Non Fiction Critical Analysis

 The article "Vaping may harm the lungs" by Janet Roloff and Beth Mole is about how many people think that vaping is healthier for your lungs because there is no smoke. But really, they are just as bed becuase the chemicals in them can destroy the tissue and cells in your lungs.they show this is many ways. For exmple, they say that teens are doing it becuase they won't get hurtand they are unaware. Also, they say that they are actually suppose to help stear tobacco smokers clear of tobacco, not to be a healtheir alternitive.

I think that the authors' oppion is that people need to be more carefull when they are doing these things becuse  they give examples such as that people don't and they are uninformed.

I agree with this becuase people are doing this and they are unnowinly desrtoy themselsevles. They are comvinced that nothing is happrning to them. I think people need to be more careful.

ya book blog post

Ya Book Blogpost

In the book “Sorta like a Rock star” by Mathew Quick, the main character, Amber Appleton is a homeless teen living in a school bus with her mother. She has a group of friends who she calls “the freaks” because they all have something different about them. Nobody knows why Amber herself is a freak, but she knows why. Her friends who really do have something wrong with them, keep her going strong. In the book “Sorta like a Rock Star” by Mathew Quick, the freaks are a sign of hope for Amber because they are all so different.

One of the freaks who’s name is Ricky, has autism. Ricky is a sign of hope for Amber because he can push through. For example, when they mean football player at their high school makes fun of Ricky, but it is ok, because he is really smart. He is a math wizard, and that makes him happy. Also, Ricky loves Amber. This makes Amber feel good about herself, showing that her friends, the freaks, are a sign of hope for Amber because they are all so different.

Another example of Amber’s friends giving her hope is her black friend, Ty. He is the only black person in the whole neighborhood. He doesn’t get to learn about his heritage in the school curriculum. Him and Amber can connect to each other because Amber’s dad left her, so she can’t learn about her past, just like how Ty can’t learn about his past because he is the only black person in the neighborhood. Also, when Amber’s mom died and she was depressed, she didn’t leave her room and she lost almost all of her friends. Ty was the only one who came to visit. He grew a friendship beard that was really long and he wouldn’t cut it until she became friends with the freaks again. This encouraged Amber to get back into the groove, and out of her state of depression. This shows that the freaks are a sign of hope for Amber because they are all so different.

The book “Sorta like a Rock Star” by Mathew Quick show how friendships are important to people to help them through tough times. This book clearly shows that through these characters. This book shows that the freaks are a sign of hope for Amber because they are all so different. Everybody needs some freak friends to guide along the way through the hard path of life. 

ya blog post

Ya book blog post

                In the book “Sorta Like a Rock star”, the main character, Amber Appleton goes through many struggles, such as living on a school bus with her mother, her mom dying, her dad leaving her, and her dog needing a $3000 surgery that she definitely cannot afford. Even so, she continues to keep hope throughout the book. Especially in rough times such as living on a school bus and her dog needing a $3000 surgery.

                One situation in which Amber keeps hope is when her and her mother were living on a school bus. Amber and her mother always said they would eventually get out of the school bus, even though they clearly wouldn’t. But, Amber believed they would one day. Also, Amber kept doing nice things for people. She would teach the Korean Divas for Christ how to speak English, and go to the nursing home to make the dying old people smile, even when she was the one who needed the most help. This shows how when nothing was going right for Amber, she was still able to keep head up high .

               

                Another example of Amber keeping hope when she was in the worst situation is when her dog, Bobby Big  Boy,  needs a $3000 surgery that she clearly couldn’t afford. When this happens, all she does is plan a big show to raise money for him so that she could pay for it herself. She also goes back to the nursing home to make the old people smile and apologize for her behavior and not coming because her mom died and she was depressed (but she overcame it!) This shows that she kept hope.

               

                The main character Amber Appleton keeps hope throughout the book no matter what happens to her. We can use this in the real world because bad things happen to people everyday and we should be able to help them and ourselves. 

non fiction critcal analysis

Non Fiction Critical Analysis

In the article “return of the measles” from upfront magazine, it talks about hoe people are surprised that the measles are coming back. And that some people choose to have shots for it.  I noticed that the author uses many things to convince the reader that this is happening. One very strong way the author does this is by using statistics. This helps the reader understand the text because it helps us understand the dangerousness of the measles.

