your wife or someone you loved to get death penalty,because i sure would off.He believes that a person that takes somones life away desurves the SAME IN RETURN..Sharon in the other hand things they should go to jail.I think that Sharon also has a point because i think thats how they will learn that what they did was wrong and pay for their cousatuances by being in jail their whole life.
This book also has suspence in it which i think it makes it really good.Steve and Sharen been going out for 6 months. What i wander is if it's going to last.The reason i think this is because both of them has stong views about what should happen if a person comits a crime. This is a main reason tht i think is going to make their relationships weak..

crazy summer and crazy teens what kind of trouble did they get into?

Well im in the middle of the third chapter now this book is kind of taking me forever! i mean its not that it is so boring i wn to go to sleep its just ok just read it it alright.
As i talked aboout in my first post the main character julie got a letter stating "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER" which scared her. she had went to a firends house to tell her and all her friends she hung out with all summer were there while she was there her friend got the same letter. They talked about like hints toward what they did last summer and how no one knew. A friend was in town they thought he was playing games with them but they thought oh he would never do that!
i got a little confused because when they talked about "what happened last summer" they didt even tell enough to give me one slight of clue what they all did? so what did they actually do last summer?

What would I ask Rachel?

Post Title: What would I ask Rachel?
Title, Author: The Pact, By Jennifer Sturmaan
Pages: 100-105

I would want to ask Rachel how can she stay in a house with a murder. Although I understand that she wasn't allowed to leave town she should of been allowed to stay in a hotel for the rest of the weekend.I wouldn't be able to continue to stay in a house with a murder. But Rachel not only stay, but she also wants to be apart of the investigation teem putting her own life in danger trying to find out who the murder was. Being attacked and almost drowning should of been more than enough to tell her to get out, and out now.

I Know What You Did Last Summer By: Louis Duncan

I Know What You Did Last Summer, by Louis Duncan

This book is interesting, I wouldn't say that it is a nail bitter but it kind of is. There is a mystery of why Julie wants to move away from her mother. But there is other parts to the story that is mysterious. Things like: who wrote the letter, could it be one of her friends, does someone really know what she did last summer?

Julie seems to be an easily scared person, she seems to be jumpy alot. But there is something to be sad about. Her father died, she is the only one with her mother, and she is keeping her mother from being a full time home economics teacher. And now to be getting threatening letters in the mail, I would be scared too.

Now tell me, if there was a crazy maniac coming after you thinking you killed him, wouldn't you be petrified too?

The Client by John Grisham
Pgs.1-127

The book is very interesting. I was a little intimidated at first due to the amount of pages,but as the libarian said "Once you get into the book you'll fly right through it". My first impresions on the book so fas are great. The book immedently grasped my attention due to the character's attitude. The young boy named "Mark Sway" is an young boy with many burdens on his hands. His life so far isnt the ordanary "childhood" you expect a kid his age should have.He smokes, and uses foul language alot. He had an abusive father that didnt care, and a mother that was never home, so you cant blame him for not having a good rolemodle. All mark looks forward too is taking care of his mother and little brother Ricky.I feel that i can relate in some was to his attitude of the so called street life. He reminds of a kid that lived a cupple houses away. The most thing that attracts me to this book is that although he has many flaws, he still takes the iniative to take care of what little family he has.

Lois Duncan, i know what you did last summer

As you can see i am reading a book by lois duncan i know what you did last summer. To be honest i dont really read mysterys,I dont think there all that interesting but since my group picked it im stuck with it! When i started to read the book I was like this book is going to take me forever which it probally will.
The reason i took this book was because i have never seen the movie and evreyone tells me that it is a good movie and since I had to read a mystery i mine as well read the book of a movie i wanted to see. Well i started to read the book i got to the end of first chapter it was pretty good, this girl recieved a acepentece letter from a college but the next day she recieved a envolope the shape of a invition when she opened it she didt except it to say what it did she was scared. The note said in big letters I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER!
So far the little bit that i have read is have way decent. I like the characters in this book, they keep you juust waiting to know what happened and what is going to happen. so i have to wait till i read more to find out actually what that note was about!

So far what I think.......

