Answer to Ender's Game Questions Chapters 12-15

Chapter 12-Bonzo:
1) When Bonzo and the other boys first came into the bathroom, Ender provoked Bonzo by talking about how his father would be proud of him. Ender said things such as, "Your father would be proud of you," and "...he would say, oh, what honor."  After that, Dink came in and talked about how if he touched Ender he was a "buggerlover." Bonzo reacted to Ender talking about his father by making himself "even" with Ender and taking his clothes off. After Dink talked about Ender being what the world needed, Bonzo smiled and built up even more hatred towards Ender. 

2) Stilson was a boy in Ender's class before he went to battle school and when he still had his monitor as a six year-old. Stilson was a bully to Ender and teased him for being a third child. When Bonzo attacked Ender in the shower, he thought of Stilson because if Ender was going to beat Bonzo, he had to be quick about it. That made him think of the time when he had to be quick about beating Stilson and fighting back when he was ganged up on.

3) Ender still expects help from the teachers because he knew that they valued him and if something actually were to happen to him, the whole world would be in trouble. He knew that they would always wait to see if anything bad would happen, but if it got out of hand, he would be okay. 

4) Yes I did know that Stilson and Bonzo died. I know because when Major Imbu and a Colonel were talking at the end of the chapter, Major Imbu said, "It wasn't murder, Colonel. We have it on video from two angles. No one can blame Ender," in response to the Colonel saying, "How is murder better, Major Imbu?" Later in their conversation, Major Imbu said, "They didn't tell him about Stilson, either."

5) I believe that it was justified of Ender to defend himself when someone bigger and stronger could hurt him very badly and not hold back, but I don't think that Ender had to go so far as killing Stilson and Bonzo. They didn't tell him about the deaths because they knew he would be completely broken by it and knew that he wouldn't want to kill the buggers after already killing people. He would have given up and maybe even killed himself because of how much he hates the thought of hurting people. 

Chapter 13-Valentine:
1) The quote, "Perhaps it is impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be," means that when someone disguises them self and pretends to be someone who they are not, even be around people they aren't like, they begin to act like the person they were with so often or were pretending to be. An example of this is how Valentine pretended to be Demosthenes so much, that she began to think like him after writing her columns. 

2) To me, it isn't a natural "good" instinct for humans to be killers. I think that it's a horrible thing to kill someone or something. Even if it is in self-defense, I think that life would just be better if nobody killed anything like cows for meat, plants for fun and especially people. Though it sometimes needs to be done, I think killing is horrible no matter what the reason.

3) On the raft, Valentine did what Graff had asked her to do and convince Ender that he was the only one in the world that could defeat the buggers, whether he wanted to or not. They talked about how Peter was the one who actually want to rule the world and have his name known, but Ender was the one who had to win the next invasion because all of the world depended on it. Valentine loves both Peter and Ender, with Peter wanting to be famous, and Ender who has to become famous and defeat the buggers. This topic was discussed when valentine said, "Two faces of the same coin. And I am the metal in between." Then Ender replied, "The trouble with coins is, when one face is up, the other is down." Beside that, the two talked about the nets, being Wiggen children, and Demosthenes. 

4) Since Valentine hadn't seen Ender in such a long time, she only remembered him as a small little boy. Because of Ender being gone, Valentine turned to Peter to be with who, though she hated him, understood him. Now, Valentine was realizing that her and Peter may be more similar than she thought, and that maybe her thoughts were coming from jealousy. A memory was mentioned in the book about Valentine, Peter, and Ender playing with blocks, and Peter always taking a block out to make it fragile enough for the next person who took a block out to knock the tower down. This shows how Peter was annoying to her, but brought focus to their childhoods.Peter always understood Valentine and knew so much about her, but she never got embarrassed when he guessed her worst thoughts. Valentine felt the opposite about Ender though, and didn't want him to know what she was thinking because she would get embarrassed. 

