May Non-Fiction

I watched the movie “Girl Rising” by Richard Roberts recently*. Roberts wants the viewer to know that many girls do not get an education and around the world, there are very few opportunities for them to be educated. He also describes that educating girls could be the key to a better world. He also would like the viewer to know that some girls in the world must fight for their education which often turns out to be worth it in the end. The movie shows the stories of a few brave girls who fight for their rights and education. The creator, Roberts, gets this message across by including facts. In between each story of a specific girl, he uses that time to share “fun” facts about the education of girls and about girls all over the world in general. An example of these facts is that there are 33 million less girls than boys attending primary school. Another thing that Roberts does to convey this idea of educating girls is to show the stories of girls who want their education. One example is the story of a girl living in Haiti. She goes to school until the huge earthquake occurs and there is no money for the new school, now taking place in a tent. She goes to the tent but is sent away. The next day she returns and tells her teacher “Even if you send me away, I will come back every day,” and convinces the teacher to let her stay even though she cannot pay.

Richard Roberts hopes that the viewer will both feel upset at the horrible facts of the education and rights of girls, but he also wants the viewer to feel motivated to help those girls who cannot get an education. Some girls are able to educate themselves and that we should feel the same way. The viewer feels saddened by the awful things that happen to girls, but also feels hope for the future through the way that the girls shown solve their problems. One way that Roberts makes the viewers feel this way is by having both frightening and motivating stories. An example of a sad story is a girl who, on a very hot day, wishes to travel to get some juice. The day was hot so she did not want to walk so she took a ride from a man. The man did not take her to the market, but to his house, and then further and further away from her home. He later raped her at 11 years old, and soon after, she became engaged. This story is quite upsetting, unlike the story about a girl working at a radio station. She helps other girls solve their problems. This story was more hopeful to show that not all girls have these terrible experiences. Another way that Roberts makes the audience feel this way is by including hopeful facts as wells as upsetting ones. He talks about how difficult it is to educate girls, and also describes how if we educate girls, we could improve the world.

I loved the movie. I was an excellent mixture of hope and sorrow, and even was a little funny. I learned a lot about what it is like for girls to not be educated all around the world. I think that girls who go to school are so lucky that they can, it is important for them to see this movie to know how fortunate they are. I want to know more about the other issues that affect girls worldwide. I hope that more girls can solve their problems like those in the video did. I enjoyed the movie very much and I wish that there were more videos like this. The movie makes me think about how people don’t care as much about girls’ education as they do boys’ as they have always thought.

*I was not able to collect quotes when watching the movie, so I only have a few.

April Non-Fiction

I read the article “When your Data Wanders to Places you’ve Never Been” by Natasha Singer who wants the reader to know that a friend of hers was researching Multiple Sclerosis, and companies profiled her as an M.S. patient. Senator John D. Rockefeller does not think that it is okay for companies to use people’s private information. Do Not Track, an organization to prevent the tracking of people’s internet usage by companies, has not been helping as much as it was supposed to. Singer, by tracking the information of her friend, found that companies have used much of her information for consumer purposes as well as most other adults in the United States. Natasha Singer proves her main idea by saying that “In our data-happy society, the case of the mistaken M.S. patient illustrates a lack of visibility for people interested in how information about them changes hands.” She connects the example of her friend to average Americans who may also come across this problem with their private information. She also talks a lot about the opinion of John D. Rockefeller who says that “’People have the right to be private insofar as it’s possible in the modern world.’” He believes that people should be able to keep their information private, especially in this technology-crazed world.

The author, Natasha Singer, hopes that the reader will recognize that internet information usage is a major issue as technology expands. She wants readers also to be more concerned about their internet whereabouts and be careful about what they research and post on social networking sites. She convinces readers of this problem when she says that “data brokers can go in and buy all your health records, your financial records,” basically she is saying that people unknown to us take private information and use it for many purposes, and these people are often from companies that the target has never heard of or interacted with. Singer also says about her friend that “now she wondered whether one of those companies had erroneously profiled her as an M.S. patient and shared that profile with drug-company marketers.” She says that her friend was worried that this false information could cause companies to not allow her to get insurance. Natasha singer uses her friend as an average example of someone who could be harmed by companies tracking the internet to convince the reader how dangerous this is.

