Retell: This movie is about a boy, named Bruno who lives in Nazi Germany, during 1943 in a German family. One day, he sees what he thinks is a farm and goes to check it out. When he gets there, he see a boy, named Shmuel and they quickly become good friend. Bruno goes to see Shmuel regularly and provides him with food. Later, Bruno decides to dig a hole and help Shmuel find his father. As they are looking for him, Bruno and Shmuel end up in a crowd of people and are taken to a gas chamber and end up dying.
Relate: This movie reminds me of a television show, called The 100. In the show, Earth had become uninhabitable for humans a century ago due to a devastating nuclear war. From then on, approximately 3000 people moved to a spaceship that orbited Earth, but eventually the food and oxygen supplies started to run out and they sent 100 people back to Earth to see if it was habitable. It was like a suicide mission because they assumed the Earth had too much radiation, but luckily the Earth was livable. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas reminds me of The 100 because people are separated from their families and sent away to their death. Even though the people in The 100 did not die, they were sent on a suicide mission and there was a high probability that the Earth would have too much radiation for humans.
Reflect: I think this movie was very eye opening and shows to what extent humans can go to. Also, it brings into perspective how innocent people were killed for no reason. Furthermore, it shows the harsh conditions of the Holocaust and makes us appreciate our lives. Lastly, it shows us how other Germans were fooled to believe that the Jews were being treated nicely and that they had no idea what was really happened in their own country.
Wednesday, 3 June 2015
Blog Post #6
For my final ISU blog post, I wanted to use a picture that I took to demonstrate my social issue. Since my most significant social issue in my book was discrimination, I tried to use marbles to replicate it. In our world today, there is discrimination everywhere. Discrimination has become an everyday thing for mankind, and we might not even notice it. People get discriminated because of ethnicity, culture, physical appearance, sex, size and religious beliefs. So, I decided to put some marbles that were different colours and sizes in the bottom right corner and put a X on them. This is because society divides these people and discriminate them because of all kinds of reasons, such as physical appearance.
This is shown in my book when people are put in different school classes because of their financial standings and physical appearance. All of the good looking rich kids are put in 8a, the middle class families are put in 8b and the poor, 'ugly' kids are put in 8c. Moreover, nobody talks to the students that are different from them and they hit and bully them. That is very rude and nobody should be treated differently.
This is shown in my book when people are put in different school classes because of their financial standings and physical appearance. All of the good looking rich kids are put in 8a, the middle class families are put in 8b and the poor, 'ugly' kids are put in 8c. Moreover, nobody talks to the students that are different from them and they hit and bully them. That is very rude and nobody should be treated differently.
These acts have taken place many times in human history as well. For example, the Jews were massacred because of their religion in the 1900s by the Nazi. Millions of them were discriminated and killed for no reason at all. We should learn from our mistakes in the past and never make them again.
Finally, we should all learn to accept one another for who we are and change the way society looks at one another because at the end of the day, we are all humans.
Saturday, 30 May 2015
Blog Post #5
In this ISU blog post, I wanted to summarize the novel, The Monkeyface Chronicles. The book is separated into three parts: his eighth grade introduction, his problems in grade 12 and then his recovery from a major motorcycle accident.
In the first part, the novel introduces the main characters, which include the protagonist Philip, his twin brother Michael, his parents and the students at school. It also introduces the setting, which takes place in Faireville, Ontario in 2012. Moreover, it shows the everyday hardships that Philip goes through at school and how people behave with him.
In the second part, the novel resumes 5 years later and Philip has a girlfriend, named Adeline, he has a group of friends and he plays hockey at school regularly. Sadly, Philips senior year turns horrible after his brother gets seriously hit during hockey. Michael faces many injuries including a broken neck, broken vertebrate, broken hip and a severe concussion, leaving him near dead in the hospital. During all of this, Philips home gets destroyed and he finds out that who he thought was his grandfather was, was really his father. After all of this happens, Philip tries to run away but gets into a terrible motorcycle accident which leaves most of his body shattered.
In the final part of the novel, Philip spends two years recovering at The Hospital for Sick Children. After months of surgeries, treatments and therapy, he is released as a new person. He returns home to Faireville and finds out that his brother is on a wheelchair and he has no control over his body. Ten years later, he gets married, has children and lives a happy, beautiful life.
