Stereotypes

All women
Are skinny And weak
And have long hair
And pretty
And have children
All men
Are muscular
And strong
and handsome
And have short hair
And have children
Women do chores
And men go to work
Women like men
Men like women

All one society
A "perfect" society.

¹per·fect, adj \ˈpər-fikt\

a : being entirely without fault or defect : flawless

This is not perfect.

Mother to Son

"Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair."
-Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

In the poem "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes, Langston takes the role of a mother, speaking to her son about what her life has been like and the troubles that she's been through. The poem acts as a kind of motivational speech to the son, telling him, "Don't you set down on the steps, 'Cause you finds it kinder hard." The mother is telling the son not to give up because life get's hard, and that he's not climbing a crystal stair, like some people.
The crystal stair in the poem represents perfection, and how not all people get to live the kind of life where everything is perfect. The mother, speaking to the son, is telling him about all the difficulties that she's had in life. A splinter, a tack, cold, bare floors or torn up stair boards. Some things hurt for a minute, like a splinter, but some leave bruises for days, or even scars and cuts.
The time period in which the poem was written (1922, around the time of the Great Depression and when African Americans didn't have as many rights as they do today and were discriminated against) also relates to the theme of not giving up because of bumps in the road like in "Mother to Son".
Even 41 years later, there were still issues with discrimination against African Americans.
On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. said:
"...We must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land."
In the poem "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes, not only does the son represent a literal son, whose mother is telling him valuable information that he'll use throughout his life, the son also symbolizes the whole entire African American population in the United States in 1922, and Hughes is telling them not to let a ripped up floor board, or being tired of climbing, stop them from reaching their ultimate goal: equality.

Social Awareness Journal - Day 5

Day 5
Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
Abortion: Pro-life, or Pro-Choice?

"Abortion: the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus"

"There are two many answers to the question of abortion access. They can be grouped into two basic positions:

Those promoting a pro-life or anti-abortion position say that the government should override a woman's decision to have an abortion in some, many, or all cases, and require her to continue her pregnancy to childbirth.

Most pro-lifers base their stance on the belief that human life, in the form of an ovum and spermatozoon, becomes a human person during the process of conception. Thus, a human pre-embryo, embryo and fetus are all persons entitled to fundamental human rights, including the most basic right: to be allowed to live. The lives of two humans are being considered here: that of the woman and her the life of the pre-embryo, embryo, or fetus.
Those promoting a pro-life or anti-abortion position say that the government should override a woman's decision to have an abortion in some, many, or all cases, and require her to continue her pregnancy to childbirth.

Most pro-lifers base their stance on the belief that human life, in the form of an ovum and spermatozoon, becomes a human person during the process of conception. Thus, a human pre-embryo, embryo and fetus are all persons entitled to fundamental human rights, including the most basic right: to be allowed to live. The lives of two humans are being considered here: that of the woman and her the life of the pre-embryo, embryo, or fetus.

Those promoting a pro-choice position say that the government should not interfere with the woman's decision, or should do so only under very rare circumstances. She should be able to have an abortion in many, most or all cases.

Most pro-choicers base their stance on the belief that human life becomes a human person at some time after conception -- perhaps when the embryo's heart starts beating, or when the fetus first looks human, or it becomes sentient, or it has half emerged from its mother's body, or is born, or is severed from its mother and is functioning independently. They feel that a woman should not be forced to go through a pregnancy and childbirth if she does not choose to do so. She should be allowed to have an abortion if it is done before her embryo or fetus attains personhood."

