Work for a Safer City!

Have you ever had something bad happen to you and decided to do something about it, so that it won't happen to someone else? I haven't been in the same situation but I heard about someone who did. Sammy Cohen- Eckstein’s mother, Amy Cohen. She lost her child when a van hit him at the intersection of Third Street and Prospect Park West. So she decided to make the city safer so that other children won't die for the same reason. She started to take a borrowed raider gun outside of her house. In just 15 minutes, 25 drivers ignored the speed limit of 30 mph. Some of them were going over 40 mph. Three drivers drove through a red light.

The author N.R. Kleinfield wrote After a Son’s Death, Parents Channel Their Grief into Activism to teach us to make a difference. It shows the strength of a mother who goes through grief of losing her 12-year old son and decides to help the city become safer. She even went to the senator, Charles E. Schumer to get his help on this issue because she just couldn't take it anymore. This article explains the story of how a mother and a father went from not signing petitions, writing imploring letters to elected officials pushing to see the mayor, speaking to the legislature, nor speaking at public hearings to doing those very things. It shows how Amy Cohen decides to make a difference in grief of her child. This is part of why I think Kleinfield’s claim was to make a difference. This claim is shown when Kleinfield chooses to quote Amy Cohen when she tells mourners to “write their representatives and urge traffic-safety measures.” He used this quote in particular to show that anyone can make a difference, even a grief-stricken mother. What Amy Cohen means by this is that she is telling everyone to make a difference and help the city become a safer place to live in. Kleinfield chose to include this to show that writing letters to representatives is a good idea for us to do. Kleinfield also quotes Mr. Eckstein when he says “People are killed and families are turned inside out. It’s important for people to see this.” What Mr. Eckstein means by this is that people die and that has a big impact on families, so it teaches others to be prepared for the worst when the other people find out that this happens. Kleinfield included this quote to prove that showing people the cold hard truth can also help to make a difference in people’s way of thinking. It helps them realize that life isn't perfect but that they should try to make the best of it and help make a better and safer world. This evidence backs up the claim that Kleinfield wants us to make a change in the world.

I have noticed several craft moves throughout this article. I noticed one where Kleinfield kept on quoting Amy Cohen in particular. He also used a lot of statistics and included comments from the Internet in which some of them were rude. This includes “His parents should have conditioned him not to run out into the street without looking” and “…So while it is human nature for the parents of the child to look for someone other than themselves to blame, perhaps they can best perpetuate their son's memory by setting up a foundation to teach children never to jaywalk, never in fact to enter streets other than at an intersection - for any reason - without adult supervision.” This lines show that people are blaming Sammy Cohen-Eckstein himself for getting himself killed even though he is only a 12-year old boy who doesn't know any better. Also they are blaming his parents for not teaching him to go out into the street when they really don't know if the parents did or not. For all we know, the parents could have taught him not to do that but in the moment he had forgotten what his parents taught him-being a middle-schooler- and went out recklessly into the street without really pay mind to the street lights or where he was.

Even though I never met Sammy Cohen-Eckstein, I still thought this article was hard to read because it brings out so much emotion from his family and even me. I couldn't help but to write about him when I found out what this article was about. I too would like to join this movement even though I am not capable of doing much at my age. This article inspires me to never give up no matter how hard and hopeless life seems. Just as Amy Cohen and Gary Eckstein have done. Even though they had to cope without their beloved son, they still managed to hang onto life as much as they might have wanted to let go of it. This article was so well-written that it brought out emotions in me that I kind of felt that day I found out that Sammy died. I didn't even know him, but I was still deeply saddened by the tears of my classmates. It almost brought me to tears just seeing them that sad. This article and Sammy’s family inspires me to make a difference when I get older and am more capable of helping. 

Power Versus Resistance

Have you ever been in the position where someone wants to control you and you either defy them or are unable to? Well, in Light by Michael Grant, Gaia, Caine Soren's daughter with Diana Ladris, tried to control everyone but was only able to control two, partially. She was completely unable to control Lana Arwen Lazer but was sort of able to control Sam Temple and mostly control Caine, Sam's brother. Gaia was a little girl whose soul was killed so that the Gaiaphage- ancient mutated virus of alien origin- can have a body and move around while killing humans so that Little Pete, Astrid Ellison's dead (sort of) little brother and the Gaiaphage's nemesis won't kill it. I think that power is shown as a very bad thing and resistance is shown as a very good thing.

