Racism and Stereotypes in Advertising

The image showing the two little boys bringing jello to the woman in the rocking chair was the most shocking and it bothered me. It was a huge stereotype that the African Americans were illiterate and that they know a lot about comfort foods and drinks. I think that the majority of society has changed their views on this stereotype. A few of the stereotypes that circle my age group is that you have to be beautiful and a certain size to be popular and successful.

Survivor: The Simpsons

Some of the similarities to the first chapter in the Lord of the Flies and this clip are there are no adults that survived the crash. Glasses were used to start a fire. A conch was used to call all of the children  Some differences are that the bus crashed instead of a plane crashing. They showed the driver not surviving the crash, while in the book, it didn't mention anything about how many adults there were or anything about the adults in the crash. The glasses that were used to start the fire were scratched with a rock instead of using the sun. The writers or producers may have done this so the plot would relate to the characters so nothing was out of the ordinary. They also may have wanted to show what had happened in a shorter time so they could fit the entire plot into the time slot.

What are Important Qualities in a Friend?

Friends are the family that you get to choose. The most important qualities in a great friend are that they are reliable so you can always depend on them. A friend should be responsible and respectful to everyone and everything. An ideal friend should never judge you, and you should be able to tell them something when you need a friend to talk to. A good friend will be there when you need them and they will never put you down, but they will lift you up. Friends are the family that you get to choose, and I am very happy to have such amazing friends that go above and beyond what I think a great friend should be.

# 25- Dead Poets Society

     The first 20 minutes of The Dead Poets Society was pretty good. I found that the beginning was okay but as the movie progressed, it got more interesting.
     I found it quite weird when Robin Williams brought his class into the hall to see the hall of fame. But as he began to explain himself for his actions, I noticed that it made since. He was showing the boys to be themselves and follow their dreams. Another thing that made the movie great was when the teacher began to rip the pages out of the books. I would never do that because the students would have to pay for the books and ripping out the first page would not be a way to waste my money. The teacher is very different and believes that poetry should be more embarrassed in the schools just like science is.
     Overall, I enjoyed the movie. I found it off-the-wall and pretty good. I would definitely like to see the rest of the movie now so I can see how the movie ends.

# 24-The Heaven Shop- The LAST Fifth

     The book is now complete! I enjoyed the ending very much, but it wasn't what I exspected.
     My overall thoughts on the book were that the book was a very interesting book. I found the topic facinating and I learned a lot about AIDS and how it effects Malawi and Africa. I had to find some Kleenex when Gogo passed away because she was such an amazing character, taking care of all of those children and still enjoying life and being able to live happily. The Junie situation startled me. I never pictured her as a prostitute and I never thought that she would have got AIDS that way. (she could have got it from her mother) It never seemed to link with a daughter of Bambo. I was happy that The Heaven Shop Coffins business started again. I never exspected it to start up again because Bambo passed away and the children only knew a minimum about the coffin business. I guess my prediction was wrong. But over all, I was very happy with the book.
     A lesson that I learned from this book was to always be thankful for everything you have. We have no idea how lucky we are to have everything we have-good health, family, friends, a house, running water, ect... I am never going to complain when I don't have the latest gadget or the newest sunglasses ever again.
     I thought that the most important part of the book was the AIDS. If Binti's parents never got the disease, they never would have died, and Binti and her family would never of had to parted for eachother. Then there wouldn't have even been a story then which would have changed our english assignment and I wouldn't be writing this right now! The list goes on and on!
     I would reccomend this book to teenagers who want to learn about Malawi or AIDS. The setting is in Malawi and the book revolves around AIDS. I learned a great deal about AIDS and how the dealdly disease is effecting the whole world and this book helped my understanding of AIDS.
     I have read the book The Heaven Shop and I am happy to say that I now understand the AIDS disease and how it is effecting people is Malawi. I am very happy to say that this book is one of my favourite books that I have read in school.
   

