Q2 Ruth

I don’t know if we have to do a blog post this week, but I’ll do one just to be safe. This week I read Ruth from the Bible. Ruth is the story of a young girl who is recently widowed. Her mother-in-law, Naomi, tells her she and her sister-in-law can return to their families and their home town. Ruth’s sister-in-law returns home but Ruth tells Naomi, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord read with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me” (Ruth 1:16b-17). Ruth goes to Bethlehem with Naomi and decides to gather grain or wheat that the workers have dropped. Boaz, the second in line to marry Ruth after her first husband died, sees her out gathering and tells his men to drop good pieces of grain for her to gather and to treat her well. That night when Ruth goes home, Naomi tells her to go to Boaz’s harvest party that night and to “note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down” (Ruth 3:4). Ruth does this and Boaz falls in love with her. He knows that he cannot marry her unless Ruth’s kinsman-redeemer denies her. Boaz goes to him and convinces him to deny her. He does and Boaz married Ruth. Ruth had a child, Obed. He grew up to be the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Q2 Emma

This week I continued reading Emma. I really enjoy this book but find it hard to read for long periods of time due to the language and length of each section. I am now on page 70 of the book. One part of the book I liked was when Mr. Knightly said to Mrs. Weston about Emma, “She always declares she will never marry, which, of course, means just nothing at all. But I have no idea that she has yet ever seen a man she cared for” (5, 37). I thought a lot about this quote this week because while talking with my friend one day she claimed she would not date anyone in high school. I immediately thought of this quote in Emma. My friend, like Emma, may be able to make that claim now and mean it with all her heart. But when a man comes along that captures my friend or Emma’s attention, they will probably go back on their word. The ironic part of Mr. Knightly saying this is that he goes on to fall in love with Emma. He may have even loved her when he said this. Mr. Knightly thinks that when Emma meets a man that captivates her, she will marry him. Mr. Elton will come along and propose but Emma will refuse because he does not interest her. But when she begins to see Mr. Knightly in a new light, she is horrified to find that Harriet likes him. In the end, Emma and Mr. Knightly marry even though she has known him for a long time and even though he sees so many faults in her. Perhaps my friend also already knows that man she will love. She just needs to see him in a new light.

Q2 Emma

This week I also read 46 pages of Emma, by Jane Austin. I love watching the Jane Austin movies, and Emma being my favorite I decided to read it first. After a few years of putting it off for quicker reads or school books, I finally picked it up. And now I can’t seem to put it down. I have always loved the characters in this story. Emma is so cleaver and meddles in so many people’s business. Her best friend Harriett listens to Emma’s every word and does whatever she says. Mr. Knightly sees the faults in Emma and has no problem telling her so. Mrs. Weston is so kind towards Emma and patient with her paranoid father. Mr. Elton is so oblivious that Emma wants him to fall in love with Harriett. She instead falls in love with her. And poor Mr. Martin has no idea what ideas Emma has been putting in Harriett’s head. My favorite characters in the story are Mr. Knightly and Emma. Their relationship is interesting to see. Emma is shallow and cleaver, concerned only with the affairs of others. But she also cares for the poor and sickly. Mr. Knightly sees Emma’s faults, while most others cannot. While talking to Mrs. Weston he tells her, “At ten years old she had the misfortune of being able to answer questions which puzzled her sister at seventeen” (5, 34). I have found this book to be just as good as the movie, if not better!

Q2 What Was Lost

This week I read 22 pages of What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn. In this section we learned why Kate is allowed to go the mall on her own. This is because her father died and her grandma is taking care of her. One morning Kate went downstairs to find her father lying on the floor dead. He had a stroke. Her grandmother moves in and she takes care of Kate. Although the grandmother loves Kate she is not an active member in Kate’s life. One thing I found interesting was that Kate did no seem to grieve very much. It seemed to me for about a week Kate was sad but after that she moved on. It is apparent though that Kate misses her dad. Before he died he had given her a How to be a Detective book. She uses this book everyday in her investigating and treasures it. She has read it many times. Also, it is apparent she misses her dad when she must go to the mall alone. Kate now has a “friend” Mickey, the toy monkey that helps with her investigations. Before, her father always helped. We learn of Kate’s fear of dogs in this section. I think that her fear of dogs may play a role somewhere further in the novel. In addition we learn more of her friendship with Adrien. It seems he and his fathers are some of the only people Kate talks to outside of school. In school Kate seems to not have any friends. So far this book has been slow moving and I have not found it to be very interesting.

