Conclusion BLOG#6

In my previous blog I mentioned that my ISU book, "Go Ask Alice" has evolved its social issue. the social issue now is dealing with grief of a loved one and reacting to these tragedy using different coping methods. Alice's mother deals with the death of her parents by redecorating the whole house and crying continuously whereas, Alice deals with it differently by taking drugs and continuously relapsing throughout the novel.

In this picture below you can see a girl grieving and there is a brief description about "the grieve." 

This image relates really well with my social issue as the main character is grieving throughout the whole novel. Alice (the protagonist) is coping with the many changes in her life. She deals with the loss of her grandparents and starts to get a sense of isolation. "I don't need the sleep as much as I need the escape. I think I can't stand it and then I just take a pill ans wait for the sweet nothingness to take over. At this stage in my life nothingness is a lot better than somethingness." This quote is very famous as it tells the people who don't take drugs on how the ones that do feel.

Grieving BLOG#5

Since I have now completed reading my novel my point of view of this book has evolved drastically. Not only has my view changed but my social issue in the book has also evolved. My novel ended off with the protagonist, Alice finally getting over with the loss of her loved ones and her many negative feelings. While coping with her loss she turns to drugs and a whole new educational experience begins. I found a website that goes through the stages of dealing with grief and it also gives a brief background information.

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/grief-loss/coping-with-grief-and-loss.htm

On this website, it tells the reader that grief is the natural response to loss. Everyone has a different way of dealing with grief and the main five stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. The main character, Alice does go through all these different phases. She was in denial as she thought that she should have been there when her grandparents died. She kept thinking that i could've done something but in reality she couldn't as her grandpa died of a heart attack and later on her grandmother died of a natural death. She deals with anger and depression by excluding her family out of her life and turning to drugs. However, Alice does not do bargaining but she does anything to get drugs even if it drug dealers using her body. The last phase is accepting the death of a loved one or something that is meaningful which she does but she keeps relapsing but soon the reader finds out at the end of book that she has died two weeks after she stopped writing the diary. 

          

The Sniper Summary and Theme

Summary: Free Staters and Republicans are at a civil war in Dublin, Ireland. The short story begins with the Republican sniper debating he wants to light his cigarette as it will blow his cover(on the rooftop). Eventually he lights the cigarette and it grabs the attention of the enemy. Consequently, the bullet barely missed the republican sniper. When the Sniper sees a tank on the road below him he sees an old lady talking to the old man in the tank so he shoots them as they are in the tan of the enemy's. After he shoots them the enemy from across the rooftop takes aim at him and manages to hit his forearm. The republican solider feels a lot of pain as he describes it with a lot of similes and irony. He eventually bandages himself and know that he needs to get back to his company's commander but he is unable to get there unless he gets rid of the sniper on the other side. So, he thinks of a plan in which he; the Sniper, placing his hat on his rifle to lure the enemy in. Then when the enemy fires at the hat, he would act dead by throwing his rifle towards the ground. This gives the enemy the illusion of winning. When the enemy is in plain sight, the Sniper would shoot him. When the plan begins to take place, the enemy believes it and begins to express multiple emotions. This brings success to the Sniper’s plan because the enemy decides to look over the parapet, which gives the Sniper the chance to shoot the enemy in the head. The winning of the fight brings the Sniper into an unusual euphoria, which is disturbed by the loud gun shot of his own rifle. The ironic turn near the end takes place when the Sniper comes off the roof, and goes to look at the body of the enemy, only to realize the body was of his own brother.      

Theme: In the short story, The Sniper, the author, Liam O’Flaherty, is trying to communicate that the aftermath of one’s choice is not always pleasant. This is shown in the narrative as the Republican sniper goes to inspect the body of his enemy. That is where he notices the face of the enemy is ironically his brothers. This frankly goes back to the theme since in the beginning he was portrayed to be “fanatic and ascetic,” as we deeply believed that the Republican sniper was doing the right thing. Later, after killing his brother, he starts to realize that the future is unpredictable. Hence showing the that theme is being shown that the after-effects of one's action is generally imprecise.