#23-The Heaven Shop-Fourth Fifth

     This book just keeps getting better and better! I am happy that Binti is with her nicer cousins and her Gogo. I am also happy that Binti knows where her brother is-in prison. But he was only accused of stealing from his uncle. (the rude family)
     I find the setting very interesting and sad at the same time. Malawi is very different from Canada. Their climate is certainly different from ours. Canada receives snow while Malawi doesn't get any snow at all. Canada is green and luscious in plants while Malawi is a lot drier than here. I also find the setting sad. Malawi is heavily effected by AIDS and other diseases and they have hardly enough medicine for their population. In Canada, we have plenty of medicine to go around for diseases and we have a low number of people with AIDS and they are living longer than the population in Malawi with AIDS.
     My favourite character right now is Memory, Binti's cousin. She has lived with Gogo for a long time, she is a very young mother, (only a few years older than Binti) and she has AIDS. She knows how things are ran around Gogo's home and she was the oldest there, except Gogo. I read that Memory was living with her uncle who had friends with AIDS who thought if he had sex with a virgin, he would be cured. He ended up giving Memory the disease,  and a baby who now has the disease as well. She named her daughter Beauty. I applaud Memory for being a strong young mother and being able to take care of her other cousins as well.  I also admire Memory for living a normal life with her AIDS and not making it seem like it is the end of the world. She is a very strong person and I really admire her for that.  If I could talk to Memory, and ask her only three questions, I would ask her:

• How did you feel when you first found out that you had AIDS?
• How did your family treat you when they found out about your situation?
• If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be, and why?

I would ask her these questions because I want to know how a person who has AIDS goes on with life when they have the disease. I feel that these questions are irreverent to the book topic as well.
     I predict that Junie will be reunited with her siblings and they will go back to their home where they used to live.

#22- The Heaven Shop- Third Fifth

     What a stressful and wild part of the book! I feel terrible that Binti had to be separated from her brother and then her sister ran away and left Binti with her terrible cousins. I am again finding myself trying to put down this book so that I do not read it all in one night.
     I started to think about who I relate to the most in the book, The Heaven Shop. I think that I relate to Binti the greatest. We both have siblings, we are both girls, we both go to school and we both go to our grandmas if we are ever in a tough situation. Some ways that I am not like Binti are that she lives in Malawi and I live in Canada, I have my mother while hers passed away, her country has an AIDS problem while Canada doesn't and she used to go to a private school while I go to public school. Even though that we are millions of kilometers apart, Binti (if she is a real person) and I are the same in some ways.
    My least favourite part in the book so far would have to be when Binti's father passed away. He was one of my favourite characters and also in the roughest times, he would still seem to cheer everyone up. Another part I didn't favour was when Binti and Junie had to go to their cousin's house. The girls were treated like dirt because they may have AIDS. And also when Mary, one of the cousins tricked Binti into eating a banana that she wasn't allowed to have really made me upset. I felt sorry for Binti and Junie because they had to suffer through that. I also detested the uncle for accusing Binti and Junie of stealing his money when the girls had put the money away for a rainy day. The funds were from the money that Binti had earned at the radio station when she had to quit.
       I was just remembering our work on the Quest charts. I think that this story would fit perfectly into the chart. Growing Up would consist of Binti growing up in Malawi, her siblings and her mother passing away. Call to Adventure would be when Bambo passes away. The Quest would be the life at the uncles and how Binti gets to her Gogo. I am not able to fill in the Rewards but I hope that it would include Binti reuniting with her siblings.
     I predict that Binti will be reunited with her sister and then they will go and find their brother in Monkey Bay. I hope that the story gets better and better!

#21 The Heaven Shop- Second Fifth

     Wow, what a roller coaster ride in this part of the book! While I was reading the part where Binti's father died and at the funeral, it brought tears to my eyes. I am starting to enjoy the book more now that the pace has picked up.
     My overall thoughts on Binti's family ( the uncles) were that they are mean, selfish people who take advantage of nice, "rich" family members like Bambo and his children. I thought that Binti's aunts, uncles and cousins were very rude and took advantage of Binti's family. They would have money given to them from Bambo and they never seemed grateful that he was at least giving them a share of his profits. I think that also proves that they are selfish. Once they came to the funeral, they seemed to not even give remorse to Binti and her siblings when they were suffering after their loss. I think that they only came to the funeral to show they were "saddened" by the loss of Bambo and to see if there was any money left.
       The person that I dislike the most in the story right now would be the greedy family. Like I wrote before, they seemed to care little about Binti, Junie and Kwasi and wanted the rest of the money that Binti and her siblings had.
      My favourite character is Gogo, Binti's grandmother. I found that she is courageous, strong and innocent. Gogo is courageous and strong. The way she stood up at her son's funeral and talked about AIDS makes me think that.  AIDS has really effected Africa and the world, so the fact that she would stand up in front of all of those people who have probably been effected by AIDS and talked to them about how they should stop it, was very brave. The reason why I said Gogo is innocent is because she has lost many family members to AIDS and she cannot stop it. Many people have told me that it takes one person to change the world  but it seems so hard for Gogo. She is trying to spread the word that this disease has to stop but everyone knows that and still there seems to be no end. And now that she has spoken about AIDS and her outlook on it, I know that some how, that can make a difference.
     I predict that Binti and her siblings will be split up and be forced to live with the uncles, aunts and cousins. I also hope that this story doesn't have too many tearful events because I am running out of Kleenex!