5) Ender asked why the humans were fighting the buggers, and Graff said there are many possible answers such as the buggers colonizing, because they don't like having other intelligent life in the universe, because they don't think humans are intelligent life, because they thought humans were violent, and because of their religions. Graff thinks it is because there is no way for the humans and the buggers to communicate with each other so there isn't any way to know for sure if the other species wants to kill them or whatever they might have to say. He said that no one knows the real reason why the humans are fighting the buggers, but there is one sure thing: there will be a war and either the buggers or the humans have to and will die. 

Chapter 14-Ender's Teacher:
1) Ender hated Eros because the floors noticeably sloped downward and Ender was used to the floors curling up at battle school. He had gotten used to flat ground on Earth, but Eros was the opposite of what he was used to. Also, the gravity was only half of Earth's and the proportion of the rooms were uncomfortable to him. What bothered Ender most was that he was constantly surrounded by strangers. Ender figured out that Colonel Graff and the others were trying to isolate him by not letting him make any friends or even have the chance to.

2) Mazer Rackham was in Ender's room one morning and told him that Ender hasn't had any teachers before because, as he stated, "There is no teacher but the enemy." Mazar told Ender that he will be Ender's enemy from now on and will be his teacher.

3) Mazer had been dishonest with Ender because he knew that Ender couldn't do it if he knew what he was doing. Graff explained, "...but someone with that much compassion could never be the killer we needed..."It had to be Ender to defeat the Buggers because he understood them so well, and Mazer couldn't have done it because he was too old. I don't think Ender could have done it because he didn't want to kill the buggers and has too much of a heart to do such a thing like killing off an entire species.

4) I think that they did push the children too far. They were too young and didn't even get to be treated like children for more than four or five years of their life. It is a huge responsibility to fight in a war and the commanders should have waited until they were older. I do think it was worth pushing them though, because they beat the buggers and saved life on earth. The down side is that the kids who fought in the war will have to live with it the rest of their lives.

5) I think in the case that if the humans didn't destroy the buggers then the buggers would have killed them, it is justified to fight back, but if the humans were fighting the buggers just to be the only intelligent life in the universe, it wouldn't be justified. Yes, it was inevitable for the buggers to fight the humans because the ships were already going for either thirty, twenty, or seventy years and there had to be a third invasion to finish the war.

Chapter 15-Speaker for the Dead:
1) When Valentine said, "Nobody controls his own life, Ender. The best you can do is choose to fill the roles given to you by good people, by people who love you," I agreed with her statement, but I think that since Ender had been through so much and done so much of what people asked of him, he should get a break and be able to do what he wanted. 

2) Ender knew that he had killed many living beings including the buggers, Stilson, and Bonzo. He felt that he had done many crimes, and killing Bonzo and Stilson wasn't any worse or less of a crime than the others. 

3) Valentine didn't want Ender to go back to Earth because Peter wanted him there under the protection of the Hegemon's Council. I understood when Valentine said, "The way things are right now, Ender, that would put you effectively under Peter's control, since half the council now does just as Peter wants. The ones that aren't Locke's lapdogs are under his thumb in other ways." After discussing that Peter wanted to publicly reveal videos and look mature compared to Ender, he asked why Valentine stopped him and she replied, "Ender, you wouldn't be happy spending the rest of your life as Peter's Pawn.

4) Valentine's statement about Peter saving millions of lives was ironic because while Peter saved millions of lives, Ender was forced to kill millions during the Bugger war. 

5) When Ender was in the end of the world section in his game on the bugger planet, he found the queen's egg and whenever he closed his eyes he could see what she was telling him. From her he found out that she forgave him for destroying the buggers and she was where he got his information from. In the book, Ender thought to himself, "...How can I see these things, like memories in my own mind."

6) He signed his book "Speaker for the Dead" instead of Ender Wiggen because he was already so famous and would be known even more from his book. He didn't want to be known for killing the buggers and then becoming close to one.

