Non-Fiction Blog Post Triangle Waist Factory Fire Upfront Magazine Sept.2.2013

The Triangle Waist Factory Fire occurred on March 25, 1911. Its duration was only a half of an hour long. In that half hour, 146 people died, and those people have made such a difference in the world. Not only the people, but the event itself as well. After the Triangle Waist factory Fire (TWFF), more than 30 safety laws were made in New York. Not only that, but child labor was eliminated by the late 1930’s.

The author is obviously is pressing to make us feel remorseful for those who died in the TWFF, but also maybe a little glad. Surely I am confused about how I feel about the TWFF, I am upset for the women and men who died that day, yet I am glad in a way, that it happened. Without the event, who knows… maybe there might be a small chance that some type of child labor might still exist in America because TWFF didn’t occur. And maybe there still might be no overtime pay, or minimum wage. The author has a good way of sneaking in his opinion by throwing a quote in.

“It was an incredibly galvanizing event for nation’s labor movement and the rights of workers. After Triangle, people were so shocked, not only by the terrible disaster, but by the drama of these young immigrant women who treated as less than women.” Bruce Raynor.

The author also uses very loaded words, to show how he feels, he uses words like, “terrible” and “disaster.” I believe because of this, this is a very subjective article.

I’ve found that my feelings toward TWFF are still quite confused. But if I’m being completely honest, I’m a little angry. I’m angry at the fact that before all these good things have to happen, something bad has to before. And I don’t even care if that’s cliché, because it describes exactly how I feel, and that is truly all that matters. What angers me more is that, that literally happens all the time. Bullying. A child must die before a law is made. But not just one, no, there has to be twenty to make something happen. It just makes me feel like people don’t pay enough attention, just to what matters to them and they don’t take into any consideration how anybody else feels, they always think of themselves, and they end up getting too caught up and it’s like walking with a mirror in front of you. Everything good always comes from something bad. I guess it’s a cycle, or some weird circle type sort of thing.

Critical Thinking Question: Who Has the “power” in Your Text? How Does That Power Get Shown? REVISED "Just Listen" by Sarah Dessen

            “Power,” such an odd expression. There’s electrical power, solar power, and then there’s power. This imaginary sense of energy everyone talks about, where it comes from no one knows.

The irony was that even though I’d seen Will and Sophie go through their drama enough times to know it by heart, i was still completely surprised when I suddenly found myself a part of it. One bad move on one night, and the next thing I knew it was me she was after-me who was the [s***], the [w****]-and me cut out, not only of her life, but one I’d come to know as my own, as well. Pg 125

I believe in the book I’m reading, “Just Listen” by Sarah Dessen, Annabel’s ex-best friend, Sophie has the “power.”

Sophie and Annabel had the ideal friendship. They did everything together and told each other everything. They were best friends since the sixth grade and were now in highchool. But Annabel gave up a lot for Sophie. She ignored people and she made fun of people, even those she used to be friends with, she basically became a bully, and that’s not saying she liked it. Annabel’s world was turned upside-down, inside out in every which way possible when the friendship ended. Once Sophie ended the friendship that she originally initiated, Annabel was kicked to the bottom of the popularity pyramid.

How does that power get shown… I think the question should be how is the power not seen. Sophie had control of Annabel’s life without even meaning to. She just did. When their friendship ended, all of Annabel’s other friendships did too. If Sophie was mean to her everyone else was too, if she calls her a name so did everyone else, if she even gave her the slightest dirty look everyone mimicked her. Sophie was like the nucleus in a cell, she told everyone what to do and everyone did it, just because. She had some type of control over everyone. Why? Because she had a way of manipulating everyone. Even her boyfriend was an example of why she had this power: he was the male version of Sophie, herself.

In school, there is always that one person that everyone talks about, but still wants to be friends with no matter what type of person they are. It happens everywhere, I mean come on there was at least one person that came to mind, it can’t be controlled. Power like this can be shown in the movie Cyberbully, where a teen is bullied by her ex-best friends to the point where she attempts to commit suicide. A bit extreme, but you understand what I’m trying to say. My point is, in the words of Eleanor Roosevelt,

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” And with this power that people hold over others and friends hold over each other, I just want everyone to be more aware of their actions and how they treat each other.

Critical Thinking Question: Who Has the “power” in Your Text? How Does That Power Get Shown?

Critical Thinking Question: Who Has the “power” in Your Text? How Does That Power Get Shown?

 "Just Listen" by Sarah Dessen

“Power,” such an odd expression. There’s electrical power, solar power, and then there’s power. This imaginary sense of energy everyone talks about, where it comes from no one knows.