# 20- The Heaven Shop First Fifth

     The book, The Heaven Shop I find is a very interesting book, so far. Many things helped form my opinion such as how the author introduced the characters,  introducing the background of the story, and what the main beginning conflict is in the novel.
     Deborah Ellis has written many other fascinating books like The Breadwinner that have to do with the conflicts surrounding our world today. You have told us numerous times that The Heaven Shop tells the readers what it is like to live in Malawi and how the AIDS disease is effecting their culture and the people. Ellis has shown me what life is like for Binti, the little girl who has lost her mother to the AIDS. The way that the author describes the little girl's life, it sounds as though she is one of the luckier children there. She  works at a radio series where she is the voice of a little girl about her age. She is at least bringing money into her family so they can afford the necessities and so her siblings and herself can attend private school. This is just one example of how Deborah Ellis is writing about the character's lives and I have learned all of that is just the first fifth.
      Also, Ellis has written the background of the story very well in my opinion. She has told me about Binti's mother who died of AIDS and how it has effected her and her family. I have also learned about Bambo (Binti's father) and how he has been ill a few times with what the doctors believe to be as AIDS. Ellis is showing her readers what the daily lives are like for the African child just by showing Binti's past to me. Only a talented writer can challenge themselves to do what Deborah Ellis has achieved so far in this story.
     I know that the main conflict is AIDS and how it effects everyone world-wide. You have told us many times in class that this book revolves around AIDS, the way that Bambo is becoming more sick day by day and that Binti's mother died of the disease, I can tell that this book will talk a lot about AIDS. I have heard the term, but I didn't really know what it was. After the report that we have to do on our novels and after  I am done reading this book, I will hopefully understand the concept of AIDS better.
        I predict that Binti's father will get more sick and that Binti will have to decide weather or not she can keep going at the radio station. I also hope that the book picks up and gets more interesting.

#19- Much Ado About Nothing

     "We are starting Shakespeare..." Oh great. Why? I love english except for the Shakespeare and grammer studdies. Everything else I can handle. I was thinking those words all through out the english classes leading up to last week. When Mr. McGuchan said that we had to act out a Shakespearean play, I died just thinking about how we have to dress up, speak with accents while saying words that we don't even know the meaning to! But I have to say, that the M.A.A.N. play is starting to look a little nicer than other plays that I have had to do.
     I felt that the movie was an okay movie. It was better than some plays that we have watched. But, I still don't know what the hey nonny nonny part was about, or even what it ment. It was a little weird how in the beginning they all decided to bathe together. I also found that the characters were a little confusing to remember, but after I finally learned most of the people's names. It was also a little okward when Don John tricked everyone into thinking that Hero had cheated by making Margret look like Hero when she was saying "hello" to her lover. I enjoyed the ending of the play when the two couples  got married and lived happily ever after.
     I loved where the setting was. Italy is so beautiful that it added more amazement to the play. When the movie was at a standsitll, you just looked in the background and you could see how beautiful the landscape was and why the director and Shakespeare decided to place the play there.
    I was also excited when I heard that we were going to watch a Shakespearian play that wasn't a ragedy! The plays that I have seen from Shakespeare was Romeo and Juliette and Julian Cesear and I was starting to think that Shakespeare was a depressed man while he was alive and writing all of his plays.
   So, to conclude my feelings of the play Much Ado About Nothing, I feel that it is a romantic, funny play and I can't wait to actually be able to understand most of the words that they said as we dig deeper into the meaning of the play.