This book was one of the best books I have ever read because I can make many connections to the novel. It is an amazing book that shows the ups and downs of a boy's life with many plot twists that will leave the reader wanting to read more. It is easy to connect with and it is very detailed, which allows the reader to be in Philip's shoes. It shows what life can throw at you and that you should always keep fighting. Lastly, the novel taught me that one should never give up, even at the worst moments of your life because life does get better.
In the first part, the novel introduces the main characters, which include the protagonist Philip, his twin brother Michael, his parents and the students at school. It also introduces the setting, which takes place in Faireville, Ontario in 2012. Moreover, it shows the everyday hardships that Philip goes through at school and how people behave with him.
In the second part, the novel resumes 5 years later and Philip has a girlfriend, named Adeline, he has a group of friends and he plays hockey at school regularly. Sadly, Philips senior year turns horrible after his brother gets seriously hit during hockey. Michael faces many injuries including a broken neck, broken vertebrate, broken hip and a severe concussion, leaving him near dead in the hospital. During all of this, Philips home gets destroyed and he finds out that who he thought was his grandfather was, was really his father. After all of this happens, Philip tries to run away but gets into a terrible motorcycle accident which leaves most of his body shattered.
In the final part of the novel, Philip spends two years recovering at The Hospital for Sick Children. After months of surgeries, treatments and therapy, he is released as a new person. He returns home to Faireville and finds out that his brother is on a wheelchair and he has no control over his body. Ten years later, he gets married, has children and lives a happy, beautiful life.
This book was one of the best books I have ever read because I can make many connections to the novel. It is an amazing book that shows the ups and downs of a boy's life with many plot twists that will leave the reader wanting to read more. It is easy to connect with and it is very detailed, which allows the reader to be in Philip's shoes. It shows what life can throw at you and that you should always keep fighting. Lastly, the novel taught me that one should never give up, even at the worst moments of your life because life does get better.
Blog Post #4
Don't Stop Believin'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k8craCGpgs
For my fourth ISU blog post, I wanted to present a song that was related to my novel, therefore I picked the song, Don't Stop Believin'. This is a very powerful song and has multiple strong messages. For example, one should never lose hope and you should keep fighting no matter how tough times get. Also, the song is conveying that there are always going to be so many people that are going to try to hold you back and put you down, but you just have to ignore them go your separate ways.
This relates to my novel because this is exactly what the protagonist in my novel does. He never gives up and keeps fighting, even at the lowest points of his life. Even though so many people hate him and discriminate him because of his physical appearance, he looks the other way and walks away. Also, even though his accident breaks almost every bone on his face, he things positive and keeps fighting. This benefits him at the end of the day because he turns out to have such a happy life and the bullies that made fun of him are homeless.
Songs like Don't Stop Believin' and books like The Monkeyface Chronicles should encourage people not to think about suicide and death. One should not get influenced by the things that people say, they should just turn around and walk away. There will always be haters, but they hate you because they are jealous of you. There are so many suicides in the world today, but people should know that things do get better, suicide is not the only option. Philip faced so many challenges, but he did not stop believing. Life always has ups and downs, but we all have to learn how to handle them and keep believing that things will get better because they will, just like in Philip's case.
Blog Post #3
I wanted to share this quote because this is very inspiring and it is closely connected to my novel, The Monkeyface Chronicles. In the novel, Philip is faced with many hardships and challenges because of the way he looks. He gets bullied both verbally and physically, strangers stare at him with dirty eyes, teachers put him down and nobody talks to him at school. He feels as though there is no light at the end of the tunnel and he wants to give up in life, but he keeps believing that everything will get better as time goes by. This is exactly what the quote is saying, to never stop believing, everything has a purpose and that your desires will come true one day.
As the novel comes to an end, Philip's wishes finally come true and he looks great. This all happens because he gets into an accident and he has to get multiple surgeries done, thus changing his appearance. Although he faced many challenges, he persevered and never gave up and got everything he ever wanted. He got a healthy body, nice wife and family and everyone started to appreciate him.
This shows that when push comes to shove, you should always keep fighting because everything you want will happen one day.
