::Chew on This:: - Response 3

Reading this book Chew on This, has been a great learning experience for me. I have learned so much from it, even stuff that I kind of didn’t really want to know since I was quite disgusted by some of things discussed in the book like how pink, red, and purple artificial coloring is made from a six-legged bug. Ew. Gross. Another thing was how the cows, chickens, and pigs are fed fattening foods and live in unhealthy and cramped spaces and are slaughtered in the most repulsive way. Speaking of the slaughter of cows, chickens, and pigs, that brings me to my topic. My two sub-topics are, how cows and chickens are slaughtered, and how the dirty working conditions in the slaughterhouse affect our health.
For research, I’m finding it a bit hard to get at least one book, sine so many people are doing this project, all the books on this topic, which aren’t a lot, at the library are all checked out. Especially Fast Food Nation, I hope that I can find at least one book to help me in my research, but now, it seems highly unlikely. Now the only things I can use are articles and things like that from the library’s electronic library.

::Chew on This:: - Response 2

We finished reading The Secret of the Fires chapter in the book Chew on This. I think that it is really disrespectful of the McDonald’s companies to have lied to the Jains like that. They completely defied their religion, and even when they asked if there was any beef in the French fries, the McDonald’s business men still lied to the Jains. I just think that it was really disrespectful and not very thoughtful of the people running the company. Another topic that was discussed in the chapter was how pink food coloring was made. Even though I already read that section of the book before, I still thought that it was pretty disgusting. The food coloring came from a bug called Dactylopius coccus costa. It is used to make a chemical called carmine, which is the typical pink food coloring. Yesh. Quite disgusting.

Another topic was how babies acquired their taste from their mother/parents quite young…even before they were born. I didn’t know that they could acquire their favorite tastes when they were still in their mother’s womb. One of the formulas that scientists made babies taste was cereal mixed in carrot juice. Personally, since I have never tasted carrot juice in my life, and since I usually eat my cereal with milk, I think it’s a bit gross. That is an example of acquired tastes.

We read a different chapter before, and one of the subtopics was called mcunions. It talked about these two boys trying to fight for their right to be able to be paid the right amount of money that they worked hard to earn for by working at McDonalds. At McDonalds, your salary is based on your work evaluation. Pascal had worked very very hard, and was often praised by the managers. Yet he still received an average grade, so he wasn’t paid as much as he was supposed to be paid. When he formed a union, at the last minute, the McDonalds that he worked at suddenly hired another 24 people, making the signatures for the union invalid. In order to form a full work union, you need to get at least more than half of worker’s signatures. That last minute addition of workers was unfair, and after a long process, Pascal and his friend Maxime, finally won out their cause.

-the following is not part of the blog=
-Ms. Orlando, in science we are starting to read the “Meat” chapter in Chew on This. Can we also talk about what we read in science as part of our blog? Or can we only write things on what we read in language arts?

::Chew on This:: - Response 1

I actually really wanted to talk about my own topic that I am doing for Chew on This, but we can only talk about what we read during class before….so im going to have to talk about that. The main topics that we hav read about in class, are The Pioneers, The Youngster Business, and McJobs. After reading The Youngster Business, I actually wasn’t that much surprised by how the business people aim for young kids to advertise to. I remember that one of the days that we were reading that topic, Mr. Cellini came in. After listening to us read for a few pages, he said something to us. He said that if you went inside a store, and bent down to about a five year-old’s point of view, see what types of things would be put there. I didn’t really know that at first, until Mr. Cellini told me.

In the topic of The Pioneers, it mentioned the main people that helped the general idea of fast food, particularly McDonald’s. The few important people who were mentioned, were people like Ray Kroc, and Richard and Maurice McDonald. The person who invented the hamburger, was a person named Charlie Nagreen. Harland Sanders started KFC, and he is on the buckets of chicken and many things that are associated with the fast food chain KFC.