Abortion has become a major way for people of different opinions to clash. As you read in the article above (cited below), there are two different point of views on abortion. I, myself, am a pro-choicer, because I beleive that a woman has the right to do what she wants to do with her own body. But, at the same time, pro-lifers beleive that a baby, even as a fetus, is still living and deserves a chance at life. Pro-lifers think that no woman should have an abortion.

www.m-w.com
http://www.religioustolerance.org/abofund.htm

Social Awareness Journal - Days 3 and 4

Day 3
Sunday, October 24th, 2010
Poverty, And Its Effects On People Worldwide

What is poverty, anyway? Poverty is "the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions". While many people around the world can afford everyday expenses such as food or clothing, 97 million of the 471 million people living in Eastern Europe and Central Asia live on less than 2 dollars a day. Also of those 471 million, 24 million live on less than 1 dollar a day. Nearly 50 percent of sub-Saharan Africans live on less than $1 a day, and the number of people in South Asia who live on less than 1 dollar a day reaches almost half a billion. In South Asia, 240 million people don't have access to safe water, and half a billion don't have proper sanitation.
The poverty rates don't even end there. There are tons of families, children, and adults living in poverty in the United States. In fact, 37 million Americans are living in poverty, and nearly 35% of the poorer population in the US is children. The ratio of children who live in poverty in the US, is 1 to 6.

The fact that there are so many people who live in poverty around the world is so depressing. Here I am, typing this on a computer, in my own room, in my own house, with my own family, who makes an average amount of money each year. We're certainly not in poverty, but we're not rich, either. And the funny thing is that I never really remember thanking anybody for what I have. I know that on my birthdays, when people give me gifts, I say thank you. I say thank you when I get presents on the winter holidays. But have I ever thanked anyone for what me or my family has? Or what we don't have?

Day 4
Monday, October 25th, 2010
Sexism...

sex·ism - noun \ˈsek-ˌsi-zəm\: prejudice or discrimination based on sex; especially: discrimination against women

2: behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex
Sexism exists. As you read above, sexism is the belief or attitude that one gender is inferior to, or less valuable than the other.
Sexist statements include things like, "women can not play sports such as football or 'fight'" or "men can not go to salons or get their nails done". These statements discriminate against certain genders; male, or female. "But what's wrong with sexism?" someone might ask. To be short, sexism is just another form of any other kind of discrimination, no worse than racism or other types.

Just like what I said on my point of views of gay suicides and the people who bully people who are gay, I just don't understand it. And I don't understand this. Why would someone feel that they're more superior to someone else just because of their gender? I appreciate women who stand up against sexism toward women (although there is sexism against men, as well). I especially love feminist artists, and how they express their ideas about sexism and feminism in their artwork. It says a lot about how some people in our society today think about sexism.
I'd like to give a shout out to Kiki Smith, my favorite feminist artist, as of...yesterday. ;)

Cite: wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty/
globalissues.org
http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html
thinkquest.org
savethechildren.org

Social Awareness Journal - Days 1 and 2

Day 1
Friday, October 22nd, 2010
Gay Suicides - The Pressure that Society Puts on People Who are Gay

Recently, whether you read it in a newspaper or heard it on the news, you've probably heard about Tyler Clementi's suicide. Tyler Clementi was an 18-year-old gay freshman at Rutger's University, who committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge on September 22nd. Clementi committed suicide after some of his classmates posted footage of him having a sexual encounter with another man. People were shocked, and still are, by his suicide. What some people aren't aware of though, is that Clementi's suicide is just one of many that have been committed over past few months. On September 9th, 15-year-old Billy Lucas hanged himself "[after] what classmates reportedly called a constant stream of invective against him at school."
Then, just a little less than 2 weeks later, 13-year-old Asher Brown shot himself after he told people that he was gay. And, around a month ago, another 13-year-old named Seth Walsh hanged himself, after being "apparently unable to bear a relentless barrage of taunting, bullying and other abuse at the hands of his peers."

My reaction to this? What has the human race become? Who are we to make fun of, and put down, other people because of their sexual orientation? What's the motivation? Or satisfaction? Why do people think that it's okay to push people's emotional limits, so much, and so far, that they commit suicide? That they take their own life, because they're not "socially acceptable"? Think about that.

