Vision 0

De Blasio's Vision 0 Plan

      After being elected for Mayor, Bill De Blasio's vision 0 plan started to go into motion. Vision 0 is a bill/act to help lower speed limits and make the "vision 0" true by reducing the amount of traffic fatalities and injuries to zero. After there being 286 deaths in traffic in 2013 alone, in the start of 2014 Mayor De Blasio has started to take action. The article "De Blasio's 'Vision Zero' Plan Could Set a New Standard for Traffic Safety" by: Sarah Goodyear showed me the details of Mayor De Blasio's plans and how he is going to take action. This article helps the reader see the important and much needed vision 0.

      The article has an obvious opinion to vision 0, that it is a great idea. The writer, Sarah Goodyear persuades the reader immediately by stated scary statistics such as that in 2013 there where "333 homicides, but that nearly as many people – 286, by last count – died in traffic." This number may be small to some people but to others including myself that is far to many, even one traffic fatality is too many. The article continues to say "that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injury-related death among New Yorkers younger than 14, and the second-leading cause of injury-related deaths among New York's seniors." By showing these scary statistics and deaths the author uses it as a tactic to show what vision 0 would stop. 

      Despite these heart wrenching deaths some have just brushed off questions about vision 0.  "Late last year, Kelly dismissed a question about the police role in preventing traffic deaths by saying, "you're going to have a lot of traffic and you’re going to have accidents.'" The article portrayed  Ray Kelly's (police) "easy-breezy we can't do anything about it attitude" as untrue by saying "De Blasio wants the city to have more authority to regulate speed and deploy more camera enforcement," This will start with police enforcement.  Mayor De Blasio has already started to take vision 0 into affect. "Drivers speeding in the 20 "school zones" where cameras were activated in September can expect tickets rather than warnings as of today. De Blasio also said he thinks penalties for negligent drivers, most of whom receive only traffic summonses when they kill people, need to be rethought." This shows that even if some people think that vision 0 is serious this article and the number of deaths shows it is. 

      In conclusion this article persuades the reader to support vision 0 by saying tactical quotes and statistics. Mayor De Blasio has the right idea in mind by naming vision 0 as one of his top priority's. Having personal experience with someone I have known for a long time being struck and killed by a van that if had been going slower would have increased his chance of survival, I am fully behind vision 0 and this article made me even more devoted and into to the cause. 

Close Reading Eleanor and Park

Eleanor & Park 

Close Reading Inquiry

The book Eleanor and Park by: Rainbow Rowell is an inspiring book about two teenagers Park and Eleanor that know that first love never last, but despite knowing this; they fall in love. This book shows how hard it can be to be in love at seventeen knowing that it will most likely not last and how especially hard it is for Eleanor and Park in their Romeo and Juliet like love. The excerpt I choose from Eleanor and Park was from one of the first chapters of the book and I close read the word choice from this section where Eleanor first appears on the school bus and Park grudgingly shares his seat with her. The close reading inquiry I did made me see many things I hadn't before like; different emotions and motives of the characters and ways Eleanor and Park where resisting the kids in their school. 

Close reading Eleanor and Park helped me notice different motives and emotions the characters had that I didn't see before. For example when first reading this text the reader can see Park as rude for cursing at Eleanor or being resistant to sharing his seat with her but really the reader mistakes rude for sympathetic. Park kept "trying to look away" where the other kids were "licking their chops,” Doing a close reading inquiry helps the reader notice how Park is way more sympathetic towards Eleanor then the other kids who "are not about to give up their seats, especially not to someone like this." or are preparing to bully Eleanor. 

Doing the close reading inquiry also helps the reader notice Eleanor's resistance. Reading the story with no lens makes it just seem like Eleanor is just someone who wouldn't stand up for herself. The reader sees that she immediately gets up from a bus seat because Tina tells her to. And that "she looks like she is crying." but with a lens the reader sees how Eleanor is resisting bullies. The way she dresses shows how she doesn't care what people think. Park says: "It was like she wanted people to notice her." The close reading inquiry makes the reader see Eleanor as more than just a bullying target, but someone who can stand up for themselves/rebel through her clothing. 

Doing the close reading inquiry also helps the reader notice Park's resistance. Park at first seems like someone who just wants to blend in and survive high school but doing a close reading inquiry shows a different side to Park. He shows a way to resist to their classmates by thinking and acting a different way than everyone else. For example; Park instead of looking at Eleanor as a meal like the other kids he feels bad for her and wants to save her he uses words like "walking right into the belly of the beast" to describe her trying to find a seat in the back of the bus where all the popular kids are. He acts a different way than all the other kids who either bully her or refuse to give up their seats by moving their bags to take up the seat next to them. Instead of acting like the other kids he gives up his seat. All these things show how Park resists everyone by thinking and acting another way then the other kids and feeling sympathetic towards Eleanor and sharing a seat with her. Doing a close reading inquiry helps the reader see these aspects of Park.

