Non-Fiction RR on Article

The article, Growing Up Saudi, by Karen Elliott House in an isue of Upfront Scholastic Magazine is about teens and young people in Saudi Arabia that are starting to question authority. Young people in Saudi Arabia have many laws that limit their “freedom”. They aren’t able to do the things a regular teenager would be able to do. 

There are many specific laws for them limiting their choices. For example, “Dating is forbidden. Movie theaters are banned. Concerts are outlawed” (SCHOLASTIC/House 15). A teenager in Saudi Arabia isn’t given the choice to live with freedom. Because of this they are starting to go crazy. 

Teenagers in Saudi Arabia want to have more freedom and be treated with respect. Since they aren't being treated the way they want to be they are rebelling. "Many young Saudis wonder when they'll be free to enjoy some of the fruits of the modern world" (SCHOLASTIC/House 16). "One young saudi man challenged the royal regime by filming grim life in a poor neighborhood in Riyadh and posting his dramatic nine-minute film on YouTube. The film went viral: More than 800000 Saudis watched it before the film make was arrested" (SCHOLASTIC/House 16). Not only because of the contents in this YouTube video the young man was arrested but he also would've been arrested just for posting a YouTube video. 

Teenagers in Saudi Arabia are starting to question authority becuase of their limit of freedom. They are beginning to rebel and say that they want more rights. They want to be able to live the way modern teenagers are able to live. 

Reading Response on "I Too" by Langston Hughes

    The poem, I Too by Langston Hughes, is about an African American man living in America. He is not treated equally or fairly according to the poem. He is treated like an outsider. This poem made me realize that segregation is a horrible thing, and it is only fair that everyone should be treated equally. The speaker also has an optimistic tone towards the end of the poem, implying that he will make things better.
  As I said before, segregation is an unfair and horrible thing. In the poem, the speaker is being sent to eat in the kitchen. "They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes" (Hughes 3). This shows that the speaker is being sent to eat in the kitchen because he is African American. This is an example of segregation because he is being made eat in the kitchen because of the color of his skin.
He is not only being treated like an animal or something worthless but also as if he did not have feelings.
    The speaker feels that no matter anybody's skin color, everybody should be treated equally and fairly. In the poem, the speaker repeats the phrase "I Too" in the beginning and end of the poem. In the beginning he says, "I, Too, sing America" (Hughes 1). In the end of the poem he says, "I, Too, am America" (Hughes 18).  Repeating this means that it is important. It shows that he feels that he should be treated like every other American. That he should have the same rights as everybody else, and that he is human just like everybody else.
  The speaker speaks in an optimistic tone towards the end of the poem. He is optimistic that in the future everyone will be treated equally. He talks about the future in an optimistic tone. "Tomorrow, I'll be at the table when company comes, nobody'll dare say to me 'Eat in the kitchen,' Then" (Hughes 8-14). This shows the way he feels about the future. He is very positive that in the future everyone will be treated equally no matter the color of their skin.
    This text connects to the world because, segregation has happened a lot and most likely still happens in some places in the world. This is a very sensitive topic and it has affected many lives in America. This poem connects to segregation because it is about an African American man being treated unfairly even though he also is an American.



                                     Works Cited
 
    Hughes, Langston. " I Too." Poetry Packet. Print.

Creative Writing

There was a little boy named John. He had a friend named Johnny. One day John and Johnny were playing in the park. Johnny told John that he had a secret. John was desperate to figure out the secret. "Meet me under the bridge around four tomorrow and I'll tell you" said John. The next day John went to meet Johnny under the bridge. He saw many yellow flowers on the way there. John finally got to the bridge. "Ok! I'm ready for the secret!" said John. "My mom got me a pet eagle! I love it!" said Johnny. John and Johnny went to play with the eagle.