Title: The Pact
Author: Jennifer Sturman

I have read and finished this novel called The Pact by Jennifer Sturman. The Pact falls into the mystery genre. So far my impression of this book is even the least likely person can be guilty.
For example throughout the novel I found that everyone had a possible motive to Richard. Richard was Emma's soon to be husband who no one liked. He wasn't a very nice person plus he didn't treat Emma very nice either. For the most part everyone had a good reason to get rid of him.
Matthew who is Emma's best friend and her mothers godson is a nice young man and is very much like the brother to Emma and all her friends, Matthew is also in love with Emma and he doesn't want him to marry Richard because he believed that Emma deserved someone better. Rachel who is also Emma's best friends one of the only female, investment banker in her company. When it comes to business Rachel doesn't like Richard because he stiffed her in a deal, but in the personal term Rachel doesn't like him because his disrespect toward her friend. When it comes to Emma's other friends Hilary and Luisa they have much more deeper reasons than others. Hilary dated Richard shortly after college and he dumped her which didn't sit in well with her. Luisa met Richard in college and he was really into her just as a lot of other guys were but, Richard put her in a different situation when he got her drunk one night and slipped something into her drink and raped her. Jane Emma other friend just don't like him because of the mistreatment of her friend. Lily Emma's mother seems to like him or does she really. Jacob Emma father really doesn't like Richard because he's just not enough for his only daughter and child. Peter, Richards only friend is just surprised that Richard even asked him to be his best man in the first place, because they haven't talked to each other in years. Plus Peter and Rachel seem to be attracted to each other.
Although Richard was found floating in the pool police believe that he may not have drown but my have been drugged by someone in the house. It's hard to solve this case because everyone has a reason to want him to be gone, not including Peter. Based on what you have read do you think that you would want him gone also?

Mystery

The Raven in our Ravens Nest represents the Raven of Edgar Allen Poe who was famous for his horror and Mystery story. Because of his famous mystery we choose mystery as our group genre. I think that many people who read mystery and worship it will agree that in mystery you'll never know what will happen next and this adds to the excitement that keeps mystery fans read and screaming for more. When your a mystery read you can find out if your a good detective or should you just stick to reading the page turning genre

Assessment - Indy Reading Project - December

Mike D. - 5/5 Responses

Mike, the last two responses kind of just summed up what you read.  I know you have to take a different approach, because it's a humorous book, but I need you to go deeper.  Any Seinfeldesque observations of your own?

Shantel - 5/5 Responses

Good responses Shantel.  Your last one gives good insight into that character's pattern of behavior.  Just make sure to proofread.  Capitalization and punctuation would be a good place to start.

Ayanna - 5/5 Responses

Great job Ayanna.  You've got a good handle on the theme, and the combination of your responses really shed insight into Annette's character and to your needs as a reader.  Great job.  Keep up the good work.  Cut out the sunflower seeds...lol.

Albona - 4/5 Responses

I like that last response (although, again...Nicholas Sparks?  How chicky can a writer get?)  Good look into theme. 

Mike M - 4/5 Responses

Mike, the last two responses are pretty dry and plot driven.  I need you to relate them to something or explore their significance.  Or use a response question.

Luis - 3/5 Responses

Luis, I read the drafts of your responses and I must tell you that I am very impressed.  I like the voice and I like the development and I like your confidence in your own opinions.  Nice job.  

How does the story The Da Vinci Code relate to my life.

To tell you the truth this story really d' relate to my life. My life has nothing to do with riddle, secrets, powerful organizations, etc... But maybe something about this book does relate to my life, probably is that every time the characters in this book, solve a problem or challenges, there's always another pops out of nowhere and stands in there way. That's how my life is , there always something that going on with me and when I think that I might have a break for once, I have it T' as hart for the next few mouths, but like the characters in the book I keep pushing on and trait to find new ways to solve my problem and challenges that I come upon in this crazy life of main. So what I have to tell to anyone that's reading this is to never give up, there's always I solution trust me, all you have to have is patience

The Plot in the story The Da Vinci Code

The plot in this story did really pull in, what I mean by that is that from the beginning of the story I always was interesting on what was going on in the story and I always wanted to know what was going on and what was going to happen next in the story. No wonder is one of the best selling books of last year. I also like that many things in this book have some truth to them. The book also teaches you to see things in a different perspectives. I like how that the book mikes you give the expression "I would off never thought about that" because of the way that they figure out the riddles. I learn a lot from this book, for example I learn that things are not always what they look like, or how one riddles can have so many different meanings or how can one symbols can have so many different definition or meanings to it. Sometimes I like to play main games with my self and tried to figure out the riddles or symbols that the main characters i in this story come upon in, for know I been pretty good at it and been able to solve most of them, but sometime there so complicated that I have no idea of how they did it. But all I have to say is that this book is rely going to leave you wanting more, and I strongly recommended.