I think that this article is very important to teenagers because they do not always know what could occur with their Facebook messages or other social networking sites. It can affect them in ways that they would never think. This article makes me want a Facebook even less that I already do. I want to know about how businesses are able to take people's data and if they are really allowed to do that. In my opinion, people are putting their information online, which they wouldn't be if they were really worried about the wrong people taking their information like I am. In seventh grade, a teacher told me that colleges look students up online and may not accept people with irresponsible things up on the internet. I really liked the article, and with this new technological world, this information can help people to protect themselves and their information.

The Beak of the Finch Non-Fiction

In “The Beak of the Finch”, Jonathan Weiner is trying to tell the reader that the theory of evolution was brought about in the Galapagos Islands where Darwin first saw the finches. He collected specimens and decided that evolution must have occurred. He explains that many scientists want to literally see evolution and it has therefore been proven my many groups of scientists. The finches are a popular way to glimpse this natural phenomenon because they stay contained on one island making them easier to capture and measure as well as stay safe because they are not being hunted. The book explains that Darwin did not even think highly of the finches when he first saw them, even though they led to the theory of evolution. Weiner proves the fact that people want to see evolution by following the story of the Grants, who, for generations, have measured and observed finches on Daphne Major, an Island. It says on the back cover that ‘’Peter and Rosemary Grant have spent twenty years proving that Darwin did not know the strength of his own theory.” They have been showing just how real evolution is and how it happens even in twenty years. Another way he proves his point is by following Darwin’s journey. He talks about Darwin first arriving to the Island and when he first saw the finches.

Jonathan Weiner wants the reader to feel how important evolution is and how it affects the world and the living things in it. He wants us to think that evolution is such a wonderful thing and the fact that Darwin had this theory has changed the world. His theory became so widely known that it was named “Darwinism”. Jonathan proves his point by talking about how all of the generations of Grants have been measuring and they are seeing evolution in progress. They are literally seeing species in the process of being changed. Just saying this makes me realize how special it is to see this. He also makes me feel how important evolution is not by a specific passage, but through the whole book. If he didn’t think evolution was important, why did he write a whole book about it? This makes me understand how no one would be here without evolution.

I think that the book tells the story of evolution astoundingly and mixes in facts about Darwin’s adventure with the story about the Grants.  I want to know more about how Darwin thought of the idea of evolution in the first place, but I am only partway through the book so it may still talk about that. I found the story very interesting and it definitely added a lot to my knowledge of evolution.  I think that to some people, especially kids, it might be a smidge slow and uninteresting, but it does alter the reader’s thinking about nature. But some people may not be able to see that, so I think that only some people can get a lot out of it.

non-fiction

In the article “Fireballs in the Sky are Not Exclusive to Siberia“, the author, Andy Newman, wants the reader to know that the meteor that landed in Syria was not as rare as people often think. In the New York region, many meteors and meteorites have landed, especially in the past few hundred years, and people may not notice them as much because they watch TV and spend time with electronics more and more. He also explains that sometimes the meteor that is sighted is found to be manmade, or fake. But there have been many accounts of real meteors in the sky and people finding them in their car or even living room in Brooklyn, and other nearby cities. Andy Newman proves his point by having actual accounts in quotes to show that people actually saw meteors. One account that was mentioned said: ‘“I was standing with a friend in Thirty-fourth-street, near the southwest corner of Madison-avenue, when we observed a luminous body rising rapidly from behind the houses on the southerly side of the street.”’ This makes the reader understand that people actually saw these meteors and many of them were real. Another example of this would be in an article published in Utica, New York. It said: “This morning at 1:40, the most beautiful meteor seen in this vicinity for years flashed across the northern sky nearly from horizon to horizon.” Another way that Newman proves his point is when he describes that a cosmochemist said “I just think that people aren’t as in touch with the natural world as they used to be and that includes meteorites.” This helps show how new technology is hurting people’s knowledge of the world and nature.

