Nonfiction Reading Response by: Jacob Cedar

In the article “How the MURDER of Four Teens Started a WAR,” author Patricia Smith writes about the four boys who were killed, how Hamas and Israel fought, and how the tension between Israeli’s and Palestinians came to be. The author describes how problems between the Palestinians and Israeli’s started because the U. N. gave Jewish people land in Jerusalem, with a plan to split the Palestinians and Jews into two states, which the Palestinians rejected. The Palestinians and Israeli’s have had run-ins since 1947 but the most recent one was after 3 Israeli boys were found dead, (June 12 they were captured) and a Palestinian boy was murdered (killed on July second). This prompted Israel to launch air strikes at Hamas. These murders were tragic but the outcome shouldn’t have been war.

            Patricia Smith tells the story from each side, making it difficult to pick a side to defend. One example that shows this is after a Palestinian boy is killed, his brother says, “His life was still ahead of him, and here in one minute, extremists who hate Arabs, who hate peace, came in and cut short his whole life.” This quote shows the grief of a brother who’s feeling the strife of his country in his home and the hatred and disharmony that exists in Israel. This boy and his family don’t deserve to suffer because someone supposedly from Palestine killed three Israeli’s. Furthermore, the author quoted the Israeli Prime Minister in response to the three Israeli boys being abducted and killed, “They were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by beasts, Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay.” It’s difficult to defend either group, because Hamas or some un-connected Palestinian could have killed these three Israeli kids but at the same time they may not have. There was no clear evidence. Furthermore, this by no means should have started air strikes and bombings. This was simply tragic.

            The author makes a big point to talk about the “birth of Israel,” and how it came to be, and more importantly why there is a problem in Israel. Patricia Smith taught me that the U.N. voted to split Palestine apart writing, “According to the U.N. plan, the territory, then known as Palestine and governed by Great Britain, would be divided into two states, one Arab and one Jewish. But the Arabs rejected this plan,” this shows the main reason why the Arabs and Jews have been fighting. This makes me think that the Arabs attacking the Jews was not totally uncalled for, because their land was split in half against their will. Additionally, the U.N. probably shouldn’t have given away land that wasn’t theirs to give, although Great Britain did control Palestine at the time. This shows a very large reason for why there is still a problem in Palestine.

            After reading this article I have begun to understand that sometimes neither group of people who are fighting are wrong. This article also makes me want to look more deeply into problems surrounding Palestine and the Jews. I’m intrigued by why the U.N. just gave away half of Palestine to the Jews and I want to find out why Hamas was blamed for killing the 3 Israeli boys. I would like to know more about this because at the moment what it looks like to me is that, three boys were killed by someone or a group, the reason is fairly unknown and then some Israeli radicals went out and killed a Palestinian boy for “revenge.” These are terrible, unreasonable actions that people should never commit.

Upfront Magazine October 27 2014 issue

What the trip to the Museum of the City of New York made me think, feel, know, and/or wonder

The trip made me think about how many people have taken a stand about what they believe in. For example the first protest was about rights for Quakers. This was really interesting because it was one of the first protests and it was so basic but so important. This trip taught me that non-violent protests are generally the most important ways to protest, but that only in the worst times, is violence necessary. This trip taught me a ton about activism and taking a stand, but I wish there was more.

            During the trip I wondered about why there were so many missing pieces of history at the museum. For example, I don’t recall there being anything on the Vietnam war, which is a very controversial subject and was protested about in New York. The only reasons I could think of were that there wasn’t enough space in the exhibit and that the creators of the exhibit were worried about there being too much controversial information in the exhibit. Additionally during the trip I wondered why the exhibit wasn’t up to date. There was nothing on Occupy Wall Street. Occupy Wall Street has had major protests about the economy and the “1%.” This has been a major protest in New York City, and it’s not included.

            Overall, this trip was a great trip, and it taught me a lot about activism. It made me think about taking a stand and what that actually means. It also made me wonder about what other people thought of Occupy Wall Street and the Vietnam War. The trip was very informational and interesting.

Reading Response on the Kite Runner By Aled Hosseine

Reading Response on the Kite Runner

            Aled Hosseine’s Kite Runner has been challenged and banned in places all over the world for violence, as well as child abuse and rape. This book is about a boy named Amir who hurts and tries to fix his best friend Hassan’s life to the best of his ability. Eventually after Hassan dies, Amir goes from America back to Afghanistan (where he was born) to find Hassan’s son to adopt. Even though Amir is the main character of the book, Amir is by no means the driving force of the story. The driving force of the story is Hassan, because he is the character that always saves Amir from his troubles. 