Thursday, 16 April 2015
Four C's
The video, "Former child soldier Ishmael Beah recounts his past” is about how a 12 year old boy named Ishmael is forced to become a child soldier in Sierra Leone. The video is closely related to the article, "Teaching Kids to Kill", this is because both of them portray child violence and how children can be influenced to do certain things. Ishmael forgets his identity and is forced to believe that killing is okay and if he does not kill, he will be killed. This tactic scares Ishmael and he is forced to kill people at such a young age. This is also shown in the article, "Teaching Kids to Kill" because Michael i is influenced by games that killing is okay and it is not that bad. In all, the connection that relates to both pieces is that children are influenced by other things, such as adults or media and are forced to do certain acts of violence because they start to think that it is right.
I believe that Ishmael should have not listened to the commanders gave him the option of killing or being killed. I do not believe they would have killed Ishmael and they would have let him go. If Ishmael and all all his fellow colleagues came together and did not kill anyone they probably would have not been killed. Thus, I challenge the fact that Ishmael did not choose the option of being killed because how can one live with the guilt of having killed another soul, I know I would not be able to live. I also challenge that fact that Michael picked up a gun and shot many people. It is not only his fault, it is his neighbours as well because they left a gun so close. Nobody can say they shot people because that is what happened in a game, a game is not reality. No right child on earth would ever do such a thing.
A concept that really stood out for me is that children can be influenced very easily by anything, like by other human beings or by social media. Ishmael is influenced to kill human beings by other human beings, it is ridiculous. Children are influenced very easily by others because they have a very small mind and they do not believe that anyone would do anything to harm others but this world is very cruel and they do inhuman things. In the article, Michael is influenced by social media and does impulsive things in a matter of minutes. In all, children are very innocent minded and believe that everyone is nice and everything they see is what they are supposed to do, thus they are influenced very easily and do crazy and dangerous things.
After listening and reading these two things, I have changed my view of children and some human beings. Children are so innocent and can be influenced so easily to do the most dangerous and scary things. The people who influence these children should be ashamed because they intentionally change young children's view of the world and take advantage of their innocence. I got to learn how mean some people can be and to what extent they can go to to achieve their goals.
I believe that Ishmael should have not listened to the commanders gave him the option of killing or being killed. I do not believe they would have killed Ishmael and they would have let him go. If Ishmael and all all his fellow colleagues came together and did not kill anyone they probably would have not been killed. Thus, I challenge the fact that Ishmael did not choose the option of being killed because how can one live with the guilt of having killed another soul, I know I would not be able to live. I also challenge that fact that Michael picked up a gun and shot many people. It is not only his fault, it is his neighbours as well because they left a gun so close. Nobody can say they shot people because that is what happened in a game, a game is not reality. No right child on earth would ever do such a thing.
A concept that really stood out for me is that children can be influenced very easily by anything, like by other human beings or by social media. Ishmael is influenced to kill human beings by other human beings, it is ridiculous. Children are influenced very easily by others because they have a very small mind and they do not believe that anyone would do anything to harm others but this world is very cruel and they do inhuman things. In the article, Michael is influenced by social media and does impulsive things in a matter of minutes. In all, children are very innocent minded and believe that everyone is nice and everything they see is what they are supposed to do, thus they are influenced very easily and do crazy and dangerous things.
After listening and reading these two things, I have changed my view of children and some human beings. Children are so innocent and can be influenced so easily to do the most dangerous and scary things. The people who influence these children should be ashamed because they intentionally change young children's view of the world and take advantage of their innocence. I got to learn how mean some people can be and to what extent they can go to to achieve their goals.
Monday, 30 March 2015
The Sniper
The Sniper is about a waging civil war against the Republicans and Free Staters in which a Republican soldier has to fight for his life and kill his enemy. Throughout the story, he is lying on the roof above a parapet as he tries to kill his enemy. As he peers over the parapet, he gets shot on the arm and he has to clean his wound and bandage it up. Due to this incident, the sniper loses his rifle and is left with a revolver. With only a revolver, he has to think on his feet and make up a plan that will somehow manage to kill the enemy. He decides to put his cap on the revolver and make the enemy think that the cap is his head. As he lifts his revolver and makes his cap go up, it immediately gets shot so he quickly makes the cap fall of the roof and he makes his hand dangle off the roof. The plan works and the enemy thinks he has succeeded in killing the sniper, but he is sadly mistaken. Once the enemy stands up triumphantly, the sniper takes his shot with his revolver and hits his enemy, resulting in his death. The sniper fills with excitement and decides to leave the roof and find his company commander. As he is walking, he decides to go see who he managed to kill because he was a good shooter, but the enemy ends up being his own brother.