In the article, it talks about how the measles are a real thing and that they are coming back. They start off by the reader that America thought that it was eliminated in 2000, but we recently got a surprise that they were in fact, not eliminated, and are coming back. It all started with in an outbreak in popular amusment park, Disney world. Many people were concerned. Also, some people with terminal illnesses would be in a lot of danger if they were infected the measles. The article really talks about how some people choose not to get shots because “they don’t like the chemicals going in their/their kids bodies” the author uses statstics to show how these people are affect themselves and others, and how that is bad.

The strongest way the author shows the dangerousness of the measles is statistics. Statistics help the reader understand the text because they make the problem seem worse. Without statistics, the reader would never get an actual sense of how bad the measles are. They would just know that they are bad, but they wouldn’t have a rating of how bad the situation is. They would only be hearing someone else’s opinion of the sickness. When people are given statistics, they are alowed to heave their own opinion based on facts.

To conclude, using statistics is very different than just using facts. Statistics are cold numbers that have no opinion whatsoever, so that people can base their own thoughts off of that. This can help the reader understand the text better and the whole claim of the article, which was the measles is a very dangerous disease, and people who choose not to get shots, are putting themselves, and other people’s lives in danger. And that isn’t fair.

ya book blog post 3/15/15

Ya Book Blog Post 3/15/15

            In the book “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things” by Carolyn Macker, the overweight, Virginia Shreves goes through many problems. Towards the end, she learns to stay strong, notices many horrible things about her family members, and gains confidence. Virginia goes through many changes.

            One change Virginia goes through is she learns to stay strong. Virginia goes on a diet to make her parents proud, which is something she didn’t even want to do in the first place. Food was like a friend to her when she was having hard times, which was a lot. For her to give it up like that just to impress people, was very strong of her. Another reason Virginia is strong is because when her brother, Byron, who she looks up to as a role model called her fat, she wanted to cut herself, but she didn’t. This is strong because she had such an easy opportunity to. Also, she had been going through a very hard time, and it was brave of her to not cut herself.

            Another change Virginia goes through is she notices many horrible things about her family members. For example, she notices that her brother is an awful person, not only because she raped an innocent girl, and didn’t feel bad, but because he is even mean to her. He knows that that’s what she hates most about herself. That was really the moment she noticed that her brother is not only a cruel brother, but a cruel person in general. She also notices a bad trait about her father. That he only thinks skinny women can be beautiful. He doesn’t have to think everyone is beautiful, but to say everyone who is fat is ugly, is really rude and mean. This fact really hits Virginia when she proudly tells her father she is going on a diet, and he says “You’ve got a pretty face. Just think of how much pretty you would be if you were skinny” this shows how her own dad thinks that she’s ugly, just because she’s fat.

            Finally, Virginia goes through a huge change by gaining confidence in herself. One way she does this, is her best friend (and only friend) moved to Washington from New York in the beginning of the year. For Thanksgiving, her best friend, Shannon invites her to Washington over the break. Virginia asks her mother if she can go, but her mother says no, meanwhile, her brother is going to Paris over the break, and that’s a “completely different story” since her mother doesn’t let her go to Washington, she decides to go to a ticket seller herself, and use her savings account to buy her own non-refundable ticket to Washington. This took a lot of courage, because that was her own, hard earned money that she spent half of, and if her parents said no, it would have gone to waste. But, Virginia felt happy, because it gave her a sense of power, like she could do things on her own. Another way Virginia gains confidence is when she is in Washington, she gets an eyebrow piercing. This is going completely against her parents. Also, as Virginia says in the book, she doesn’t like anything drawing attention to her face because she thinks it is ugly. Doing this made her more self-assured with her face. Also, many people notice and compliment her new piercing, which boosts her self-esteem even more.

            Virginia goes through many changes throughout the book, such as realizing her brother is a bad person, her father is demining to women, and she gains confidence. Noticing these kinds can really  make a person’s life turn upside down, like Virginia Shreves’ life did.

revised blog post

NEW AND IMPROVED VERSIONS OF: “The Fault in our Stars” by John Green blog post By Nubia Phillips 805

            I think that the author, John Green was really trying to use setting as a big part of the story. For example, when they had dinner in Amsterdam, when they were in Anne Frank’s house, and finally, all the days when  Gus was dying. This really shows John Green was using setting to shows  how nothing else mattered because Gus and Hazel were so in love.