Orson Scott Card's Anti-Gay Views Response

In the book, Ender's Game, the actions made by some boys honestly seemed romantic, like the time when Alai kissed Ender on the cheek. I was completely shocked when I found out that Orson Scott Card is against gay marriage because his book made me assume the opposite. It was said that Orson Scott Card stated, “Marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down." Before I knew this fact about Card, I really enjoyed the book and knew that it was quality work. Just because it changes the type of person I thought Card was, it doesn't change the art he has created or the fact that I like the book. I can help but feel a little bad about being a fan of Ender's Game and not the author behind the work, but I don't agree with Orson Scott Card and feel like he used his fame and publicity in the wrong way. His book will always be good to me, and I think it would be best if he did not go to the comic-con to answer questions in case the topic of gay marriage was brought up. Though I don't think Orson Scott Card deserves more money and fame, the book he wrote was a good book and shouldn't be influenced by the author in a bad way during the making of the movie. I don't think the movie should be boycotted because it is the art that the director and cast are trying to base the movie off of, not Orson Scott Card. I also don't think Mr.Vack should remove the book from his reading curriculum for the same reason that we only want to read a good book, not the author and his opinions.  Since art is the way people express themselves, I don't think Card could have written this book without believing at least some of what he wrote. It was said that Card is Mormon and is just trying to cover up his true feelings by making it seem like he is very anti-gay. I think this could very well be true because of how much he is making people believe that he is anti-gay. I hope the movie can be a success because the story is interesting and should be shared, but I hope that Orson Scott Card doesn't get in the way of things. I disagree with Card's opinion about gay marriage and believe that anyone should be able to love who they love and not be discriminated because of it. I do, however, like the book Card wrote and I think that true art should be judged by the work, not the person behind it. 

CEJ #5

Sophie

February 25, 2013

Ikea Withdraws Meatballs After Horse Meat Is Found

London

Castle, Stephen
NY Times Learning Network
February 25, 2013
Business
http://www.nytimes.com

The Czech Republic found horse meat in meatballs sold by the furniture store, Ikea. The Swedish furniture company uses large buildings to sell their furniture and rooms decorating materials, but furniture isn’t all they bring to their customers. Ikea stores generally have play sections for children, cafeterias, and food shops to go along with the furniture. The authorities from the Czech Republic detected horse meat in the meatballs that Ikea had already sold to countries including Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, France, Britain, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Ireland. Fortunately, the sales were stopped by Ikea even though the company claims they tested the meatballs two weeks before. The company states, “We are now initiating further tests on the same production batch in which the Czech Republic authorities found indications of horse meat.” The test results will announce in the next few days, whether or not the meatballs they have sold in their cafeterias and food shops have horse meat in them.
This article came as a shock to me, because I have been to Ikea and loved the place. It seemed like a really interesting company and I like how big their stores are! If the meatballs they sold actually do contain horse meat, I will be sad to know that they sold customers false labels. Hopefully, the horse meat won’t be found when they test the meatballs a third time. One would think that after two tests, there would be a clear answer as to what meat was in the meatballs. I wonder how many people ate the meatballs and later found out what it actually may have been? Even if the meatballs didn’t contain horse meat, I think it’s strange to buy microwavable meals from a furniture store, period. I would almost expect there to be something strange in it. I wonder why there would be horse meat in the meatballs, but perhaps horse meat was used in the same factory. I have heard of mixed up food items similar to this situation happening at McDonalds too, and I think food that is sold to other people should be strictly tested before being sold. If unreliable labeling is found again in Ikea foods, they may have to shut down their food production and stick to furniture, if even that is allowed. From this incident, I am sure that Ikea will be losing some customers and maybe this will teach them a lesson to check their food carefully before letting someone else eat it. It may also be a lesson to those who at the horse meat and all who heard of this to remember that companies can’t always be reliable to make the safest meals and don’t worry about what goes into buyers’ mouths.