Indiana lawmakers looking to clarify religious-freedom law that could discriminate against gays
I wanted to talk to you guys about this article, found on The Independent because it revolves the social issue in my novel, discrimination. Nowadays, one would think that discrimination is decreasing in our society today, but in some places it might be getting worse. In the world that we live in, one should be able to express their sexuality without being looked down upon, but unfortunately there are always going to be places where it is like that. In this article, it talks about a religious-freedom law that was previously made that had many conflicts involving gay rights. It caused a lot of controversy, thus the politicians in Indiana decided to clear out the terms. I believe they are doing the right thing by doing so because if people think that the government is discriminating against homosexuals, what would stop them from doing the same. The world has come so far with gay rights and it has a couple more steps until the issue is completely dealt with. Hopefully in the near future, all humans start becoming more open about who they are and not judge people for being different. If you want more information about the article Indiana lawmakers looking to clarify religious-freedom law that could discriminate against gays, visit: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/indiana-lawmakers-looking-to-clarify-religiousfreedom-law-that-could-discriminate-against-gays-10144988.html
Sunday, 29 March 2015
Blog Entry #2
Since my novel, The Monkeyface Chronicles is about a boy who is discriminated and hated on due to his physical appearance, I wanted to talk to you guys about what cleft lip and palate actually is and how he feels about it.
Cleft lip and palate is a facial deformity that occurs to babies before they are born, typically during the first trimester of pregnancy. It occurs in 1 out of 700 babies in the world and is the most common birth defect in the United States. It is when you have a missing piece of skin above your lip and a hole in your palate. Moreover, a baby can have other birth defects alongside cleft lip and palate, but it is not for certain. Babies can have only a cleft lip, cleft palate or both. Nobody really knows how a child can becomes cleft lip and palate, but they are becoming close to finding out as technology is improving throughout the years. Infants born with cleft lip and palate have all kinds of surgeries during infancy and receive speech therapy during childhood. At the end of the day, they live normal lives.
The protagonist in the novel, Philip is born both cleft lip and palate and is very ashamed of his appearance. He wants to quickly grow old and have plastic surgery to change his appearance. He always thinks why he had to be born that way and how his "perfect" twin was not born cleft lip as well. I believe that Philip should not think that way and be proud of who he is and how he is. We only get to live on this planet once, we should be grateful no matter how we are and love the way we are.
This is not only his fault, he is bullied, beat up and left out of many things. Society should be accepting and not put individuals down, we are all humans. It is not only his fellow colleagues, his teachers treat him differently as well. They put him in the worst class even though he is one of the smartest kids in the school. Furthermore, people walking on the streets stare at Philip and give him dirty stares which makes him feel even more ashamed of himself.
He should always be proud of who is is and ignore the mean people in his town. He should not care what others do and he should do whatever he feels right. Also, he should not talk to negative people who put him down and find people who appreciate and love him for who he is.
I do not believe cleft lip and palate is such a bad thing. I lived with it my whole life and never thought of it as bad as it is portrayed in the novel. People sometimes look at me funny, but I look the other way and walk away. There will always be people who make fun of you and treat you differently just because you look different, but you should not let it get to you. I am proud of who I am and I would never trade my life for another.
It hurts me that Philip feels that bad about himself. He should love himself for the way he was born and not think about why he was born that way, and why couldn't be what society calls "normal".
In conclusion, you should treat people the way you would want to be treated and not discriminate because of their physical features. You should always be proud of who you are and not let negative people stop you from doing things in life. Sometimes you just have to look the other way and walk away.