Journal Entry

Character notes (ACTIVITY I)

Bernard	Friends with Alia            Dislikes Ender            Ender broke his arm           Wants to be better than Ender
Alia	Bridge between Bernard and Ender            Bernard’s friend            Practices with Ender at the battle room            Is bilingual (told Ender salaam)
Petra Arkanian	Girl            Salamander Army            Teaches Ender how to aim and do tricks
Rose the Nose	Leader of Rat Army            Ender's second leader            Jewish            Graduated battle school
Dink	Toon leader            His friend            Took over rose the noses position after
Mazer	Teaches Ender at the end of the book            Is Ender's mentor
Ender	Protagonist            A third            Sister: valentine            Brother: peter            Beat up Stilton            Six years old
Bonzo	Leader of salamander army            Dislikes Ender            Thinks that Ender was a waste of a trade

Journal Entry (ACITIVTY II)

Dear diary,

            I am so sorry, I did not write yesterday. I was so busy. I had to do a lot of research for my English assignment; we were supposed to write a paragraph on our family’s ancestral backgrounds. I was really interested to write this paragraph as it got me thinking of other cultures and religions; what if I was Jewish or Sri Lankan it would be a totally different experience to write about. Since I was wondering what it would be like to be from a different cultural background I started to think of the time that I had to go on the job shadowing trip for careers. I went to the hospital to work with a physiotherapist.

Since physiotherapists have a very hands on job and do a lot of interacting. I was able to meet many people and excitedly all were from different backgrounds. I met this lady who has an Italian background and I learned that besides the food: pizza, pastas, and different kinds of desserts being a part of their culture, being religious is as well. About 90% of Italians are Roman Catholics and the national flag represents hope, faith, and charity. I remember we were talking about my cultural background (Sikhism) and how there is still a cast system even though all generations didn’t say anything against it until now. I started to tell the lady that how my family has started to accept interracial marriages, you know the one between my older brother and his wife. But, what was interesting was that her family has always accepted interracial relationships as her parents are from two different parts of Europe and she is also in an interracial marriage as she is married to guy from a Jamaican background. We had a very deep and interesting conversation and I learned so much that I decided to come home and tell my family all about our conversation and taught my family a bunch of facts from the Italian culture.

I got to say that living in Brampton you don’t meet a lot of people from different cultural backgrounds especially from Italian backgrounds. I also learned that judging a book by its cover is not acceptable especially now because it is very stereotypical and now interracial relationships are a normal thing. However, I guess I understand where the people who judge others they may have been taught to think like that or they do not understand. You know what I find funny, that when I start to talk about something I am very passionate about I tend to start to go in depth on how I feel and drag on about the topic. Anyways, so when I was talking to the lady I learned that she didn’t like it when people judged her or when they asked very stereotypical based questions like: is pizza really from Italy? Are you really Italian? You look Mexican! The lady made a really hilarious joke that at least on the bright side she said that she could make really delicious ethnic Italian food. After meeting the lady I was in a very  good and happy mood, I think when I talk to people and I learn more I appreciate it and at the end I get a smile on my face. For me it is very easy to talk to people as I am a very understanding and an attentive listener but the most important reason to why it is easy for me is because of my experience that I have had with pain and tragedy that make me want no one to feel left out and everyone should be listened to and I am a very soft-spoken person. Oh my god! I have to stop writing as my mom is calling me to come eat dinner, so overall I love interacting with people from different cultures/countries as I am very interactive and I enjoy learning. I promise to write tomorrow. Bye! J

                                                                                                                        JASLEEN SIDHU J  

      

Artifact BLOG#4

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/277604764505377466/

This quote from Go Ask Alice shows her feelings in the beginning of the book and how she is unable to blend in with a group. She eventually starts to stop caring of what others think and say. however, the loneliness gets to her and she starts caring and comes to a point where she chooses drugs to solve and numb the sorrow.

