Wednesday 20 November 2013

GINS and Tumblr Mash Up


“We share and trade a lot in Kabul: Nothing useful should be wasted.” – Latifa, My Forbidden Face by Karenna Gore Schiff 

For those of you who don’t know, in school along with our consumerism project, we are also doing a Global Issues Novel Study (GINS). In this study we all got a chance to pick a novel, usually based on a true story, about an issue that we are interested about. Through this, we were meant to find ways that we could take action in these current issues. I chose a book titled My Forbidden Face. It is a true story about a young, teenage girl who has found herself a prisoner in her own home when the Taliban first made themselves known in Afghanistan. Her world spiraled, turning from a mostly modern society to a complete dictatorship. Countless rules, new ones being announced every day, taking the radio stations that once played music. I began thinking, how would my identity, values, and beliefs be altered if I was to live through and experience what the protagonist, Latifa, did. How it would feel to know freedom, in fact live half your life with the right, only to have it snatched away overnight. What would happen if I were to watch someone that I had known for practically my whole life be killed in front of my eyes.

As I was reading through the novel, I had an overlying question on almost every single page, why? Why are there so many rules, why isn’t anyone standing up against them, and why are the Taliban performing such cruel acts? Even if I can learn to accept their reasoning, I will never fully understand it. Who would be willing to become a part of the Taliban, knowing full well of all that they have done? Since Afghanistan is not considered to be a first world country, it has many different aspects that describe its’ collective identity, consumerism not being one of them. As you know, citizens of first world countries are often described as consumers. It has become such a big aspect of our lives that for us, living without consumerism would be the equivalent of living without our physiological needs. When I first began this post, I was thinking about how I can relate my consumer identity to that of Latifa, or others in Afghanistan. I found out very quickly that what people in countries like Afghanistan don’t waste their money on useless wants. They do whatever they can to survive. A really interesting idea that came up in this book was, “Joy and sorrow are sisters.” – Karenna Gore Schiff. It was something that really got me thinking about how two things that are such polar opposites can be true. After some consideration, I figured that she is correct. Without one, how can the other exist? That being said, I can never imagine what it would feel like to feel nothing but joy or sorrow. All I can say is that going through the hardships described in the novel.

Friday 15 November 2013

Global Issues Novel Study #3

So we are still doing our Global Issues Novel Study, but we have completed a National Profile of our book. We took the country in which our book takes place (so Afghanistan for me) and tried to do some research that would allow us all to better understand the book. Unlike many of my classmates, I am the only one reading My Forbidden Face, so I had to change the assignment up a little bit. Instead of discussing my National Profile and book with others who are reading it, I had to find a few individuals who were in the same situation as me. Though the topics don't entirely relate, I believe that the discussion is quite powerful. Either way, here is our Roundtable Discussion #2 about our books and National Profiles that we have created!

Monday 28 October 2013

Global Issues Novel Study (GINS) #2

Hello!

So we have continued with our GINS project in school. This time, we had a roundtable discussion with others, who may or may not have the same novel as you, and discussed things like what issues we were discussing, and our thoughts on the novel so far. Here it is!



Thursday 24 October 2013

Global Issues Novel Study (GINS) #1

Hello!