# 18- Growing Up Online

For parents, the internet is...
a scary, dark, unknown place where anything can happen, or it's a revolution and a new way of life.
The parents in the film, Growing Up Online seemed to think that the internet is horrible and ruining their children's lives. Some parents went a little too far, like that one mom who found the pictures from the concert and told all the parents. (sorry that I can't think of the mom's name) She ruined the relationship between her son and her forever. But the one thing that I thought was good about that mom was that she monitored her chldren on the computer. By having the computer in the kitchen where everyone could see it, the kids were a little more careful on the computer.

      But parents have to trust their kids. Let us just have one chance and if we blow it by failing a class, or becoming obsessed with the internet,then take it away from us for a bit. There is software on the computers that allows you to set a time limit on the computer usage. Also, if you just look at the computer history, you can see exactly where your children were looking on the internet, how long,what time ect... so you can be sure we are not on inappropriate websites or stuff like that. Some parents are just way too over protective of their children. I can understand if you want us to be your little babies who don't even know how to turn the computer on, but times are changing! When we are in the workforce, we will be relying on the devices to stay intouch with work and just to be able TO work. We are not in the 1900's where we are writing stuff down. If we need to do something, we take out our Blackberries, Iphones or whatever and type it in there. Also, look in our schools! There is at least 2 Smartboards that I know of at our school and most of our assingnments are done on the computers at home and school. This is just the way our society is moving into the future and we can't stop it.

     Some parents think that the internet is the most amazing thing since sliced bread. Some parents spend more time on the divices, computers and internet more than their own kids. I can see that in some ways that is good, such as the parents can keep up with what the children are doing and keep up with the technology. But, when the PARENTS start ignoring the family and start acting like teenagers, there  may be a problem. What I mean by that is when the kids start saying to their moms and dads, "Okay, it's time to get off the computer." or "Seriouly? Put the Blackberry away!!!" then that's a little too far.

     So, this is just how I look at how the parents of our generation are looking at the internet. The scary thing is that if you asked the question, what do parents think of the internet? in 25 years, we will be saying how amazing it is and how we cannot live with out it. But by then, there would be a new technology like personal robots that can do anything. And then after everyone has a robot, the robots will take over the world. Well, that's technology for you. It's always changing the way people think.


    

#17-Growing Up Online

For Teenagers, the internet is...
a place where you don't have to be yourself and you can express your feelings and your "true identity" With the new social websites like Facebook and Twitter, any teenager can go onto the social networks and create a new personality for themselves. With blogs, like blogger, teens can express their feelings on a certain topic.  (just like what I am doing right now) As a teenager, after watching the documentary, Growing Up Online, I have finally been able to see the disadvantages of the internet for our age group. Whatever we put out onto the internet, anyone can retrieve the information, even if it was deleted. So, if we are applying for a job or university, the adults can go onto the internet, google our names (or whatever they do) and find everything that we have done. Before we saw this documentary, I wasn't even thinking about what I was posting on facebook. Sure I didn't swear or anything like that, but it still made me think about what I had online. I tried to see where I could clean up my profile page to make it look less okward to me. And just a few days ago when I saw some different posts on Facebook, it made me think about the film. I thought about how that one, little post could stop that person from following their dreams.
     So, when I try to finish the sentence, for teenagers, the internet is... I find myself after thinking about how the internet has changed our generation for ever.

#16 Group Song

My group song was called "A Boy Named Sue." When I first read the title, I was thinking, oh this is going to be a different song.  This song is about a boy named Sue who's father left his wife and child at a young age. It scarred Sue that his name was Sue so he decided to hunt down his father and try to kill him. When he finally finds his father, and attacks him. His father says how he doesn't blame him if Sue wants to kill him, but he explains Sue's name. He named Sue Sue because he knew it would toughen him up. In the end, they make up and Sue decides that he is going to name his son Bill or George, anything but Sue. The messege is that you cannot judge a man by his name. Sue seems like a girly name for a boy but Sue was as tough as nails. This also prooves not to give up on yourself. Sue searched in every bar he came accross until he finally found that man who named him Sue.

#15-Cue for Teason chapters 21-25

Well, all good things must come to an end. This book was AMAZING!!! I was super happy when Kit and Peter found the money in the saddle. I was getting a little worried when they discovered they had no money and this was just a miracle. I was very scared when the 4 drunks came up and assulted Peter and Kathrynn. After they had just discovered the money, the next day this happened to them. And then, if things couldn't get worse, Sir Philip showed up and almost caught them. My heart sank just thinking they have come this far to get caught. Next, I wanted to jump up and squeal when Mr Desmond arrested Sir Philip and his gang. I was so happy that after everything that he had done to the people of Cumberland and wanting to assasinate the queen, I though that justice was served. Overall, I loved this book and I would reccomend it to everyone, period.