Go Ask Alice blog #3

http://www.countthecosts.org/sites/default/files/Stigma-briefing.pdf

For my third blog I decided to do something different which is a PDF file. I really liked this link that I posted above because it shows the "war on drugs" that is taking place now that coincides with my social issue. In "Go Ask Alice" the protagonist faces trauma (death of grandparents) and isolation which results her to then choose the path of drugs to get away from all the negativity in her life. As the protagonist develops her characteristics through the events in the novel and tells the reasoning on why she has done this and how she feels from it. This all connects back to the PDF file linked above called, "Connect the Costs". In this link it talks about war on drugs which basically means the prevention of the spreading the use drugs and how it is important as it will make the drug users incapable of getting any more. This relates to my social issue because everyone in the novel besides the protagonist and the other drug users are like what the PDF file is telling and that is also how their views and opinions are based on. No one really helps the drugs users in the community besides immediate family members who eventually loose hope and leave them to fight for themselves. In conclusion, this link that I chose coincides with the vast population who discriminates the drug users and shows why this majority does what they do to solve the problem of drugs, for the users benefit, but the users don't think that way as most are addicted to their substances.

The Sniper news article

Sniper Kills Own Soldier

By: Jasleen Sidhu

In Dublin, Ireland the sun is setting on a June night. A dim light of the moon is shining through pale clouds, showing a faded light on the streets. The Republicans and Free Staters battling in a civil war.

A republican sniper lay in front of the parapet of the roof, spotting the enemy’s sniper on the opposite side and gets shot at twice by the other sniper.

 The first bullet whizzed over his head and pierced a hole through the parapet of the roof. The second bullet got shot into the republican snipers forearm, which was bandaged by him.

The republican sniper said, “My right arm was paining me like a thousand angry knives”.

After the sniper thought that he needed to get rid of the enemy as he needed to report back to the company’s commander to report the kills and his injury.

So the sniper thought of a plan in which he took off his cap and placed it over his rifle to divert the enemy into thinking that that he had killed the sniper.

As soon as the enemy shot at the cap the rifle and cap fell to the ground and enemy’s sniper stood up took look if he had killed. That is where the republican shot the enemy and the enemy fell forward and hit the ground with a thud.

The sniper sees it is safe to go to report to the company’s commander and flips over the enemy’s dead boy to only look at his brother’s face. 

The company’s commander said, “This is a very unfortunate thing to happen so we have given the sniper a permanent release from the army as this is a time where he needs to be with family to grieve and face the guilt.”

 

SLAM POETRY BLOG#2

Bullies to my left and right
a wall which separates.
Just because I am different
I can tolerate!
A drug user,
trying to be a people pleaser?
What?
I can't tolerate.
The wall, the stares, and the bugs everywhere
trying to fit in as apples and a pear
I can handle no more so I go to San Francisco
and when I return they say, "oh, she's back"
"come on, look at her?"
When its all said and done
I'm the lonely one
but then they call my name
so pardon me, for catching that train!

GO ASK ALICE BLOG#1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSBxeEuIVjs

I selected this video for my first blog as it gives the readers the foundation of what the social issue in my ISU book, "Go Ask Alice" is. The social issue in my book is how society discriminates people who take drugs. While watching the video you realize that we shouldn't talk bad about people who take substances but rather we should help them, because they might be taking drugs do to certain reasons and they might not know on how to cope with it so they choose the pathway of drugs. The video shows some reasons (family, social life, school/professional life, and health) to why teens are taking drugs. the video gives a view of what the teens are feeling unlike some other videos that I watched previously, which showed that drugs always result to bad people. This "light" is also shown in "Go Ask Alice" as the main character starts to take drugs due to social life and family issues. She feels all alone.