            The first place I think the author used setting to show Gus and Hazel’s love is when they were eating dinner in Amsterdam. For example, although they were in a public, outdoor restaurant they were still in a very much in a privet environment. (Green 94) For example, they gave many examples such as “cyclist pedaled fast, well dressed men and women on their way home from work…”(Green 100) they described the surroundings, but not very well. They were also doing things that may seem like they are very pritvate such as sharing secrets and things like that. This shows that the setting is not very important. Only Gus is important in Hazel’s eyes, and the other way around. If the setting really was so important, it would have been elaborated more, or Gus and Hazel would have talked about it more. 

            The second place I think the author used setting to demonstrate the lack of importance in anything else other than Gus to Hazel is when they were in Anne Frank’s house.(Green 102) This is because they kissed. This was a museum and there were many other people there. The text says that “My hand let go of the oxygen cart and reached up for his neck…” (Green 103)Hazel’s oxygen cart is very important to her. It is essentially what keeps her alive. She just dropped it in a minute for Gus. Also, other people in the museum were looking at them, but they didn't care. This is also really importnat becuase Hazel is kind of shy and difinitley doesn't like drawing attention to herself. Doing something like this that could easily draw attention to herself shows that she doesn't care about anything or anybody else  becuase Gus is what is really important to her. 

            The final example of John Green using setting to show how intimate Gus and Hazel’s love is and nothing around them  can hinder that, is when Gus was dying. When this was happening, Hazel would come over to Gus’ house everyday and just keep him company.(Green 215) This shows love becuase Gus didn't do much of anything when he was dying. Yet, Hazel still enjoyed his company and the other way around. The text says “When I got his face so nose-touchingly close so that I could only see his eyes, I couldn’t tell he was sick” (green 223) this shows that even if he was sick, it didn’t matter because she loved him so much. It didn’t matter that the location wasn’t as romantic as it was in Amsterdam because they were in Gus' basement,  but all that Hazel cared about at that moment, was Gus.

            I think that John Green did this in a lot of scenes because setting can be important anywhere if you are with the person you love. Even if you aren’t in the best conditions, it doesn’t matter. Hazel and Gus weren’t always somewhere where it was like in Amsterdam, but they always enjoyed there time together no matter what, and nothing or nobody makes a difference about that. It is basically the same if you are with the right person.

link to first one: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5078032428573056279#editor/target=post;postID=682588086806330850;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=7;src=postname

An Abundance of Kathrines YA book blog post

Why Colin and Lindsey Should Date

                Colin Singleton has been dating (and getting dumped by) only Kathrines all his life. It has made him a very sad person. So when Colin goes on a road trip and meets a girl named Lindsey he may like, them dating might make him happier, Lindsey happier, and his best friend along with Lindsey’s mother a lot happier as well. Colin and Lindsey should date because it will make a lot of people happy.

                One reason Colin and Lindsey should date is because it would make Colin happy. He might be able to stop his dating theorem and not stress him out. Also, if he keeps doing the theorem, they could do it together and then he would be happy. Colin dating someone who’s name is not Kathrine might help him not be so weird so that more people will like him and that will make him feel better about himself. It would also take Kathrine 19 out of his head, therefore making him not depressed anymore. Also, Hassan wouldn’t be mad at Colin and Hassan is Colin’s only friend, therefore making Colin happy.

                Another reason Colin and Lindsey should date is because it would make Lindsey. Lindsey has had a hard childhood with trying to find herself. Now she is a fake popular person. She should date Colin because she is herself around him. For example, she bites her thumb, which is a privet habit. Also, she lets out her secret love for science and math around him. She even took him to her special spot and almost kissed him. She hasn’t even taken her boyfriend there! This shows that she has a stronger connection with Colin than she does with her boyfriend.

                Colin and Lindsey should also date because it would make Hassan, Colin’s BFF happy and Hollis, Lindsey’s mom happy. It would make Hassan happy because they would both have girlfriends for once and then Hassan wouldn’t have to feel left out whenever Colin finds another Kathrine. Also, Colin would stop complaining about not having a girlfriend and Kathrine 19. This would make Hassan happy because he feels that Colin is selfish and only talks about himself. This would make Colin talk about himself more, therefore making Hassan happy. It would also make Hollis happy because she doesn’t like Lindsey’s current boyfriend. Colin is smart and that might encourage Lindsey to leave Gutshot and do something with her life. This would even make everybody surrounding the protagonist happy.

                There are many reasons why Colin and Lindsey should date, but it would mostly just everybody around them including themselves a lot more happy. And that is very important.