In conclusion, doing a close reading inquiry helps the reader see different parts of characters actions then before. Doing a close reading inquiry shows the reader more positive aspects to the characters in Eleanor and Park and also shows them connecting to social justice issues such as bullying and standing up for what you believe in.

   

The Stolen Party

Similar or Different?

     The Stolen Party by: Liliana Heker was a book about a young girl named Rosaura who was the maids daughter.In this book Rosaura is invited to her mom's bosses daughter(Luciana) birthday party. She is overjoyed despite her mother who thinks that it is a terrible idea. Rosaura goes to the party but as the party comes to a end she realizes that she was really hired to be helping at the party not be one of the guest. Despite Rosaura and her mothers very different opinions about Rosaura going to the party I saw Rosaura and her mother where actually very similar. As the book went on I saw Rosaura start to transform into her mother as Rosaura saw more of what it was like to not be in the same social class as other kids. Rosaura became very angry and guarded just like her mother did and while reading this I saw the naive Rosaura at the beginning of the story disappear. 

    The first sign that the reader sees that shows that Rosaura and her mother are becoming more alike is when the girl in the bow questions Rosaura about her mother job and if she is really a friend of Luciana's "and when no one was looking she kicked her in the shin." This action proves that Rosaura is becoming guarded about being the maids daughter just like her mother is. Why Rosaura kicks the girl with the bow in the shins is because Rosaura doesn't want to be the maids daughter and the white dress she is wearing and attending the Luciana's party made her feel like like she was rich and that is why she is so angered at the girl with the bow because she made Rosaura think that maybe she didn't belong there. This relates back to Rosaura and her mothers similarities because Rosauras mother is also very guarded about the situation and tries to guard and protect Rosuara from peoples judgement just like when Rosaura tries to guard herself from the girl with the bows judgement. For example: Her mother had said very clearly: "If someone asks, you say you're the daughter of the employee; that's all." This shows that both Rosaura and her mother are very guarded about their social class. 

     Another example of Rosaura becoming guarded and angry about the situation just like her mother is;"Except her eyes. Rosaura's eyes had a cold, clear look that fixed itself on Senora Ines's face." This quote is from the end of the story when Rosaura learns that the only reason she was at the party was so that she could serve the other kids. This quote really shows the transformation from Rosaura's naive self in the beginning to her guarded and angry self in the end. She really see's the whole picture when this happens and what the rest of her life will be like being the maids daughter and how unfair social classes are. This part of the story makes me think that once Rosaura's mother was very similar to Rosaura's naive self. Rosaura's mom probably had a realization like Rosaura had that made her see the whole picture like Rosaura did. This shows how similar Rosaura and her mother really are. 

     In conclusion, even though Rosaura and her mother both had very different opinions on Luciana's party. Rosaura now see the way it is and that made them more similar because now the big difference between them (Rousara's naivety)is gone and they are now both very guarded and angry about social classes and their situations making them very similar.   

Divergent- Favorite Book of 2013

      Divergent by Veronica Ross was an intriguing and action pact book about a futuristic Chicago were everyone at the age of 16 is given the choice to be placed in one of the five factions; Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). The main character Beatrice Prior is coming to the time when she must  choose between staying in the safety of her original faction with her family or leaving them to join the faction she truly feels she belongs in. Throughout the rest of the book, after choosing a faction and changing her name to Tris Prior, she follows through a tough serious of test she must pass to remain in her faction of choice or become  faction less. She struggles with seeing who her real friends are and also she deals with a heavy secret which if found out would result in her death. Why this book was one of my favorite from 2013 is because it shows the tough decision everyone has to make in their life, whether of not they are to stay with their family or venture off to start a life of their own. It also shows the meaning of true friendship and this book is an amazing read because it always keeps you on your toes and makes you want to keep reading. 

      Divergent shows a tough decision that many must face, whether or not to stay with your family or venture off to start a life of your own. Divergent shows a very good example of that because Tris/Beatrice deals with this issue in a very serious, up-close way because her choice also means that she will most likely only see her family once or twice for the rest of her life. This book really shows the positives and negative of the choice whether to stay or go because if Tris stays with her family she will spend the rest of her life regretting her choice because she will have made the safe decision and not have gone for what she wanted but if she goes that means taking a huge risk and splitting up with her family. Even though Tris lives in a futuristic Chicago not like today Veronica Ross still manages to make her connect with the reader and teach lessons that the reader can use today. Divergent also clearly shows the definition of true friendship because the characters are put in such a high risk situation that true friendship really shows in the end because friends backstabbing each other is very common in this book. 