Ode to My Hairbrush

As you gracefully stroke my hair, like a mother comforting her child,

gently descending from my roots to every last strand, separating and undoing knots,

I realize, I have taken you for granted.

I strangle you with hair ties and suffocate you with clumps of blonde;

Yet not a single morning, have I opened my drawer and found you there, 

unready to take on my tangled locks.

Bristle by bristle, you comb your way to freedom

making sure every knot is gone by the time you reach the ends of my hair.

the rough journey you start and complete so often takes much dedication,

but one may mistake you as a brush of steel with your amount of strength,

yet at the same time, you are ever so gentle

your performance is spectacular, but the results are even better

leaving me with soft luxurious hair, smooth as silk.

tackling the job like a knight fights a dragon

and slaying the dragon every time.

Answer to Questions Chapters 9-11

Chapter 9-Locke and Demosthenes:
1) Peter has the power to make people do what he wants by using their fears against them, but Valentine has the power to make people do what she wants them to do by flattering them and finding their best qualities. I think that Peter convinced Valentine to get internet access from their father, but Valentine still has the power.  When Valentine thought, "You are only pretending to share the power with me, but in fact I have power over you, even though you don't know it," I began to think that Valentine has the overall control of the two. 

2) Ender is still angry because he no longer has any control over his life and every decision and right of his was taken away. All that Ender loved was either taken away or controlled by the teachers of the battle school and Valentine, who was all he had left, is now taken over by them too.

Chapter 10-Dragon:
1) Ender was a leader who enforced discipline to his army and didn't give them much time to do things. An example of this is when he made some of the boys go out naked because they didn't have enough time to get their suits on. Another time is when they were in the battle room and Ender made them answer questions quickly about things they didn't very well know. I think he did this because he was very young to be a commander and he wanted to make them intimidated by him so that they wouldn't push him around for being so young. He also wanted to make sure that his army was as good as possible because the Dragon Army had a bad reputation to the other armies and he wanted to built his army men up to make sure they won their battles and prove that he could be a good commander.

2) Ender put Bean on the spot and made it seem like he was much better than all of the other boys. Bean, being the smallest of them, was quickly resented for making the others feel dumb. Ender looked to Bean for answers and told the other boys, "... At least I have one soldier who can figure things out..." Ender was treated the exact same way by Colonel Graff and he knew that Bean was a quick-thinking, cocky boy. At first, Ender probably just wanted to have someone else to feel his pain, but after doing it, Ender regretted making him feel bad. Still, Ender knew that Bean would be a good soldier.

3) The word "Salaam" means peace be unto you. When Ender was removed from the launchy group into the Salamander Army, Alai wished him peace and though Ender didn't know what it meant, Alai still said it as a prayer for Ender. Religious identity can be powerful because the Alai that wished Ender peace is almost a different person than the Alai who Ender hung out with at practices. 

4) The ending of this chapter is important because Ender's emotions were basically broken and he claimed that he could never be hurt deep enough to cry again.  The teachers of the battle school wanted Ender to be isolated and have to rely on himself. They wanted him to think that nobody could help him so that as a real commander, he would be able to think for himself. By knowing that his friendship with Alai would never be the same, and that Valentine would now be nothing but a tool for the teachers, Ender felt that he had no real relationships anymore. That, in a way, is isolation so the teachers did get the reaction they wanted.

Chapter 11- Veni Vidi Vici:
1) The computer knows Ender so well because when he plays the fantasy game, it picks up information from his brain and analyzes the data in it's files!

2) The quote, "Yes. That’s the worst that could happen. I can’t lose any games. Because if I lose any--” is cut off by Ender because he didn't want to tell Bean why. Ender didn't couldn't lose any games because if he did, the other commanders would think of him as just a little kid again and the Dragon Army's reputation would be ruined. 