Andy Newman hopes that the reader will be more interested in meteors and their history, but also feel that they are not so rare and that they happen almost every day. Towards the beginning of the article, he says, “The New York region has seen more than its share of meteors and meteorites”. That means that there have been many sightings in the New York region alone, imagine the number of meteors that have landed in the world. That is probably a lot more than people expect. To further show that that is what Newman wants his readers to feel, he titles the article based off of this idea. “Fireballs in the Sky are Not Exclusive to Siberia” is pretty straightforward and the reader already knows how Andy Newman wants them to feel.

I definitely got the message from this article. I was one of those people who found what happened in Syria “improbable and exotic”. But this article made me realize that where I live, there have been many meteors. What shocked me the most was that even though landings occur often, especially in New York, I have never seen one, or even heard of a meteor landing. This article has most incredibly shaped the way that I think about meteors because I had no idea how often they land on earth. But thinking about it more makes me realize that it makes sense. There are billions of rocks flying around space and earth is not a very small target. It is understandable that meteor landings occur so often. I would love to know more about the statistics about how often they occur and where meteors most often land.

A Troubling Portrait of Domestic Work non-fiction

In the article, “A Troubling Portrait of Domestic Work,” the author wants the reader to know that a new study or survey was distributed to 2, 086 domestic worker who said that they were not given breaks or paid much, sometimes less than minimum wage. It was also found that Hispanic workers were paid less than Asian workers and workers that sleep at their work place often hardly got much sleep. The article explains that domestic workers don’t have the usual rights as other working citizens do, and do not usually get insurance. The author does a great job of proving this point when he includes all of the different statistics and percents. It helps describe how few get any advantages even when they are working so hard. Another thing that helps the author prove his/her main idea is when he/she states,” Wages varied widely by ethnicity and immigration status.” This shows that even in these times, there are still racial issues, but it also tells the reader that it is very difficult to make a living from being a domestic worker with such widely ranged wages. It is very difficult to live the way that these people do while working very hard to make such a small amount. But not only that, the workers also may have to deal with racist comments and less pay because of where they are from.

The author hopes that the reader will feel that the way domestic workers are treated in America is unfair. He/she hopes we will want them to be fairly treated wherever they come from, get higher pay, and all of the benefits of being not only a worker, but also a citizen. They should have equal rights because they work just as hard as others do. The author, though, has a tough job. For someone like me, it is very hard to feel bad for domestic workers because I can’t really imagine how it feels or what it is like to be treated differently because of my race or origin or live off of a minimum wage. The author does this by saying that “Achieving basic rights shouldn’t have to depend, haphazardly, on the kindness of their employers. “ Being the last line, it somewhat sums up what the whole article talks about. It makes the reader realize that the domestic worker’s whole life depends on the kindness of one person, and no one should have to be in this position. The author also uses the word “if” to help him/her describe what life would be like if domestic workers were treated equally.

I think that the article has a way of stating the facts without using specific words that make it seem more convincing. I like how it does this without having to explain why what is happening is bad.  I would like to know more facts about domestic workers that are more unique. I would like to know how they feel about the unfairness of how they are treated. I feel like if they are citizens, they should be treated like it. I also don’t understand why they are not treated as workers when they work just as hard as many workers who are paid hundreds or even thousands more. I just don’t understand why. This article is good at telling me the basic facts, but it needs to explain them a little more.

The Diary of Anne Frank non-fiction

Anne Frank, in her diary, wants the reader to understand how hard the Holocaust was for her and for every other Jew living in Europe around that time, although this last part is only sparsely mentioned in her diary. Her main goal is to share her feelings about the other people she is in hiding with, feelings that she would never share with them. She also wants us to understand exactly what her life is like in the “Secret Annexe” and how different it is from her usual routine. It says in the story, “we simply don’t get on together these days”. This is an important line because it just shows how difficult their life it. From Anne’s diary, the reader somewhat gets a fix on how many issues there are within this small community and that is really no easy feat to live the way she does. It is amazing they get along as much as they do, and Anne spends much of the book talking about her fights. The arguments are such a major part of the story and so they symbolize the actual fighting going on in the war. The grownups (Nazis) completely exaggerate how bad Anne is (the Jews). She says in the story that “I have my faults, just like everyone else, I know that, but they thoroughly exaggerate everything.” When she says this, she is connecting to the war around her with the fighting in her household, and it only proves how difficult her life is. Later in the book, she stops describing all of the “quarrels” and talks about Peter. Peter is an important character because, once Anne feels comfortable with him, she can tell her feelings with him. The amount of time that they spend talking together only shows how much she has to say, and therefore further explaining her point that they lead a difficult life.

