I read the story consequences of knowledge which was all about the main character Rowdy who had a huge secret that he had to keep to himself. This being that his father was having an affair. Rowdy knew this was because his parents were no longer close and his mother was now blind. He mentioned many times throughout the story that he was the reason she was blind but he never said truly what had happened. So living with this secret effected Rowdy day 1. He was out on a bike ride with his sister and she knew something was off about him and she pestered him all about it. He said nothing was wrong and she knew he was lying 100%. Rowdy had the immediate reaction to kick his sister off he bike which had a dire consequence. She broke her arm, and he knew it was all his fault. He had regret for what he had done instantly and tried to help her out but she wouldn't take any of his help. He brought her home to his mother and told her that she hit a rock on her bike and fell. She didn't believe him for a second but still had to bring her daughter to the hospital. Arriving at the hospital the doctors said it wouldn't be too bad to fix up and all she had to do was wear a cast for a while, or as the doctor called it "a brother bonker". When alone Rowdy was talking with his sister and to his amazement, she already knew about her father's affair. Rowdy was very surprised and his sister informed him about how long it took him to realize. She also enlightened him about the fact that their mother already knew about it yet they had no idea what would happen with their parnet relationship. Rowdy then immediately went to the nearest phone and called his dad to let him know that the entire family knows and has always known about his secret.
Rowdy's mother still did not believe the bike accident story and had Rowdy talk to a police officer which he told the same bike accident. His sister hit a rock while riding her bike and fell; breaking her arm. The officer did not believe Rowdy for a second either and brought him outside and took him to the backseat of his car and informed him that he was going to be spending the night down at the station. Rowdy was so nervous he ended up wetting himself in the back seat of the car and broke down telling the officer everything; him breaking his sisters arm, covering up for it, and even about his father's affair. The officer told him to tell the truth the first time and let him go. Rowdy met up with his mom and sister and they left the hospital together.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Consequences of Knowledge
I strolled into money management class several minutes late as I normally do. I have no care about this class and especially none for the professor. Mrs. Murray was one of those absurdly happy people about everything for no reason, and at a turn of the dime could start yelling at you for the littlest of things. The strangest thing about her though was her fondness of me. She always acted like I cared so much about her class because I scored well. In reality, it was merely because it was a joke of a class and I was on the more intelligent side. It may have been arrogant of me, but I felt that I was better than most people in the class. They took it and felt that the class was impossible. Me on the other hand simply took it to fill in some credits as a blow away class for senior year in high school.
I continued my way to my seat when I noticed that everyone was getting up and moving outward. They all began to sit on the outside of the room where there were computers lined up against 3 out of the 4 walls in the room. I quickly grabbed one of the remaining stations and started zoning out.
"today we will take a test and the highest score will get a special prize, but the scores won't affect your grade blah blah blah."
I really didn't care after I found out it wouldn't count towards my grade. I still obediently booted up my computer and went to take this assessment. It was three different tests and they covered general knowledge of each individual. I finished rather quickly because I normally do and they were also all multiple choice. I look at my grade at the final which was out of 60, and I had scored a 44. I quickly think hmm a 44/60 is about a 73-74. In my mind this isn't a great score but it didn't count so I didn't care much. Then I start hearing people say, "I can't believe that I only got a 35" and "that was such a hard test". I didn't think twice about it until 2 weeks to the day.
I arrive to class and she calls out 4 names in the class, mine being one of them and she tells us to go to room 215. I have no idea what anyone could have done but we all stroll in together and see Mrs. Mitchell sitting at her desk with a sheet of paper in her hands. She says that the exam we all took was a test to see who would be on the team this year. What team my friend brad asked, with the reply of "the life smarts team". I immediately regret even trying on the exam because I knew where this was going. She calls out my name, I say hello and she congratulates me on being the person who scored the highest in the entire school and appoints me captain. She begins her spiel about how it is such a great honor to be part of the team, yet I feel the complete opposite of that.
I could not believe what I had gotten myself into. All I simply wanted to do was sit in the back of the class and take my free A. It was a space filling class that I only took because it would be easy. Never would I have thought that my intelligence would ever get me into this kind of mess. Going to a fancy jeopardy contest with a bunch of kids who try to hard is not my idea of fun but I had to suffer the consequences of my own Knowledge.
