Non-Fiction Blog Post

I read the article "The End of Extreme Poverty" from the Upfront magazine. It is about fighting poverty in some of the poorest places in the world. For example, a lot of countries got good education and classrooms, or vaccines were given in places that didn't have them. There are too many people suffering in the world to live like that, and it could be changing.

When the author talks with a woman that has already lost a child from malaria, and has to take care of 7 other children, you can see how much affect poverty has on them. I think the U.S. should help people like that. If they help one country, they could become friends. The whole country is poor. Also, the real definition of extreme poverty means living on less than $1.25 a day. That means millions, or even billions on people live like that. There is progress, though. Extreme poverty has been reduced from 1 in 2 in 1980 to 1 in 5 now. That statistic is amazing, considering how much people live in poverty.

In the article, there are various stats that prove the reduction in poverty. In 1988 there were 350,000 cases of polio worldwide, and there are 123. People that took AIDS drugs in developing countries was less than 200,000 in 2000. In 2012 the number was 9.7 million. The global literacy rate was 76% in 1990, and it has jumped to 84% now. Also, the percentage of population with no schooling in developing nations was at 61% in 1950. It has dropped to 17% in 2010. There are way more mind-boggling statistics that show how much this world has improved.Those stats prove that this long fight against extreme poverty might bring it to an all-time low. Even though there will still be poverty, extreme poverty might die out soon enough. That means no more children uneducated or the fear of dying of sickness.

One of the biggest problems in extreme poverty is that there is sometimes no prevention of sickness for a lot of people. In 1990, more than 12 million children died before reaching the age of 5. That number has been cut in half now. Bill Gates is helping this issue, by providing vaccines and medecines, and he says that number will get to 1 million in his lifetime. I hope that will get to that number. Only as of now adults are getting vaccines or treatment for sickess they've had. Thanks to these vaccines, some diseases like polio and measles are dying out. A disease called the Guinea worm is also dying out, which is a disease makes a worm move through your body and causes intense pain or lifelong disabilities. Some popular diseases like AIDS are also moving along. AIDS are no longer killing large amounts of people, because of the vaccines available now. There will be no more epidemics or world-wide sicknesses.

In conclusion, the increasing number of vaccines and medecines to poor counries have reduced extreme poverty and risk of death by disease. Countries with no eduacation now have it, and people can live better now that they have these things in their lives.

Answering SA question #4

I am reading the book "Impulse" by Ellen Hopkins. The book is shown through different teen's perspectives. I feel that many times I was resisting the text because of topics like cutting, drugs, or other things normal teens don't worry about.

I think I am resisting the text because it is disturbing. One of the characters, Vanessa, has problems with cutting herself. She tries with anything she can find. I've never really read or knew about this topic, so it is pretty disturbing that kids my age do this. Some of the details are obscured but can be taken as scary or disturbing, so I think that is why I find it disturbing. I think I can learn that other teens deal with this and it may be a big topic to others.

I also feel that most of the content is foreign to me. I'm just a normal teenager without problems like the ones in this book, so I don't know anything. Some people are bipolar, schizophrenic, mutilators, and much more in the book. I don't know anybody with these problems personally, so these are so weird to read.

Social Issues in "A Long Way Gone"

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah has many social issues in it, including war, drugs, poverty, and the hardships of living in Sierra Leone in that time. It is about teenagers that are trying to escape the war in Sierra Leone and trying to survive among the ruthless rebels and dangers. I noticed that the biggest issue in this book is war, because even though the boys are trying to stay away from it, they eventually have to fight in it later.

War is a huge piece of what makes this book and what makes Ishmael's life. Since the rebels came in to his village, he had to run to different villages and try to stay safe. When he finally gets to another village where his parents are, rebels come and light the village on fire, and there are almost no survivors. After that Ishmael was determined to kill every rebel he saw. Even though the war took a big toll in his life, he had to fight in it to fight for freedom. I think it also influenced his life from becoming a nice boy who everyone trusted to a mean soldier that you would not want to meet.

Another social issue in the book is drug use. After Ishmael joined the army, he found that marijuana was something he loved and started to get addicted to it, including addiction cocaine and a mixture of cocaine with gunpowder. In the book it says he couldn't even focus when the war was in front of him and it started to make him deaf and go crazy. When he goes to a foster home he does more drugs and starts to go even crazier with his peers. I think it was Ishmael's way of forgetting his life, but this speak to many teens across the world. He is kind of sending a message to everyone that drugs can kill you and even though we hear it all the time, he is saying don't do drugs.

In conclusion, two big social issues in the book were war and drugs, not to mention many other things. This is a great book that everyone should read because it shows that Ishmael's life is worse than many others in the world, but he comes back to live happily. 

Argument Essay

There is a lot of argument on whether some YA fiction books should be banned. Some people say these books should be banned. I, on the other hand, say they shouldn't. My argument is that YA fiction books shouldn't be banned because it is a great genre and teens can sometimes relate to books.

An article that helps my case is,  "Teen Fiction Plots are Darker and Starker" by William Porter. He points out lots of reasons why YA fiction is good for teens, including, "Sales are up 25 percent over the past 5 years, according to Publishers Weekly, with $78.5 million worth of young-adult books sold in April alone." That shows how much more people are reading YA fiction, and how much everyone likes it. In the article Shelly Wilhelm also says, "As kids, they want fantasy, but when they enter their teens, they want more realistic and darker books because they're struggling with those issues and ideas." When teens see or experience things in their everyday lives they can relate to books, which will make them see there are other people in the world with these problems and can possibly help them feel better about themselves. YA fiction is also about $10 cheaper than adult fiction, which is something to keep in mind if you have a smaller budget.