Day 2
Saturday, October 23rd, 2010
Injustice: What it Means To Be Small, Be Susceptible, Be an Animal

Have you ever seen commercials on television about how many animals are abused each year? What about the ones that tell you how many animals are put in shelters, how many are used for fur, or how many are used for testing make up products or drugs ? In case you haven't, or you've forgotten the number, I'll tell you. Millions of animals are abused each year. Approximately 6-8 million dogs and cats in the United States are put in animal shelters, and of those 6-8 million, approximately 3-4 million are euthanized. In 2006, more than 350,000 baby seals were killed for fur, including more than 30 million mink, foxes, chinchillas, and other animals that are killed on fur farms each year, by electrocution and poisoning, as well as approximately 2 million dogs and cats worth of fur that's exported from places worldwide, and mostly labeled as fake here in the United States, also unaware that some of these 2 million are skinned alive.
In animal testing, approximately 25 million vertebrate animals are tested in the United States every year. If you include invertebrate, the number goes up to 100 million.

The thing that disturbs me the most about how many animals are abused or put in shelters every year, just in the United States, is that so few people actually know about it. Yes, we all know that animals are abused and put in shelters, and that some are killed for fur or testing, but people never really tend to look at the number. I can compare it to an ordinary person: they find a fatty snack that they really like, but never bother to look at the nutrition facts, and eat it almost every day. Over time, they get more and more obese, but they never notice. Then, one day, bam! They look at the scale, and their whole situation just blows up in their face. It's the same this. People never really look between the lines so see the facts that they're missing, and then, all of a sudden, they realize what's wrong, just when it's too late. What's going to happen when the animals that humans hunt become extinct? Or shelters are overridden with animals? Or, no animals are even left?

Appreciation - The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

Besides our favorite things and what we liked to do, there was one thing that set me apart from most of my friends. It wasn't my culture, my religion, or anything of that sort. It was one thing that even I didn't realize until a week or two ago. It was the fact that I had never really read any "childhood books" in my childhood.

I remember reading Charlotte's Web when I was little. I remember skimming through A Wrinkle in Time, and hating it. I also remember the new copies of the whole Chronicles of Narnia that my aunt gave me when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I sat in my room and read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe when the sunlight dripped, and leaked through my windows in the afternoon. I sat and read on the cold, blue tile bathroom floor and closed the door, when I didn't want anyone to disturb my reading. And after I had read just The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, I gave the whole Chronicles of Narnia away.
Why? I don't actually remember. I just gave them away without a second thought.
But now? I wouldn't give up my book filled with The Chronicles of Narnia for a million dollars. (Ok, I would, but you get what I'm trying to say).
Although I didn't realize it when I was younger, the whole entire Chronicles of Narnia are filled with magic, and The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe especially.
The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe is one of the most well known books by C.S. Lewis.
It contains hope, joy, sadness, loneliness, and, finally, the magic that has the power to
transport you and make you feel like you're in Narnia with Lucy, Edmund, Peter, and Susan.
The whole entire book, you have the "Don't look into the closet! Don't look into the closet!" kind of feeling like when your watching a scary movie. C.S. Lewis keeps you on your toes, alert and aware, but at the same time dreamy and isolated as you imagine yourself in Narnia.
How does he do this? Description. Sentence length. Adjectives and words that evoke feelings. Not only does C.S. Lewis use these things, but most writers do too, and these things are what make a story come alive in front of the readers eyes. These things make something 2-D, like words on a piece of paper, turn 3-D like a colorful pop-up book. You can visualize the story in your mind and relate to it through your own life and experiences.
Obviously, C.S. Lewis did a good job: there are multiple editions of The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, a movie, and even more Chronicles of Narnia books that I'm reading now that I know how great the books are.

One of my good friends once told me: "Always try new things. You never know what you might find." Now, I can never say that that wasn't true.

