December Post Reading

December Post Reading

3. "Do I dare disturb the universe?"

“Do I dare disturb the universe” this is the quote from the poster Jerry Renault keeps in his locker. It applies throughout the entire book. This quote means do you dare disturb the way everything is. Do you dare change your routine and go your own way in life. Jerry decided to do this. He broke very many routines in his life. He became an individual. He let himself be moved by the hippie who spoke to him about how his whole life will be a routine. He decided not to sell the chocolates. At first he was just following another routine, listening to the vigils. But he was still breaking a routine by not selling the chocolates. But it wasn’t until he kept refusing to sell the chocolates after his assignment from the vigils was over he really made an impact to the school. He decided to change his life that day. He risked his school life as he knew it to be different from the others. He resisted against the vigils, which is not a thing you would normally do if you went to Trinity. He influenced others to do the same when he refused to sell the chocolates. Everyone else began to stop selling the chocolates as well. This messed up how the vigils were. It turns out that for Jerry disturbing the universe was not very good. He was persecuted very heavily by the vigils and people Archie recruited like Emile. For Jerry it was very bad. He was constantly harassed by the vigils. His project for a class was even stolen. It was worth a large amount of points towards his grade and the loss of it threatened to make Jerry fail in that class. But the harassment did not stop there. They would call his phone at any time and just laugh creepily. It was a sort of stereotypical movie harassment. He was also abused by Emile and his goons. Emile both physically and verbally assaulted Jerry at any time. He even had Jerry jumped. Jerry would still not back down. After the jumping of Jerry there was a boxing match arranged by Archie. It was Jerry versus Emile. At this point you might begin to think Jerry would begin to follow the routine. You would think that Jerry wouldn’t accept the offer and back out. But nope, you would be wrong. HE accepts the offer and shows up at the fight. He participates in it and gets destroyed. Jerry very much so regretted making the choice to break the routine.     This quote does not really apply to my life at all. I haven’t got a routine I am allowed to break. The only routine that would be easily broken would be not going to school. But of course, that isn’t allowed so I’ll refrain from doing that.

Pre-Reading January 2016

Pre-Reading

3. Write a blog about your opinions on school fundraisers.  Discuss personal experiences within your blog.

In my opinion School fundraisers are completely fine, unless of course they are mandatory or thought of as something you have to do even when you don’t want to. Though sometimes I feel as if they are totally useless. If a there is just a random fundraiser for no reason that doesn’t have any sort of reward other than like a trip to sweet frog for selling 20 cookies it’s sort of useless. Though I do like going on trips just for doing something as easy as selling some merchandise. But I suppose they do benefit the school. It seems to me that in the book the fundraiser is a bit pressured onto them. I feel as if in the book it is expected that you would participate, it seems like a sort of social pressure. I’ve never really experienced this in my life but I’m sure it happens somewhere. I feel like this is wrong. I don’t think you should be pressured by classmates and the school to sell some random thing for a prize if you don’t want to. Some people feel as if there is no need to do it and that it is useless to do it. They could just do the same thing as they would have been able to do if they had sold the things any day of the week, so why should they make an effort to do something useless.

I have participated in school fundraisers before. In the past I would try to sell as much as I possibly could in hopes to win the grand prize. It would be like an ipad or something like that. Then they would take us to skateland or out to sweet frog in a limo. I didn’t mind that, and I still don’t. I would probably participate in a  school fundraiser if we had one this year if i’m being completely honest. In the end it’s completely up to the person who is participating or not participating.

Pre-Reading

3. Write a blog about your opinions on school fundraisers.  Discuss personal experiences within your blog.

In my opinion School fundraisers are completely fine, unless of course they are mandatory or thought of as something you have to do even when you don’t want to. Though sometimes I feel as if they are totally useless. If a there is just a random fundraiser for no reason that doesn’t have any sort of reward other than like a trip to sweet frog for selling 20 cookies it’s sort of useless. Though I do like going on trips just for doing something as easy as selling some merchandise. But I suppose they do benefit the school. It seems to me that in the book the fundraiser is a bit pressured onto them. I feel as if in the book it is expected that you would participate, it seems like a sort of social pressure. I’ve never really experienced this in my life but I’m sure it happens somewhere. I feel like this is wrong. I don’t think you should be pressured by classmates and the school to sell some random thing for a prize if you don’t want to. Some people feel as if there is no need to do it and that it is useless to do it. They could just do the same thing as they would have been able to do if they had sold the things any day of the week, so why should they make an effort to do something useless.