Through with Seinlanguage

It was a good book, he made so many good/excellent points. Many people don't think that he is funny, they call him a Jew (even though he is), but all in all it was a good book. There was no main character, its all about his life and career.

There were points about relationships. Those were funny, when he mentioned Chuck Woolery and the dating game. and he said that after the first date, if you want to be thrown into another volcano its on us. That was good. There were things about hygiene where woman are all about having no hair. Women will rip hot wax off there body but are still afraid of spiders and bugs.

He also mentions jobs and job security. He never had a real job so he didn't have to worry about that. Jobs are hard to come by these days (no really these days). His jokes are a bit outdated but who cares. Many people wont like this book because they have no sense of humor. But that's all right. It doesn't really matter what anybody else thinks of the book. Because really the book is about his show (as i said in the first post). Its been 14 years since this book was written, and still he is making movies and appearances in shows. Thats all, thank you good bye.

A Third Post!! Seinlanguage

He ends up talking about job security, and other things. But he lets you know about the way that people try hard at keep there jobs and then there are people who dont try to keep them. people who want their jobs are all chipper and "merry". And people who don't really care are like "screw it". He says he never really had a real job. I can relate. The jobs that I have had, well, I got help getting them. But he never really had a job.Its not his fault that he never had a job.

He goes on to tell how he lives alone, he compares it to the criminal life. Anyway you look at it, you're still in solitary. How could you not think about jail he says. The fact that they show someone going to jail every night on the news, doesn't help. He has a point there. If they are showing people going to jail, you would just wonder,"what's jail like, what would you have to do to get sent there". All legitimate questions. If you don't know what you could do, you might never know you did?????

What's up with the "to be continued..." after shows. It's like you watch shows to see the end of it, to find out what happens. You don't want to have to wait until next week to see the conclusion. Because then you get there and you ask yourself,"What happened last week that there showing it again." A lot of people hate that. As Do I!!!

my last blog about the book

Do the charaters experiences cause them to grow? if so how?


i thimk the experiences angel went through had her grow into a young women but more like a mom. She did evreything for her brother bernie, expecially after there mom left them with there great grandma angel had to fulfill the role of the mom she was the only person he really knew she would make sure he ate got cleaned up ect.... i think when she grows her life when she gets married and has kids it will be different because she had too deal with growing up with no dad because he was in jail and a mother who took them away from a home that they knew to their grandmas nasty trailer where the mother abanded them, where as i was saying instead of having a childhood of being a child she had to take care of her brother.

Once I Was Done

I enjoyed the book. Althougth the main character life was sad I enjoyed her story of her jorney to find happiness in her life. The book was a page turner I found myself excited to find outwhat would happen next and how would she handle the program. After reading this book I realize that it is posiable to enjoy or find a book interesting without really liking the story. I didn't like the fact that the novel entire story was a depressing one including the fact that all the character were at one point in their life depressed. I really don't think that any kind of person would like a sad story. But I guess that's just me people like it when the character is down but they also like to see the character bring themself up. I think that I would of likedthis novel better if I woulf of waited and read it when I was older and more mature.

The Notebook

THEME
I believe that the author is trying to give a good lesson to the readers.The lesson that is said from the story is that when two people are in love like Allie and Noah no matter what life brings at them they will always find their way to each other ,and that miracles could happen,as long as you have faith.

Noah and Allie had a happy life .They always loved each other.In the story they had hard obstacles that they had to overcome.Later on in life Allie was diagnosed with a disease .It was a horrible disease because Allie couldn't remember anything.The doctor told Noah that she never going to remember .Noah never lost hope that she will remember him and the life they shared together.So Noah would read a book everyday to her about their life they shared.Miracles happened She remember not all the time but once in a while.which showed how much they loved each other.thats how they basically died with memories of their love life.