 This is first shown when Gaia used Lana to get what she wanted using her powers. She constantly is shown using it greedily just so that she can survive but no one else can. This is shown when Lana contacted her and in thinking it was a trap she “reacted violently, lashing out, trying to push her away” by using her powers. She was selfish enough to not be able to realize that it wasn't really a trap at all. She was so greedy that she thought to use her powers against Lana. This shows that power is a horrible thing in her hands as it is throughout the whole book.

This is next shown when Gaia uses her powers to hurt her own father. She used her powers to stop Caine from hurting her. Caine was just about to defend himself when “the inside of his head exploded. Caine fell to his knees, clutched his head, and screamed in unbearable pain.” What this means is that Gaia used her power to hurt him with, as stated earlier in the book, a stabbing pain. At this point, Caine wasn't able to resist her anymore in fear of receiving the pain again. He lost the will to even look at her. Therefore this scene shows that power is horrible and resistance is good, even though he wasn't capable of it.

It is shown that resistance is good when Sam constantly resists Gaia even though he knows he probably won't win. She tried to control him, but was unable to because he just wouldn't listen no matter what. This thus caused a fight where “with no other easy choice, he punched her in the face.” In desperation of not giving up- because he knew that everyone would die otherwise- he attacked her by himself so that he could save the world. Even if that meant taking some serious damage from Gaia’s powers. Gaia even beat him up and tied him up. But still, Sam resisted her by trying to kill himself so that she couldn't use him against the others. Thus showing that resistance is a very positive thing.

This claim, that power is awful and resistance is benevolent, made me think deeper about humanity because it makes me think about the power in our government and if they use it greedily or not. It makes me wonder if everyone, when given power, will use it greedily so someone will have to resist them. Or if it was just Gaia that was like that. I remember earlier in the series that Sam was given a lot of power but, unlike Gaia, he didn't use it greedily. Instead he was driven crazy-almost- from the stress of having everyone look up to him. So obviously not everyone will go corrupt when given power, but does anyone ever use it well and not go crazy? I think that if I were given that much power, I probably wouldn't be able to handle it, just like Sam. I also think that I wouldn't be able to fight back as much as all the characters in the book, even Caine. I wondered if us civilians, even, would be able to resist people like Gaia as much as they did or if they would just give in. Learning this theme will make me think about people and how determined they are.

Confidence: Good or Bad?

Have you ever been so sure of yourself that you are blind to the truth? Well in The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker, Rosaura was so sure that Luciana was her friend that she was blind to the fact that Luciana actually just viewed her as the maid’s daughter. Even though 2 people told her that. She even argues with them to prove she’s right. I think that the author wants to reader to learn to not be so sure of yourself that you are blind to the truth.

This is first seen when she continuously persists on telling her mom that Luciana is a friend so she can go to the party. She even said, “Shut up! You know nothing about being friends!” What Rosaura means by this is that her mom doesn't know about how ‘close’ Luciana and Rosaura were. Rosaura was resisting her mom by yelling this after her mom tried to tell her that Luciana just sees her as the maid’s daughter. This proves that Rosaura was blind to the truth because she was so sure that Luciana was her friend.

Later on, Rosaura again tries to persuade someone, the girl with the bow, that Luciana was her friend. Even though the girl with the bow said, “You are not a friend of Luciana because I’m her cousin, and I know all her friends. And I don't know you.” After she said this, Rosaura ignored that and insistently refused to believe her even though she was telling the truth. The girl with the bow was saying that Rosaura couldn't be Luciana’s friend because she didn't know Rosaura but she knew all of Luciana’s friends. Thus proving that Rosaura was blind to the truth that Luciana was not her friend.

This claim that being too confident in yourself can make you miss the truth made me think deeper about humanity because it made me realize that confidence can be good but it can be bad depending on how confident you are. Sometimes, it’s good because then the person can stand up for themselves. But, as in the case of Rosaura, it can be a bad thing if you are too confident because you might think the truth is something it isn’t. Sometimes I wonder if I'd make the same mistake or if I’d just trust that my parent has good judgment. I think that I probably would’ve trusted my parent instead of making the same mistake as Rosaura did. I would have at least believed the girl with the bow if not my parent. I wish I had more confidence sometimes but not nearly as much as Rosaura. Learning this theme will make me think about if I’m being too confident or not confident enough.