#14-Cue for treason chapters 16-20

There were many more surprises in the next few chapters!  I was very scared when Peter and Kit could not find Tom. I started to think about what happened to him, like if he was captured by Sir Philip. I was also mortified when Peter was captured by Duncan and held prisioner. I just kept thinking about how Kit must feel since first Tom went missing and now Peter! I also felt bad for Duncan. He was so nice to Peter, giving him food and water and in the end, Peter smashes him over the head to escape. Another part where I was surprised was when Peter threw the man over the edge of the cliff. I know that it was Peter's life, or the man's life and of course we want Peter to live, but just the fact that Peter did that was inhumane. Another part where I was on the edge of my seat was when Sir Philip came back to Peter's house and tried to break into the house to capture the "criminals." The way Geoffrey Trease was writing the story was just very discriptive, painting a wild scene in my head. I just can't wait to finish the book and see the ending!

# 13 Take Our Kids to Work Day

What a blast! I had so much fun at General Dyamics Land Systems-Canada for Take Our Kids to Work Day. I had to wake up at 5:30 am and be in London for 6:30am! I am still catching up on my lost sleep! We got to tour the plant and see how tanks are made. The most exciting part for me was getting to see a tank up close! I also met up with a guy who now works at GDLS that went to I.D.C.I! That was pretty cool too! I think that we should be able to do this special day through out school so we can see what the work force is about. Or we should bring our parents in for Take Our Parents To School Day to see what we have to do! That would be awesome!

#13-Cue for Treason chapters 11-15

Who knew that just from tearing down a wall, Peter would end up trying to save his country from a cival war! When the yellow-jacketed man pirated the plays, I knew that was coming. The way the author kept droping hints about pirating the plays, it was bound to happen. I was quite surprised when Peter said that he was going to climb into the pirate's house and get the play's back. I was just thinking that maybe they would tell Shakespear and then he would just drop the play or just get it done sooner because it would be easiar then breaking into a house. I also never saw the next part coming!  Peter and Kit got back and saw the play on the back that had a secret messege on the back which took them back to Cumberland. I was thinking that it was going to be a plan for an assasination or something like that. But I guess that since they want to start a war to bring their country down, it is in the same lines. So now that they are back in Cumberland, hiding out, and then all of a sudden, Tom goes missing! I thought that maybe he had an aliance between Sir Philip Morton and himself. I guess that I am just going to have to read on!

#12-Cue for Treason chapters 6-10

Wow, talk about SURPRISE!!! All of a sudden, Peter is faced with some new challeges! I thought that there was something fishy about Kit, but I never would have thought that she was a girl who was running away from Sir Philip in order not to marry him! I was thinking that maybe she was a murderur, or a worker for Sir Philip. That was a huge surprise! I also thought that it was quite out of the blue when Mr Desmond broke his leg on the way to London. I felt horrible for Peter and Kit. I am also very happy that William Shakespear is in the story line now. He has added a lot more interesting factors into the plot. I also find that this story is giving us a different look on Shakespear because all that I have heard about him was how he wrote Romeo and Juliete. I never realized how hard it was to be a play writer back in the 1500's until I read this book. Some of the hard times include the pirating of plays.

#11-Princess Bride

When I heard that we were going to watch the movie Princess Bride, I was very excited. I haven't seen the movie in a few years. I have always thought that the story plot was a little weird. When Buttercup thinks that Westley is dead and gets engaged to the Prince, I was horrified! Then when they reunite in the weirdest way, a kidnapping, that was outside the box. I really enjoyed the end when the Prince was left alone, Montoya killed the 6-fingered man, and Buttercup and Westley lived happily ever after. I felt that it was a good ending to a "different" plot.

#10-novel presentations

I enjoyed the novel presentations. It was neat to hear from people that you don't really know and see their prespective on a book. The most memorable presentation would have to be Sue's presentation. I couldn't get over how she kept going on and on for 15 minutes about the same book! My one freind told me about the same book (sorry that I can't think of the title!) in about 5 minutes. The most interesting book that I heard was the Hunger Games. I got to see many different views on the book, from all of the different presentations. I may even read the book series!