The Notebook

How do the characters change or evolve throughout the course of the story?
Allie throughout the story she does things that her family would approve,even thought that is not what she wants.She wasn't able to be with the men she loves because her family didn't approve of him.Later on She finds a guy that fer family approves of and is engaged to him.The thing is that even thought she engaged to him she still remember her past lover that she met on her summer brake.she decides to visit him even thought she is engaged to another men.when she seas her past lover that she has not seen in 14 years her feeling toward him come back.they both still in love with each .They share special moments with each other.shes stuck doesn't know what to do.she loves the guy shes engaged but doesn't feel open with him like she does with the guy she is engaged to.In the end she follows her heart and comes back to Noah ,the men she never stopped loving..

Silas

Today when I was reading he book in class, I came upon a new very interesting character that seen to be a very important in this story, his name is Silas, is a very tall man with great strength, red eyes, really pail and believes on self inflicting pain, he always wore an old fashion rob and he believes that by self inflicting pain, he was cleansing him self in the name of God, that's how he believe that was the only way to prove to God he was on his side he also did it to prevent temptation of any kine, like for example any sexual contact or thought was unnoticeable, and to keep him in line he did it by doing so, to prevent future temptation from happening. To me reading about this character was rather disturbing to me I can not imagine to have to heart my self to prove that I'm loyal to God. But with out this character this novel would not be as interesting as it is with him.In the story he has some type of mission to find something that is call the Key Stone, I believe is an old fashion tablet, that is of great importance to the person that commanded him to find it. In conclusion he is one weir guy.

Understanding the Theme

To me this novel has more than one them or meaning of the story. Theme is to love yourself and that family is the most important thing you can have in life. Throughout the novel Annette the main character has low self-esteem. Annette is a large women and because of this she finds herself unattractive to men. But toward the end of the novel she realizes that men do find her beautiful. Also throughout the novel Annette feels this emptiness because she grew up without her real father because he left Annette and her mother when Annette was only just three years old. Annette wants to reconnect with her father but is afraid to because her mother is still angry with him because of what he did to them.
Although Annette's mother doesn't agree with her going to visit and reconnect with her father Annette goes anyways. Annette realizes that if she doesn't reconnect with her father she will forever feel empty and because her father is so old and sickly she only has a limited time. When Annette finally visits her father she learns that she is not the only child but she has two sisters and one brother. Her oldest sister has two sons and a husband witch she has been separated from and her other bother and sisters are int he Military. Annette finally feels complete

Point Of View

Although I do understand that Annette is the narrator, I feel like there should be other people's point of view available in the story. Like everybody else her point's of view in life are affected by what she has gone through in life. But because she was raped as a child she is always sad and depressed and her points of view is affected by that. Everything in her life, she looks at the bad side of things. There isn't just the bad things in life.
For example Annette is a big woman, and she always have been even as a child. Annette thinks of herself as ugly and unattractive to men, but to me the way she is described in the novel she dresses well for her size and she has a pretty face and she a nice person. As long as you dress appropriate for your size there is nothing wrong with your weight. Also if your a nice person people will like you. You can be one of the most beautiful people in the world but if you have a bad attitude people won't want to be around you.
But all the character in this novel have had bad experiences in there life so no one in the novel well really have a good point of view. Annette has low self-esteem and she deperessted. Pee Wee is in love with Annette. Everyone in this novel has problems.

The Death And Life Of Superman

Superman has shown up for a live interview at a high school.As the interview ended superman hared news of the Justice League members fighting doomsday.Doomsday is very strong and perstnes. Superman throws every thing at him and he keeps comeing. The Justice League & Superman all throw one attack at Doomsday all at once , it was like a bug bit to him. This is the last person Superman will ever fight becauses Doomsday is the one who kills Superman.

The Allure of the West

<i>Into the Wild</i>, Jon Krakauer, pgs 144-207 (end)

<i>Death of a Salesman</i>, Arthur Miller, pgs 1-97

So, I finished <i>Into the Wild</i> and started rereading a book that I'm studying with my AP Literature class.  As I read the first act of the play I was struck by the similarity between Chris McCandless and many of the characters from <i>Death of a Salesman</i>.  The main character of this story, Willy Loman frets over a missed opportunity to accompany his older brother to Alaska to make money. Instead he is 60 and stuck in a dead end sales job.  Interestingly enough, Willy's father abandoned <i>him</i> as a child to also seek fortune in Alaska.  In a weird twist, Willy is disappointed in his son Biff because he is constantly seeking work outside of the norm of the day.  He's worked on cattle farms and other jobs that Willy does not respect.  Biff explains that he likes these jobs because he's not stuck inside at a desk and can be out in the open air.