Never Shut Yourself In A Wardrobe

"Edmund can be so rude! Lucy, Peter, and Susan seem so sweet, but Edmund is like the odd person out."
"What's up with the whole, 'don't shut the wardrobe door' thing? Is it bad luck? Lucy and Peter haven't shut the wardrobe, but Edmund has...more 'odd one out'? Or symbolism tying into that? It's mentioned so much."
If you ever read the book The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, you would probably notice that all the kids that the Professor had adopted had good manners, were sensible, and were fairly nice to one another. Except for Edmund.
Consistently throughout the book I see situations where Edmund is left being the odd one out. First, he's horribly mean to Lucy when she tells them about Narnia. Even after he went there himself, he still pretends that she's making it up. Peter and Susan, however, make the effort to beleive that Lucy is telling the truth by consulting the Professor.
Next, he closed the wardrobe door. Now, at first this may not seem like a big deal (it didn't to me either), but since C.S. Lewis mentions the fact that one should never oneself in a wardrobe time after time, I've come to the conclusion that it must mean something. although I haven't figured out what yet.
So while Peter and Lucy sensibly did not close the wardrobe door on themselves when the went inside the wardrobe, Edmund immediately shut it, obviously not knowing any better. This is another example of him being the odd one out. You can't say that he didn't know any better because he isn't as old as Peter, but Lucy is younger than him, and yet she knows not to shut the wardrobe. I keep wondering why he closed the wardrobe. I mean, they all grew up in the same family, Peter the longest and Lucy the shortest, so why don't they all know not to shut a wardrobe behind them?
Another reason that Edmund is the 'odd one out' out of the four siblings is the most obvious reason in the whole book: he went against all of them to be a spy for the white witch. I mean, who does that? Who goes against their siblings (no matter how much you think they're the rude and stuck up people when you are) and basically hands them a piece of paper with their death sentence on it?
Edmund is nothing like his three siblings. While they are nice, understanding, and trustworthy, he turns his back on them, Aslan, and the creatures of Narnia for the witch and her stupid enhanced and enchanted Turkish delight.
I think that throughout the book, Edmund changes though. Even though in the beginning of their stay in Narnia he betrays them to the white witch, by the end of their stay he is one of the two kings if Narnia, one of the people that helped fight against the witch, and has fought countless battles against evil forces that may have still been lurking.
I don't that Edmund will ever be exactly like his siblings, because there is always one odd one out, but through his journeys in Narnia he gained trust, loyalty, friends, and the right to be named one of the kings of Narnia. Long live the Queens and Kings!