While I've made my argument, people also have their reasons for the other side. In the article, "Darkness too Visible" by Meghan Cox Gurdon, it starts out by talking about a mom who is trying to find a book for her 13 year-old child. Even with all the choices, she couldn't find one thing she would let her daughter read. It was all about "Vampires and suicide and self-mutilation." Even though that mom said all the books are about those topics, they are not. Many can deal with less darker things and it does not have to always be the same books everywhere. Although parents have a say in what they want their children to read, it is all about the readers choice. If he or she wants to read something, let them. Reading about something in a book is way less disturbing than actually experiencing it in real life.

A book that relates to this is "Burned" by Ellen Hopkins. It had a great way of showing perspective from a teen girl that had to deal with abuse, alcoholism, love, work, and many other things. It also shows that not every YA fiction had dark themes that teens can't handle and it is also written in verse to show her life in poetic form. I think that a lot of teens deal with her issues and can relate to this book. The main character also gets through some of her darkest times and finds a new great life and finds love from others and family for the first time. Teens can see that there is light at the end of the tunnel and their problems are escapable. When parents always say that they don't want their children to find out about dark things at this age, it doesn't really make sense because we already have some background about it from media or friends. If we are naive now those things can get to us later, but by reading about these themes, we can later if we are having problems like ones in books.

In conclusion, YA fiction books shouldn't be banned because it is a great genre and teens can sometimes relate to books. By reading these books teens can find out a lot of the world around us and what really happens with other teens.

Teen Fiction Plots are Darker and Starker by William Porter.

In "Teen Fiction Plots are Darker and Starker", Williams Porter talks about how YA fiction books have been darker but also why the genre is so good. Topics can range from suicide, disfigurement, mental illness, violence, and terrorism just to name a few. But the stats from this article help make an argument to say why it's been successful. In the article, it states, "Sales are up 25 percent over the past five years, according to Publishers Weekly, with $78.5 million worth of young-adult books sold in April alone." That statistic shows how much teens have been reading this type of genre, and how popular it has become.

 The author wants us to feel that YA fiction is not something bad for us. He supports that by saying, "Given what teenagers are exposed to these days, from war on TV to pornography on the Internet, the Blume brouhaha seems almost quaint." Teens also know about what is in YA books so the author gives his opinion about that. The author makes us feel like that by using a strong argument statement, saying that teens shouldn't e too surprised about things they read in books. He also gives topics that are really meant to be seen with maturity, to show that kids younger than what is expected know worse things.

I have learned that many people and parents have different opinions on YA books, by I have taken away the good parts of YA books. Being that I read them a lot, I already know what books can be about and how I should approach topics. My opinion about this hasn't changed, from saying teens should be able to read these books. Knowing the real world might affect your feelings, but knowing that things like this happens shouldn't stop you from living your life. I want to know more about why people would appose to letting teens read YA books. After reading these articles, though, I would like to read these books and I don't think I will feel too bad about these topics.

Faithful Elephants

In the story "Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People and War" By Yukio Tsuchiya, we read about three elephants who have to be killed in Tokyo because of bombs dropping there. It is clear that symbols are a big part of the book.

 A symbol I found is the cherry blossoms falling. Before and after the zookeeper tells the story, the setting is detailed with the cherry blossoms in full bloom, and it makes you think of the spring. The last sentence says, "...as the cherry blossoms fell on the grave, like snowflakes." It is like a symbol of peace given to the elephants. It also relates to when the bombs were dropping. During their lives, bombs fell on them, but after, cherry blossoms are. It shows all of the war and destruction is behind them, and there are no worries for them now. Another symbol were the bombs dropping. The bombs were the reason why the elephants had to die. They could've been shipped to Sendai, but there was the fear that bombs might drop there too. The bombs have a deathly feeling because of that.

There is one quote that I think has a lot of meaning to it. After the elephants die, the zoo keepers become angry about the war. "Above them, in the bright blue sky, the angry roar of enemy planes returned. Bombs began to drop on Tokyo once more. Still clinging to the elephants, the zoo keepers raised their fists to the sky and implored, 'Stop the war! Stop the war! Stop all wars!'" On of the bigger themes in the story is war, and this quote shows everyone's opinion about the war going on. The war caused Tonky, Wanly, and John to all die, and the zoo keepers were in rage because of it. I think it also shows how mad the zoo keepers were and everyone else felt like that too in Japan. It almost was like there would be no hope or happy ending, because after they went to the elephants who died, bombs dropped once again and that just added to the emotions.

I think the story is supposed to be sad all around. From the part where they decide to kill the elephants to the end, it feels all gray and sad. The climax is when the animals have died, and the resolution is when the elephants die. The protagonists are the elephants and the zoo keepers because they want the elephants to be alive and not have to deal with the war. The antagonists are the army and soldiers who are trying to bomb Tokyo.

Bang by Sharon G. Flake

A book I read and enjoyed over the summer was Bang by Sharon G. Flake. It was about a young child that was trying to run away from remembering when his brother was shot. I think that the book was really well written and made. The main character and his friend had to get back home from the middle of nowhere, because his dad had dropped them off there to try to find their way and become men. His dad was also cruel to him and he tried to make him a man, to try to avoid another one of his children dead. It's a sad book that would make a great YA book for anyone.