Q2 What Was Lost

This week I read the first 26 pages of What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn. The little girl the story is about at this point’s mane is Kate. I found it interesting that Kate’s family allow her to take the city bus to the Green Oaks shopping mall alone. She spends most of her days at this mall and even one night. She has no friends her own age. Her “best friend” is Adrian, a 22-year-old man who works at a shop on her street. Kate runs a detective business she calls Falcon Investigations. Her only client so far has been Adrian at his shop. He wanted her to come up with an idea that would eliminate some shoplifting. One character we have met so far in the story is Teresa. She sits next to Kate in class and has major behavioral problems. Kate notices that Teresa has busies and burn marks on her skin. I wonder what will happen with Teresa and if Kate will discover anything more about her. I find it interesting how observant Kate is. She notices little things, knows where everything is at the mall, and she is very outgoing. It seems that although her parents don’t notice where she goes very much, she is still a very independent, polite girl. She would never commit any crime because of all the time she spends hunting down her suspects. So far this book has been very interesting and I hope it continues to get better.

Q2 Covenant Child

This week I finished all 305 pages of Covenant Child, by Terri Blackstock. It was a fascinating book about keeping promises. One quote that sums up the story is, “It isn’t because of money. It never was. It’s because of a promise made to a man I don’t remember… by a woman I thought I hated,” (40, 304). The story begins with Amanda falling in love and marrying Jack Holbrooke. She soon discovers that he is the son of the Holbrookes, who own HolCorp, a billion dollar corporation. He also has twin little three year old girls, Lizzie and Kara, from a previous marriage. Their mother was killed in a car crash just a few weeks after their birth. After only six months of marriage, Jack and his parents board a plane to go to a wedding, but Amanda stays home to care for the sick girls. She loves them as her own and they too love her. The plane goes down and everyone is killed, leaving Amanda the business, estate, and all the money. The only thing she is not allowed to keep is the only thing she cares about and wants; the girls. Her adoption papers were not finalized before Jack died, and despite her promise to him to take care of the girls should anything happen, they are taken. After a lengthy court case the judge rules to give the girls to Deke and Eloise, Jack’s first wife’s parents, from whom she ran away from at the age of fifteen. They are awarded 10 million dollars to care for the girls. They steal, gamble the money, abuse the girls, and leave them to fend for themselves. The twins grow up poorly, drinking, gambling, doing drugs, and sleeping with anyone. Amanda is not allowed to visit, and Deke and Eloise have told the girls she is evil. So when Amanda shows up on their 18th birthday, Kara refuses to trust her. Lizzie does though and leaves with Amanda for a life filled with love and comfort. Kara grows to hate this woman who seems too good to be true. She marries Rudy who eventually starts to abuse her and one night almost kills her. She finally runs away to Amanda and lives with her, learning of the love she turned down. This story was very complex and captivating. I really enjoyed this book and would really recommend it. There is a very interesting underlying message. Towards the end you realize that the story is not what it seems to be, but that all the character represents something else. I will leave the message and underlying story up for you to decide!

Annotated Bibliography

Question: Should students have to wear school uniforms?

Darden, Edwin C. "What Not to Wear." American School Board Journal 195 (2008): 36-37. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 7 Dec 2008 http://www.sirs.com/.