A Small Cliche Fantasy Story

If I hadn't reread Charlotte's Web, taken notes, thought about it thoroughly, and written numerous entries on it, if someone asked me what I thought it was about, I probably would have said that it was a small cliche fantasy story that involved a pig and his best friend named Charlotte.
Although it does have the occasional cliche moral or theme (i.e. don't judge a book by it's cover, friendship), how I look at Charlotte's Web now is the complete opposite of how I thought about it before...starting with who I think is the most misunderstood character in this book: Templeton.
At first, Templeton doesn't play much of a big role in Wilbur's life. Toward the end and a little bit toward the middle, he helps save it.
That's exactly what bothers me about Templeton and Wilbur's relationship. While Charlotte thanks Templeton for going out to the dump for Wilbur's benefit, Wilbur doesn't really acknowledge Templeton at all, or the fact that without him, Charlotte would run out of words to write on her web. And without new words on her web, Wilbur is basically asking to become Zuckerman's bacon supply.
Not only does Templeton help Wilbur by collecting scraps of writing at the dump, he bit Wilbur's tail to make him wake up after he fainted at the fair. And still, Templeton doesn't even get the slightest hint at a thank you from Wilbur. All Wilbur wants is more.
Finally, Templeton stands up for himself when Wilbur wants him to get Charlotte's egg sack to bring back to the barn.
"Who made trip after trip to the dump? Why, it was old Templeton. Who saved Charlotte's life by scaring that Arable boy away with that rotten goose egg? Bless my soul, I beleive it was old Templeton. Who bit your tail and got you back on your feet this morning after you fainted in front of the crowd? Old Templeton. Has it ever occurred to you that I'm sick of running around and doing favors?"
I totally get and agree with what Templeton is saying. If you or I did numerous favors for someone, I think that we would both expect that that person at least gave us a thank you, or a small favor back.
But in truth, Wilbur never really thanked Templeton for anything that he did in Wilbur's favor. All Wilbur did to make Templeton happy is give him food, but I think he deserves a real thank you, not bribery.
I think the quote above is meant to make Templeton look like the "bad guy". In fact, that's what I thought when I first read it. But now, I think that Wilbur is such a stuck up brat. He says to Templeton, "Stop acting like a spoiled child!", when in reality, Wilbur is the spoiled child. He asks favors from other people without giving them a thank you, and has had people like Fern and Charlotte care and nurture him his whole life. He doesn't understand Templeton's point of view at all.
I also think Wilbur is hypocritical. When he's up at night in one of the chapters, he looks down on Templeton for being up late chewing on things, which is what a rat does, when he himself is up late as well. This is another example of Wilbur not understanding Templeton's point of view. Being up late and chewing is an instinct for rats, not pigs.
I think that even though Templeton is mainly portrayed as a bad character, Wilbur could not have survived without him and that Wilbur is ignorant and unaware for not realizing this.
I wish I could say that I thought Wilbur was a character who was caring and understanding for others, but I would be lying. Wilbur never really showed understanding or gratefulness toward Templeton...the rat he should be thanking for helping him stay alive to see the spring once more.

How Cruel Human Beings Can Really Be

The summer's over, the school year's started, the air is still hot and stuffy (especially on Prospect Park West because of the bike lane) and it's finally time for...you guessed it! Talking about my reading life this summer!
Okay. So first off, trying to keep up with my reading life was pretty easy, I dove into the summer prepared in advance with many books ready to read. I started the hot season with The Adoration of Jenna Fox, which was an outstanding book, and even though at first it didn't 'woo' me, later on it hooked me; overall thought out, smart, and very well written.
One of the most recent book I've finished is To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. Like The Adoration of Jenna Fox, the beginning of the book didn't really lure me in. I tried again...and again...until I finally read past page 3 and began to enjoy the book.
Since I don't like big blocks of text or long paragraphs (bad, I know, but I just can't help it) I found myself skimming. So, I forced myself to go back and re-read all of what I had just "read", like I did in Richard Adams' Watership Down.
I found myself really into the book. I can't find anything faulty with it. I didn't drag through it taking notes and almost forcing myself to find a text to self/world/text connection (sorry Ms. Galang). Overall the reading experience that I had while reading To Kill a Mockingbird was quite an enjoyable one.
The book is about a young girl called Scout, and what her life is like while and after her father defends a black man who is accused of rape in a segregated southern town.
The book starts with explaining Scout, Jem, and their father's history. Then, like any other book, you get to step into the character's shoes and really experience their life.
Scout lives in a small southern town in Alabama. Her life is a simple breath; she breathes in, she breaths out, and her day goes on and on and on until night, then it's starts all over again, with the occasional thrill of bothering the town's "odd person out", Boo Radley with her brother and their friend named Dill.
Her father, Atticus, who is a lawyer, soon gets involved in a case involving a men being accused of beating and raping Maya Ewell. Since the town is segregated, and the man being accused of rape is black (Tom Robinson) and the accusers are white (Maya Ewell and her father), and he knew that he had a very slim chance of winning, he still put his all in all in trying to win the case.
The book To Kill a Mockingbird is not only a book about how Scout, her brother, and her father deal with being labeled as "______ lovers" (If you read the book you'd know what I'm talking about). To Kill a Mockingbird is about a young girl and how she figures out to make sense of the world around her, how to tell untrustworthy people from people who you can trust with your life, and her discovery on how cruel a human being can really be.

