Matilda

Matilda is a book about a little girl named Matilda Wormwood who is a little girl with parents who pay no attention to her what's so ever. Maybe if they would pay attention to her, they would find out how smart she really is. Her mother goes out to bingo while her dad would go to his car dealership to "fix up" cars by just turning the mileage around and making it look like it has low mileage and sell them for cheap. Her brother would go to school.Matilda accused her father Mr. Wormwood of being a crook and her father got really angry but just ignores the "ignorant little girl". Matilda wants to teach her parents a lesson for being crooks so every day of that week, she tortures them with something different. One day,she put her mothers bleach blond hair dye in her father's conditioning cream that he uses everyday and his hair starts falling out and turning bright blond. Another day, she puts superglue on the rim of the father's hat and it is stuck to his head all day and night.
Matilda learned to read when she was two, because while her parents were out, she would go to the local library and read novels some that an older person would read. Mr. Wormwood would get very angry when Matilda would be reading books in front of the television while they're all eating their frozen TV dinners. Since he got so angry at her, he rips all of the pages out of the libraries book and tries to teach her a lesson. Matilda was very angry at what her father did so she borrowed the neighbors parrot and hides it up the chimney to make her parents think that there is as ghost in the house and that the house is haunted.
Mr. Wormwood sells a car to Mrs. Trunchbull, the principle of the school he wants Matilda to attend. On Matilda's first day of school, she impresses her teacher, Miss Honey with all the knowledge she has. Matilda knows her multiplication tables and she also knows how to read. She is way more advanced then all of the other students in her class. So Miss Honey went to go tell Mrs. Trunchbull all the amazing things Matilda was capable of but she does not listen and she just thinks Matilda is a ignorant little girl like her father said she was. Matilda quickly sees the things Mrs. Trunchbull is capable of, making a little boy eat a whole cake in front of the entire school for stealing some of hers, throwing a little girl over the fence by her pigtails because you are not allowed to wear those at school. One of Matilda's friends places a salamander in Trunchbull's water and she blames Matilda. Matilda was very angry because she knew she did not do such a thing so she focuses on the glass of water and makes it tip over. Miss Honey did not believe Matilda when she told her that she tipped the water over so she was able to prove it to her later that day and Miss Honey invited her to her house for some tea.
After all this her parents decide to move to the country. Matilda asks to stay with Miss Honey and her parents let her. The End

"I Dream A World"

I dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn.
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom's way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind--
Of such I dream, my world!

-Langston Hughes

There are many meanings to this poem, for example when Hughes says "I dream a world where all will know sweet freedom's way, where greed no longer saps the soul nor avarice blights our day" he is meaning that he dreams of a world where everyone will know that they have freedom and where greed no longer take one's soul or makes their day. He also says that "a world I dream where black or white, whatever race you be, will share the bounties of the earth" and what he means by that, is that it doesn't matter what race you are, either black or white, you would all have equal rights. This poem is basically saying that he is always dreaming of a world where nobody is greedy, racist or anything bad. This relates to my life because right now racism is a very huge issue in America. Langston Hughes wrote this poem to show the world how greedy and how much racism there is. Langston Hughes grew up in a world where there was a lot of racism and poverty. He grew up where there were two separate water fountains and bathroom's that "blacks" and "whites" had to go in to. So he has seen the world at what he thought was it's worst. But in reality, the world is at it's worst now. There is more racism then there has ever been. Even though places are not separated like back in the days, it still takes place.



Twilight

Twilight is a book about Vampires and Werewolves. The main characters in this book are Bella Swan, Edward Cullens, and Jacob Black. Bella moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington to live with her dad Charlie. Bella quickly adapts to the new school she is going to(Forks High) and makes new friends instantly. Bella gets seated next to Edward the first day of class and Edward is repulsed by her. Bella nearly gets killed by a classmates van when he loses control because of the slick roads but when Edward saves her, Bella is determined to find out how he stopped the van from hitting her. This is when a family friend, Jacob, comes into the story and tells Bella that Edward and his family are vampires who drink human blood. Bella asked Edward if it was true and he said yes and that the reason he has been avoiding her is because her blood scent is too desirable to him. But over time Edward and Bella fall in love.