Edwin C. Darden is a contribution editor to the American School Board Journal. Darden works as an attorney and as the director of education policy at Appleseed, which is a national organization that focuses on K-12 educational law, educational policy, and social justice. The intended audiences are school boards around the country. Darden shows the pros and cons to mandating school uniforms and dress codes. This work is more for uniforms than against. The other article I read, Uniforms: Are They a Good Fit?, by Marsha Boutelle showed both sides equally. This work by Darden told about different court cases involving uniforms. These cases show how the government ruled on the school uniform issue. It also interviewed school district superintendents from different districts to learn their view on uniforms.

Boutelle, Marsha. "Uniforms: Are They a Good Fit?" Education Digest 73 (2008): 34-37. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 7 Dec 2008 http://www.sirs.com/.

Marsha Boutelle writes for the Californian Schools Magazine. This article in particular was taken from the Fall 2007 issue. The audience is parents of students in the middle school and high school grades. The article presents convincing reasons for and against school uniforms for students. On one hand, uniforms and dress codes can take away some freedom of expression, but on the other hand, uniforms eliminate some social issues. This article is written for a broader audience than, What Not to Wear, by Edwin C. Darden. Boutelle’s article is written with a short anecdote for the reader to better understand her point. It also lays out the article in sections to help the reader follow. This article shows parents and teacher’s view on uniforms. Boutelle wrote the article taking interviews from people who have been affected by uniform rules. Those interviewed have strong opinions either for or against uniform and dress code rules.

U.S. Department of Education, "Manuel on School Uniforms." Archived Information. 19 Febuary 1992. U.S. Department of Education Safe and Drug Free Schools. 8 Dec 2008 http://www.ed.gov/updates/uniforms.html.

The U.S Department of Education helps to preserve the legislation involving schools passed by the President. Safe and Drug Free Schools is a federal government system set up reduce drug, tobacco, chemical use, and violence in the schools. The intended audience is school districts who are putting in place a new uniform policy. The article gives tips and advice on how to do so effectively. This work is based more on the dos and don’ts for schools putting in a uniform rule than the pros and cons of the initial step in deciding to do so. This article assumes the school is putting the rule in place. The other works I have read focus more on the negative and positive points. This article will help me because it shows specific examples of schools that have uniforms and shows exactly how they put these rules in place. The article gives me data on how well the uniforms have helped lower violence and improve the overall student attitude.

Brackett, Elizabeth. "Uniform Look." Online News Hour. 17 April 1996. Pacific Life. 8 Dec 2008 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/uniform_4-17.html.

Elizabeth Brackett works as a reporter for WTTW, a Chicago public news station. She has been a NewsHour correspondent since 1984. She received the Peabody award in 1988 and an Emmy Award. She generally reports on politics and urban issues. The audience is the general public so they can take a first hand look at the effects of uniforms in troubled school districts. This article interviews different students at Farragut Public High School which has a uniform policy that has helped the school be more safe. It also interviewed students at DuSable Public High School whose uniform policy only caused more problems. This work had more first hand accounts with quotes from students, principles, and school district leaders who have experienced the effects, both good and bad, of school uniform rules than other articles I have read. This article shows why some students are so opposed to uniforms and why some like them so much. It shows first hand uniforms that have worked, and ones that have not.