I can’t wait until we finish reading this book in class. It’s got to be sometime before May 13….but at this rate…I’m not that sure about finishing the book by then…
Well, if we read both in Science and Language Arts from now on…I guess we will be okay =3. Plus, when we finish the book, and we have another blog, then I can talk about my topic xD. Well, with all this fast food business going on, I hope it can be resolved soon, and not have so much bad and unhealthy stuff about it. Help the world, and the people >ahem< us humans, and even animals, live healthier lives. =)

::Ender's Game::by Orson Scott Card-Respnse 1

The book Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is a well written book that has won many awards like the Nebula Award. The novel is well written and it displays images clearly into your head. The setting is in the in the future and mostly at the Battle School grounds. The main character of this book, is Alexander Wiggins, more commonly called, Ender. Ender was always being picked on at school just because he was a Third, an illegal third child in the family. At the young age of six, he was transferred to Battle School to become a soldier.

After reading the first few chapters of the novel, I decided that I really liked Ender as a character. He was really kind, but he always was outcasted and bullied. He had this brother, who was the complete opposite of him, and a loving sister. He never resorted to violence unless it was a life-or-death situation. In the middle of the book, I felt that the "teachers" were nt being very fair. They promoted Ender to an army when he was barely even seven. The usual age that a boy/girl would be promoted was around 8. Then he was made commander when he was only eight, and the usual age was 12.

I think that the title really fits the book's content. The book is basically about most of Ender's life, and describes how in Battle School he played the battle game. The game was something that helped the "teachers" sort out who was a better soldier, and who wasn't as good. Ender had played the battle game over a million times, and his standings were always at the top. His whole life is basically a game for the "teachers" because they are basically manipulating him through battle school.

This novel is probably best to be read by teens ages 12+ because of some mature content. But other than that, this book is really well written because the author clearly describes the hardships and good times that the main character has to go through in order to survive.

::Peregrine:: by Joan Elizabeth Goodman-Theme

The theme of Peregrine is Lady Edith learning to let go of her worries and fears and starting a new life. Lady Edith embarks on a journey not only because she wanted to escape a marriage with Sir Runcival, but also to clear out her mind over her sorrows due to the death of her husband and baby. Edith is constantly thinking of her baby girl, and weeps often over her sorrow. When she sees Christ and his child at a church, her horrors come rushing through her and she just can not let go of her baby girl. Luckily, with her wise words, Rhiannon reassures Lady Edith, and helps her let go of her baby. Her sorrow is lifted and she steps out from her little corner in the dark.

A sub-theme is when Lady Edith is desperately trying to escape from Sir Runcival. The main reason for Lady Edith’s journey to the Holy City, is to escape from him. Edith kept on having nightmares about him coming and taking her to become his wife. She thought that since he came to visit quite often after her husband had died, that he wanted her to marry him. She did not want to. I also think that this kind of says that, occasionally, you have to fight for what you want or believe in, or else everyone just makes the choice for you.

::Peregrine:: by Joan Elizabeth Goodman-Plot

In Peregrine, the exposition is when Lady Edith prepares to go on a journey to travel to Jerusalem, the Holy City. She chooses to go to Jerusalem because she does not want to marry Sir Runcival while she constantly thought of her dead baby and husband. So she goes on the journey with a handful of companions. Then, on the way, Lady Edith meets Rhiannon.

The rising action is when Lady Edith allows Rhiannon to join the company traveling and even gives Rhiannon her lovely blue dress that her husband had given her. At the beginning, Dame Joan [Old Wobbly Chins :P] is always protesting against Edith’s actions of kindness towards Rhiannon. She also finds her brother Simon, and a group of monks with him, and the join on the journey to Jerusalem.

The climax, is when Lady Edith finally reaches Jerusalem, the Holy City she had been longing to reach. At the Holy City, Edith is always worrying over her dead husband and child, and Sir Runcival. She also meets the pope and Queen Melisende during her stay.

The falling action is when Rhiannon finally reveals that she is a princess who ran away from a terrible plan was being plotted, using her against her own family. Also, Lady Edith goes into a church and sees Christ with his child, and her emotions come rushing into her as she remembers her own dead child. Rhiannon goes and comforts Edith, saying that it was time for her to let go of her baby; time to go on with her life. Lady Edith heeds her words and lets her little baby go with a whisper, “Alice”.