          So, we are once again starting something new in Hummanities. As we know, though at times our world may look perfect, there are quite a few things that occur in places all over the globe. Things that most of us can't even imagine. So our whole grade has gone and chosen a novel that relates to one of these issues (poverty, child soldiers, etc...). The books that we chose are thing that we are passionate about and want to learn how we can take action. Some are fiction, but most (like mine) are non fiction.
          My book, titled My Forbidden Face, is about a young girl named Latifa, who was a young lady in Afghanistan when the Taliban first took over. As you may or may not know, the Taliban have done horrible, horrible things to all the places they have managed to siege control over. Women become completely imprisoned and don't receive the simplest rights and freedoms such as speech and healthcare. Women who, since born in the twentieth/twenty-first century, grew up having freedom now must learn to live in fear. Murder in the name of "justice" is everywhere you look, if you are brave enough to leave your home, which is basically a new prison.
           I chose this book/topic for my novel study because it was a topic that, though I heard a lot about, I never really had any kind of understanding of. After reading just 20% of the novel, I have already learned so much that I didn't know. I cannot imagine what kind of life people who live in those situations must be living, but I can always count on books to pull me into their world. It is truly unbelievable and after gaining even the minimal amount of knowledge that I have, I really want to find a way that I can help.
           I have very minimal knowledge of this topic. All I know is that the Taliban are a group that twist their religion and force others to follow the practices that they have based off of their holy book. I also know that the knowledge gained by most all holy books (including the Koran) is basically the same. They all teach of how to live your life and what your ultimate goal should be.
          As I read through the first 20% of the book I came up with a lot of questions. There were of course things like definitions and such, but also things like what else happened at the time. One of the biggest questions I had was, if the Taliban are a group that are religious (as it said in the glossary) then where do they get the idea to do what they do? Another major question I had was that what did women do that caused them to be under such strict rules? Some other ones include, how would it be like to live in a place where most of what you know is fear? What would I do if I was put in that exact same situation? What would I do if I had been born and brought up in the same place at the same time?
           So far in the novel they have introduced (of course) Latifa who is the protagonist of this story. Her family has been introduced and we know that all members of her family have lived in fear for much of their life, even though the Taliban are not introduced until they are all quite old. The Taliban have begun to be introduced and they have briefly talked about Osama Bin Laden as well (this is the very beginning of when he started becoming "known").
          So that is it for now, I will be reading more of the novel and sharing my thoughts along the way. I hope that through this novel I can learn enough about the situation in those countries to take action and I encourage you to do so as well!

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Litspiration Challenge #3


Hello! 
So we have once again been assigned to complete a litspiration challenge. This time I thought that I would try to incorporate multiple books, instead of focusing on just one. After some looking around, I decided that I would take certain quotes, ones that I connect with or ones that I find are really inspirational, from some of my favourite books and share them with you. These are from some of my favourite books of all time... but definitely not all of them. There are far too many to include them all. Also the quotes are in no particular order. Before the quotes I state the book and a slight summery for each.

The Giver - Lois Lowry
          In the future, you are told your life. You have no memories, everyone is equal. No one can experience strong emotion. No one can experience things like colour, and beauty. No one that is, except for Jonas. On the day at which you are given your job, Jonas is shocked when his name isn't called. Only to find out later on that he has been given the job of becoming the new Giver. This man or woman holds all the memories of mankind. They are the only ones who can experience love, true joy, and have the knowledge of happiness. On the other hand, they are also the only ones who must bear the burden of the pain and catastrophe that the world has faced. Hunger, poverty and war are unknown aspects to all but the Giver. When the life of one he loves is put into danger, he faces a choice. A choice that could change the lives of those all around him... forever.

“The worst part of the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.”
I chose this because I cannot imagine being unable to share any of my memories. Even happy memories are not happy at all unless you have someone to share them with.

“If you were to be lost in the river, Jonas, your memories would not be lost with you. Memories are forever.” 
Even when you or anyone else is gone from this world, memories are where they live on. They are always there, somewhere in the world.

Life As We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer
          So for this book I have done a book review on it, so you can find that further below. Basically this a story that is told by Miranda through her diary. The novel begins when the moon is knocked incredibly close to the Earth, completely destroying all the ecosystems of the world. Everyone has to struggle just to survive, without knowing if those you love are still alive or not.

“I wonder if I’ll have to decide which is worse, life as we’re living or no life at all.”
Even though Miranda has been through so much, she still cannot decide whether or not her life is truly worth living. This goes to show that no matter how hard things may become, the fact that you are alive is what counts. A quote that has practically the same meaning as this one, found in this book was, “But I don’t want to have to stop feeling. I really think I’d rather die than stop feeling.” The fact that without every emotion that you feel, even the bad ones, you would not be complete. It would feel like there is something crucial missing from your life, you just wouldn’t know what.