3) The teachers are pushing Ender so hard because they want him to be a good commander and 

CEJ #4

Sophie

February 12, 2012

F in Grammar? Maybe It’s Your Phone’s Fault

Potenza, Alessandra
Upfront
January 7, 2013
Technology
Page 22

People who tend to use Twitter, Facebook, and who text have been using improper grammar in their formal writings. The punctuation and spelling of some writers’ work is incorrect and it is said to be caused by too much texting and social websites that don’t require correct grammar. Gena Babineaux who works at the YMCA in Houston says, “If you want the job, you need to make sure that everything is done properly.”  Many teachers and others who spend time reading people’s writings agree that while it may be okay to misspell and misuse punctuation in texts and on social websites like Twitter and Facebook, it’s shows laziness on formal writings. Others however, disagree like Ms. Shimabukuro. She believes that it’s her students ideas that count, not the spellings.
The author of the article did not show a bias, but showed other people’s opinions on how texting affects the way some people write. I think that it’s true that short hand writing that is used for texting and internet sites can become the way someone naturally writes. I know this because times when I text often, I start to replace “to” with “2” and “you” with “u.” It’s definitely not a good thing, and I usually don’t use incorrect grammar on important papers because I know points will get marked off, and it’s simply incorrect. I have also seen other people’s work who have made grammatical mistakes, and whether or not it is from texting, I know that they do text and use social websites. I think people use short replacements for words when they text and chat because when someone is talking with a friend, they don’t need to use proper language because the friend will realize what they are talking about. Texting language such as “idk” and “wbu” are both abbreviations that I have used when texting friends, but only because they understand it and it’s just an easier way to write it. With that said, I think it’s fine to use shorter ways of writing words and phrases when it is appropriate like texting or chatting on Facebook, but on formal papers and school work, it’s important for someone to try their hardest and using improper language just shows that the writer could have put more time and effort into their work.

Drones, Game or Reality?

Drones, weapons of the future 

now a part of our lives. 

Used for battle, used for fun, 

used by soldiers and spies. 

Some drones can work underwater. 

Others resemble a bird 

they can hover for weeks at a time 

never to be seen or heard. 

A good invention for searches; 

easier to fly than a plane, 

but victims still die in crashes 

and for that they are somewhat the same. 

Is it dangerous to have no experience 

and be able to buy one online? 

Some may believe it is very unsafe,

but others may think it's just fine. 

Drones are similar to video games

but now it takes part in reality. 

when the plane goes down, there's no starting over

and no darkening screen to see 

Drones are the next chapter of robots

each one with it's own page. 

There's the Raven, the Killer Predator, 

and more that are part of this change. 

Are they better than the previous planes?

Is it harder to agree seen than said? 

For what will one do, what will one think, 

when a drone flies over their head?