            Hassan, Amir’s servant, forces Amir to think about himself and see himself as he is. In the book, Hassan finds himself catching a very nice kite that his master cut the string of. His master cut it because he was in a kite tournament where each kite user must cut the other kites strings until only one stands. Once Hassan gets the kite, Assef, Wali and Kamal (bullies of Amir and Hassan) corner him and he is raped. Amir finds Hassan being raped and instead of stopping them, he runs. After this Amir says, “I ran because I was a coward.” This proves that what happens to Hassan makes Amir think about himself and see himself for who he is, a coward. And, it shapes the person Amir becomes. This shows that Amir doesn’t really drive the story, he just goes with it and Hassan is the person who drives the story and protects Amir from trouble.

            Assef is the antagonist of the story, so he often forces Hassan to act and move the story along. Near the beginning of the book, Assef and his goons corner Hassan and Amir and begin to talk badly about Hassan and his people (Hazara’s) and say that Amir was a disgrace to Afghanistan. Assef is about to attack Amir when Hassan holding his slingshot says to Assef, “Please leave us alone, Agha.” Until at which point Assef is forced to give up trying to hurt Amir and Hassan for the time being. This shows us that when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, Hassan is forced to defend Amir. Amir again has shown us that Hassan is the character who drives the story because Hassan saves Amir.

In the book, Assef is the antagonist who tries to hurt Amir and all of his friends, Amir finds himself saved by Hassan and Hassan’s son more often then not. Near the end of the story, Asssef and Amir get into a fight concerning who gets to keep Sohrab (Hassan’s son). Assef is about to punch Amir again, “Sohrab had the slingshot pointed at Assef’s face. No more, Agha. Please.” In this moment, Sohrab asks Assef to stop hitting Amir, at which point Sohrab is forced to shoot Assef in the eye because Assef is about to attack Sohrab. This tells us that Assef tries to hurt Amir and Sohrab ends up protecting Amir. Although this is Hassan’s son not Hassan, the driving force is still Hassan because Sohrab is Hassan’s son and the apple doesn’t far fall from the tree. This shows us again that Hassan is the driving force of the story because his son is very similar to himself and they both try to save Amir.

This story helped me understand that running away isn’t necessarily an escape.  It may help in the short term, but you always need to come to terms with events in your life, regardless of whether you want to or not. In Amir’s case, what happened with Hassan shaped his life. Amir’s life years later was still being affected by what happened with Hassan. Thus, Hassan was the driving force of this book.  

Son by Lois Lowry synthesis page

The book Son by Lois Lowry is mainly based on protecting Claire's Son, because most of the characters are built around him. Jonas is his guardian, Claire the mother figure who would do anything to meet her son, Einar, Claire's main helper to get to meet her son and then Alys who healed Claire so that Claire could eventually go to meet her son. Additionally the book is about the growth of a child because in the end Claire see's her son trying to build a boat so that he can someday find his past, something he probably wouldn't have thought about when he was younger.

Reading Response on 1984 by: George Orwell

            1984 by George Orwell is an extremely intriguing and satirical book that everyone should read. The book is set in 1984 and is a satire of Stalin’s communist based Russia. It is extremely well written and Orwell often uses characters memories against them, rewriting the past. The book itself is about a man named Winston who believes that the past may have been better then the future is or will be and also that the government may actually be the enemy, not the rebels. The government known as “The Party” doesn’t like this at all. Over the course of the book, Winston finds his confidence in his aspirations and beliefs to be majorly lessened gradually.

            In 1984 by George Orwell, the main character Winston starts out by being very confident about his opinions but then becomes less and less confident. For example, in the book Winston is about to write in his diary and right when he is about to begin writing, George Orwell says, “Suddenly he began writing in sheer panic, only imperfectly aware of what he was setting down.” This shows that Winston was very confident in his beliefs that The Party wasn’t a good thing because for Winston to even begin writing in this journal Winston would be sentenced to major punishment. So the fact that he then began writing and wrote a lot meant that Winston was very firm on his belief that The Party wasn’t a good thing. Then, Winston becomes a bit less confident in his abilities and begins saying things like, “Winston had never been able to feel sure – even after this mornings flash of the eyes it was still impossible to be sure – whether O’Brien was a friend or an enemy.” This is important because it shows that although Winston at the beginning of the book was very confident in his beliefs, he begins to get less and less confident as the book continues. His confidence level is important because his confidence is what makes him different from the person who is on the fence about their ideas and someone who is actually confident about their ideas will generally be happier and more discreet about their ideas when needed. This connects back to my thesis because it shows that Winston becomes less confident about his beliefs and aspirations and some of these beliefs were actually his aspirations as well because some of his beliefs were also some of his own hopes or dreams, like the government or the main figure “Big Brother” to no longer exist. Then, near the end of the book Winston and his partner Julia have both been interrogated and beaten into submission, to a point where they are slaves to The Party so to speak and Winston says, “All you care about is yourself, and after that, you don’t feel the same to the other person any longer.” This is extremely important because in the middle of the book Winston had a passionate love for Julia, but now he doesn’t really love her anymore. He sold her out for his own good. This is important because it shows how confident he was, to sell his lover out to who he thought the enemy was, I say this shows his confidence level because he was obviously not confident about his lover’s survival or Big Brother or the government becoming non-existent. Winston obviously was broken and had no capacity for other beliefs other then The Parties.