Independent Reading Response

    The book, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is about a teen girl with cancer and the many hardships she faces in this journey. This girls name is Hazel Grace. Hazel was diagnosed with terminal thyroid cancer. During this journey she meets a boy who also had cancer named Augustus Waters. They soon fall in love and face the hardships of cancer together. Hazel Grace is a teenage girl with cancer that falls in love with a boy and together they go from facing many hardships, to death.
    As I stated before, Hazel faced many hardships. She had terminal thyroid cancer and with it came a lot of horrible side effects. Hazel's lungs would get filled up with water, this would make her breaths very heavy. She would need to go to the hospital or emergency room every few weeks to get her lungs drained. "...my headache was caused by poor oxygenation, which was caused by my lungs swimming in fluid, a liter and a half (!!!!) of which have succesfully been drained from my chest..." (Green 106). If Hazel's lungs wouldn't be drained she would be in lots of pain. Hazel also always had to be connected to an oxygen tank to help her breathe. Her lungs weren't strong enough to do all the work by themsleves. "I pulled the oxygen tube from my nostrils and raised the tube up over my head..." (Green 269). Without this oxygen tank she could barely breathe.
    Hazel and Augustus were in love and together, they faced many hardships. The biggest one was knowing that Augustus was going to die at any time. Hazel and Augustus had a special relationship, they were best friends and eachothers diaries. Hazel couldn't even think about Augustus leaving because she wouldn't know what to do without him. Augustus didn't want to leave Hazel because he knew that she would miss him. When Augustus died, Hazel was in so much shock, she could not believe it. "It was unbearable. The whole thing. Every second worse than the last." (Green 262). Hazel felt like this was the most pain that she felt in her life.
    Hazel Grace faced many hardships during her battle with cancer. She fell in love with Augustus and they both faced hardships. Not only did Hazel have to cope with the fact that she was going to die but also with the fact that her boyfriend that she loved very much would die before her. In the end Hazel was a strong girl who went through many hard things.

Nonfiction Reading Response

Article: "Watching You" by Patricia Smith, The New York Times Upfront Newspaper

Part 1

    This article is about government surveillance in the United States its effects, and citizens thoughts on this surveillance. According to Smith, after the deadly 911 terrorist attacks government has grown immensely in security. Most people have become accustomed to this security and believe that it should be done to keep everyone safe, but others believe it is a violation. Although this way of security/surveillance has already stopped a terrorist attack, some people still think it should be stopped because it is an invasion of privacy. They believe that they should be given privacy as states the constitutions fourth amendment. The fourth amendment “protects unreasonable searches and seizures” and people believe this is a violation of the amendment.

Part 2

    In the first half of the article, the author shows that most people with power believe that “you can’t have 100 percent security and also 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience,” (Smith 1). They believe that the nation should be safe and to be safe it has to have this type of security. Since the author wrote this, I believe that her opinion is that this type of security is needed to keep everyone safe. In the first half she also talks about how a terrorist attack was already stopped because of the company that inspects emails, and chats (Prism). It stopped an Al Queda operative that was planning to backpack bomb the New York subway because they were able to intercept through an email. On the other hand, in the other half of this article Smith shows regular citizens opinions, all of them are about privacy violation. This made me think that maybe she was against this type of security. She wrote about how this type of security violated the fourth amendment. The fourth amendment states that police need a court-issued warrant to look in your home to listen to phone calls and a probable cause to search your care. In the end I think that the author wants the readers to think that the security is needed because it has already stopped a terrorist attack and if people want to keep safe then we need this type of security.

Part 3

    This article gave me many thoughts on the government and if this amount of security is actually needed in the United States. Because already government has stopped a terrorist attack with this “type” of security, I believe that this is a good thing. In my opinion if it will keep us safe, it is worth it. This article reminds me of the 911 attacks and if they could’ve been stopped if there was this much security at that time. 

Revised Reading Response

Critical thinking question: How does this story address the points of view (perspectives) of other groups, especially those who usually don't get to tell their side?