CEJ #3

Sophie

February 6, 2012

Daredevil Went Faster than Previously Thought During 24-mile Fall

W.J. Hennigan
LA Times
February 5, 2013
Science
http://www.latimes.com

On October 14, Felix Baumgartner fell 119,431 feet of free fall into a desert in New Mexico. It was recently found out that he went even faster than estimated before. Not only did Baumgartner break the record of highest fall, but he broke the sound barrier too. He went 843.6 miles per hour which is 1.25 miles per hour faster than the speed of sound! The daredevil’s heart rate was 176 beats per minute during the jump and after Baumgartner got into the stratosphere, he had supersonic speed within thirty-four seconds. For thirteen seconds of the fall, Baumgartner began to spin and some became worried he would lose consciousness from “flat spinning.” Baumgartner was weightless for 25.2 seconds of the fall. “It feels like you are floating into space, and then you pick up speed very fast--but you don’t feel the air because the air density is so low,” said Baumgartner, “For almost 35 seconds I couldn't sense the air around me because basically there was none." The shock of opening his parachute for landing was 3.27 times the force of gravity. Baumgartner didn't even know that he broke the sound barrier. “I didn't feel it at all,” he said. In 1960, Joe Kittinger broke the record for highest fall, and when Baumgartner broke it, Kittinger was there to help. Funded by Red Bull, this amazing jump called Red Bull Stratos took a lot to do, and Baumgartner is commended for his bravery.
This article was based off of facts and quotes and did not have a bias. There isn't a side to take, unless it was about what the author thought of the jump. I think that it was extremely brave to jump from such a high point and I’m sure that Baumgartner was very experienced. He must have practiced a lot in smaller situations and his skill showed, especially when he stopped himself from flat spinning. I wonder what was going through his mind as he fell, probably just to stay calm and remember what to do next. When he was up in the capsule I wonder what pushed him to jump? I know that my stomach would have dropped, but since he is so experienced with falling, he may not have felt the same sensation as others would who don’t know what to do. I can relate this to jumping off of a rock at the river. It was obviously nowhere near as high as where Baumgartner jumped from, but when I finally decided to jump off of it, I was glad I did because it was an adventurous experience! This stunt must be a new level for scientists that study speeds and how fast people can go and I hope that new information can come out of this. To jump from such a height is something that know one has done before, and only come close to. Baumgartner must have been worried that he wouldn't be able to make it and I know that I could never jump from over 100,000 feet above the earth. I think that it was a great thing for Kittinger to help with the jump because he knew what Baumgartner was about to do and it must have been a big help for him to be there.

Ender's Game answers to questions chapters 6-9

Chapter 6:
1) The purpose of the Giants Game is to try to figure out which of the two drinks the Giant shows isn't poisonous.  Ender knew that the game was rigged and that neither of the two drinks shown by the giant would ever not be poisonous. He kicked the giant's eye out and was then sent to fairyland. I don't think that Ender is a murderer because the giant wasn't a real living creature and he didn't want to kill it. 

Chapter 7:
1) When Ender told Alai that he would be moving to the Salamander Army, they hugged and said goodbye. Then, Alai kissed Ender on the cheek and whispered, "Salaam." This was an important exchange because whatever the kiss and word meant, it was sacred to Alai either because of his religion or just personally for Alai. It was something that Alai did secretly because he wanted to, and did not need Ender to understand it.

2) When Ender thought about "Just living," he meant that he wanted to go home and live a normal life to be raised like a normal person and not just to be a soldier in the battle against the buggers.Ender did this only for a brief time as a young six year-old, but besides that, he didn't get to live much of a normal life. If I were Ender, I would feel sad to have missed out on a normal child hood and would be curious to know what it's like to be able to gradually grow up with friends and family at home.

3) Petra stood up for Ender when he was bullied by Bonzo and took him to the battle room to help him learn how to shoot. Their friendship was a hindrance to Ender because him being an outsider, hanging out with another outsider makes them even more separated from the group. They also disobeyed Bonzo when Petra took him to the battle room to learn how to shoot.

4) Ender learns from Bonzo that to be a leader, he must not show any weakness in front of the group. An example of this is when Ender forced Bonzo to let him teach his friends how to shoot otherwise, he claimed to get Bonzo iced. Instead of surrendering to Ender in front of the whole army, Bonzo pretended to change his mind the next day. Bonzo also showed signs of authority by only letting others speak with permission and hurting people when they disobeyed. As Petra spoke out of turn one time, he slapped her across the face.

Chapter 8:
1)When Graff said, "Ender Wiggen is ten times smarter and stronger than I am," he meant that he could  do anything to Ender or put him in any situation and Ender could somehow figure out what to do, but Graff knew that he could never do the things that Ender did.

2) The two demands, "so teach me," and "so learn," are significant because when one is taught, they don't learn as well as they might if they learn it themselves. The understanding that a person has with something will be stronger if they figure it out themselves and learn from their mistakes.