Anne Frank hopes that the reader will empathize with everything that she feels. Being about her age myself, I have an easier time of doing this than a young child or an adult would who was not in the holocaust. At one point in the middle of the book she explains to the diary that she would not have been able to go this far without it. This helps the reader empathize with her because everyone has something that they need, and I know that I felt bad that hers was a diary. She didn’t even feel like she needed her family. Another thing that helps me empathize with her is all of the fighting. I don’t argue that much with my parents, but some of the feelings she has about them is very similar to my own thoughts. Her pattern of thinking is also similar to many other people.  The first third of the book is all about the arguments in the “Secret Annexe”; the second is about how much she likes Peter. I haven’t read passed this part yet so I do not know what the third third is. But this is like obsession. Many teenagers have certain phases or obsessions with certain bands, singers, movies, or TV shows. These last for about the same amount of time as they do for Anne. Countless times Anne apologizes to Kitty (her diary) about talking so much about one subject. For me, this just helps me empathize with her.

I am taking quite a bit away from this book. I realize more that there is a lot more to the Holocaust to the camps, but the people in hiding also had a very difficult life. I never, before this book, really thought about how the people in hiding felt, and if I did, I thought that it was an easy life because I was just focusing on the camps during World War 2. One thing I thought interesting in the book is how Anne Frank hardly mentions how lucky she is. She spends much of the time complaining about her life when really she is lucky to be alive. I know that I do this along with everybody else I know, but somehow, it seems worse when she is in the middle of the Holocaust. I would like to know more about what other people are feeling. She talks about so many people, and I only know her view. It might be interesting to hear the other people living with her and what they are thinking about her.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

In the book "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", the author, Rebecca Skloot, wants readers to know that that Henrietta Lacks was a woman living in the mid- 1900s was taken advantage of when she had cancer and some of her cells were taken without her knowing and used in experiment in labs eventually around the world.The author explains the distribution of her cells over the world and the importance that they have because of how quickly they can grow and can be used to discover vaccines and answers to many scientific questions. On detail that helps Rebecca Skloot prove her point is when she explains how Henrietta's cells helped make a vaccine for polio. Without even knowing it she saved millions of people from diening of polio. Another detail that helps her is when she goes to interview the family who then explain to her how they didn't know about this untill the scientists took their blood. It shows how if Henrietta's closest family didn't know about the usage of her cells, how was she supposed to know? Rebecca Skloot says in the story after she explains that the reporter used fake names, "This is why the name was never mentioned to them." "Them" being her family. She wants readers to realize how terrible this was for Henrietta when she describes in too much detail what was happening inside her body. Skloot wants readers to realize how unfair this was to Henrietta because she had no idea what was happening to her cells.

Rebecca Slkoot hopes that readers will feel bad for Henrietta and think that what happened to her was unfair. She makes us feel that the doctors and scientists had no right to take her cells without her approval. They didn't even tell her in her life time what was happening and there was no way for her to figure out when she was stuck in the hospital most of the time. The story talks about how her family didn't even find out untill twenty years after it became a multimillion-dollar industry. This tells the reader that they didn't even try to tell her or her family, and this is not fair. She would most likely be happy that her cells were doing so much good to the world, so why didn't they tell her? The author clearly thinks that this is unfair to Henrietta and her family when she has many pages dedicated to the argument over whether informed consent is needed. She says that she asked one of Henrietta's doctors whether they had tried to get informed consent and he said "No. We never gave consent form because you just go

I think that so far, this book is really great and interesting. I had no idea that this sort of thing happened, and before I read this book, I didn't know who Henrietta Lacks was. I feel really bad that that this happens to people and I wonder if this happens to anyone else, and if it does, than those people don't even get a good story to tell; plus they were lied to. It seems unfair, even if this helped the scientific world a lot. I am very interested in cell biology so I am learning a lot about cells that I want to know, while reading a really well written book. The science in the book is amazing. It explains how vaccines are injected into cells and that they can be split in half.