Reading Response: Gone Girl

      Last week I started reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. All of the previews and trailers of the show sparked my interest because I love books about murder, mystery and love all wrapped into one. I haven’t gotten very far but the plot seemed to remind me of The Lovely Bones in a way and the movie “All Things Good” with Kirsten Dunst and Ryan Gosling.

         In the first chapter you’re introduced to Nick and Amy Dunne, a “happily” married couple. You can automatically tell from the beginning that things are off in Nick’s mind as if things are off and he’s just going through the motions of his relationship and remembering that today is their 5 year anniversary. The book then continues to go from the present to the past. Explaining how Nick and Amy first met and how at one time they both were very rich and had everything they could ask for. Then things drastically changed whenever Nick lost his job, as well as Amy and Nick’s mother died.

         I’m extremely interested in seeing what really happens as the story continues to build up. What exactly is going on in Nick’s mind that makes you think he doesn’t love Amy as much as he has put out there to be. My favorite quote so far is ““There's a difference between really loving someone and loving the idea of her.” Which is said by Nick, which really made me think about how people tend to confuse love. Do you actually love that person, or is it just the idea of having them and knowing that they would be perfect to anybody else that makes you want to be with them?

Multi-Genre Proposal

   The type of project I am doing is a community type. My topic is texting and driving. I am thinking of going around and asking some students in the senior and junior class on if they text and drive and gather all of the information in comparison to the data I get from the whole country. I plan on interviewing these people during lunch times and also a few kids during my more interactive classes. I already know that the statistics from texting and driving in the nation is about 5% higher than about 6 years ago, which is crazy to think about. Almost 1.3 million crashes were due to being distracted behind the wheel in 2013. I want to learn about ways to prevent the numbers from being so high and ways to keep technology out of the way from getting hurt. I’m going to use my sources from the seniors and juniors I ask, also getting information online. I find this topic so meaningful because I feel as if passing away or even getting injured from texting is an awful way to die. And just remembering my brothers crash makes me want to stop or prevent it in any way.

Multi-Genre Topic: Texting and Driving

Lately I've been seeing lots of things on texting and driving on commercials and it sparked up a lot of things in my mind. As the years have gone by the statistics have become higher with accidents involving texting and driving and it scares me. I personally hate texting and driving because my brother almost passed away from the exact thing. I couldn’t imagine living without my brother and to think a simple phone risked his life is unbelievable.

It's crazy how dependent our generation has become on electronic devices. Often I hear people saying they "can't live without their phones", which 10 years away this definitely wouldn't be the case. The fact that people can't drive without using their phone is alarming and the statistics prove it. That is why I have decided this is the topic I want to do my research and multi-genre topic on. Having a firsthand experience with it helps make it just become more real.

I’m hoping that doing this topic will help people, mainly teens, realize that this isn’t the way people should be dying or even a reason to have car crashes. Technology has almost completely taken over our society and I want to ake people aware.

Start Something That Matters

If someone asked me about what my passion was, I would be like everyone else and not really have an answer. There’s so many possibilities as to what it could be for me, but there’s always something that I feel like would stand in the way and stop me. The 3 questions Blake Mycoskie asked really made me think about what I believe my passion is. If I didn’t have to worry about money, in my spare time I would probably find a way to bring music, acting and singing into schools. Some places in China can’t even listen to music or sing, let alone do extra-curricular activities like I can. Studying all of the time and only doing class work is a pain. I would love to bring what I love into more people’s hearts. “What kind of work would you do?” I would fund bringing more music and theatre type classes. I’d also add more opportunities for people to be involved with singing and also bringing famous actors and singers to these areas to make them want to do it more.  

Fish Are Friends Not Food

Fish Are Friends Not Food

 

While corresponding with my 2 pen pals from China my interests peaked when Molly brought to my attention all of the different foods she enjoys to eat in her culture. I, being a giant food eater it really made me want to know more about the food culture there. She sent me multiple pictures of all kinds of food and it made me so happy. So I thought to research more on it  and these are the main things that I found that showed how different there culture is compared to ours:

Steamed Weever

China is the home of chopsticks. The invention of chopsticks reflects the wisdom and of ancient Chinese people. Although chopsticks look so simple and plain they are used for many things such as nipping, ripping, picking, and stirring food. They’re also considered to be lucky gifts for weddings and special ceremonies. On the wedding day, it is also usual to serve dates, peanuts, longan and chestnuts together as a way to wish that the couple will soon have a baby with the Chinese proclamation. Long noodles mean longevity in China, so people tend to eat noodles on their birthday. During the Dragon Boat Festival, even though many people cannot reach the river zone to watch the boat race, almost all of them eat zongzi, a pyramid-shaped dumpling made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves. In Central china whenever a baby is born the father will send red hard-boiled eggs to announce the news. Eggs with a black pointed end and dots in an even number such as two or four, indicates a boy's birth; those without a black point and in an odd number like a five or seven will say the baby is a girl.

Some foods that really sparked my interests were steamed weever. Which is a common cooed meal made in china that consists of a fish being cooked whole, and is super rich in nutrition. There’s also “The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea Gamboling around the Arhat” which is a starter before a celebration feast. Its 8 main ingredients are fin, sea pumpkin, abalone, asparagus, prawns, ham, fish's swimming bladder and fish bones. These symbolize the 8 immortals and the Arhats (Buddhist saints) are symbolized by the chicken breast. I attached some other dishes to my post as well that were very interesting to look at.

 I'm so excited to find out more things about the Chinese culture from my correspondences and learn more about other things!

Sources:

Molly. "Autobiography Correspondent." Message to Jazlyn Epps. 8 Nov. 2014. Email.

"Chinese Dragon Boat Festival: Food, Legend and Customs." Chinese Dragon Boat Festival: Food, Legend and Customs. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014

"Chinese Food Culture: Table Manners, Dining Etiquette." Chinese Food Culture: Table Manners, Dining Etiquette. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

"Chinese Food Culture: Table Manners, Dining Etiquette." Chinese Food Culture: Table Manners, Dining Etiquette. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

Response to "Face to Face"

During today's lesson I noticed a theme; that we tend to categorize and judge people instantly without really knowing who they are and why we're doing it. Face to face made me realize how quick we are to put someone under a label just because of the things we have heard or seen. It's as if we've been trained as humans to automatically stereotype people. When 911 happened listening to the stories of people being judged by their nationality and assuming that they were involved in the attack on the twin towers just shows what level we have stooped to. It seems as if we put blame on people and things so easily without looking at the situation as a whole. “Never judge a book by its cover”, this is such a cliché quote, but yet it’s so relevant and true. I never realized how much we've been taught or have picked up not really owning up to problems of our own. I personally believe things would be so much easier if we all came together as one as solved problems as a whole.

Reading Response 3: Pandemonium

Pandemonium

by Lauren Oliver

 



In my last reading response I explained how Alex and Lena got separated during the first installment to the Delirium Trilogy. We left off with Lena having to leave her old life behind me starting over fresh. She slowly learns how to let go of the past, including Alex and Hannah. “Grief is like sinking, like being buried. Every breath is full of choking. There is nothing to hold on to, no sides, no way to claw myself up. There is nothing to do but let go.”

 I don’t think I’d be able to just let go of my old friends and life so easily. I’d constantly wonder where they were, how they were doing and what they were up to. Several months later she joins the resistance and lives in NYC as if she was a cured. She lives in a small apartment with Raven and Tack, who as a refresher are the 2 that took her in while she was barely living.

The apartment is full of fake ID’s and registration to be part of DFA (Delirium-Free America). Lena, Raven and Tack all attend a meeting where Julian Fineman, son of Thomas Fineman who is the founder of the DFA, speaks about the cure for deliria. He’s had seizures since he was young and had had many surgeries to remove brain tumors. Another procedure, such as the cure, may leave him in a permanent vegetative state or kill him, but he believes so strongly in the cure that he is willing to take that chance. After the meeting she notices she left her gloves at the rally and goes back to get them, she catches Julian looking at pictures of mountains and oceans.

Raven makes it extremely clear to Lena that she must keep an eye on Julian the whole meeting but she isn’t sure why. Until Scavengers attack, and both Lena and Julian get kidnapped and trapped in a room together. With little food nor water they must find a way to escape. Will Lena figure out Julian’s secrets? Why was Julian looking at those pictures anyways? I have an odd feeling that Julian and Lena will fall in love. And that she’ll become stuck between still believing Alex is alive and moving on. My picture shows that love triangle between the 3.