Q2 Katie Weldon: On A Whim

I’ve decided for my outside of reading book I’m going to read On a Whim, by Robin Jones Gunn. I read 37 pages this week. Jane Eyre was too long and I just don’t have the time to finish it. The book, On a Whim, is part of a very long story consisting of many different series such as Christy Miller, Sierra Jensen, Christy and Todd, and Glenbrook. In total there are about 35 books. The particular book is a part of the newest series, Katie Weldon. The story line starts out following Christy Miller as she moves from her small home town in Wisconsin, to Southern California. There she becomes friends with Katie and Todd. Later, on a trip to England she meets Sierra. At the beginning of the books, Christy is a freshman in high school and they continue until she is out of college and married to Todd. This particular book, On a Whim, from the Katie Weldon books, starts out with Katie and Christy making popcorn in Christy and Todd’s apartment. Katie burns it and starts the microwave on fire. Her boyfriend, Rick, lives in an apartment on a lower level of the same building. His roommate, Eli, smells the fire and come up to see if he can help. Katie from the start has not liked Eli and is not pleased to see he has come to the door. After the mess is cleaned up, Rick comes up and he and Christy tell Katie she must be more gracious towards Eli. Once Rick leaves, Katie spends some time telling Christy how she wants to do something out of the ordinary. When leaving Christy’s he car breaks down and who should show up but Eli. He offers her a ride and she is forced to accept. She finds out the he is going into the desert to watch a meteor shower. This seems crazy enough to her, and she is eager to be more patient with Eli so she decides to go with him. So far lots of little things have happened in this book and I’m excited to get further in the story to see where Katie’s spontaneous life will take her.

Q2 Esther

This week I didn’t have time to read my outside of reading book, but I did read the book and story of Esther from the Bible. It’s a fascinating story of a young girl named Esther. The story starts with the provinces from India to Cush all partying for 180 days. The last week of this giant party, the King Xerxes is quite drunk and demands that his wife, Queen Vashti, is brought to him. When she refuses, the King’s advisers predict that if she is not banished from the kingdom, all the women in the King’s provinces will rebel against their husbands. The Queen is then thrown out. All the young ladies in Susa, the province closest to the castle, are taken from their families and brought to the castle. For the next weeks and months the girls are given beauty treatments. Esther stands out to the king and his advisers. She is humble and down-to-earth. The King chooses her to become his new bride and although Esther is not happy about leaving her only family, Mordecai, behind, she accepts and becomes the Queen. What the King does not know about Esther is that she is a Jew. The king’s second in command, Haman, secretly hates Esther’s cousin and father like figure, Mordecai. When Haman learns he is a Jew, he goes to the King. He tells of how there is religious group conspiring against the king. The King then blindly signs a decree ordering all Jews to be killed. When Mordecai learns of this, he goes to the gate and tells Esther she must approach the King and stop this evil. This fate of the Jews lies in this young girl’s hands. She is terrified to do so for approaching the King in court without being called to do so is punishable with death. She at first refuses but in the end after reading a letter Mordecai sends her decides to save her people. In his letter Mordecai wrote something to Esther that stood out to me, “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” Esther became Queen for a purpose. She was born to save the Jews from Haman. She eventually, with the strength of God, approaches the King. He greets her warmly and welcomes her. Never once does he question why she has entered his court, let alone order her killed. She gets the courage to speak up after three days of dining with the King and because of his love for her, he listens. She tells of Haman’s selfish plans to kill the Jews, her people. The Jews are saved because of one young girl’s courage and faith to stand up for what she knows is right even if doing so may kill her.

Q2 Jane Eyre

For this quarter’s outside reading I have chosen to read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I have not had much time to read this week but so far the book is really good. It is a long book so I hope I will be able to finish it. Hopefully over thanksgiving break I will have more time to read. In the first seventeen pages of the book the relationship between Jane and John is already apparent. John Reed is a 14-year-old boy. He is fat and lazy yet his mother loves and praises him. He rarely attends school and treats Jane cruelly. He cares nothing for her well being, hoping only to torment her. Jane is a young 10-year-old girl. Her parents passed away and left her in the care of her uncle, Mr. Reed, who has since then passed away. Mrs. Reed is now Jane’s guardian and she cares little for the girl. Jane feels no matter how hard she tries she will never live up to Mrs. Reed’s expectations for her. Although her children constantly misbehave, Jane who tries so hard to be perfect for her finds she always falls short. Jane wonders to herself, “Why was I always suffering, always browbeaten, always accused, for ever condemned? Why could I never please? Why could I never please?” (2, 14). This quote stood out because it shows how no matter how hard Jane tried to please everyone, she never could. There would always be something she did wrong, something the matter with her. She could never please everyone with everything. I wonder what Jane will decide to do about this?