3) When Ender attacks the older and bigger boys in the battle room, it shows that when a situation comes up, he knows what to do and uses his brain to know about null gravity, and what to command his friends to do. It shows the teachers that Ender would be a good commander.

4) The scene with the snake and Peter's reflection represents the fact that Ender killed the snake, just like he kicked Stilson and injured the boys in the battle room. To see Peter's face, Ender felt like he was a murderer and a bad person. It made him feel like he was his brother.

5) The computer was intelligent enough to trace Peter out of Ender's memory.

6) In this paragraph, Ender was saying how the part of him that is violent and that does things he doesn't like is what the teachers of the battle school try to bring out of him and he feels used. It isn't fair how he is being taken advantage of and has to be put in situations that force him to do things he wouldn't want to do.

Jetpack Joyride

A video game I like to play is more of an app on my iPod. It's called Jetpack Joyride and the object of the game is to fly and avoid missiles, zappers and lasers that come at my character, Barry. It has missions to unlock and fifteen levels until the game is over. I have beaten the game six times and every time I win, I just start over. I get addicted to playing it because some missions I feel like I need to beat and can't stop until I do. Some missions I beat quickly and some of them take me forever to get past. I also try to save up money on Jetpack Joyride because I can buy things with the coins I have. I use a machine gun jetpack, a rainbow jetpack, a bubble jetpack, a snowball jetpack, and a twister jetpack. My favorite is the rainbow jetpack because it is easy to move with. There are also certain machines I can use during the game. There's Mr.Cuddles (a dragon), gravity guy, hog (a motorcycle), prophet bird, and lil' stomper (a robot). Some of the missions in the game are things that have to be done in one game like "reach 2,400 meters" or "high-five fifteen scientists in one game." Some are long-term like "pass by fifty red flashing lights" or "fly five hundred meters in the hog." I remember that a mission one time was "reach 1,750 meters without collecting any coins." It took me forever to beat this mission and I got so frustrated at times that I would stop playing. When I start the game over, the missions are easy again and sometimes I can beat a level all in one game. In the stash (store), I can buy gadgets. Some them include nerd repellent, a dog, a ball to bounce in when I'm dead, and ice cube to slide in then I'm dead, magnetic coins, magnetic tokens, automatic machines, and x-ray vision. I spend quite a lot of time playing the game and even though I've beaten it six times, it never gets old!

CEJ #2

Sophie

Feb. 5, 2012

The Boys At the Back

Christina Hoff Sommers
The New York Times
February 2, 2013
Opinion
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com


    The article, The Boys At the Back, is saying that girls have the ability to focus more than boys in school and do well because of it. The author uses a study called the Journal of Human Resources to back up her statements. Fifty-eight hundred students in kindergarten through fifth grade were studied in different races and schools, and the data showed that all of the boys had lower scores on the test they took than expected. According to Christina Hoff Sommers, “If the teachers had not accounted for classroom behavior, the boys’ grades, like the girls’, would have matched their test scores...”  Sommers says that since 1990 girls have had better SAT test scores and have “never looked back.”
    Considering this is an opinion article, there is definitely a bias. It is showed when Sommers stated things like, “That boys struggle with school is hardly news,” and “It’s long past time for women to claim their rightful share of the economic rewards that redound to those who do well in school.”  She believes that in younger grades, girls focus more and do better in school than boys. I think that gender doesn’t have a significant enough effect on a persons behavior to make them have better or worse grades in school. There are certain boys that can’t sit still, and there are lots of them, but that doesn’t mean that girls are all perfect. This study is testing kindergarten through fifth grade, so of course there will be fidgety boys who don’t want to sit criss-cross applesauce of the rug with their hands in their lap. There will also be girls who can’t sit still who may want to focus on something else. As someone who spaces out quite a bit, I know that it’s difficult to catch every single word the teacher is saying as they give a lecture. I think that part of the reason why the boys didn’t do as well on the tests is because they were so young. Though I’m sure the tests were designed to be to the students level, it must have been hard to take the test as a kindergartener. Women are very capable of doing amazing things. Whether it is Elizabeth Blackwell who was the first American Woman Doctor or Jane Goodall who has spent years studying apes, women can do amazing things and can be just as smart if not smarter than men. Women are also gaining more rights every day. Recently, a right was made that woman can be in combat. I believe there will always be smart women making changes in the world, as well as men and hopefully this study will not label women as smarter or better than men.