I have participated in school fundraisers before. In the past I would try to sell as much as I possibly could in hopes to win the grand prize. It would be like an ipad or something like that. Then they would take us to skateland or out to sweet frog in a limo. I didn’t mind that, and I still don’t. I would probably participate in a  school fundraiser if we had one this year if i’m being completely honest. In the end it’s completely up to the person who is participating or not participating.

November Post Reading

November Post Reading

1. "You toss your luck in the air and it rattles down on the gambling boards and you either live or die."

. Out of the three quotes I think this one best applies to the book Ship Breaker. Nailer’s whole career is based around luck really. In his case you have to hope that the ship pays off. You have to chance it. There are many good examples of this in the book. Like in the beginning when Nailer fell into the oil, Sloth knew that while she left Nailer that it was possible he could survive. She knew the consequences of her actions yet she still rolled the dice of luck. In this case she “died” or lost in the roll. But in Nailer’s perspective he won. He was lucky enough to find a way out of the oil. This is the cause of rolling the dice as well. Nailer knew the many risks there were when he went inside the ship but he does it anyway.

Another time that Nailer rolled the dice of luck is when he convinced Pima not to kill the woman. I don’t think that Nailer did this only because he thought it was wrong to kill her but, I also think he believed some profit could come from saving the girl. He was not sure of it but he lost the chance of paying off his debt because he believed he could get more from this. His luck had payed off for a while and he decided to keep going. Doing this could have meant life or death for Nailer but he still took the risk.

Nailer took many risks in the book and this quote fits them all. When Nailer believed that saving the girl would have them rewarded he was rolling the dice with a 50/50 chance that it would turn out to be a good decision. He had barely any reason to believe that her father would repay them or that she would get them out of there when she left. Nailer believed in the girl and rolled the dice.

This quote also relates to real life quite a bit. There are many things that are purely based on luck and taking the chance. But most of the times the situations don’t involve life or death. Say you wish to apply for your first job but you’re nervous and don’t want to go through with it, you roll the dice of luck. Though your experience and smarts can help, like I mentioned in my pre reading.

This quote doesn’t exactly relate to my life specifically but I know for a fact it does for some people. This quote is very true in life and in the book. As someone grows up they will face more situations like this. But really while you’re young there are not as many.

November Pre-Reading

1. Write a blog that argues whether it is better to be lucky, or to be smart.  Be sure to back up your opinion with reasons and examples.

In my opinion it is better to be smart than to be lucky. If you’re smart you wouldn’t have to be lucky. You would never get yourself into situations where you needed your luck. For example somebody drives up on a kid and asks him if he wants candy. The kid goes up to him and actually gets candy and there is nothing wrong with it. This is luck. The kid wouldn’t have to worry about this if he was smart. If he was smart he would not have went up to the man and got the candy.

Luck has its upsides though. Say you forgot to do your homework, if you were smart you wouldn’t have forgotten to do it. But if you’re lucky maybe the teacher is sick and will take it up tomorrow. Luck can help you in situations that if you were smart you wouldn’t need help. Another upside is like if you are trying to find something you luck out and find it. But also if you were smart you wouldn’t have lost it. Unless we’re talking about the book and how he lucks out and finds a good ship. In that situation it is luck that is better.

Luck and smarts are kind of equal to each other. As an example let’s say you’re a police officer and you’re in some sort of shootout, if you have smarts you will be able to use that to your advantage and survive. This is the same with luck. In this situation you could either land your shots and save yourself with both. Let’s say that you get shot, smarts can only help you to a certain extent in this situation. You’re luck could very well save your life. Maybe your luck makes the bullet not hit something very important. Your smarts cannot stop a bullet from hurting you but your luck can. This is one situation where luck is the better thing to have. There are many benefits of being lucky and of having smarts. It would probably be best to have a combination of the two.

Really it all depends on what the situation is where either of these are needed. Luck can help you when smarts can’t and vice-versa.