“I never really thought about how when I look at the moon it’s the same moon as Shakespeare, Marie Antoinette, George Washington and Cleopatra looked at.”
Until I read this quote, this thought never occurred to me.  I never realized that the same moon I look at every night is viewed and has been viewed by everyone and everything on Earth. This means that from this same moon many people have received inspiration, leading to greatness. It is the same moon that everyone in the world looks at every night.

“I wonder if I cry whether my tears would be gray.” 
This quote makes me wonder, could life ever really become so bleak that there is no longer any colour left? How would it feel like to lead such a life?

“What’s the point of God making us human if He doesn’t want us to act like we’re human?’ ‘To see if we can rise above our natures,’ Megan said.”
I really like this quote because it makes me wonder, can human beings ever truly rise above their nature. Even if the world manages to become a utopia, there would always be flaws... wouldn't there?

“But she is wrong about hell. You don’t have to wait until you’re dead to get there.”
This quote shows that life can sometimes reach such a low that it is the equivalent to living in hell. To think that someone’s life is bad enough to make such a comparison is completely unthinkable to many people, and yet the fact that there are people who lead such lives really makes you stop and think about whether or not your life is really that bad.



Once A Witch - Carolyn McCallough
          This story takes place in a world of fantasy. Everyone in Tamsin's family has a special gift.  Everyone, but her. She has grown up with the pity of her cousins and family, and she is tired of it. Little does she know that she does indeed have her own gift. One that could completely change the lives of everyone she loves, for the worse.

“You’re not going to do anything stupid are you?’ You mean intentionally?”
I really like this quote. First off because it is completely true for me! Secondly because it shows that everyone does stupid things, you can choose to embrace the fact or beat yourself up over it.

“The future is written in water.”
This quote goes along with the saying "the future is never carved into stone." The fact that you shape your future and one slip is all it takes for everything to change. 

Charlotte's Web - E.B. White
          I am well aware that this is a children's story, but the message that it gave me when i read it as a child has stayed with me. This is a story about a pig, Wilbur, and his best friend, a spider named Charlotte. When Wilbur finds out that he is about to be slaughtered, he becomes absolutely distraught. In order to save his life, Charlotte creates a web with writing on it, something that humans assume that Wilbur has done. 

“After all, what’s a life anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die.”
I feel that this quote tells you that the end is inevitable. You can either embrace and work to make your life worth while, or you can live forever in fear. 


“Never hurry and never worry!”
The reason that I like this quote is because of the message it gives you.

Divergent - Veronica Roth
          Divergent follows the story of Beatrice Prior, or Tris. In a futuristic society with five different factions, you must choose one that will become what you revolve your life around. They are certain qualities that the new world feels the old world was lacking, which led to its doom. There is Abnegation, who are the selfless, the Candor, who are the honest, Amity, who are the peaceful, Erudite, who pursue knowledge, and finally the Dauntless who are the Brave. Everyone fits into one of these factions, except for a select few individuals who are called the Divergent.

“I have a theory that selflessness and bravery aren’t all that different.”
I feel that this is actually very true, but I also feel that all good acts (the ones from the five factions especially) are incredibly similar. I don't think that it would be possible to fully believe in just one of those five.

“… there is power in self-sacrifce.”
Sacrifice is a truly powerful thing, but self-sacrifice is the strongest of all. 

“One choice can transform you.”
The fact that one small thing. One decision that you jump into head first, can completely transform you, is a scary thing. Something that, until you acknowledge you can never understand the importance of your decisions.

“Lies require commitment.”
If you produce even the smallest lie, you will find yourself struggling to keep it alive. On top of that, the bigger the lie gets, the more you have to struggle, so why waste so much time and energy, that could be used to accomplish something greater?

