Period 5 - Blog Entry #2 due 11/9

11/9/2009 1:51:51 AM #

Title: Surrender
Author: Sonya Hartnett

Idea: Gabriel still lies hopeless in his bed due to the illness he is suffering. He and his brother both suffer an illness. His parents however, are ashamed of Vernon, Gabriels older brother. So as he is left to care for his brother one day, he is left reminiscing about all the anger and frustration he has to go through. He doesn't want to see his brother suffer even though he felt bad for hating him, so he thinks it's best if he dies, so he kills him to send his troubles towards another direction.Unfortunately it doesn't work He feels tricked by Finnigan as well for he is the reason the town is on fire, burning down.

InsertPage 65-66) " I stood barely as high as my mother's angular hip, my face at the back of her hand. My terror had congealed like concrete inside me. I might have buckled, bent at the knees; instead i stood solid as a tree. She glanced towards the fly screen back door. "Where is your father?" "...At church." "Where is your brother?" "In his room" Her eyes pecked like crows along the hall. Her head craned slowly about. She stared down at me. "You liar!" "His room is empty. I walked past it now."


Interpret: In this quote, Anwell (Gabriel) was finished with the process of killing his brother, Vernon. But as his mother comes home, it describes his emotions and how he feels as his mother begins to question his brother's un-presence.It describes the terror Anwell feels as her mom walks through the door questioning Vernon's absence. Anwell describes how his mother looks at him and reacts when she figures out that Anwell is lying. She has a suspicious feeling that something is wrong. It's significant because this is the climax of this specific section and the roof is about to be caved in and the truth will come out that Anwell killed his brother.

Insight:I feel bad that Gabriel would kill his own brother. Its equivalent to killing yourself because they are one of you. I would be afraid of the consequences because it's a sin and homicide to kill a life. I would be afraid of the consequences i would get in return from the soul that i killed. I would probably go through a traumatizing paranormal haunting experience. But Gabriel couldnt help it for he was only 7 and under a lot of pressure. He also has a sickeness and is completley ill. It must have been more than enough to even try and balance life out with all the problems and issues going on.

PROMPT:2. Compare a character's emotional response with yours in a similar situation.

Since Gabriel put all his anger and frustration onto his handi-capped older brother Vernon, he went up to the point where he killed him. He made someone else suffer for his own uncontrollable actions. He felt like there was no hope left and that everything in the world is just so damn wrong. And for the fact that he was 7 and suffering a long term illness-close to death, he had absolutley no choice but to kill his own brother by shoving him in a fridge and never taking him out. I have been absolutley mad and felt uncontrollable with my actions when things like this arise and happen to me and i reacted to it in a similiar way. I was mad, INFURIATED with an issue in the family and it affected me the most cause i was involved and negatively impacted/imaged by some of my insecure family members. So during a family get together, as usual a FIGHT occurred. So my mother and i went home because she didnt feel good about it because it was happening to me. When she got home, she was yelling and screaming about what happened back there and that i was being criticized and pushed away from the kids because of an insecure parent. This infuriated me so much because our family was about to get in a physical fight until my mother left with me so we wouldnt get into any catastrophe. But as i was at home, like Gabriel...i was relecting on the past and the fact that its still happening to this day! So i was as well filled with frustration and angered by the issue so i put my anger on a glass window in my room. Lie Gabriel, i redirected my anger and frustration on something and it hurt me, like it hurt the brother.

Deana | Reply

11/9/2009 2:20:18 AM #

Andrew Ph
Period 5
Sunday, November 8, 2009 (11/08/09)
Blog Entry #2

Title: Code Talkers
Author: Joseph Bruchac
Page Numbers: 240
Prompt #8: Share how events of this novel have caused a change in your views.

  In the book, Code Talker, the story was about a Navajo, Ned Begay, living in a strict mission school. Ned was to learn a white man’s education. He soon joins the Marines who were looking for Navajos for a special job. The book changes how I thought the white people have acted towards the other races. The people, including the Principal of the school, were really cruel towards the Navajos’ culture. Since Ned Begay had a name in Navajo, he was forced to have his name be changed. His real name was Kii Yazhi, but was modified to Ned Begay. At the time, long hair was sacred for the Navajos, but was required to be trimmed down to a short length, like other American boys.

