Injustice Between Social Classes

Have you ever felt like the higher class people– in authority–treat you badly? In The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan, seven demigods go off on a quest to keep the evil Earth goddess, Gaea, from waking up and destroying the world. The seven demigods are Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Jason Grace, Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, Hazel Levesque, and Frank Zhang. Multiple times, I noticed that the gods have tormented the demigods for ridiculous or selfish reasons.

I noticed that, throughout the book, the gods have made it difficult for the demigods to continue their quest. One example of this was when Gaea taunted, "Until then, I will allow you to watch your friends perish. Please...enjoy this glimpse of your failed quest." She had said that after deliberately luring Leo, Hazel, and Frank into a trap and torturing the rest of the demigods. Gaea wanted to torture and murder all the children of the gods because the gods trapped or killed her children. She started with those seven demigods because they were trying to stop her from completing her plan. Later on, the Roman god of wine, Bacchus, made Percy and Jason go through more pain after they had already went through excruciating pain. In fact, Bacchus said, "At any rate, you got my attention. I'm here. Now I need to see if you're worthy of my help. If I'm impressed, I'll jump in for the grand finale." He had said this after Percy and Jason already proved themselves several times that they were worthy enough. They had nearly died a lot of times before this. This shows that he made them suffer just because he wanted them to 'prove themselves'. Those are some examples of how the gods tortured the demigods.

This observation that I made about the gods treating the demigods badly made me think deeper about humanity. It made me think about how our government treats us. They treat us a whole lot better then the gods treat the demigods. It made me realize that we have a much better life here. I bet that the demigods would love to have our lives. It would be a whole lot safer. There would be no monsters to fight or quests to go on. They would be able to live peaceful lives. It made me think about humanity as a whole. About how sometimes, with leaders, the power can just go to your head. And other times you were born to be a leader therefore you could be the most fair leader there could be. I understand that the government isn't always the most fair but, relatively, the government treats us more fair than some of the gods treat the demigods.

Social Justice

Have you ever felt like the world is a horrible place? That there was nothing you can do? Well in the book, Everlost by Neal Shusterman, several characters in the book, such as one of the main characters, Allie, and one of the more minor characters, Mary Hightower, have taught me that the world may not be perfect, but that there is always something you can do. In this book, Allie was in a car accident as well as the other main character, Nick, but they didn't survive the car crash and now they are spirits in a limbo called ‘Everlost’. Mary has been there for a while and has been babysitting children this whole time, but when Nick and Allie arrive, everything changes. Mary falls in love with Nick, and, unlike most of the children in Everlost, Allie doesn't want to do what everyone else is doing. Throughout the book, Mary and Allie have taught me that the world isn't perfect, but you can't just give in as there is always something you can do.

For example, when Mary first died, she didn't just do nothing. She instead helped all of the children in Everlost have something to do instead of doing nothing at all or doing the wrong things. She “decided it was time to share what she knew about Everlost with all the Afterlights.” An Afterlight is a spirit that glows in the dark. Almost everyone in Everlost is an Afterlight. When Mary chose to do this, she helped hundreds of thousands of Afterlights learn about the world of around them and important lessons. She was like a mother to every single Afterlight in the world. Just by doing this, at the age of 15, she managed to help change the world around them.

Later on, Allie taught me the same lesson by not letting her friends stay kidnapped. Since Mary refused to help her, Allie had to save both Nick and her other friend, Lief, from the McGill, a terrifying monster that is described as ‘not to be messed with.’ In fact she convinced herself that, “this was no longer just a mission; it was a quest. And she was ready.” What this means is that Allie was ready to fight the McGill even if it cost her life. Because her friends would be safe. This was very selfless of her as she was willing to put her life on the line to save her friends with no help at all whatsoever. So, even though she had to do it herself, she still found something to do to save her friends.

What I'm really trying to say is even if the world seems so dark and horrible, don't give up and do nothing. You can always find something to do. This is a very important lesson that I have learned myself. I've learned from this book that everyone and anyone can make a difference, even teens. And from here on out, I will try to make a difference in this world even if all I do is to always pick up after myself. That small thing can help more than you would think. I hope that you will learn to do this to. This way, the Earth will be a better and safer place to live in. Just remember that everyone, including you, can make a difference as long as you try.

Empathy from Books

Alison Flood, author of Reading fiction ‘improves empathy’, study finds, states that reading young adult fiction can help readers get to know people and what they are feeling better. As stated in the article by professor, Keith Oatley, “In fiction, also, we are able to understand characters' actions from their interior point of view, by entering into their situations and minds, rather than the more exterior view of them that we usually have.” This means that we are aware of what they're thinking about when they do things. In real life, we never really know what they're thinking of, but in books we find out what is in the characters’ heads. And that is what helps us understand people. Another reason why I think is when Oatley also states, “I think the reason fiction but not non-fiction has the effect of improving empathy is because fiction is primarily about selves interacting with other selves in the social world.” What he means is that learning about how people interact with other people helps readers become more empathetic. Readers can learn to be empathetic by learning this because they learn how people interact with people as they go through certain hardships and how they deal with it. She ends the article in a way that leaves us thinking of how reading affects us psychologically.

            Alison Flood uses some craft moves in this article to express her ideas. For example, she chose to quote Oatley in his opinion that reading young adult literature can improve empathy. But she doesn’t address a counterclaim at all. Also in the beginning she started with a small moment in which she used the books, Twilight, and Harry Potter, to show her evidence that reading these books improved the readers’ empathy. She constantly, only ever, quoted Oatley to strengthen her idea.