October Post Reading

 "The choices we make about the lives we live determine the kind of legacies we leave."

    This is a very powerful quote. It applies to the book very strongly. These two will both leave legacies. One will leave a legacy as as successful writer who wrote two New York Times Best Sellers. And one who will go down in history as the boy who helped his brother kill a man and got a life sentence. These outcomes are all due to the choices the two boys made, events that occurred in their lives, how and where they were raised. These things caused the two boys to be how they are today. 

     The Wes that is in jail was raised in the hood. He went to jail for the first time when he was very young. He was destined for prison I suppose. He was around bad influences and his father was a drunk. He was not raised in the best environment for a child, and this ruined him. His brother was an especially bad influence. Wes' brother had been killing people and dealing drugs for quite some time, and he was no good for Wes. If Wes had made better choices and been around better influences he may not have been in this situation. He could have the same life as the other Wes. He could have gotten helped out his mother with money problems.But he chose to risk his freedom for some money. This quote could have changed his future if he had heard it and took it to heart. But his actions ruined his life.

     The Wes that is successful was raised in a great environment. He was taught to not hit women and his parents were very loving towards him. His father was a very nice man and treated him well. This is almost the exact opposite of the other Wes. The choices of their family members affect them. The Wes that is in prison is a prime example of this.

     This quote is very powerful to me. It acts as a reminder for me, it is a guide. It reminds me to make sure the choice I'm making is the correct one. Hopefully this will help me out when I leave my legacy. Hopefully I will be successful and not rotting away in jail. My parents have made good choices and are raising me right. Hopefully in the future I will make all the right choices. I know I will make a few mistakes during my life but most likely they will not be this severe.

      This quote is very powerful to me. I honestly think that this quote will stick with me and guide me through my life. It will put me on the right path to be a better person.

      

October Pre Reading

3. In life, it often seems like certain people get all the breaks, while others never have any luck (except bad luck).  Discuss what you see in terms of "the way privilege and preference work in the world."

In life many people get the easy way out. They get all the shortcuts while other have to take the scenic route. For example, people who are born into wealthy families often have many advantages of those who are born into families experiencing poverty. Some rich children will never have to work a day in their life but will still be rich. While poor children will have to work their entire lives. Rich children are able to pay tuition and attend college. While poor children will have to work for tuition or get student loans and have crippling debt for the rest of their lives. This is one of the many privileges in the world.

Another privilege is race, and religion, or even gender. In the Middle East women are given less rights and are basically objects for men. They are not allowed to get an education. Sometimes they are forced to cover themselves up and other times they do it to follow their religion, and they voluntarily do it. The women are beaten in many cases and are not treated as equals. Even in the U.S. They have less rights. They are paid less than men in many cases. They work just as much and maybe even more than men but still get paid less. This is one of the gender privileges in today’s society.

All through history and everywhere in the world people are persecuted for their beliefs. Especially religious beliefs. There are intolerant people all over the world. In the Middle East there is conflict against the Muslims and Jewish people. They argue over where they both can and cannot pray. They hate each other. They have gone as far as to riot and kill people of the other religion. It is a very violent long term altercation. In America recently there have been people rallying against people who believe in the Islamic faith. They protest Islam at Mosques and wear shirts insulting islam.I believe that in America people of the Christian faith have more privilege than people who believe in other things such as Islam. Christians get away with more things due to the fact that Christianity is the main religion in America. For example Kim Davis. She denied a couple a marriage license due to the fact that it was against her religious beliefs. This was part of her job as a government employee. I just feel like if she was a Muslim person and this happened to a Christian couple there would have been more jail time, and more of an outrage from the American people.

In America there is the privilege of race. People in America are discriminated against. One of the biggest people discriminated against are African American people and Mexican people. Many people are turned down for jobs because of their skin color. Sometimes there will be a highly sophisticated African American or Mexican person who is qualified or maybe even overqualified will be denied the position due to the color of their skin. Then maybe a white person will come to the job and have the same qualifications and be accepted. This is very wrong. All discrimination is wrong. These privileges are part of everyday society and should not be. It is sad but it is the truth. Bigotry and ignorance is becoming overwhelming.