  From the novel, there were many phrases that were used against the Navajos. One quote would be “Navajo is no good, of no use at all” – Page 18. The quote was shouted by the Principal of the school, Principal O’ Sullivan. The message was towards all the Navajos in the school. It was said every day, forcing the Navajos to adopt the message. The quote was significant because it was saying that the Navajos, their culture, anything that is different from the Americans, are very horrible. They have no use for anyone or anything at all. The insert supports my idea because it was showing how the whites acted towards the Navajos. They were nasty, saying that Americans are greater, that Navajo is nothing and has no purpose. A similar announcement was said by Ned’s teacher, Mr. Straight. It can be found on page 36.  Another quote would be, “Anything that belonged to the Navajo way was bad, and out Navajo language was the worst.” – Page 23. The quote was from Principal O’ Sullivan, towards all the Navajos. This was significant because when Ned greeted his friend in Navajo, he was caught by his teacher, Mr. Straight. Ned was forced to wash his mouth with soap for speaking in his language. This supports my idea because it was cruel towards the Navajo race. Just because they were speaking in words that were different of those in America, the Navajos were punished and told to forget about their heritage.

  In my life, I wasn’t forced to forget about my ethnic culture. Instead, I was forced to change how I write.  Most of my life, I have been writing in small font. The words were small, be readable. When my father saw one of my works, he went berserk, seriously. He started scream with a red face, not asking, but commanding my answers to why I wrote small words. I don’t understand why I can’t write words my way. I guess he did it because he wants to make sure the teacher can read it. That way, I would not get a low grade because of my small hand writing. Everyone has their own way of life, why can’t I have my own way of writing? Either way, I still continue how I write, though I always think about how big I should write before I even start.

  In the world today, there are less and less decimation against other races. From my point of view, everyone is beginning to live peacefully with others. Each person is allowed to live their life the way they want it. No one is stopping them from following their culture. Many different people from many different countries, all from a different race, are seems to have no problems. People respect their culture and some may even join or adopt new traditions.

Image: www.archives.gov/.../navajo-code-talkers-1.jpg

Andrew Ph | Reply

11/9/2009 4:40:41 AM #

Book: Under the Blood- Red Sun
Author: Graham Salisbury
Blog Entry:2
Date: 11/8/09

       The prompt I chose was describe your response (emotional/intellectual) to your reading. In the book Under the Blood Red, during times of World War II, Tomikazu Nakaji's  father and grandfather are taken away. This forced him to take care of his mother and little sister and be the man of the house. Life was hard for Tomi and many other Japanese boys.  This book made me realize how tough the war was on the Japanese people and made me feel sad that the innocent Japanese people living  in Hawaii had to suffer. Fathers and grandfathers were taken away from homes and young boys had to work hard to help their families get by.

       When reading the book I could feel the pain and misery that Tomi was going through.  When his grandfather was being taken away by the FBI (p216). Tomi's mom pleaded "Let him go." In the text they described him to be "looking like some old jacket on a hanger" and they dragged him to the car. Tomi tried to stop them but they shoved him off. This made me  realize how ruthless the US was. They took innocent people away from their homes and families. Another event was when his father was arrested. He and his friend Sanji were out fishing and their boat didn't have an American flag so they were shot at (p.149). Sanji died and his lived because he was only shot in the leg. They didn't know they needed a flag so yet again, the US killed innocent people. Besides taking them the Japanese away from their families, they were eventually taken off the island to the mainland (p.212). This is some of the things that show the hardships families like Tomi's faced. These events and thing  made me feel so down and I felt so sorry for the families. They even had to bury everything (p.109)  that had to do with their Japanese culture (like the Japanese flag) to keep away any further trouble or suspicions.  


           I can connect to how Tomi feels. At times I feel like I have to do something but I know that I can't. For example when I want to help someone feel better. I sometimes what you say doesn't make a difference  and make the situation worse. Sometimes you just need to let it go and hope things  get better. Just like for Tomi, he couldn't do anything about his father and grandfather being taken away so he had to just hope for the best. Even though it was really hard, he had to let it go. This is what I learned about the lives of the Japanese during World War II and how I feel about it.