I actually agree to this article. I agree with the claim because it had happened to me. When I was young, I didn't really know people that well. I never really understood why my fellow classmates did the things they did. I was like this up until I got to middle school, and started reading young adult literature. It was then that I started to understand why people did what they. That not everyone’s life is perfect, so they behave in the way that they do because of the background they had. Reading about other people has taught me that everyone has a different life that they come from and that is why everyone behaves differently. One line that really stood out to me in this article was, “And it turns out that psychologically there is a big difference between these two points of view. We usually take the exterior view of others, but that's too limited.” This stood out to me because it was very inspiring. It teaches me that learning an exterior view of people is not as good as being in their head and knowing why they do what they do and what life they came from. But, unfortunately, we will never know the full and true story of everyone. The best we can do is to not judge them.

Determination is the Key to Life.

Have you ever given up on something before? Felt like everything is just too stressful and you can't take it anymore? Well, in The Scorch Trials by James Dashner, Thomas, the main character, encountered several issues with his group, Group A, and a few of the times, he almost gave up, but he never did including when a group, Group B, wanted to do something. As a very intelligent person, an organization called WICKED wanted to test how Thomas would react to things called Variables, so that they can cure a deadly disease called the Flare. In fact, he taught me to never give up.

For example, Thomas never gave up in this issue although he almost did. In fact, “Thomas had been experiencing a brief moment of wanting to give up, to sit down and forget it all—let whatever was going to happen, happen. But almost as fast as it came out, it disappeared.” This shows that Thomas considered giving up, but he never did. He just kept on going, to reach his goal. And in the end, he got what he wanted.

Another example is when Group B wanted to kill him, but he obviously didn't want that so he kept trying to convince them. In fact Thomas first tried by saying, “‘You guys don't really wanna kill me, do you?’” He asked it in a tone that said he'd caught them in a lie. ‘Have you ever even killed anyone before?’” But the person he was talking to just glared at him and disagreed with him. He tried again saying, “‘Think of the guilt you’ll feel.’ He could only hope the thought would dig at them.” Eventually his reasoning work when Group B realized that they were feeling like killing him wouldn’t achieve anything at all. In fact, he was so determined to win, to keep going, not give up. He wanted to reach his goal of convincing them that he was right. The fact that he never gave in to Group B, got him what he wanted and that’s what’s important.

What I'm really trying to say is never stop doing what you want to do or need to do. Don't stop trying and just keep going. This is a very important lesson that I have learned myself. I remember one time, something I was working on hard. I think it was a homework assignment in my math class. But then I realized that that was wrong. That I couldn't do that. So, because I was getting a headache from staring at the page too long, I asked for help. I thought that I should give up, not bother to figure it out. I considered putting a fake answer in. But instead, I found an answer. A real one. This is why I hope you learn this lesson. Because otherwise you may not be able to accomplish something that you want to or need to. When things get tough, like really tough, just remember one thing. Never give up.

Reading Response

In the story, The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, 16 year old Emma Nelson gets her first computer in 1996. Her neighbor and best friend, 15 year old Josh Templeton gets an America Online CD-ROM. Josh decides to give it to Emma. It was kind of awkward for him to give it to her since things have been awkward between them ever since November when Emma and Josh went to the opening night of Toy Story. There was a misunderstanding causing Josh to almost kiss Emma until she pulled away insulting him without meaning to. But when Emma logged in using the CD-ROM, she's automatically logged in to Facebook. Emma and Josh see their profiles from 15 years into the future. They see something that they never would've expected to see. A pattern that I found in The Future of Us is that whenever Emma checks her profile she almost always has a bad future.

One example of this pattern is on page 32. In this scene, Emma and Josh saw one post that ‘Emma Nelson Jones’ wrote. “Hit my sixth month of unemployment. They say it's the economy, but I'm starting to believe it’s me. Thirty-one is too young to have a failed career.” She’s so poor from not having a job for half a year that she can't even afford a decent therapist. People in the future believe that the economy is bad, but she believes that she doesn't have enough skills to get a job. She thinks that she has failed her career and that she’s too young for that. So when Emma first saw Facebook, she saw that post and her future. That supports my pattern that she has a bad future incoming.

Another example of this pattern is on page 80. In this scene, Emma and Josh are looking at Facebook again and find another bad post about Emma Nelson Jones. “Listen … here I wrote ‘Got my paycheck on Thursday and JJJ borrowed every last dollar to buy an iPad. Men and toys!’ I put quotes around ‘borrowed,’ so I'm guessing he’s not giving the money back.” JJJ was Emma Nelson Jones’ husband. JJJ stands for Jordan Jones Junior. So Emma Nelson Jones gets her paycheck and then Jordan goes and uses all of her money for something unimportant and doesn't pay her back. Yet again Emma checks her profile and sees a bad future lying ahead for her. This also supports the pattern.

The final example of this pattern is on page 229. In this scene Emma checks her profile and sees another bad post about her future. “Diapers, meltdown, teething, more meltdowns. Kevin wanted me to stay home with the kids, but I keep wondering why men don't do it. I used to have a better paying job than him!” Kevin becomes her new husband in the future when young Emma changes the future. It is fairly obvious that she has two kids and at least one baby.Kevin wanted her to babysit her kids, but ‘Emma Storm’ didn't want to. She wanted to Kevin to do it instead and in fact she had quit her job because of him. Once more, Emma checked her profile and discovered that her future isn't good. This also supports my pattern that she has a bad future incoming.

In conclusion, The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler has a pattern that Emma always checks her future and finds that it's dreadful. Asher and Mackler have showed this pattern by showing Emma checking her future and every time finding something bad. This pattern is important because it teaches Emma the lesson of not obsessing about the future so much that you miss out on the important moments of your life. I infer that if she didn't learn her lesson, that she would keep making this mistake and keep changing the future which could be deadly. One decision she could make could lead to a future where she dies. Therefore, this pattern is very important as it relates to an important lesson in life.