“Humans can’t tolerate emptiness for long.”
Everyone needs someone or something that they can fully depend on. Without anything, you begin to feel empty, and no one can last like such for long, without completely changing.  

Monday 30 September 2013

The Sea Devil & Whale Song

Last Week, the grade nines from our school got the opportunity to visit Bamfield Marine Sciences Center. Though much of what we did was focused on Science, we also read two pieces of writing, one a short story and one a section of the full novel. These two pieces were chosen because of our location and the connection that we would all have to these stories.


The Sea Devil
By: Arthur Gordan

The Sea Devil. A creature that every child knows about, and fears. A massive beast that lives in the sea, but only comes out at night. Arthur Gordon, through a very short piece of writing, managed to evoke emotion and change it throughout the whole short story. Through Gordon never provided a name for the protagonist, he managed to make "the man," well known to his readers, based on his emotions and actions. Personally I felt that I could not relate to "the man" at all, but the emotion still came across. The theme that Gordon set across was something along the lines of man vs. nature. How no matter what an individual does, they are forever inferior to the superiority of nature. I say this specifically because of one line in the story, "Now at last he knew how the fish must feel when the line tightens and drags him toward the alien element that is his doom. Now he knew." Being at Bamfield when I read this piece of writing, I found it incredibly easy to envision the story. I could imagine where "the man" was when he was fighting to survive. It really helped to put the full story into perspective and to put myself into the protagonist's shoes. There was also a strong message that was portrayed, which was centered around the famous quote, "what goes around, comes around." Once again I realized this because of the quote that I stated above. Overall this story is filled with emotion and imagery that will leave you wanting more!


This piece of writing is actually a full novel, but for times sake, our class only read the first two chapters. So I haven't read the whole novel, but I am planning on reading it.

Whale Song (The Whale Story)
By: Cheryl Kaye Tardiff

In the beginning of Whale Song the protagonist, Sarah Maria Richardson, is an 11 year old girl, who has to move from her beloved home in Wyoming, USA, to Bamfield, Canada. At first I thought that there was absolutely no way that I would be able to connect to Sarah, considering her age. Surprisingly, I found that I did indeed have a lot in common with Sarah. Her emotion and her behaviour very well relate to how I would act if put into her situation. Even if you couldn't relate to the protagonist, the author made sure that you would at least have some sort of understanding and maybe be able to sympathize with Sarah. Since I only read the very beginning, discussing the them is proving to be difficult. With what I have read so far, I have concluded that the theme of this story is going to be something about valuing and appreciating what you own or what is given to you, because you never know how long it will stay with you. Maybe this will change as the story progresses, but for now, that is what I got out of the first two chapters. The part that I read takes part in Bamfield, British Columbia, Canada. Considering that I was in Bamfield when I read the first two chapters of the story, I found it quite easy to envision what was going on in the story. Well at least what the background look like. It was easy to envision the tall forests surrounding the car and seeing the ocean go all the way to the horizon, as if it were never-ending. I thought that the description that the author provided was indeed quite accurate and I feel that Bamfield was an excellent place to be the base for her story. Overall, I think that I would enjoy the whole novel if I decided to read it, and based on what I read, I think you would too!

Sunday 1 September 2013

Summer Reads

The City of Bones - Cassandra Clare
Fallen - Lauren Kate
The Lux Series (Book 1 & 2) - Jennifer L. Armentrout
Hex Hall - Rachel Hawkins
Impossible - Nancy Werlin
The Goddess Series - Aimee Carter
Once a Witch & Always a Witch - Carolyn MacCullough
Eve - Anna Carey
Touch of Frost - Jennifer Estep
Wildefire - Karsten Knight
Haunting Violet - Alyxandra Harvey
Dance of Shadows - Yelena Black

           Books are an amazing escape from the real world. Even if you have nothing to escape from, the feeling of being swept right into a story is absolutely amazing. Over the summer, I read so many books that I just lost track! The books above are the only ones that I could remember. Here are my reactions to some of the novels from above.