Lianne D | Reply

11/9/2009 7:55:58 AM #

Book title: The House on Mango street
Author: Sandra Cisneros
Read pages: 1-71
period 6
Blog prompt #2: Compare an event from the story to a similar one in your life
    The prompt that I chose said to compare an event in the story to one from my own life. I chose it because I thought that it would be easy to relate to the main character Esperanza. Through the whole book it is like a collection of Esperanza's memories and you can tell from what she says that as the book goes on her language gets more mature and she gets stuck in more adult situations.
     In the very beginning of the whole story, the first 3 pages, Esperanza tells of her family and also how she moves to the house on Mango Street. She also talks about how her old house was and I chose that event because moving is sometimes a very emotional time for a lot of people. I have moved probably about 3 times but the one I remember the most is the 2nd one to the first time I came to Kahala Towers. I think that I was actually about Esperanza's age at the time because I started elementary school at that time. In the book Esperanza as a little girl talks to the reader as if they know what she is talking about. She say's "Before that we used to live on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we used to live on Keeler." I believe that I would have done the same thing because I was so young and i did not really know any better. A little kids mind is so nice and pure and so naive because it has not really met the world yet. She also mentions how she was not living under the rule of a landlord anymore and didn't have to pay rent to anyone. She said "The house on Mango street is ours, and we don't have to pay rent to nobody." My situation was different because so far all of the houses that I have lived were all apartments so we always had to pay rent. Later it says" But even so, it is not the house we'd thought we'd get." Which probably means that they were never really satisfied with it. I always never really warm up to the idea to a new house but then I eventually get used to the fact that I will probably be living there for a long time so I just got to get used to it.
    To me I can kind of feel Esperanza's point of view as a little kid. I always never appreciate thing until a long while and sometimes that long while makes it too late and it sometimes disappears. I rarely meet a story that allows me to really kind of relate to the story like this story. Every time I would move it feels like I am actually throwing away a part of my life but I know that no matter what happens I will still always have the memories.  

Kent Uyehara | Reply

11/9/2009 8:11:49 AM #

Joseph Song
Period 5
11/8/09
Blog Entry #2
Under the Blood-Red Sun
by Graham Sailsbury
Pages 1-160

4. Explain what you would have done in a certain situation.

In the book, Under the Blood-Red Sun, Tomikazu Nakaji, a Japanese immigrant living in the island of Oahu, Hawaii, is confronted with many problems and stumbling stones. The first event in the book, the one that got my blood pumping was when Keet Wilson messes around with Tomi's dad's pigeons, and it says in the book that, "The only rest Papa ever got was when he spent time with his pigeons. And I was the one he trusted to take care of them when he was out working on the boat." (pg. 7) and if this kind of thing happened to me, my fist would go FLYING, I mean, it is something that is really important to your parents, and something they get relief out of, just that would make me want to Keel Keet but that was not all. "Keet Wilson, the crazy boy," (pg. 6)even hurt Tomi's friend who was just sticking up for Tomi, Keet pushed him so hard that Billy (Tomi's friend) went "flying to the ground" (pg. 9) and even had a hard time breathing.

If I was in Tomi's position, I would have beat the $#!* out of Keet, but I guess am not as disciplined as him because he considered what would happen if he actually got into the fight, he thought back to what his father had told him, "I don't care how angry you get, you cannot fight. You must learn gaman - patience. You cannot be a troublemaker and bring shame on this family." (pg. 14) and Tomi actually dodged what would have become a big fight. He knew that if he had gotten in the fight, his name and family would become nothing, what his ancestors and parents had worked for would become nothing. Tomi knew that he had to be patient and act like an adult.

I think that I can connect to Tomi up to a certain point. Yes, if I was in Tomi's position in the book, I would have thrown the first punch but, if the reason was more about me than my family or culture, I would usually laugh it off or just let it go. I usually don't get into fights but, when if someone comments about my family or tradition, I would go at it. I think that Japanese culture and Korean culture can relate kind of relate to each other, we are big about honor, and respect to elders and family. And I too have heard from my father that if I get in to fights, its like putting mud on his face, that getting in to a fight is that shameful. But, my usual excuse for a fight was either, I was helping a friend, or defending my culture. And I'm pretty sure Tomi would use the same excuse if he had gotten in to a fight.

Joseph S | Reply

11/10/2009 7:04:38 AM #

Nicholas F.
Period 5
11/9/09
Blog Entry #2
Under the Blood Red Sun, by Graham Salisbury

Prompt: Tell what makes a particular character/setting appeal to you.

The protagonist of the book, Tomi, is an instantly appealing character. Due to the way he deals with the events of the book, I think he's very compelling and interesting.  He shows strong values and morals throughout the book.  In the beginning of the book he needs to restrain himself from attacking Keet, a local bully, in order to uphold his family's honor. What he did  shows great self control and maturity.  He is very respectful, which shows when he speaks to his grandfather or father.  Tomi can be very resilient and confident when the situation calls for it.  When his father and grandfather are arrested after the Japanese bomb.  In the end, he and his family were able to get through the bombing and the aftermath.

His personality is anything but 2-dimensional, as his reactions and emotions in context of the situation are very realistic and complex.  You can empathize well with this character, and can truly feel emotional about what's happening to him.

Nicholas F. | Reply