      In conclusion Divergent was an amazing book to read and always keeps the reader entertained and very intrigued while I was reading it I saw the meaning of true friendship and this book showed and taught important lessons that a lot of people could relate to. 

What kind of power hierarchies are displayed in your independent reading life?

     While I did my inquiry on this question I finished the book Be More Chill . This book is about a boy named Jeremy that is on the social outskirts and all he wants is to be popular and he finds the perfect way. He gets a pill called a "squip" that goes into your brain and tells you what to do to become popular and cool. After he has taken the squip everyone starts respecting him and treating him like he is an actual person making him feel better about himself. In the beginning of the book I thought that the squip was the thing in the book that held all the power but I soon learned that the people that could resist the squip were the most powerful. This book showed how it is good to be human and knowing that can make you have the power in the situation.

     In the book Be More Chill  I thought that the squip held all the power because everyone wanted it and it was like the ultimate cool person that would make your life so much better. But I soon figured out that the person with the most power was Jeremy's best friend Micheal. Why I think this is because Micheal was the only one who was able to resist the squip's power even when he knew about the squip he still didn't get it even though he was in the same position as Jeremy he was strong enough to see that the squip would not do him any good and that it was better to be human. The person that had the second most power was Christine, Jeremy's crush because even though she didn't know about the squip she was in some ways still able to resist it. She didn't like Jeremy any better and in some aspects she even disliked him more after he got the squip because she could see the way he was actting wasn't normal or cool just unlike everyone else. The person who had the third most power was Jeremy because even though he realized it kinda late he still realized the the squip wasn't helping him and that he had to get rid of it because it was not human like. The person who has the least power is Rich because he was not able to resist the squip at all and ended up dying because of it. 

     In conclusion, Be More Chill  showed how it was good to be human and that sometimes you think that a character has the most power but as the book goes on their real self starts to show and you see the real situation. 

                     

Where do you see social justice themes/idea popping up in your independent reading life?

Where do you see social justice themes/idea popping up in your independent reading life?

In the Divergent series by: Veronica Roth some of the characters belong to a group called the Factionless they struggle for food and are not in a good place economically, they are like the people that struggle today economically. In these books the factionless live in the "fringe" like outside society and they do the menial work like bus driving and the dirty work for very little money and food. The Factionless are mostly separated from the people in their official factions and they hardly see the Factionless. This reminds me of our world today how the upper and lower classes are so separated. The divide is not right and any people have said so like our new mayor Bill de Blasio  and in the Occupy Wall Street protest to give a few examples. The Factionless often didn't pass the test of their faction and then got kicked out and were then Factionless and banned from joining another faction and can't find a way to join back in society. When many people lose their jobs it is hard for them to get back up and recover and find a new job. Especially since housing is so incredibly expensive and no one is making less expensive housing  and jobs are so scarce and hard to find these days. Many of the jobs Factionless are given aren't good enough or high paying for them to support themselves and also they do not have any housing for Factionless. Today many people have jobs that aren't paying enough for the labor  and many do not have things such as benefits. It is unjust that many people have to struggle through everyday life to get money and that there is such a divide in between the upper and lower class.

"Response to Megan Cox Gurdon" Article- RRE

Drugs, smoking, abuse, drinking, "stomach clenching detail" and much much more dark stuff is what some people use to describe young adult literature. But what some people don't realize how great young adult literature can be for teenagers and how it can help teenagers get through a lot of the situations they encounter as a teenager.


Lots of teenagers deal with conflicts that authors introduce in these books so it can be good for teenagers to see that other teenagers/characters go through these things too and that they are not alone. In the article "Response to Megan Cox Gurdon" the author says: "If subjects like these are in young adult fiction books, it's to show that they are real, they have happened to others and they can be survived." This piece of evidence shows how a lot of teenagers feel so alone and young adult authors aren't trying to corrupt their youth they are trying to help. Some ma argue that young adult books are bad for kids to read because they are violent and inappropriate. "There isn't a young adult writer alive who is out there writing books to corrupt youth. No one writing about self harm is teaching how to self harm. No one writing about rape is providing instructions on how to rape or be raped." People think that young adult books are just meant to destroy teenagers but they don't get how the books aren't as bad as they are making them out to be,


All in all, teenagers should have young adult books in their lives because they show teenagers how they aren't alone and what they are going through others go through and that what they are going through is normal. Teachers should engourage teenagers to read young adult literature because it is helpful for teenagers and are good books to read.