Book Clubs

I was in a book club with 3 other people. We read The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. This book was about a girl who was raped and killed. She looks on from heaven to see her friends and family learn to live without her, after trying to find her murderer. She watched her sister closely. She was kind of living through her sister because she couldn't grow up like her. By the end, her friends and family had moved on, this helped her move on too.

I was able to analyze the book in a group and listen to everyone’s opinions. Having many opinions can be a good thing sometimes. It can help others realize something they may not have realized on their own. Opinions can also bring up major conflicts and debates sometimes. Luckily our conversations didn’t result in any conflicts.

The way I see it, there were not any conflicts in our book clubs.If there were only two people in a group there would be more time for us to share opinions. Although I think having to go around the four people and have everyone contributing made it less likely for any debates or opinion issues to grow.

          

  The only thing I would think of changing is the book we read. If it was a dystopian book or something more interesting to my tastes, this could have been more interesting. I don’t really like mystery books, if The Lovely Bones would even fall under that category. The problem with choosing your own books like, is that not everyone in my group has my kind of tastes, and we would not work together if it was that way, even though we do work well together.

Overall book clubs were fun and interesting. If you like to read mysteries, I would recommend this book , if not it might be a little boring, but it's your choice.

Reading Response On Poem

Life is forever frightening, for if people were not afraid, nothing would seem fun.  Maya Angelou in her poem, “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” writes about many fears people have. She uses many literary devices in order to show these fears. Her use of repetition is used to show the reader, regardless of age, people should not be afraid.

            “Life doesn’t frighten me at all.” This line is repeated over and over again to prove the author’s point. The repetition may be showing the reader her confidence in what she says. That she is proud to not be afraid. This repetition could also be a result of wanting this to be true. When people want things to be true they often just wait and repeat it over and over again to convince themselves it is true. Poets use repetition to prove a point, Angelou may be afraid but should not.

            People always have fears, no matter what age they are. Angelou supports this by using fears from younger ages as well as older ages. “Mean old Mother Goose” seems like it would be a fear from a younger child. “Tough guys fight” seems to be a fear from an older person. Older people are more likely to be afraid of tough guys trying to beat them up. No one should be afraid, but there are fears from a wide range of ages.

            Although I have grown out of the mother goose fear phase, I still have fears myself. The poem seems to focus on fears from younger children, what Angelou does not mention are fears people of every age have, such as my fears. I am very afraid of spiders, little kids are sometimes afraid of spiders. I don’t know what makes them scary but they are. As my parents say, “you shouldn’t be afraid of them, you are so much bigger than them.” I shouldn’t be afraid, but I can’t help it.

            Everybody has many fears although they feel they should not be afraid. People go through phases of fears through life, but some stay forever. How can people of different ages work to not be afraid of some of these things?  Almost everything you see in life must be scary to some people.

It's Kind of a Funny Story

Depression is the reason kids commit suicide. Craig, in the book "It's Kind Of a Funny Story" by Ned Vinzinni suffers from depression. He works too hard at school and is having trouble with his friends. All this leads to depression, he was not eating right and not sleeping. Eventually, he thought of  commiting suicide, so he checked himself into a hospital where he stayed for five days.

I believe he was having trouble because he had no "anchors" (things to keep him safe and happy). He considered his friends anchors but he was smoking pot with them, they aren't the best influences. He should have anchors that actually make him happy instead of thinking he's happy. Also I think his anchor(s) should help him block out the world for a bit so he doesn't have to worry about anything.

The hospital acted as a good anchor for him because he wasn't going to school or dealing with anything in the "outside world". But the hospital is not an actual anchor because he can't just go there when he is feeling bad, he needs something he can do on his own as an anchor.

In the hospital, there were activity centers where people could play music and draw. Craig remembered drawing maps when he was a kid. Based on people's thoughts, he made outlines of people and filled up their brains with maps. This was very calming for him, he made his "brain maps" for everyone who wants them I the hospital. This art seems to be a better anchor for him.

Everyone has many struggles, but there is always that one thing that keeps someone calm when they are having a bad day. People have different methods for finding them and using them. Through the help of a hospital Craig has found his anchor. Someone's anchor can change throughout time, such as Craig's throughout the book

Pine Grove Poem

The snow
Up to your knees
Move as you please
As long as you don't mind being
Freezing

The heater
Filling up the room
You in your cocoon
With TV you can't help being
Warm

Whatever you like
Whenever you like
The freedom
Of Pine Grove

Safety vs. Privacy?

I read the article, Watching You by Patricia Smith in the New York Times Upfront Magazine. This article explained how the government is always watching, searching, and tracking you down. There are surveillance cameras everywhere. They also have body searches at airports. The government is now tracking what phone numbers you call from you phones. The amount of security has gone up sufficiently since the attack on September 11, 2001. People have different opinions about this.

Some people believe that what the government is doing is not saving our lives but destroying our privacy. The article states, "The idea of a right to privacy comes from the Constitution's Fourth Amendment, which protects against 'unreasonable searches and seizures.'" Some people want some privacy and others just want to stick to the rules of the constitution.

Others would rather have their lives saved than to have a sense of privacy. Rob Johnson age 21 in Chicago states in the article "I'd rather have them track who we're talking to if it saves American lives. I think it is OK for them to be that invasive." Many other people think similarly to Johnson. They would like to live and have America live and grow than have it die out from terrorist attacks. They do not mind going against the Constitution.

I am more in-between these two views. As I would like to have privacy and not have everything I do involve the government, I would also want so save lives of many innocent people. There are too many killings for no apparent reason, unless it was "to have fun." But the government doesn't need to know who we are dating or what we are having for dinner. I like and understand the idea of trying to save lives but maybe they should just back off a bit. Enough is enough.

The government is poking their heads around everybody's business, trying to keep the country safe. But what happens when they go too far? When it starts to get private?