I continued my way to my seat when I noticed that everyone was getting up and moving outward. They all began to sit on the outside of the room where there were computers lined up against 3 out of the 4 walls in the room. I quickly grabbed one of the remaining stations and started zoning out.
"today we will take a test and the highest score will get a special prize, but the scores won't affect your grade blah blah blah."
I really didn't care after I found out it wouldn't count towards my grade. I still obediently booted up my computer and went to take this assessment. It was three different tests and they covered general knowledge of each individual. I finished rather quickly because I normally do and they were also all multiple choice. I look at my grade at the final which was out of 60, and I had scored a 44. I quickly think hmm a 44/60 is about a 73-74. In my mind this isn't a great score but it didn't count so I didn't care much. Then I start hearing people say, "I can't believe that I only got a 35" and "that was such a hard test". I didn't think twice about it until 2 weeks to the day.
I arrive to class and she calls out 4 names in the class, mine being one of them and she tells us to go to room 215. I have no idea what anyone could have done but we all stroll in together and see Mrs. Mitchell sitting at her desk with a sheet of paper in her hands. She says that the exam we all took was a test to see who would be on the team this year. What team my friend brad asked, with the reply of "the life smarts team". I immediately regret even trying on the exam because I knew where this was going. She calls out my name, I say hello and she congratulates me on being the person who scored the highest in the entire school and appoints me captain. She begins her spiel about how it is such a great honor to be part of the team, yet I feel the complete opposite of that.
I could not believe what I had gotten myself into. All I simply wanted to do was sit in the back of the class and take my free A. It was a space filling class that I only took because it would be easy. Never would I have thought that my intelligence would ever get me into this kind of mess. Going to a fancy jeopardy contest with a bunch of kids who try to hard is not my idea of fun but I had to suffer the consequences of my own Knowledge.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Love Boundaries & Flower Sunday
To start off, neither of these stories were really that enjoyable to me. They were both really well written and gave great detail of each situation but I am not a huge fan of reading about love stories.
In the Love Boundaries, it was all about Anthony and Carrie's complicated relationship. Carrie lived in Bolivia and Anthony had come to stay. The story started off with Carrie really wanting to have a nice day in the sun. She wanted to go to a fancy resort and sit by the pool and go for a swim in the sun, which Anthony agreed too. When they arrived there, it was as if it were a ghost town. No one was at the pool and it was not this nice fancy resort that she had pictured but merely a cheap hotel with a pool. They went out for a swim and all Carrie could think about is how she wanted to talk with Anthony and how she wanted their relationship to grow. She felt Anthony had wanted the same thing but when they began talking she began getting very upset with him and immediately regrets it. They go back inside and realize that she is extremely burnt and that this is not at all how she imagined. Anthony attempts to ease her stress which is reassuring to her because it means hes not upset with her. Although his sincerity is clear, Carrie does not feel better. They then proceed to go out for a walk to see the animals. It was a calm walk where they continued talking and Carrie said "I think it's hard to be alone." Anthony responds to this by holding her hand and attempting to learn more Spanish while they're out for their walk.
In Flower Sunday Celia and Andrew have been married for many years and the stories begins with them about to go to church for the annual Flower Sunday. This brings back memories for Celia about the roses she had once gotten. She loved those roses more then most people could believe. Throughout the story, the reader comes to learn the Celia is not happy with her marriage. She however can not leave his husband because widows are looked down upon when they have children and she has four kids. The story progresses to where Celia is trimming the roses and nothing is going right, the roses are a mess and shes feeling exhausted and miserable. She is disappointed in her roses and she expects her husband to say anything, but he does not. All she wants in her relationship is for him to watch her, praise her, share her sadness or even hold her hand. She doesn't get any of this but takes comfort in her roses, although they look terrible this year, she remembers a time when they were beautiful.