The resolution is that Lady Edith learns to choose, not be chosen. She definitely did not want to marry Sir Runcival, and she longed to marry her old childhood friend Will Belet. In the end, she frees herself from all the sorrows over her dead husband and child that left her in the dark. She went towards the light.

::Peregrine:: by Joan Elizabeth Goodman-Character

In Peregrine, the main character is, of course, Lady Edith Bohemund of Cheswick; or [Lady] Edith, for short. Lady Edith is only 15 years-old, but she is already widowed with a dead husband and child. Though she is quite young, she has a woman’s character due to the fact that she has faced a myriad of things in her life so young. Her marriage to Sir Bohemund changed her. She was always a “wild little thing”, but after her marriage, she becomes more patient. In this novel, Edith goes on a journey to Jerusalem to escape a marriage to Sir Runcival of Surrey, for she did not want to remarry, and she wasn’t very fond of him. Moreover, during her journey to the Holy City, Lady Edith often thought of her baby, and dwelled on the horrors of her babe’s death. Her Later on during the story, she reveals that she truly wanted to be that little girl she was, wild and impatient. Edith is also sympathetic towards others, like Rhiannon.

Another important character in Peregrine is Rhiannon. Rhiannon is a quite, collected, and wise girl. She comes into the story, when she deliberately chooses to come out of the forest when Lady Edith comes by during her journey to the Holy City, and tells Edith, “Help me.” When she first meets Edith, all she reveals of herself, is her name. At the end of the book, however, Rhiannon reveals that she is a Welsh princess whose father was Griffith ap Rees, Prince of Cardigan, and her mother, Gwenllian, daughter of the King of Gwynedd. Her story of her life was a sad one. Both her parents had died by the time Rhiannon was seven. At first, Rhiannon rarely talked, she just watched everybody, but she holds herself up and with the grace of a royal. Her word are also wise, and sometimes ,strange, but true.

Daughter of the Wind: by Michael Cadnum-Setting

Daughter of the Wind, by Michael Cadnum, takes place during the Middle ages. The main characters in this story are Norsemen/ Norse. The first few chapters of the book are about two boys who go hunting for a bear. Both boys are from the village of Spojothof. In the place where the two boys are hunting, it is quite cold and icy. The two boys manage to kill the bear, but only one survives.

Moving on to the next few chapters, the point of view shifts, and a girl is introduced. Whereas the environment in the hunting place is cold and icy, the environment in the village of Spojothof seems warm, and the land lush and fertile. The village of Spojothof had never really liked the Danish. The Danes often came around the village just to steal a bride for them, and that is exactly what happens to Hallgred.

In my opinion, this book is extremely boring. The pace of this book is really slow, and the author takes too much time and space to explain about the most randomest things. The names of the places and people were too hard to remember. Especially the names of people. I would read the first few chapters, and when I came back to read, the same character comes back, and I can’t remember who he/she is, due to the weirdly spelled names. Besides, the author doesn’t really give much background info of the characters. Also, what happened more than once, was that a new character would pop out and not much would be described about them. There’s just too much characters.

Moreover, the shift between characters is really confusing, because it shifts between three different characters, and the chapters don’t have any title’s whatsoever. Just a number. It would be easier if the chapter title had something like “Hallgred” to show the reader that the point of view was now on Hallgred; but it doesn’t. Besides, why is the title even called "Daughter of the Wind"? The book has nothing to do with "wind" or anything. Cadnum should have named his book something like "Daughter of the Jarl", since that's basically who Hallgred is. Overall, my group and I agreed that this book isn’t very well written, and we will probably abandon it, and hopefully, we will choose a more interesting book next time.