However, one thing to keep in mind is that we should not pity the drug users even though they are usually described as fragile, lonely, and scared. There are some in the world who decided to do this by choice and may have no reason to why they are doing this. If we do start accepting this then might as well accept Nazi's because if everyone in society thinks that drugs are good and everyone should take drugs. We might as well think that what the Nazi's did was good even though it might have been one of the greatest genocides in history. This is because society can not always make people feel accepted and that is because every human being has a tendency to judge. Overall, this video is saying that rather than judging or pitying drug users we can help them with coping to life's struggles.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

RETELL

"The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas" is about the son of a Nazi commander and his friendship with a Jewish boy in a concentration camp. It starts off with Bruno and his family moving to Berlin where his dad, a soldier gets transferred to. Their new house is beautiful but isolated since there are not any houses nearby. Eventually, Bruno looks through his bedroom window and sees a fence which he assumes to be the farm of their neighbors. Soon Bruno realizes that there are no kids to play with and feels a sense of loneliness. Bruno is a very adventurous child and wants to explore. However, he is told by his mother to not explore especially the backyard and the forest behind. Bruno and his sister, Gretel have a tutor come by twice a week and this makes Bruno feel even more lonely. Building up from the loneliness, Bruno has the need to explore and in his backyard he finds a way to get to the forest which is through a small window. He goes to explore and reaches the fence where he meets a eight year old boy the same age as him and they become friends. Shmule and Bruno meet everyday, where Bruno lies to his mother saying he is going to swing on the tire swing outside and sneaks food to give to Shmule. In the middle of the movie Shmule is sent to Bruno's house to clean the dishes for a gathering that Bruno's father was going to have with other Nazi's. Bruno is surprised to see him there and offers home food since Shmule is always hungry so Shmule accepts the baked good and starts to eat it until a Nazi solider walks in and catches him. The soldier asked Bruno if he gave Shmule the food and Bruno lies because he is scared. Bruno kept trying to find Shmuel at their meeting spot the fence, but he was not there. Then finally one day Shmuel shows up and he was bruised and bloodied. There Bruno asks him if they still are friends and Shumel agrees that their friendship has not been harmed. Since Shmule seems quiet and sad Bruno asks him what is wrong Shmule says that he can not find his papa anywhere and doesn't know where he went. So Bruno and Shmule made a plan in which Bruno brings him food and then he digs hole underneath the wired fence so that Bruno can disguise as a Jew at the concentration camp by wearing "the striped pajamas" to help Shmule find his father. However, at home Bruno's mother does not think that the house is a safe environment for the children to grow up in so the next day they will be moving to another house Gretel does want to move as the solider that she fancied as been put on the front to fight and Bruno does not want to move as he wants to keep seeing Shmule at their meeting place. So the day that they are moving Bruno asks his mother if he can swing on the tire swing for the last time as it is there last day here. Bruno's mother hesitantly agrees and tells him to be back. Bruno sneaks a sandwich in his clothes and goes to the backyard through the shed's window he goes into the forest where he meets Shmule. There Bruno switches his clothes to the striped pajamas and digs a hole underneath the wired fence with a shovel and meets Shmule on the other side however he realises that he doesn't have the sandwich on him and thinks he must have dropped it. Shmule and Bruno go to find his dad at one of the bunkers. all of a sudden nazi soldiers come and start pushing the men outside and Bruno and shmule get stuck in the middle of it and are unable to escape. they are put in a room and told to remove their clothes, little do they know that this is a gas chamber and eventually die. Bruno's mom notices that he is not swinging so she starts t find him everywhere and still can not she then tells his father and they go to the back yard and see the shed window open and a sandwich laying there so they know that he went to the forest. they all run into the forest and reach the fence where they see Bruno's clothes and a shovel laying beside the hole underneath the fence. Soon Bruno's father sees the empty bunker and runs to the crematorium but Bruno and Shmuel are already dead.