The irony was that even though I’d seen Will and Sophie go through their drama enough times to know it by heart, i was still completely surprised when I suddenly found myself a part of it. One bad move on one night, and the next thing I knew it was me she was after-me who was the s***, the w****-and me cut out, not only of her life, but one I’d come to know as my own, as well. Pg 125

I believe in the book i’m reading, “Just Listen” by Sarah Dessen Sophie, Annabel’s ex-best friend has the “power” in the text.

Sophie and Annabel were really close in their friendship, but Annabel gave up a lot for Sophie. She ignored people, she made fun of people, she basically became a bystander, and that’s not saying she liked it. Point is, once SOPHIE ended their friendship Annabel’s world was turned upside-down, inside out in every which way possible. All because SOPHIE ended the friendship that SOPHIE initiated Annabel was kicked to way below the bottom of the popularity pyramid.

How does that power get shown… I think the question should be how does the power not get shown… if that’s grammatically correct at all. Sophie has control of Annabel’s life without even meaning to. She just does. When their friendship ended, all of Annabel’s other friendships did too. If Sophie’s mean to her everyone else is too, if she calls her a name everyone else does too, if she even gives her the slightest dirty look everyone is mimicking the exact same look. Sophie is like the nucleus in a cell, she tells everyone what to do and everyone just does it, just because.

Critical Thinking Question #8 - "Just Listen" by Sarah Dessen

 "What really hard things are happening in this text? Are they happening in the world now? Where?" 

On page 4, of the book Just Listen by Sarah Dessen, one character says to another, "Bitch." obviously this is very inappropriate language. On the same page, it says, "I saw a girl from my English class the year before narrows her eyes, while another girl laughs out loud." The two girls in this books were friends for 6 years but then last year they had a fall out (it has not been explained yet.) It's insane how quickly things can change between
 Bullying is a very serious problem, it causes people to do terrible things, and it can reach extreme measures with just a few words. Children take it really far for no reason. They don't have to say all the things that they do. But for what ever reason, they say it. Nowadays, there are laws, one is if you tell another to kill themselves you can be fined $10,000 but if you do, they do commit suicide you can be charged with Manslaughter. But that doesn't necessarily stop them.

 In my book there are also eating disorders. The main character's sister has anorexia. Yet it's not explained in full detail currently, it is already a very important part in the book.
 Anorexia, sometimes caused by bullying, stereotypes, or just by someones personal opinion. Like bullying, it's a very serious issue in the world. Anorexia is when people stop eating to lose weight, without food you won't be able to get the nutrients that you you need so you end up starving yourself to death. Many models have this disease, some by choice or because of what people say. A lot o people have this disease, too many to be honest and it's not okay, you should love yourself you shouldn't try to change yourself for someone else. 

Monday Muses- 2nd Prompt

"Happiness is a mood, it's a condition, it's not a destination. It's like being tired or hungry, it's not permanent. It comes and goes and that's okay. And I think if people thought about it that way, they'd find happiness a lot more often."

  I find myself always searching for things to get me happy, through songs or books, or quotes, or just something to brighten my day for just a little while. But then i read this, it felt as if my month brightened. And I just felt as If I could be happy for the rest of my life just because of that quote. 

 If you think about it, every emotion is like that. you can't always be upset, or vulnerable, or happy. You just have to be patient, life will take the wheel, and then you'll find your happiness. But just remember that it isn't permanent. It won't always be there and like it says in the quote, "...it comes and it goes and that's okay..."

2nd Argument Essay Draft

            The youth of America has always pushed boundaries. There are hundreds of books written about death and violence, and the majority of them are best sellers. For example, World War Z by Max Brooks, a book about, you guessed it, a war. As any war, it tells a story about one that is very gruesome. World War Z is a fictional story about a Zombie war, it is one man traveling the world after it’s over, listening to different peoples stories of their experiences. All of them either very tragic, or very gruesome, and all of which very detailed. Certain books like World War Z should be banned from libraries in the sixth grade.

            Children are children; at least they’re supposed to be. So many of their minds are spoiled with inappropriate thoughts or full of things they really aren’t supposed to worry about like economy or what everyone else thinks about them. I think many parents try really hard to censor their children’s minds but because they don’t always monitor what they are reading they seem to grow up so fast BECAUSE of what they are reading in school, like World War Z, “…we all heard her skull crack…” (insert page number Brooks) How many thoughts can that provoke? What will that cause a child to do? Considering how easy it is to access, they could probably look up what it sounds like. Or what it looks like. Maybe even in some cases; find out that it could actually happen.