Top 5 Books of 2013!

Throughout this past year, I have read about 20-30 books. Of this books, I have selected 5 of the most interesting books. These books are City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, Matched by Ally Condie, The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan, Divergent by Veronica Roth,  and Ender's Game by Orson Scott card. City Of Bones is about a young teenager name Clarissa (Clary) Fray who finds herself in the world of the Shadowhunters, Isabelle, and Alec Lightwood, and Jace Wayland, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons, as her mom is kidnapped by one demon, and she herself is attacked by another. This therefore gives her a vengeance against these demons so that she can save her mom.  Matched is about a 17-year old girl named Cassia Reyes who gets ‘matched’, or arranged to be with someone for the rest of her life, with Xander Carrow, her 17-year old best friend. However, when all seems to be going well, Cassia discovers that she has also been accidentally matched to Ky Markham, who is a 17-year old Aberration, which is a status received if the person or their parents has committed an Infraction. The Lost Hero is about 3 demigods, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, and Leo Valdez. Jason is a Roman demigod of Jupiter who has been given amnesia and stuck on a bus with Piper, his fake girlfriend and Leo, his fake friend, due to the Mist- which is a way of hiding the magical world from humans. Leo is Hephaestus' son, and Piper is Aphrodite's daughter, and has been having nightmares ever since her father went missing 3 days ago. Divergent is about a 16-year old girl, Beatrice (Tris) Prior, who lives in an dystopian world where society is divided into 5 factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a certain virtue - Candor (honest), Dauntless (brave), Abnegation (selfless), Amity (peaceful), and Erudite (intelligent). On 1 day, all 16-year olds must select the faction to which they will live the rest of their lives in, and Tris chose Dauntless instead of Abnegation where her parents were. As the book continues, Tris meets her initiation trainer, an 18-year old boy going by the name of Four (his real name is Tobias) and immediately falls in love. Ender's Game is about a boy named Andrew "Ender" Wiggin who grows up throughout the book to become a commander against the war between the human population and an alien species called the Buggers. He and his siblings, Valentine and Peter, together have the abilities to remake a world. These 5 books are the best I have read this year because they have taught me that one line can say a lot about who the character is.

I think that Matched is in the top 5 because it really inspired me as a writer to be more descriptive and to as a reader to think more deeply. It has taught me that just one line could say a lot about who Cassia is. For example, Cassia stated, "Because it’s about making our own choices." This line implied a rebellious nature and determination. It tells me that Cassia is both determined and not going down without a fight. It told me that she was willing to go find someone just to prove to the society that she can make her own choices even if it means leaving her family and her friends behind. This is part of why Matched is in the top 5

I also think that City of Bones is in the top 5 for the same reason. This has occurred when Jocelyn’s friend, Luke, stated, “Don't call me for favors again.” This line implies to me that 1) Clary goes to Luke for favors a lot and 2) that Luke either isn't the nicest person or that by calling him, Clary was endangering one of them, so Luke was trying to protect them. It is also a possibility that Luke was just saying that because he was nearby someone who could endanger their lives so he lied to save them. So this line here shows that either he isn't nice at all or he is very nice but had to act like he wasn’t. This line involved a lot of deep thinking which is why the book is in the top 5.

I also think that Divergent is in the top 5 for the same reason. This is shown when Tris said, “‘Nope,’ I say, my voice casual. ‘No idea who he is.’” This tells me that 1) she isn't the most honest person to meet and 2) that she can say things that could possibly endanger her life nonchalantly like she isn't scared. It shows me that she is brave, but dishonest. It shows why she chose Dauntless, because she is very brave. It also shows that she can put a tone on her voice even when she is scared. This is why Divergent is in the top 5.

This claim that one line can say a lot about who the character is has made me think deeper about humanity because it made me realize that by saying one sentence a person can learn a lot about who you are and what background you come from. It made me want to hear one line and try to analyze it to see what type of person they are and what life they come from, a bad one of a good one. It can help me be more empathetic learning that one line says a lot about who the person is. It makes me wonder how people view me when I say one simple line. I wonder if I come across as sarcastic or honest or mean or nice. If I come across as smart or not. It made realize that a person could be trying to get their personality across by just saying one sentence. Hoping that would me enough for people to get the idea. It makes me want to think more deeply about who the person is by paying attention to maybe one or two lines of what they say in particular.