In the Love Boundaries, it was all about Anthony and Carrie's complicated relationship. Carrie lived in Bolivia and Anthony had come to stay. The story started off with Carrie really wanting to have a nice day in the sun. She wanted to go to a fancy resort and sit by the pool and go for a swim in the sun, which Anthony agreed too. When they arrived there, it was as if it were a ghost town. No one was at the pool and it was not this nice fancy resort that she had pictured but merely a cheap hotel with a pool. They went out for a swim and all Carrie could think about is how she wanted to talk with Anthony and how she wanted their relationship to grow. She felt Anthony had wanted the same thing but when they began talking she began getting very upset with him and immediately regrets it. They go back inside and realize that she is extremely burnt and that this is not at all how she imagined. Anthony attempts to ease her stress which is reassuring to her because it means hes not upset with her. Although his sincerity is clear, Carrie does not feel better. They then proceed to go out for a walk to see the animals. It was a calm walk where they continued talking and Carrie said "I think it's hard to be alone." Anthony responds to this by holding her hand and attempting to learn more Spanish while they're out for their walk.
In Flower Sunday Celia and Andrew have been married for many years and the stories begins with them about to go to church for the annual Flower Sunday. This brings back memories for Celia about the roses she had once gotten. She loved those roses more then most people could believe. Throughout the story, the reader comes to learn the Celia is not happy with her marriage. She however can not leave his husband because widows are looked down upon when they have children and she has four kids. The story progresses to where Celia is trimming the roses and nothing is going right, the roses are a mess and shes feeling exhausted and miserable. She is disappointed in her roses and she expects her husband to say anything, but he does not. All she wants in her relationship is for him to watch her, praise her, share her sadness or even hold her hand. She doesn't get any of this but takes comfort in her roses, although they look terrible this year, she remembers a time when they were beautiful.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Maus and the Fun Home
After reading some excerpts from these two stories, I do have to say that there was some very strong emotions in both of them. I would first like to talk about the first chapter in the Fun Home and about how awful it must be to live like that. Being at fear for each and every action you might do and also having no control over anything? The father practically told them how everything was going to be and if they did not like it, then it was too bad for them. Also he beat them when they messed something up or also when they criticized him. He was a perfectionist, not a father.
One particular line that stood out to me was that he treated the furniture like children and the children like furniture. This one line stands out to me because it described the entire 20 page excerpt in one line. The father was so caught up in having his perfect house that he wasn't a father to his children. He used them as free labor, and also seemed like he didn't love them. They were an extension of himself. This must be a terrible situation for the children to be in and I can't understand how or why the father does not realize what he is doing to his family.
The other except was from the story Maus. This was all about a flash back of a man who was in the war in Germany. It turned out he was Jewish and was going from bad situation to bad situation. He was enlisted in the war even though his father tried to cheat the system and get him out of it. Then he was capture by German soldiers and forced into a POW. There he was forced to work and suffer because he was Jewish. He however may be one of the luckiest people out there. He signs up for a German work program where he gets food and a bed to perform manual labor. This isn't the best possible thing to happen but it was a step up from the freezing cold he was in before. Then from there he is actually released from the work program which seems amazing until word gets out that the Germans are actually just going to kill him and everyone else that was released. Again staying with the luck theme, he ends up not getting killed. He is smuggled out by pretending he is a relative of someone else and he safely makes it to his home.
One particular line that stood out to me was that he treated the furniture like children and the children like furniture. This one line stands out to me because it described the entire 20 page excerpt in one line. The father was so caught up in having his perfect house that he wasn't a father to his children. He used them as free labor, and also seemed like he didn't love them. They were an extension of himself. This must be a terrible situation for the children to be in and I can't understand how or why the father does not realize what he is doing to his family.
The other except was from the story Maus. This was all about a flash back of a man who was in the war in Germany. It turned out he was Jewish and was going from bad situation to bad situation. He was enlisted in the war even though his father tried to cheat the system and get him out of it. Then he was capture by German soldiers and forced into a POW. There he was forced to work and suffer because he was Jewish. He however may be one of the luckiest people out there. He signs up for a German work program where he gets food and a bed to perform manual labor. This isn't the best possible thing to happen but it was a step up from the freezing cold he was in before. Then from there he is actually released from the work program which seems amazing until word gets out that the Germans are actually just going to kill him and everyone else that was released. Again staying with the luck theme, he ends up not getting killed. He is smuggled out by pretending he is a relative of someone else and he safely makes it to his home.
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