Watership Down (Again)

No matter how many different books I read, my mind always drifts back to this book. I might reread it, or might not, or may just forget about it all together, which is exactly what I don't want to do.
Surprisingly, Watership Down is the only book by Richard Adams that I like so far out of the, um, 2 books that I've read by him. (And wow, I remembered his name!)
Watership Down just stands out to me by the depth in it's ideas. I probably have yet to figure out the full meaning of it even though I've spent so much time thinking about it.
My old entry on this book says something along the lines of "Hazel and Fiver want a perfect home where they can fit in." I still think that this is true, and I think that the books makes it quite obvious. Who wants to get picked on for a stupid piece of cowslip in their own warren?
I'm actually starting to think that (one of) the main ideas is perfection. It makes perfect sense! (No pun intended at first, but now that I look back it's kind of funny).
I think that a theme in this book is perfection because the whole point is that the homes Fiver and Hazel try to fit into aren't perfect.
In their original warren, they got picked on and hassled out of good food and high statuses because the weren't in the strongest group. In Strawberry's warren, the rabbits had to worry about the traps that farmers set up to catch them, a deadly secret that they kept. And in Woundwart's warren, the dictator of the warren, (I just said it all) the rabbits have no freedom, and are living in a kind of military camp.
None of the warrens they see and go to are perfect. They all have flaws one way or another. I guess that's why Hazel and Fiver want their warren to be perfect. And I guess this happens with humans too, when people see all the flaws around them and try to fix them. But flaws are so realistic, why bother to change? I guess I would want freedom, and a real family warren instead of other hostile rabbits, but sometimes you can't change anything even if you try hard, even harder that Hazel, Fiver, and all of their friends tried. For example, the flaws going on in the world right now, as you read this, there's war, trees being cut down, oil in the oceans, poverty, animals being abused, animals dying, humans dying, air pollution, land pollution, water pollution...I could go on forever and make this entry so long you couldn't even load the page without your computer freezing, and having a window pop up saying "The URL is not valid and can not be loaded", like mine. But somethings can't be fixed, no matter how hard you or I, or the whole world tries.

Thoughts On Beatles Lyrics

My dad has always been obsessed with The Beatles. Maybe that's why I started to like their music when I was little. On car trips, plane rides, at home, everywhere, The Beatles were constantly playing, song after song. At first, listening to a band play so frequently wherever I went was sort of annoying, but slowly, I grew to love The Beatles. Not just them, but their music, especially their lyrics.
The Beatles have been a part of my family forever-Revolution, my dad's favorite song, and P.S. I Love You, my mom's.
Mine is Think For Yourself-because listening to it makes me think that I'm somewhere else and lets me relax...

I've got a word or two
To say about the things that you do
You're telling all those lies
About the good things that we can have
If we close our eyes

Do what you want to do
And go where you're going to
Think for yourself
'Cause I won't be there with you

I left you far behind
The ruins of the life that you have in mind
And though you still can't see
I know your mind's made up
You're gonna cause more misery

Do what you want to do
And go where you're going to
Think for yourself
'Cause I won't be there with you

Although your mind's opaque
Try thinking more if just for your own sake
The future still looks good
And you've got time to rectify
All the things that you should

Do what you want to do
And go where you're going to
Think for yourself
'Cause I won't be there with you

Do what you want to do
And go where you're going to
Think for yourself
'Cause I won't be there with you
Think for yourself
'Cause I won't be there with you

Deciphering the lyrics, I read a story of someone leaving someone else in the dust. In the past. Leaving them for someone better. The person is confronting the other about their actions, and what they've said. How wrong it is to tell someone else that dreams and fairy tales can't some true. That they've ruined it, not just for every one else, but for themselves. The narrator, "I", encourages them to change for the better, to "rectify all the things you should".