CEJ #1

Sophie

Jan. 28, 2012

Deadly Blaze in Brazil

Rio De Janeiro

Simon Romero
NY Times Learning Network
January 27, 2013
International
http://www.nytimes.com

    Early Sunday morning, a fire was caused in a Brazil nightclub. It was 2:00 AM in the southern Brazilian city, Santa Maria, when the rock band, Gurizada Fandangueira was performing with pyrotechnics. The singer lit a flare and accidentally set the ceiling on fire. Soon afterwards, the club called Kiss, filled with hundreds of University students, turned into a frantic rush to get around a metal barrier and out of the club. Security guards blocked the exits from those who tried to escape at first because they unfortunately did not see the fire. In Brazil, people do not have to pay per drink, but pay as they leave. Because of this, the security guards believed that club-goers were trying to sneak away without paying. Murilo De Toledo Tiecher, a survivor who had been able to escape said, “Only after a multitude pushed down the security guards did they see.” Those who were lucky enough to get out of the club helped save as many of the others as possible. “If we saw a hand or head, we’d start pulling the person out by the hair. People were burned; some didn’t even have clothes.” Mr. Tiecher stated. Some students who were desperately trying to find a way out hoped that the bathrooms were possible exits and ran to them, only to find that they were trapped. It was said by Valdeci Oliveira that bodies were piled up in the bathrooms. On Sunday morning the bodies were taken by health workers to hospitals in Santa Maria, a city known for it’s many universities with 260,000 people. Some survivors were treated for burns at Porto Alegre, a city nearby. At least two hundred and thirty-three students and one of the five band members were killed, mostly from smoke inhalation. “The smoke spread very quickly. Those who were closest to the stage where the band was playing had the most difficulty getting out,” reported survivor, Aline Santos Silva. Many anxious families are still searching for their loved ones on the streets of Santa Maria. “I still think she hasn’t died,” told Cibelo Focco on Sunday evening who had not yet seen her daughter. The disastrous event caused President Dilma Rousseff to cancel a meeting in Chile to come to Santa Maria. The president spent much of her early career there and cried as she learned more about what had happened.  The deeply upset president summarized the misfortune in saying, “This is a tragedy for all of us.”
    The author, Simon Romero, shows no opinion in his article. It is made up of facts and quotes and there appears to be no bias. The fire in Brazil is an event in which nobody can agree with. It was an accident that people will always have to live with and it is not a matter of whether people agreed with it or not, it simply happened and there is nothing that can be changed about that.  Fires and other natural disasters are unexpected changes that affect so many lives everyday. In this developing nation, there are laws to prevent this type of thing from happening, along with enough money and protection services. Unfortunately, they are not well enough enforced. Rules such as a moderated amount of people in the same building, communication with the security guards, and a certain number of exits could have possibly stopped the fire from happening. A book I have read called Hurricane Katrina could relate to this event in the sense that they are both tragic and life changing. To put it briefly, Hurricane Katrina was about a fictional boy who searched for his family with a dog he found alone in a house. They eventually reunited with the boy’s family and they kept the dog. I feel like these two stories could also relate because they both have families being split apart. I do believe that not all people included in the fire in Brazil will be able to see their loved ones again, but I sincerely hope that those who are missing be found by their families. Maybe the fire made Brazil realize that their laws need to be pushed and things like this, explosions, building collapses, and trolley mishaps can be avoided. Though the fire in the nightclub was an unforgettable and sad event, it could have been the start of a safer country.