            Some may say that banning children’s books could restrict them from what they actually need to know. For example, in “The Banned Books We Have Loved,” by Jen Doll, she says in the very famous book, “Bridge to Terabithia,” “…we learned the importance of friendships…” and in the book, “Go ask Alice,” “…we learned that a life can go off the rails all too quickly…” But, in all honesty that doesn’t relieve the authors from the spotlight because some of them take it too far when writing about such maybe meaningful, but accelerated topics.

            Many children are impressionable, for some, it is gullibility or for others, monkey see- monkey do. For example, in an article named, “The ‘sick-lit’ books aimed at children: It’s a disturbing phenomenon. Tales of teenage cancer, self-harm and suicide…” by Tanith Carey writes about a children’s book expert named Amanda Craig who was concerned about the children’s ‘best sellers’. She says that one book spread like “wild fire” in a twelve year old girl’s class and many began to harm themselves as it was done in the book. There is also another book Carey wrote about a book that included the most effective ways to commit suicide. This all seems to be very frightening for me considering as I said before, how gullible and impressionable children are.

            I believe authors and parents need to take into consideration that though it is “regular “ or “normal” nowadays, certain themes, main ideas, or topics of books are becoming more and more realistic by the letter. Parents need to regularly check what books are in the hands of their children, for all they know it may be too advanced for their minds and they may not understand the concept yet. I think we should all think about what we’re reading or about to read. Even now, when I’m thirteen years old I still feel a bit discomfort when I’m reading about war, terrorism, and self harm. Now more than ever that’s what the world is about right now. When I read and begin a book with those topics, it’s a little all too real for me. I believe authors should take a very large step back and observe the entire picture of what they writing about, but not of what is selling but what will be read comfortably.

1st Draft- Argument Essay

             Do you ever realize what exactly the youth of America is reading? There are hundreds of books written about death and violence, and the majority of them are best sellers. For example, World War Z by Max Brooks, a book about, you guessed it, a war. As any war, it tells a story about one that is very gruesome. World War Z is a fictional story about a Zombie war, it is one man traveling the world after it’s over, listening to different peoples stories of their experiences. All of them either very tragic, or very gruesome, and all of which very detailed. I believe there certain books like World War Z should be banned from children in elementary school.

            Children are children; at least they’re supposed to be. So many of their minds are spoiled with inappropriate thoughts or full of things they really aren’t supposed to worry about like economy or what everyone else thinks about them. I think many parents try really hard to censor their children’s minds but because they don’t always monitor what they are reading they seem to grow up so fast BECAUSE of what they are reading in school, like World War Z, “…we all her skull crack…” how many thoughts can that provoke? What will that cause a child to do? Considering how easy it is to access, they could probably look up what a skull cracking sounds like. Or what it looks like. Or even in some cases find out that it could actually happen.

            Some may say that banning children’s books could restrict them from what they actually need to know. For example, in “The Banned Books We Have Loved,” by Jen Doll, she says that in the very famous book, “Bridge to Terabithia,” “…we learned the importance of friendships…” and in the book, “Go ask Alice,” “…we learned that a life can go off the rails all too quickly…” But, in all honesty that doesn’t relieve the authors from the spotlight because some of them take it too far when writing about such maybe meaningful, but accelerated topics.

            Many children are impressionable, for some, it is monkey see- monkey do, or very gullible. For example, in an article named, “The ‘sick-lit’ books aimed at children: It’s a disturbing phenomenon. Tales of teenage cancer, self-harm and suicide…” by Tanith Carey writes about a children’s book expert named Amanda Craig who was concerned about the children’s ‘best sellers’. She says that one book spread like “wild fire” in a twelve year old girl’s class and many began to harm themselves as it was done in the book. There is also another book Carey wrote about a book that included the most effective ways to commit suicide. This all seems to be very frightening for me considering as I said before, how gullible and impressionable children are.

            I believe authors and parents need to take into consideration that though it is “regular “ or “normal” nowadays, certain themes, main ideas, or topics of books are becoming more and more realistic by the letter. Parents need to regularly check what books are in the hands of their children because it may be too advanced for their minds and they may not understand the concept yet. I think we should all think about what we’re reading or about to read because even now when I’m thirteen years old I still feel a bit discomfort reading about war, and terrorism, and self harm. Because now more than ever that’s what the world is about right now. And in the rare times that I do read when I’m not forced to, and I begin a book with those topics, it’s a little all too real for me. I believe authors should take a very large step back and observe the entire picture of what they writing about, but not of what is selling but what  will be read comfortably.