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?

Q2 Breaking Dawn

This week I read 360 pages of Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer. Bella is pregnant with a monster that is killing her, Jacob broke off from his pack, and Edward is not so charming anymore. In all the other books that whole vampire thing was not as prominent. You knew they drank blood but it was not gross to think about for some reason. In this book Bella, still human, is drinking blood and that is so gross. The baby is killing her and constantly breaking her bones. It had to be ripped out of her stomach. There is just too much blood compared to the other books. Also, at the start of the book Bella decides to stay human and go the Dartmouth, but when the thing starts growing she had no choice but to become a vampire. What I do like about this book is how Rosalie starts to become friends and protect Bella, even if it is just to save the baby. I have liked Rosalie from that start so I’m glad they get along now. I also like that although Jacob doesn’t end up with Bella, he imprints on her baby. This means they will fall in love. I’m glad that at least if he can’t have Bella he can love her child. I hope this book gets better because I may not even finish it if the story line doesn’t improve. The last three books were very captivating so I’m disappointed that the fourth one that was supposed to be the best is so gory and boring.

Q1 Free Response 7

This week I finished the last 368 pages of New Moon by Stephanie Meyer. I also read the first 385 pages of Eclipse also by Stephanie Meyer. In the Twilight books I find Bella and Jacob’s relationship to be quite confusing. In Twilight, the first book, Jacob helps Bella realize that Edward is a vampire. In the next book he is there to comfort her when Edwards runs out of her life. He is her best friend during this time. When Edward returns Jacob is angry and tells Charlie, Bella’s dad, about how Bella has been riding a motorcycle against his wishes. She is very hurt that he betrayed her after he promised to keep that secret. Edward and Jacob are enemies, so Edward bans Bella from seeing Jacob. Finally, Edward changes his mind and decides to trust Bella since she is miserable with out her best friend. She is at last allowed to see Jacob again. One day when she is at Jacob’s home, Jacob kisses her despite Bella’s objection. She punches him and breaks her knuckles. She is furious at him and never wants to see him again. Edward happily agrees, but soon both Edward and Jacob find themselves having to put their differences aside to protect Bella from an army of young vampires who have set out to kill her. I have yet to find out how the story ends, but I hope Bella ends up with Edward and forgets Jacob entirely. I know this won’t happen, but what Edward can do is change Bella into a vampire soon so that Jacob can not be around her anymore.

q1 Free Response 6

This week I read 414 more pages of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. At this point in the story a tracker vampire named James is after Bella. When the Cullens are playing baseball during a thunder storm some other cannibal vampires are passing through and stop to play. One of them caught the sent of Bella and now will not stop chasing her until he can kill her. The Cullen family plans to join forces to protect Bella from the tracker. Alice and Jasper take Bella to Phoenix trying to out smart James. Emmett, Edward, and Carlisle act as a decoy taking Bella’s truck and driving north. They plan to kill him if they get the chance. Rosaline and Esme also act as decoys distracting James’ vampire friend, Victoria. Bella is very upset that she has caused so much trouble. She especially fears for the safety of Charlie and Renee, her parents. She hopes that James or Victoria will not go after them. Alice, who can the future, notices that James will come to Phoenix and seek Bella. He will try to attack her at an old ballet studio with a VCR in it. He sends Bella a message tricking her into thinking he had her mother to kill, so she goes to meet him. He nearly kills her but Edward saves her, removing the venom from where James bite her. I also read 195 pages of New Moon, the second book in the series Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. So far it is not quite as good as the first book but hopefully it will get better as I get further into the story.

Q1 Free Response 5

This week I read 128 pages of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I have finally given in to all my friends who insist this is a great book despite the fact that it is about a stupid vampire who is attracted to Bella’s blood. After reading the first six chapters I still am not convinced Twilight is as amazing as everyone says.
Dear Bella,
I know how you felt the day in biology class when you were supposed to prick your finger to find your blood type but fainted during the demonstration instead. One day in eighth grade science class we were supposed to use a toothpick a pull some skin off of the inside of our cheek and I fainted. It was really embarrassing and though I have outgrown my week stomach, I still remember that day well.
I also understand how you hate living in Forks because of all the rain. I hate it when it rains because of how sticky and humid it gets. My hair gets the thick wet greasy feeling and gets really frizzy and curly. I could never stand to spend even one day in Forks. Edward Cullen confuses me and I think you should just forget about him. Jacobs right about him being a vampire and he wants to drink your blood which is the most absurd thing. If I were you avoid Edward like he advises you too, all your troubles could be avoided. He clearly is superhuman, being able to lift a car and make dents in it without being injured. Why did you not realize this from the start?
Sincerely,
Aimee

Q4 Free Response 4

This week I read thirty more pages of Vienna Prelude by Bodie Thoene. In this section of the book Theo gets help from Murphy to escape Berlin. He goes to Murphy’s hotel room and gives him a letter to mail to Elisa and Anna. The Gestapo had followed him to the hotel and now are waiting outside to arrest Theo for leaving his home. Murphy comes up with the plan and sends decoys out dressed like Theo to fool the Gestapo. Eventually it’s safe to leave the building and Murphy drives Theo, also an air force hero, to an airport and sends him off safely in an old jet.
One quote that really stood out to me was, “‘Now help me push, or leave me to my own fate!’” (14, 122). I thought if was interesting because the Odyssey and Iliad, two books we just read, also deal a lot with fate. This quote is spoken my Theo when he is about to fly out of Germany in an old plane. He knows that this is his only chance to escape death. If he stays in the country he will be put to death and all his money taken from him. He can avoid his fate by flying out of Berlin while the Gestapo are chasing after his decoys.
Another thing that I thought was interesting was that pre-world war two, no one in any other country was concerned in preventing the holocaust. Few people thought it was a threat to Europe so powerful countries like Brittan or the United States did not step to stop Hitler. Millions of Jews lost their lives in concentration camps. Most of these deaths could have been prevented had we stopped the war before it started. When Brittan did finally send help, they sent a Jew hater, Nevile Henderson, to help. Neither country made wise decisions at the beginning of Hitler’s reign which sadly led to the demise of many Jews’ and other “impure” people.