So Far from the Bamboo Grove: by Yoko Kawashima Watkins-Response 3 [chpts 8-11]

I am finally done with the book So Far from the Bamboo Grove [well actually I finished the book the first day we got it :P –sorry Ms. Orlando!], and I thought that this was a really moving memoir. It showed how a young girl was forced to flee from her home in Nanam to Seoul just because of the Russians coming and landing there. Plus, it was during World War 2, so naturally they had to flee, or basically get captured and die.
Of the four characters that popped up in the book most often, my favorite character was Ko. Even when her family was on desperate measures when they were fleeing to Korea, she always showed some grit. Though Yoko considered her to be “mean” sometimes, Ko only did that for Yoko’s own good. For example, in chapter 2, it says, “’Right,’ said Ko. ‘Don’t talk. Just walk.’ Ko is bossy, I thought.” This shows that when Ko told Yoko to do something, Yoko usually thought that Ko was being mean and bossy. But what Ko was actually trying to do, was help her, so that she could walk farther and faster without having any distractions, like talking.
Kind of like in those little fairy tale stories, like Sleeping Beauty for example, There is always this one prince who comes and saves the princess when she is a “damsel in distress”. In this memoir, Corporal Matsumaru is like the “prince”. Only except they don’t fall in love, and live “happily ever after”; like the other stuff that happens in those fairy tales. He basically “saves” Ko, in a way where he helps Ko and Yoko live through there lives during all the hardships and everything. Moreover, Mr. and Mrs. Masuda help Yoko and Ko after their mother dies, and gives them a place to live. Even though it was a warehouse, to Ko and Yoko, it probably seemed like paradise since they had been living in a train station for a while, and had the fear of having their belongings stolen. When they were in the warehouse, the walls protected them from thieves, and the elements.
I also like Kawashima Watkins’ style of writing. She flits from her own point of view to her elder brother Hideyo’s point of view. This really helped me understand what it was like for her and her family during the war. Furthermore, it showed how even when your running away from something, and you become separated from your family, friends, or whoever you are with, there is always hope. Yesh. Hope. Even if it might seem nigh impossible, there is always that little thread of hope.

So Far from the Bamboo Grove: by Yoko Kawashima Watkins-Response 2 [chpts 4-7]

In chapters 4-7 of the novel So Far from the Bamboo Grove, the event that made the deepest impression on me was when the Korean Communists came barging into the factory in which Hideyo was working in. If I had been him, I probably would have not thought of diving into the box so quickly. I would probably be very scared, especially when Hideyo sees his own classmate Yasou shot before his very own eyes. I might have just about thrown up right then and there. But, he used his quick thinking, and quickly smeared some blood on himself so he could pretend he was dead, and the Korean Communist soldiers hopefully wouldn’t actually kill him. I thought that maybe he just had a natural instinct on what to do when he was in trouble. I also thought that it was pretty amazing that Hideyo’s three friends, Makoto, Soichi, and Shinzo, weren’t found hiding in the bathroom. It might have been the Korean Communists own fault for not searching so thoroughly in the bathroom, but because that happened, Hideyo, Makoto, Soichi, and Shinzo still survived the invasion.
After Hideyo escapes from the factory, he runs back to his house only to find that his house has been ransacked, and his two sisters and mother were gone. Since it was the most logical that the Korean Communists had ransacked his house, he concluded that his two sisters and mother had been killed by them. That was what he thought: at first. Then he finds himself looking upon a strange site. The Korean’s had taken everything that was valuable in there house, but then why was the sewing machine left? When he looks closer, he discovers that there is a rice bowl on top of the sewing machine and in the rice bowl is a note from his mother explaining that she and his sisters had to leave, and would wait for him at the railroad station in Seoul. He also discovered his family’s savings book, and took it with him, along with some food and supplies for the journey.
While Hideyo is preparing for the trip to Seoul, Ko, Yoko, and their mother living in harsh conditions at the train station in Seoul. Yoko and Ko’s mother had the job of taking care of all their belongings, Ko had the task of finding food, and Yoko helped with her mother. Later on, Yoko became more cooperative and helped Ko along with the task of digging through trash bags in order to find some food. Plus, when Ko saw a Korean man raping a girl, she warned her mother and Yoko. So instead of going to the bathroom in the normal way they did, they had to do the way boys did for fear of being raped.
Ko, Yoko, and Hideyo’s mother sends a message to her parents, but a few days later, is told that the message wasn’t able to be delivered. After pondering over whether to bring Ko and Yoko along with her to Aomori to see her parents, she concludes that her daughters need to continue their education and she would go alone to Aomori. Her choice might have been based on some Confucian rules where education was the most essential thing. It also might have been because since she heard about the bombings in that area, she knew inside that her parents were already dead, but didn’t want to show it and didn’t want her to daughters to face that sorrow. Better to not know for now, then to know and distract them from what they needed to do.
Mrs. Kawashima has many good values about, and her daughters generally have her values. Mrs. Kawashima is a kind woman, very thoughtful of others, and her gratefulness towards those who help her and/or her family. Ko and Yoko generally show her values throughout the novel. During the walk to Seoul, Ko always scouted ahead when they got lost. Also, when Yoko felt dizzy while in the middle of crossing the railroad “bridge”, she put her bag down on the other side, ran over, and piggy-backed Yoko across the rest of the way. She also takes the time and effort to go through smelly trash bags to find some food to feed her mother, Yoko, and herself. As for Yoko, she shows kindness and thoughtfulness when she gives some and water to the patients on the train. Most of all, to the pregnant woman, Yoko gives her a fair amount of food, considering that the woman was carrying a baby and everything. In addition, when Yoko was given a bottle of milk from the medic, when she was at the “hospital”, she also asked for two more bottles: one for her elder sister, and one for her mother.