"I left you far behind/The ruins of the life that you have in mind" are the words that sort of wake you up, like an alarm clock. You realize, that maybe your life won't be what you want it to be, that with one bad decision, you could loose everything, like the person the narrator is talking to.
The future still looks good/And you've got time to rectify/All the things that you should". These lines really bring hope to me. To say that you still have a chance at what you want to accomplish, to still have a chance to be able to say "I did it! I made it!" and know that you could really do what you wanted to do, even with the help of someone else. Even though you made a bad choice, and you fell, you can have the strength to get back up, keep on walking, keep on running. But you have a choice- "Do what you want to do". You can make that decision to get back up and pick yourself off the ground, or take someone's hand so that they can help you. You also have the choice to say "No," and stay on the ground.
"Do what you want to do/And go where you're going to/Think for yourself/'Cause I won't be there with you". The chorus, like a lot of songs, seems to make one of the strongest points, and is probably one of the reasons it's repeated. To me, these lines talk about departure, and saying farewell. The say that you have to make your own choices, and not rely on other people to help you all the time because they won't always be there. Even though it's hard to make decisions, you can't always be indecisive, and it's up to you to make good choices.
The lyrics in some Beatles songs move me. Especially this particular song. It shows that being dependent on others all the time and making bad choices can leave you like who the narrator was talking to- someone who stays on the ground when you fall. But we all fall. Hopefully we all get back up. But I think that it's really important to be independent, and be able to catch your balance when you trip.
Overall, The Beatles have made a huge impression on me and my family. Their lyrics, and the heart in their songs make their music come alive. So sometimes, music isn't just a catchy tune or beat, and instruments and someone singing some words that rhyme to get to the top charts...It can be a message their trying to send to the world, about an experience they had...or a time they fell down.

The Tale of Finding a True Home

Watership Down was a book I would have never imagined myself picking up to read, and ultimately, enjoying. Of course, I didn't pick the book out myself; Ann, one of my mother's friends, gave it to me as a birthday gift.
"She says she enjoyed it," I remember my mother saying, handing the stiff book over to me as I sat on the kitchen floor.
I wasn't particularly interested in it, mostly because an adult was recommending it. The book had been tossed aside for maybe a day or so before I actually started to read it.
I loved it. After the first page, I was hooked. The detail was vivid , and I strained myself to read every little word. Put together, it made a lot of sense.
Watership Down is about a rabbit named Hazel and his brother Fiver on their adventure to find a home where they fit in. They escape the warren that they live in with the help of some others like Dandelion, Bigwig, Pipkin, Blackberry, Hawkbit, Silver, and Speedwell.
On their journey they make new friends, like Strawberry, from a far-away warren, as well as enemies like the dictator Woundwort, who runs the military-like warren called Efrafa.
I read about the rabbit God, Frith, who controls the sun, and listened to stories that Dandelion told about El-ahrairah, a rabbit folk hero, also known as the Prince with a thousand enemies.
Watership Down made me think about what "home" means to someone, and if it can be perfect. If it's a place that's run by who's the strongest and has the most power like Hazel's warren. If it's some place that's full of unsaid things that clog the air. If it's a place where you're supposed to follow all the rules and be a type of slave to a dictator.
Shouldn't home be a place that we like to be? Aren't homes supposed to be perfect? Why not?
Watership Down made me think about what home is supposed to be like, and what Hazel and Fiver are looking for. I loved this book, and it's a great read for almost anyone.
Watership Down is a tale of friendship, brotherhood, family, and adventure. I pretty much guarantee it will make you think more about the world, like it made me. :)