In American culture the west has always been symbolic of the open frontier, a vast unexplored wilderness where a man could make his living outside of the realm of laws and societal constraints.  It's interesting that these two books, written 50 years apart, have such similar themes.

Does anyone else know of any characters who seek a life outside of society?  Anyone have a friend or family member who constantly wants to go out on the open road?  What do you think drives a person to feel like this?

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<b>Dear Blogger:</b>  This is not a spam post.  I am mailing to publish this on all of my student's blogs in order to provide a sample and to engage in discussions.  Please call off the spambots.

my next post

is it written in the first person, third person, or perhaps thew second person, or perhaps a combination? Is the story told by one point of view or many?


This is where it kinda gets confusing because it starts off being told by the main character angel in her point of view but then like in the middle of the first chapter it is more like the authors point of view or her telling the story of angels life(the main character) i dont really like that because it makes it a little bit more confusing. They go back and forth it seems on who is telling the story i think it would be easier if the book was like her telling who is writting the book since it is like her life story in the first place.

blog response

Think about the main character. what seems to be his or her motivation?

The main character name is angel the book is about her life! I think her main motivation is taking care of her brother she is always making sure she eats right and he brushes his teeth ect.. In the book she seems to be more like his mother than his sister even before his mother left well i should say abanded him with their great grandma that cant really do anything. so even know that she is with the grandma she is more like the mother figure. so the motivation of this charater is to basically make sure her brother is healthy and get what he wants and or needs. she is a very intereresting charter to read about. In some points I think what won't she do for her brother or any one for that matter because in the begaining she was so concerned about her family!

About His Jokes

His jokes could be kind of corny, but what do you expect, it is the 90's. He joked on Chuck Wollery and The Love Connection where a tribal girl goes on a date and gets thrown into a volcano and after the date Chuck goes how was the date, and then he proceeds to say " if you ever want to get thrown into another volcano, we''ll pay for it." In my opinion that is a corny joke, I mean come on , who really watches The Love Connection anymore.

Another joke that he uses, which you can say he used in his show is "The handicap parking spot is the mirage of the parking desert. you know the feeling. You see it in the distance, there it is . You can't believe your eyes,'It's to good to be true. A big wide spot,and it's right by the entrance. Somehow everybody missed it.' And when you pull up, wait-it wasn't even there." He then proceeds to say something along the lines of what do they do at the special Olympics, they must just stack like a hundred cars in to two spots. Honestly, it makes no sense to me. But what are you gonna do, when he told these jokes he probably get a good couple laughs out of them.

He's a funny guy, it's just that his jokes can be and or seem outdated to us younger people. But don't forget that these jokes may have been outdated when he was telling them. you really have to have a good sense of humor. Well if you even have one at all, no offense. Now i don't know if you know this, but his show Seinfeld, is based off this book. And the show is about nothing, much like this book. So if your into nothingness, watch his show, read his book.

The Death And Life Of Superman

Reading some more pages I learned that superman powers are limited.If superman ever uses his powers more than his body will allow he is powerless and he can be killed at that time.
I also learn that the red sun aka are sun gives him power and heals fast.superman is the last one of his Kryptonian race.But Clark leans that some made there way to earth to kill him but not all Kryptonians were evil.Super girl is a Kryptonian and she is family of Clark's she has all the powers of superman but they are not as strong.The creature is that is underground has found his way to the surface.


Characters

• Superman (aka Clark Kent)
• Lex Luther
• Lex Luther Jr
• Super girl
• Guardian (aka Officer Jim Harper)
  
• General Zod
• Green Lantern
• Flash
• Aqua man
• Xotar
• J'Onn J'Onzz
• Batman
• Lois
• Martha & Jonathan Kent
  

my 2nd post

Are you puzzled or confused about anything in the story? What is it that confuses you or you find confusing?