RELATE
"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" shows in depth on what happened in the second great war but from both main sides of the war; the Jews and the Nazi. Also tells it from the a child's point of view, which is very interesting and different. This reminds me of the movie "Schindler's List" that I watched in history class. "Schindler's List" is about a German businessman, Oskar Schindler who saves Jews from the Auschwitz concentration camp. He does this by opening a manufacturing factory and uses Jews as an excuse to save money because he does not need to pay them. This movie showed the Jews side and how they felt from being in the concentration camp. Also from a Germans point of view who did not agree to what was happening to Jews. This relates to "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" movie because Bruno's mother does not agree to the Germans burning the bodies so she wants to take her kids away because she doesn't want her kids to grow up and think its right to burn Jews or any other race. Bruno's mother and Oskar Schindler have the same perspectives on war; they do not agree to what is happening to the Jews and instead of rioting or speaking against Bruno's mom prevents it by making sure her kids do not grow up to be like their father and Schindler prevents Jews from being sent to Auschwitz concentration camp to be burnt.          

REFLECT

My thoughts and emotions toward this movie were very straight forward. Overall the movie made me feel depressed and I knew how the plot was going to go because my friends told me that Bruno and Shmuel are going to die. Also besides me knowing the ending the story line was very predictable as well.

Teaching Kids to Kill 4C's

Connection:
       The personal connections I made with "Child Soldiers" is when Mr. Ishmael said that the rehabilitation center that he was at after being rescued from the military he was getting off the drugs and was very rude to the staff there. This reminded me of my older brother who is currently in a rehabilitation center for substance abuse. Like Ishmael, my brother started taking drugs when he was small at the age of sixteen and has gone to three different centers but eventually relapsed every time. Now at the age of twenty-eight he is in rehab for six months and is determined to quit drugs. This is what Ishmael did even though he kept having trouble at the center he eventually went back to school and became sober. Also this interview with Mr. Ishmael connect to the article," Teaching Kids to Kill" they both are directed towards the extent amount of violence that kids are exposed to in civilization today. However, Ishmael faced a life or death situation, he was told to either join or be killed, but Micheal did it with the influence of video games and media violence.Therefore, this connection links the idea of taking purity away from young generations and making them ideal to violence.


Challenges:
         In the clip, Mr. Ishmael told the interviewer that the military officers gave them a choice of either being killed by the officers or to kill the rebels. In that case, this is something I would change because when they did stay with the military their personalities changed and in other ways became altered based on what the military wanted. However, if he had chosen to die instead he would've died staying true to himself. He did not now that he would be rescued and sent to USA to live and write a book.


Concepts:
         I think the key concepts that should be held from the text is that the parents or guardians of the kids should know what types of games are being played and knowing the age limits for the games. Also one other very important thing is that they should be reminded that this stuff is not real and is bad and it is only to be played during leisure time.


Changes:
       My perspective is neutral about media violence and video games because in the article the boy, Micheal's issue was preventable because its was the games that contributed to his thinking but his mind was set on what he did. In result hiss parents/ guardians should always reminded him of what reality is and does.

 

Urgent Summit Plan as Ukraine Conflict Rises

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31430230
SUMMARY
On February.10.2015, Russian President, Vladimir Putin met with Ukrainian leader, Petro Poroshenko as they are wanting to end the violent combat in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine has accused Russia for sending equipped and assembled rebels to Ukraine. This meetings main concern was to set a focus on securing an armistice by withdrawing immense weaponry and creating a guarded zone. This meeting was called as 5400 civilians have died in total and 19 Ukrainian solider have died at the front in the past two days. The Ukrainian leader and President Vladimir were in conversation for several hours with  their foreign ministers. Mr. Poroshenko said if Russia did not agree then the situation would have been more complicated. The human costs have gotten worse as 5.2 million people are currently living in areas of conflict.

CONNECTION
The connection I made with this news article is the pressure that Ukraine and Russia to fix this has increased because if this problem does not get solved then it will escalate. There was a similar conflict like this when Russia tried to seize the Canadian arctic region. Russia decided to drill a hole in the North Pole so that they could get oil and use it for there profit. However, Canada also had series of meetings with Russia and they have worked out their conflicts. they had come to the conclusion that Canada had to give Russia a sanction. Hopefully, Ukraine and Russia will also be able to come to an agreement on solving this conflict that Eastern Ukraine is facing.