The City of Bones
By: Cassandra Clare

          After a lot of convincing, I finally read The City of Bones and I have to say that it was amazing! The way that Cassandra Clare portrayed her characters really helped the reader to find some way to connect with them. As I was reading I dove deeper and deeper into the story, until I reached the last couple of chapters. I thought that the ending was COMPLETELY unexpected and I have to say that after that surprise, I didn't want to continue on with the series. After some more convincing though, I have started the second book, and I have to say it is pretty good so far.


Impossible
By: Nancy Werlin

          Impossible was absolutely amazing. I generally don't like these types of books but I was speechless when I finished the book. Nancy Werlin uses the famous Ballad Scarborough Fair as a curse towards the Scarborough Family. Lucy has to perform the tasks that are sung in the ballad before she gives birth to her daughter. If she fails, the curse passes on to the next generation. I loved everything about this book. It is one of the few books that I wouldn't mind reading over and over again!


The Goddess Series
By: Aimee Carter

           For this series, after reading the first book, The Goddess Test, I was hooked. The book is about a young girl, Kate, whose mother is the only thing in her life. Once her mother gets diagnosed for cancer, she knows that time is running out. Enters Henry. A mysterious stranger who promises Kate that he can elongate her mother's life, as long as she tries to pass the test to become the new partner of the underworld alongside him. I love Greek mythology so this book was spectacular. I kind of stopped reading the series after the second book though, because it started to become much less interesting, but overall I definitely recommend this to anyone who would like a good read!


Dance of Shadows
By: Yelena Black

          This book is probably my absolute favourite read of the summer. It was absolutely amazing, though I did have my doubts about it at first. In this book a young girl named Vanessa. She accepted into an amazing dance school in New York. Every dancer's dream is to become accepted into this school, but for Vanessa it is the place where her older sister Margaret vanished. She is convinced that her sister is still alive and that she can find her, but if her dancing could be the end for her. Like I said, I LOVED this book and I would recommend for anyone who loves the supernatural.



         

          

         



Sunday 12 May 2013

The House of the Scorpion - Film Study

My comparison of Vincent from Gattaca and Matt from The House of the Scorpion.


           After the completion of The House of the Scorpion, we watched a movie called Gattaca. It was a tale about a man named Vincent who grew up in a society that looked down on genetically flawed individuals. Vincent dreams of going into space but if a company is getting thousands genetically superior applicants, who would take someone who is genetically flawed?
            In many ways, Vincent and Matt are alike. They are both constantly fighting to obtain a higher place in their society, they are both shot down, being told what they can and cannot do. They both shadow somebody and are considered the worse half of their shadow (For Vincent he shadows Anton and for Matt he shadows El Patron). Both also become somebody else in the end, the only difference being that Matt became El PatrĂ³n when he died unwillingly, and Vincent became Jerome when he killed himself. Also the two of them suffer some kind of an internal condition (in Vincent’s case, his heart condition, and in Matt’s case, being a clone). Most importantly, they both have people in their societies who care for them. In both societies, discrimination isn’t done by race any longer, but by the role that society gives you.
            Even with all those similarities, everyone is different. Each of the two protagonists had a different dreams, Vincent’s being to go into space and Matt’s being that people would someday accept him for who he is. Another difference between the two would be that Matt wouldn’t change himself. He wanted the society to accept him for who he was and he didn’t try to hide anything until he got to Aztlan. Vincent however was willing to do anything to get into space. The whole story talks about Vincent trying to hide his identity and the difficulties he faces as a genetically flawed individual. Vincent also didn’t have a mother or father figure to support him, his parents looked down on his dream, never believing it was possible. As for Matt he had Celia throughout the story and he was also introduced to Tam Lin quite early. All in all, if you both read The House of the Scorpion, and watch the movie Gattaca, you would immediately see how alike the two are.