            In conclusion, the main character Winston finds his confidence about his beliefs and aspirations to gradually be lessened until they are nothing. In the book, Winston starts off very confident about his aspirations and beliefs, writing in his journal with the knowledge that it was totally illegal. Then later in the book he confidence was lessened because he wasn’t sure if one of the characters (O’Brien) was a friend of a foe. Then towards the end of the book Winston’s confidence in him was totally broken to the point where he only cared about himself, no longer his lover. In the book 1984 by George Orwell, the main character Winston goes through many changes in his confidence levels until eventually, he is no longer confident in himself.

             

Reading Response on The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The book “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho was about a boy named Santiago who went on a long journey to fulfill his personal legend. When the book started, Santiago was a shepherd who had a re-occurring dream where he would find treasure near the Egyptian pyramids. He then consulted a dream interpreter who told him that he must travel to the Egyptian pyramids and there he would find treasure. Then later, a man came to him and told him that his personal legend was to go to Egypt and find his treasure. The rest is history. I believe that “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho is about fulfilling your goals to the best of your ability and letting no one tell you otherwise.

            In “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho, Santiago talks to people and they tell him about how a person can be and then he sees a person just like their description. On page 20, an old man talks to Santiago and asks for his book, the man takes the book and said that the book was annoying and that, “It describes peoples inability to choose their own Personal Legends. And it ends up saying that everyone believes the world’s greatest lie.” Afterward, the author goes on to say that the world’s greatest lie is that at one point in your life you lose control about what is happening to you, and your life end up controlled by the fates. This quote is very interesting because it puts out there that people can’t think for themselves on matters as important as their major goals. Which then allows me to connect this book to the real world because in our world, everyone ends up having someone on the television tell them the current events and the common opinion, instead of the people of the world doing their own research and creating their own opinion on a current event. This is bad because it means that instead of someone having a well thought out opinion with their own evidence to back it up, we have people in the world who will just watch the news and believe every opinion and compare it to fact. Then on page 57, after Santiago had worked for a crystal seller for a long time, the seller states that he always wanted to go to Mecca, Santiago asked why he had never gone and this was the sellers answer, “It’s the thought of Mecca that keeps me alive” then, “I’m afraid that if my dream is realized, I’ll have no reason to go on living.” The seller also states that he is now afraid to leave his shop because he feels that his crystals wont be safe without him. Additionally the seller only mainly says that this was his dream because all Muslims are obligated to go to Mecca once in their life, not because he just wanted to go there very badly. This brings me back to my other idea because the seller didn’t choose his personal legend; he adopted the Muslim personal legend. This quote is an example of what the old man said to Santiago earlier in the book and this connects back to my topic sentence because the crystal seller is the old mans stereotype and this connects to my thesis because it shows that some people don’t fulfill their life goal(s) even if they are the same goal(s) that others have.

            In “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho, Santiago refuses to give up his goals even in the direst of situations. On page 42, the author writes, “I’m going to become bitter and distrustful of people because one person betrayed me” this happened after Santiago had just had a thief steal all of his money which would have been use to get to Egypt. Even though Santiago had no way to get home and no money to go to Egypt, he got through this time while working for the crystal seller and went on to journey to the pyramids. Santiago is a very strong-hearted person and he wouldn’t let anything get between him and his goals. Additionally on page 167, Santiago dug until tribal war refuges made him give them his money then after he gave them his money a refuge said to him, “I dreamed that I should travel to the fields of Spain and looked for a ruined church where shepherds and their sheep slept.”  The man went on to say that he wouldn’t waste his time with dreams like this. This was very interesting because after the man said this to Santiago, Santiago was happy even though he had lost his money. Generally even if a character finds out where their treasure will be but they lose something that they need they will be upset, but Santiago was so strong that he was happy.

            In conclusion, “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho was about completing your personal goals and not letting anyone stop you from doing so. In the book the writer often wrote about how a character would act and then the writer would create a stereotype of it, like the old man and the crystal seller. Additionally, the writer showed how strong of heart Santiago was by showing how something like thievery would shake Santiago, but in the end Santiago would come out a stronger person and he would even come out benefited from the thievery. The author Paulo Coelho made the book “The Alchemist”, an amazing story just by making a character like Santiago so strong and diligent.

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