Actually i am cunfused because in the begaining of this book " the same stuff as stars" by Katherine Paterson is that first of all her dad is in jail and it says in the begaining that she and her brother are staying or i should say living with her grandma but in like chapter two it states she is moving! Her mom says after a vist to see the dad that she is ready to move on with her life and is not gonna wait for him. so she tells the kids to pack that they are going are moving. so are they with the grandma or the mom i dont know yet! so its a little confusing to see what she means but hopfully when i get farther a long i will understand it more!

my 1st post

the book im reading is "the same stuff as star" by katherine paterson.The book is about a girl thatS father is in jail and her mom deci9des after a vist with the father that she needs to move on and so they each get one suit case and they get on the road to move.

The Da Vinci Code

The title of the bock I'm reading is The Da Vinci Code, By Dan Brown the author of Angels & Demons.

The basic story of this bock by now, is mostly about a man name Robert Langdon that is train to solve the mystery of the death of Jacques Sauniere that was assassin i Louvre Museum, Paris by the time of 10:46 P.M.

you One thing that I rely like about this book is how they builds up the mystery, and how it keeps you wondering about what is going to happened next in the story. And that is only one of the reason why I like this book sow much, there so many interesting things about it, That is why recommended so strongly.

Asking a Question

If I would to meet the main character/narrator (Annette) of God Still Dont Like Ugly by Mary Monroe, I ask her a few questions. How can you continue to allow Mr. Boatwright to sexual abuse you for ten years starting when you were only seven years old. I would also ask her why wouldn't you tell your mother or any other aduld that can help you. Why would you allow him to control your body and how you though of yourself far after he's gone.
Although I have never experance being sexualy abused myself when I was younger my mother would make me watch movie's about women who were raped or molested. After the movie she would always tell me. " If anything ever happens to you don't be afraid to tell me because I will always protect you." That's how I was raised that, if I ever had a problem I can go to my mother and she would protect me.
Even though my mother never suspecting anyone in my family of being a child melester she would never let none of my sisters or I to spend to much time with men because she never wanted anyone have a chance to have their way with any of us. My mother kepted her word she protected us.

The Notebook(

The conflict is Allie because she needed to face herself ,she needed to make up her mind about who she wants :Noah or Con.Also she needed to make up her own decisions and not let everyone else do it for her,especially when it comes up to who she is going to spend the rest of her life with.Don't care about others feeling even if its your Mom or your friends they shouldn't make your decisions for you.Throughout the story her mom always tries to get in her business about who she should spend her life with and she always had a problem with Allie being with Noah because she was high class and he was low class. ..Allie been in love with Noah but she is also engaged with con,so she started caring about him too.. but still doesn't love him in the same way as she loves Noah.If she chooses Noah that means breaking every ones heart.(pg41)


what i think is going to happen next is that she going to follow her own heart and choose Noah.i believe this because she going to get tired of everyone making her decisions at some point and realize that this is her life and if they truly care about her they will except it.

The Death And Life Of Superman!

In this book there are to people that has alot of history in story Lex Luther, and superman.Lex is always trying to find away to bring people down.He is very powerful he is rich. Lex is the evil person in the story.He does different experiments to send superman somebody to fight. Superman always wins this just makes Lex more made and driven to stop the man of steel.

The man of steel is the hero of the story.He has to face all the worlds problems when he does not save someone he goes into this little world in his mind or he goes and talks to his parents. They always tell him even with your powers you cant do everything and he has to take that in. Superman has two weakness cratanight, and humanity. These is what helps brags him down is his love for mankind.Lex and superman were Friends until Lex wanted Clark's past and the biggest thing of all what does clark has to hide!

SeinLanguage By Jerry Seinfeld Pgs 1-80

So far in this book you basically get told of his on goings in his personal life. How he goes on trips ( planes, cars, and subways). He tells you about the weirdest things. What he tells you is not really that relevant. The fact that this is an autobiography makes it hard to relate to the character, setting and/or conflict. There really isn't a setting, there's no plot, and no conflict. You could say it might be a dull book, but really it's not.

Jerry Seinfeld is a somewhat middle aged man (well at least when this book came out), he has life experience. It seems like he takes everything that he goes through and puts it in to his comedy act. Understandable, due to the fact that that is where most comedians get their material from, life experiences. He has story's of what happens when he gets into a relationship, well at least how bad relationships end. He flips it and puts his own perspective on it. He says its like having a car, you need a owners manual. And "the directions of operation in a relationship are detailed and specific nonetheless. So when you start out with someone, you're essentially driving a strange car for the first time and the directions aren't labeled for you "(pg 20). He likes to add that kind of things into his comedy.