Q1 Free Response 3

This week I read 24 more pages of “Vienna Prelude” by Bodie Thoene. Elisa has just arrived in the Austrian Alps except without her father, Theo. The Gestapo forced him off the train and made him return home. The Gestapo think that if Theo remains in Germany, the family will be forced to return. They want their money which at the moment is stored in various banks in other parts of Europe.
Meanwhile in the mountains, Anna, Elisa’s mother, and the family are worried sick about Theo. They also worry that their secret will be discovered. They have told Franz and his family that they are from Vienna, not Germany. One night Franz discovers Elisa in the barn. She tells him a little of her story and how she is worried for her father. Franz in turn tells her that his brother, Otto, is not completely loyal to Austria. He favors Hitler and his communist ideas. This information is vital for Elisa’s family’s survival.
The next day Anna and Elisa go into a big vacationing city in Austria. They make reservations at a hotel, visit a doctor, go shopping, eat lunch, and most importantly renew their visa to stay in Austria. They also make sure some German Gestapo see them and write some letters to Theo. By going to this city they hope to fool the Gestapo into thinking they are here. This will hopefully buy them the much needed time to figure out what they are going to do. They know that returning to Germany is the worst thing they could do.
Theo on the other hand is worried that his family will return to dangerous Germany. He also knows that his family’s return would be the end of them and wants to protect them. The ironic part in all of this is that when Anna sends him a letter letting him know that they will be staying in Austria longer, he is too busy writing them a letter pretending he has died. He hopes this will keep them from coming. The letter he did not read would have let him know that they were staying in longer and relieve all his fears. This book is very captivating and I look forward to reading more.

Q1 Free Response 2

This week I read seventeen pages from the book “I Ain’t Comin’ Back” by Dolphus Weary. The book is a memoir of Mr. Weary’s life growing up in Mendenhall, Mississippi. He grew up in the 1950s and 60s, a time of great racial segregation. Being black and poor, his future did not look very bright, yet his mother wanted each of her seven kids to grow up to get a good education.
Over MEA his year, I have to opportunity to go on a missions trip to Mendenhall. It is one of the areas most devastated by poverty in all of the United States. Because Mr. Weary did choose to go back to his home town after college, there is now a school, church, and a few other buildings started by his organization. When you enter this town you see that on one side of the railroad tracks live the rich white people. These are the homes with lawns, flowers, white picket fences, and there live people with steady jobs. On the other side of the tracks live the poor, African-American people with houses that are falling apart, and money only to buy necessities.
One quote that stood out to me in my reading this week was, “When you grow up like that, you don’t dread not having things- you dream about having them” (2,14). He went on to talk about how for us, everyday we get the choice of what we want to eat for breakfast. Eggs, toast, waffles, honey nut, fruit loops, bacon, banana. Growing up, the thought of even getting to choose between cheerios and honey nut was a dream. He never had a real bath tub with running water, and never used a shower until college. He never had ice cream until he was ten. They did not have the money to own a freezer in their house.
This really made me think of how blessed I am. Not only could I eat ice cream every night if I wanted to, but I also could have the choice of what kind of ice cream I wanted to eat. Looking in my freezer today we have chocolate and vanilla ice cream and frozen yogurt. If my shirt rips, it is okay because I have fifty some others in my closet and dresser. In Edina, most of us are very well off. But there must to be some among us who do live in some sort of poverty, even if they are not as extreme as those of Mr. Weary. What can we do to help these people within our own town and country?

Q1 Free Respose 1

This week I read eighty-two pages of Vienna Prelude, by Bodie Thoene. The story takes place in Eastern Europe in 1936, just as Hitler is taking power in Germany and Austria. The story follows the lives of many different people living in and around Berlin as they cross with the life of wealthy Aristocrat Elisa Lindheim. While she is by heritage half Jewish, she is a practicing Lutheran and did not inherit her father’s Jewish looks. She plays in a professional orchestra in Vienna, Austria, where she goes by the last name Linder as to be able to perform on all stages, since Jews were banned from performing. Throughout the novel, as people pass in and out of her life, we know things about them before even Elisa knows they exist. This makes it easy for us to tell how these people will play a significant role in her life.
There’s Franz, the mountaineer in the Austrian Alps, whose family will be opening their home for a few weeks to a family from Berlin. We as the reader quickly realize that it will be Elisa’s family staying with Franz while they find a safe place to escape the Gestapo.
John Murphy, an American reporter, is stationed in Berlin to report on the Nazi’s rise. He feels as though the rest of the world is not paying enough attention to the wrongs happening in Germany, and takes it upon himself to attempt to help at least one Jew. That Jew we soon realize will be Elisa.
There are many more characters that enter and leave Elisa’s life throughout the novel. Thinking of this, I began to wonder what our lives would be like if they were a book. We would know who we were about to meet before we saw their face. We would know what we would do in the future before we went to college. There would never be any need to worry because you could just skip a few pages ahead and see what happens next. But would life then really be worth living? Is it not the twists and turns, surprises and suspense of life that keep us getting out of bed each morning to face a new day?
Elisa faces constant fear and much uncertainty. These are the things that make her strong. If she were to know her family would escape successfully, she would not have fought so hard to help them. It is our uncertainty of the future that makes us brave and forces us to want to improve ourselves.

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