Blankie

What I have to show and tell about is the blanket that my great grandmother made for me when i was born. This means a lot to me because I love her so much and she has been gone over the past two years. When I was little, I would go over to her house and help her bake cookies and make blankets and stuff. I remember one moment when we were sitting in the living room, I had my blanket in one hand and a cookie in the other and my grandmother started to yell at me in spanish! Ha ha I miss my great grandmother very much. I love her. I wish no one ever had to die. But, if that were the case i believe that the world would be way too crowded and over populated. The blanket that my grandmother had made me was out of a bunch of little cloth pieces that she had sown together. It had winnie the Pooh(my favorite back then lol) and Tigger and Piglet. The she sowed in the date and year and month that i was born in. So she basically personalized it for me.

The Basketball Diaries

The Basketball Diaries is a book that deals with a kid who was about 12 years old until he was about 15. He was a rebellious teenager living on the streets of New York City. He was writing this diary in chronological order. In this diary Jim Carroll writes how he plays basketball, hustles, steals, gets hooked on drugs, gets high, and also how he searches for something pure.

This book stuck out to me because i love playing basketball and i wanted to learn how other teenagers play and how their life stories are different then mine. Jim Carroll's life was way different then mine when i started playing basketball because i did not get involved in drugs and living on the streets and i also did not start hustling.

Race In America

The controversy that is world wide, is the mosque that is planned to be built in an area near ground zero in New York City. President Barack Obama said that the Muslims have the right to build the mosque near ground zero, but he did not mention if he believes that it is a good idea or not. He also said that the Muslims have the same rights as America did. Governor Charlie Crist of New York says "I think he's right — I mean you know we're a country that in my view stands for freedom of religion and respect for others," Crist said after the Florida meeting with Obama and other officials. "I know there are sensitivities and I understand them. This is a place where you're supposed to be able to practice your religion without the government telling you you can't." Then, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Greene from Florida, took Obama's Friday speech to disagree with how the president supports the construction.He said, "President Obama has this all wrong and I strongly oppose his support for building a mosque near Ground Zero especially since Islamic terrorists have bragged and celebrated destroying the Twin Towers and killing nearly 3,000 Americans," Greene said. "Freedom of religion might provide the right to build the mosque in the shadow of Ground Zero, but common sense and respect for those who lost their lives and loved ones gives sensible reason to build the mosque someplace else."
Obama said "My intention was simply to let people know what I thought. Which was that in this country we treat everybody equally and in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion." After Obama had said this, some relatives of those killed in 9/11 supported his comments. Obama is a very wise man and he has done more than George Bush has done in 8 years. Obama has only done it in one year.
I support Obama completely. I believe that everyone that lives in America, should have the same rights. Which one of them are freedom of religion. Even though Islam did all that they did on 9/11, it was not the rest of the people's faults. It was certain people. I guess what I am trying to get at is that not all of the Muslim's in the world are all terrorists and are gonna bomb us again.

The burning of the Quran is also very high  controversy because of the 9/11 attack on America. In protest of what it calls a religion "of the devil," a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida, plans to host an "International Burn a Quran Day" on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The Dove World Outreach Center says it is hosting the event to remember 9/11 victims and take a stand against Islam. The Obama administration weighed in against a Florida church's threat to burn copies of the Muslim holy book, with the State Department calling the plan "un-American" and Obama says it could hurt the troops and travelers overseas. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that he hoped Americans would stand up and condemn the church's plan to burn copies of the Quran on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In my opinion that church is very wrong. It should not burn the Quran. How would that church feel if the Islam's started burning the American flag or the Bible? As a matter of fact, how would the whole world feel if they did that? Because aren't we one nation under God? How is it that the pastor of a christian church can go as low as the Muslim's did when they bombed us on 9/11? isn't he supposed to show leadership for the whole country and not try and get revenge? This world has gotten so bad from way back in the days that now a days, all people want to do when someone does something bad to them is get revenge. AThat is not the way people should be thinking. They should be showing some pride and respect for their country. people are even lucky that we are not a third world country like others. All of the people in America, take for granted everything that we have. They are very selfish people. Including myself. But all they do is complain. For example about their kids' education. They should be lucky for their kids to even get to go to school. Most countries don't even have school's for them to go to.

Citations:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hf9W_ZKuDjwHC1KFuO67hDp0f5vQD9I3A44G0

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-07-29/us/florida.burn.quran.day_1_american-muslims-religion-cair-spokesman-ibrahim-hooper?_s=PM:US

Death

Car accidents are the worst possible way to die so buckle up.

Most die when they're old, so I don't know why there's an acception for you.

Do not weep upon the dead for they are not with us any longer.