How can you really relate to a real person, we're our own unlike people. That's a good question, can we? But that's not really here nor there. He has many complaints about things such as hygienic keep up. "Women can put hot wax on there legs and pull their hair off, but they are afraid of little bugs". He is complaining about that because its true. women go through all this stuff to look good, and guys don't. They might go for a hair transplant but they really aren't fond of it.

There are a few outdated jokes in this book. But if you have the "Game Show Network" then you might get one of them. "You know that in ancient tribal cultures, they would sacrifice a virgin....they would find some girl who has never been out with somebody and they would throw her into a volcano. Now there is a first date she'll never forget. She winds up in heaven talking to Chuck Wollery. 'So, tell me, Lisa, how did the date end?' 'Not well Chuck, Not well.' 'Well if you would like to be thrown into a volcano again, we'll pay for it...' Now come on how eighties is that to talk about Love Connection.

Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer Pages: 1-144

So, the book I'm reading is about this early twenty something kid who
is pretty alienated. It's a nonfiction book, and since I haven't
summed it up yet in a previous response, it's about a kid who is
searching for meaning in life and seeks this meaning by exploring.
At the beginning of the book we find out that he ends up dying in the
middle of Alaska to exposure.

Even though I think I'm supposed to, I'm having a really hard time
identifying with the main character, Chris McCandless. I look at
the cover and there's this picture of Emile Hirsch portraying
McCandless. He's a good looking kid, and he's kind of sitting in this
"top of the world" type dominant pose. The author seems to really
identify with the character, and spends a couple of chapters relating
his own similar experiences. And McCandless is seemingly the rugged,
individualistic antihero that Americans celebrate.

But, I can't get into him, and I think it's because I'm a parent
now. I see the way this kid abandoned his parents, went off into the
middle of nowhere, took chances, didn't write home, and espoused his
theories on the way life works to whomever would listen, and I'm
like, "dude...call your mom, dad and sister. They're worried sick."
The kid is kind of portrayed as this spiritual, deep Thoreau quoting
prophetic figure, but he just strikes me as naive and self centered.
I don't know what I'd do if I was his parent. I would be devastated
if my son took off after graduating college and just disappeared.
It's really rather sad.

(By the way, if you're wondering, this response is to the 7th bullet
under character. The total length of this response is 279 words. I
summed up the book to start because I figured you'd need that
information, but then I really tried to stick to talking about
whether or not I identified with the main character and why.)

The Death And Life Of Superman

The book i am reading is THE DEATH AND LIFE OF SUPERMAN BY ROGER STERIN. The book so far is good i think it's telling the life before he die. Plus it is just telling all the good things he done and the ideas that he has had.

I like the book because it's full of action . Plus the book tells how the man of steel ful to his death. It shows how poeple that you don't need powers to save other poeple. In the book it full things that teach poeple how to be good to other poeple.

It's Like His Show!!!!!

The book that I'm reading is called SeinLanguage by Jerry Seinfeld. The book is really like his stand up comedy. It's also like his show, it has nothing to do with anything. He tells stories about life experiences.

One thing that I like about this book is that it is not centered around a fake character, it's centered around Jerry Seinfeld. There also isn't much about it to make you tired halfway through it. It has a lot of jokes in it, probably because he is a comedian. They're kind of out dated, the reason being is that the book is from 1994. All in all it's a good book so far.

God Still Don't Like Ugly, Mary Monroe

The book that I'm reading is called God Still Don't Like by Mary Monroe. God Still Don't Like Ugly is the second book to the series. I like this book because it tells a great story about a woman who is going through like dealing with the inner demon of her low self-esteem and her her childhood sexual abuse.

The Notebook

The Notebook is written by Nicholas sparks..


I enjoy reading this book so far.It shows funny ,romantic,sad parts,and also makes u wanna now more about it.I also like it because it is a love story which everyone is going to fall in love at some point in their lives.This teaches you to follow your own heart.

Your 1st Post!

Today in class we will be posting to our blogs. To keep things simple, this
first post will be a kind of introductory thing. Here's what I'd like each
of you to write (make sure it is under your own display name):

1. In 2-3 sentences, give us a taste of the book. What is the title? Who
is the author? What is the "gist"? (It's about a girl who...)
2. In a separate paragraph of 2-3 sentences, finish this sentence: One
thing I like (or don't like) about the book so far is...