The Truth About Forever

This was one of my favorite reads in a while: Not to easy and not too hard. It also made me think about the relationships between parents and their children (or child). Like for example, what a parent wants for their child is sometimes the complete opposite of what the child wants for themselves. Should parents have control over every single thing that their kids do? Or do children get a say?
Macy is starting to think about these ideas after her super-uptight boyfriend Jason goes away to a learning camp - and Macy is left behind with her even more uptight mother for the summer. She and her mother get into serious disagreements, though. Macy just wants to be normal: to be able to go out with friends and go to parties, instead of just being referred to as "the girl who's dad died" or things like that. Her mother, on the other hand, wants to turn 180 degrees from that thought. Macy's mother wants her to be prim and proper, and always do what she tells Macy to do. Throughout the whole book I just want to scream, "Let Macy have freedom already!!"
When Macy finally finds some friends by joining a catering business, things begin to look up. Except for the fact that her mother disapproves her new friends, and limits the time she spends with them. I understand why she would want to do that (one of Macy’s new friends has gone to jail), but does she really have the power to "disapprove" of her daughter's friends?
Macy has other problems, though. Like with her boyfriend, Jason. When Kristy (a friend) tries to see deeper into her relationship with him, Macy starts to really see what her relationship has been like with him. How he's somehow "perfect", and sees Macy as a "project" to make her perfect, too. It makes her feel bad inside, like she isn't perfect enough. He makes her feel like she's not perfect in her own way, even though she is, and he shouldn't make it right for her to feel that way: He may be perfect at Brain Camp, but that doesn't mean Macy has to be too. In fact, one of my favorite parts in this book is when she realizes that.
Macy's summer wasn't perfect, but it was a way for her to discover ways she can be herself like Kristy, her one-of-a-kind friend, instead of a person that someone else wants her to be. In the end, being someone other than herself just makes her feel bad about herself.
I think that the moral of The Truth about Forever is that you have to be yourself, not someone else that people pressure you to be: whether that's prim and proper or being a “perfect”. It's not even like when adults tell you that and you know that they "just say it" to try and help you, like the "Golden Rule" and stuff. It's something that is really and truly something that can affect your life, and not just another old saying.

Happily Ever After

I'm pretty sure that we have all heard a story that begins with "Once upon a time." Usually it contains a story about kings and queens, knights and dragons, and a damsel in distress. The Tale of Despereaux is one of those books. Although it does not begin with "Once upon a time" and doesn't contain dragons, but a dungeon, it makes me think deeply about what Kate DiCamillo is trying to really say. It also makes me think about the message that she is trying to send to the reader and the depth of the story. Like in real life, is there really such a thing as happily ever after?

Despereaux's life reflects so much upon what a human's is like. Sometimes he is in doubt, and along the way he develops bravery, and the courage to stand up for the Princess Pea. Unlike any other mouse, he is brave enough to face the "real world"- one that is complete darkness, and only lit by Despereaux's love for Pea. But unlike the other mice who cower in fear, he wants to be that knight in shining armor, honoring and protecting the princess.
I guess Despereaux's actions really reflect on his feelings, and what he thinks is right or wrong. Most of all, he stands up for what he loves. Maybe we can learn from Despereaux: It's not a sin to stand out from the crowd in which you thought you once belonged- maybe it's time to move on. Maybe you were always different, like Despereaux, and you were always being pressured about being a certain way. This, in fact, happens all the time, non-stop in today's society. Being pressured about how you look or how you act are things that are considered "important," or at least seem to be. Are they, really?
This brings me also to think about Chiaroscuro, too. As a character, he is so much like Despereaux, but at the same time so different. He is the only rat in this book who likes the light, he thinks that it's beautiful.
Roscuro brings me to Miggery Sow. Although it does mention that she wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, her story is probably one of the sharpest in the kitchen. Her longing and wanting to be a princess, though, gets her into trouble with Roscuro who persuades her to capture the Princess Pea. In the end of course, everything is fine--she and her father are reunited after he sold her for a cloth, a chicken, and a handful of cigarettes when she was younger. And of course, things with Despereaux, Pea, and Roscuro are sorted out. Like happily ever after.
"Stories are light." This is what Gregory the jailer said to Despereaux. And I myself am pretty sure they are, too.