    So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti is about a girl named Brooke who has a gigantic crush on a boy who barely knows she exists. I chose this critical thinking question because Brooke is just a regular teen that no one would think of paying attention to. This book is written in a very unique point of view (Brooke's). People may think that she's just a geek with no social life and no problems, but she like most teens does have a social life and social problems. The boy Brooke has a huge crush on, Scott has to move to New York. Brooke decided that she has to follow him and go to New York too. It was easy for her since her dad lives there. In New York she learns many important things about life.
    Brooke is just a regular teen, as I said before. She's one of those quiet kids in school who never talks. That is one of the things that makes the point of view in this book unique. Brooke is like all other teens in many ways, she crushes on boys, she goes shopping, but no other girl would follow her crush all the way to New York from New Jersey. Brooke decided that since Scott was moving to New York she would go and live with her dad in New York. She was convinced that Scott and her were meant to be together. "But then there's The Knowing. I know that I belong with Scott" (Colasanti 21). According to Brooke, "The Knowing" was always true. This is something very unique about Brooke, not many other teens would have this theory. "The Knowing" was one of the main reasons that she moved to New York. No other person would follow a crush all the way to a different state.
    Brooke is a very unique girl who learns things in very unique ways. She moved all the way to New York because her crush moved there. You wouldn't believe all the things she learned in NY. She met new friends and people she could trust. NY became more of a home to her than anywhere else. She knew that she could trust the friends she made there. In NY she learned not to take things for granted. "If you're lucky enough to find that person, never let them go" (Colasanti 21). In the end this person was not Scott it was a person she met in NY, John. She knew she had found the right person because he loved her and she trusted him. Brooke found the people she trusted by following her crush. Her being unique, lead to her finding her real home. Everything happened in its own way. Nobody would've expected this from just a regular teen girl.
    This book is about a teen girl that is very unique, she finds her home in a very unique way. Brooke is a teen that has a typical lifestyle, no one would expect all this drama to be in her life. This critical thinking question fits the book perfectly. This book was written in a different point of view, one that not a lot of people would be expecting.

Reading Response

Critical thinking question: How does this story address the points of view (perspectives) of other groups, especially those who usually don't get to tell their side?

    So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti is about a girl named Brooke who has a very big crush on a boy who hardly knows she exists. I chose this critical thinking question because Brooke is just a regular teenager that no one pays attention to. This book is written in a very unique point of view (Brooke's). People may think that she's just a geek with no social life and no problems, but she like most teens does have a social life. The boy Brooke has a huge crush on, Scott moves to New York. Brooke decided that she should follow him and go to New York too, since her dad lives there. In New York she learns many important things in life.
    Brooke is just a regular teen, as I said before. She's one of those quiet kids in school who never talks and that's what makes the point of view in this book unique. Brooke is like all other teens, she crushes on boys, she goes shopping, but no other girl would follow her crush all the way to New York from New Jersey. Brooke decided that since Scott was moving to NY she would go and live with her dad in NY. She was convinced that Scott and her were meant to be together. "But then there's The Knowing. I know that I belong with Scott" (Colasanti 21).  According to Brooke, "The Knowing" was always true. This is something very unique about Brooke, I highly doubt another teen would have this theory.
    Brooke is a very unique girl who learns things in very unique ways. She moved all the way to New York because her crush moved there. You wouldn't believe all the things she learned in NY. She met new friends and people she could trust. NY became more of a home to her than anywhere else. She knew that she could trust people there. In NY she learned not to take things for granted. "If you're lucky enough to find that person, never let them go" (Colasanti 21). In the end this person was not Scott it was a person she met in NY, John. She knew she had found the right person because he loved her and she trusted him. Brooke found the people she trusted by following her crush. Everything happened in its own way.
    This book is about a teen girl that is very unique, she finds her home in a very unique way. Brooke is a teen that has a typical lifestyle, no one would expect all this drama to be in her life. This book was written in a very different point of view that not a lot of people would be expecting.