So Far from the Bamboo Grove: by Yoko Kawashima Watkins-Response 1 [chpts 1-3]

The first reaction I got when I read the first three chapters in So Far from the Bamboo Grove, I felt scared and a little grossed out. I was scared for the Kawashima’s because one little wrong move, could bring them to a bad result; maybe even resulting in death. If they weren’t careful to not let the Korean’s know who they were, they would be captured and who knows hat would happen to them. I was also a little grossed out, because in chapter 2, Ko, Yoko, and their mother boarded the train that would take them to Seoul. That train had no toilet, and they had to use little tubs instead. Also, since no one except for the Kawashima’s had any water to drink, one woman actually drank from the tub in which the people on the box car had used the bathroom in. When little Toshi-chan died, the train people just threw him out the door. The same thing happened to the other people that were found dead.
When the Kawashima’s board the train [in their case, a boxcar] they saw that there were many sick people, who needed a lot of help and attention from the nurse or doctor. Yoko, especially, is sort of freaked out when she sees all these injured or ill people in one little boxcar, and she would have to stay in the same place with them. But then she grows to sort of care for them, and when people were thirsty, she gave them a little water to sip from her own canteen. Plus, when the nurse(s) is busy, the three Kawashima women help take care of them. They also give them a little food and water. This shows everybody else on the train, including the Koreans, that they are kindhearted and helpful to people in need, even if the person is a complete stranger to them.
When two Korean communists come and check the train for “healthy Japanese” called the Kawashima’s, the Korean medic woman helped them escape from being caught. She even said, “You have helped us. Don’t worry, we will help you.” The ironic thing about this, is that the Korean medics knew full well that they would be executed if they were caught helping a Japanese escape.
Since their previous way of getting into Seoul was not possible anymore, due to an enemy aircraft bombing the train, Ko, Yoko, and their mother have to walk by foot in order to get to Seoul. During the long walk of about 45 miles, Yoko feels as if Ko was being to bossy to her, ordering her around and telling her to “don’t talk, just walk.” For example, when Yoko, Ko, and their mother have to cross the train rails in order to get across the river, Yoko thinks that Ko is being mean since she was fr ahead of Yoko and their mother. Then a few seconds later, Yoko feels dizzy, and Ko suddenly tells them to “stay where you are”, and Ko comes and piggybacks Yoko the rest of the way across. But when Ko is not ordering Yoko around or scolding at Yoko, Yoko calls her “Honorable Sister.” Basically, when Ko is being “mean” to Yoko, Yoko calls her “Honorable Sister.”