Cleft lip and palate is a facial deformity that occurs to babies before they are born, typically during the first trimester of pregnancy. It occurs in 1 out of 700 babies in the world and is the most common birth defect in the United States. It is when you have a missing piece of skin above your lip and a hole in your palate. Moreover, a baby can have other birth defects alongside cleft lip and palate, but it is not for certain. Babies can have only a cleft lip, cleft palate or both. Nobody really knows how a child can becomes cleft lip and palate, but they are becoming close to finding out as technology is improving throughout the years. Infants born with cleft lip and palate have all kinds of surgeries during infancy and receive speech therapy during childhood. At the end of the day, they live normal lives.
The protagonist in the novel, Philip is born both cleft lip and palate and is very ashamed of his appearance. He wants to quickly grow old and have plastic surgery to change his appearance. He always thinks why he had to be born that way and how his "perfect" twin was not born cleft lip as well. I believe that Philip should not think that way and be proud of who he is and how he is. We only get to live on this planet once, we should be grateful no matter how we are and love the way we are.
This is not only his fault, he is bullied, beat up and left out of many things. Society should be accepting and not put individuals down, we are all humans. It is not only his fellow colleagues, his teachers treat him differently as well. They put him in the worst class even though he is one of the smartest kids in the school. Furthermore, people walking on the streets stare at Philip and give him dirty stares which makes him feel even more ashamed of himself.
He should always be proud of who is is and ignore the mean people in his town. He should not care what others do and he should do whatever he feels right. Also, he should not talk to negative people who put him down and find people who appreciate and love him for who he is.
I do not believe cleft lip and palate is such a bad thing. I lived with it my whole life and never thought of it as bad as it is portrayed in the novel. People sometimes look at me funny, but I look the other way and walk away. There will always be people who make fun of you and treat you differently just because you look different, but you should not let it get to you. I am proud of who I am and I would never trade my life for another.
It hurts me that Philip feels that bad about himself. He should love himself for the way he was born and not think about why he was born that way, and why couldn't be what society calls "normal".
In conclusion, you should treat people the way you would want to be treated and not discriminate because of their physical features. You should always be proud of who you are and not let negative people stop you from doing things in life. Sometimes you just have to look the other way and walk away.
Thursday, 12 March 2015
Blog Post #1
The book that I am doing for my independent study unit is “ The Monkeyface Chronicles” and it is about a young boy named Philip who was born with a facial deformity, called cleft lip and palate. He is discriminated by everyone because of his condition. Throughout the novel, he wishes he could have something done to minimize the effects of his deformity, but there are not too many options where he lives. According to an article on The Guardian called “Cleft lip and palate: a brighter future for babies,” now children born with cleft lip and palate have more treatment options than ever before. Nowadays, babies are get diagnosed appropriately and are living happy, normal lives. This relates to the novel because Philip is cleft lip and palate and he is put down because of his appearance. If he looked like what the society calls “normal,” then he would not be treated the way he is throughout the novel. This relates to the social issue, which is discrimination because he is discriminated because of his appearance. If doctors can treat this deformity more effectively, it could help thousands of people around the world, including Philip. If you did not know, about 1 in every 300 children is born cleft lip and palate. Moreover, this novel is very near and dear to my heart and it is very relatable because I was also born cleft lip and palate. If you would like to see the article, you can click this link and read through it, http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/aug/31/cleft-lip-palate-brighter-future-babies. If you want to get more information on cleft lip and palate, you can visit kidshealth or the Ontario Cleft Lip and Palate website and it would be amazing if you joined the cleft lip and palate organization to aware people about cleft lip and palate around the world have help cure it.
Wednesday, 11 February 2015
President Obama's War Request
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/11/obama-asks-congress-for-war-authorization-against-isil.html
President Obama tells his government to authorize a three-year limited war against Iraq and the Levant, causing the US to get involved in another Middle East conflict. How much more conflict will the US cause or be involved with? It is a question that is waiting to be answered. This can affect the whole world and cause astronomical damage to everyone across the world. Hopefully, the Middle East and the US get over this conflict and become peaceful nations in the near future.
President Obama tells his government to authorize a three-year limited war against Iraq and the Levant, causing the US to get involved in another Middle East conflict. How much more conflict will the US cause or be involved with? It is a question that is waiting to be answered. This can affect the whole world and cause astronomical damage to everyone across the world. Hopefully, the Middle East and the US get over this conflict and become peaceful nations in the near future.
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