Gertrude McFuzz: Dr. Seuss

In the book Gertrude McFuzz by Dr. Seuss, a bird, Gertrude McFuzz decides that she is not good enough because she only has one feather on her tail while others had two, three, even four feathers on their tails. She decides that she needs to change so she can fit in instead of being the strange, ugly, not normal bird. Unfortunately she wasn't smart and she was extremely greedy and that all got to her head. She wanted to be the absolute best, better than the rest so that she could destroy her enemies ego's. She didn't care about the consequences, all she knew was that to get acceptance, she would need to exceed the regular, and she did.

Gertrude McFuzz goes to her uncle who is a doctor and begs him to tell her where she can find the pill  that she needed to add the amount of tail feathers she wanted to her rear end. When the doctor gives in and tells her where to find it, she instantly takes two of the pill-berries off the stick and eats them and she grows two more feathers. Then she eats another three dozen pill-berries and she grows the biggest of tails with many many feathers. She looks absolutely amazing and elegant but as she tries to fly to town so she can brag to Lolla-Lee-Lou, the girl with two feathers, she gets stuck. With the great amount of feathers, she can't fly because her tail is too heavy. Greed and wanting to be the best really screwed her over and caused her a lot of trouble. In the end, when all of her feathers had to be pulled, she was very happy with herself when she learned the damaging effects o having low self esteem.

The last line is "That one little feather she had as a starter. But now that's enough because now she is smarter." This shows how she changed throughout the book and how now she is happy with herself. This shows a really great lesson of how she overcame this want to be better, but once the lesson is learned, the reader really understands that in their lives in real life, people should just be comfortable with who they are and they should help the people that they know by sharing this information with them. This vital lesson can help to even save lives. Even such a childish fun book can truly mean so much.

The Sneetches Response

In the book The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss, a story is told that represents real life issues in our current modern day society. This creature called a sneech is divided into two sections, sneetches with stars on their tummies and sneetches without stars on their tummies. The sneetches with stars on their tummies are of higher class and they don't allow the "plain belly sneetches" to go to their parties or get togethers or even just playing games together. The plain belly sneetches are so desperate to be better and cool and be able to be well respected. The issue in this book represented is segregation similar to how it was back in the 1960's. This issue is well represented by using metaphor and playful ideas to cover up the true meaning to young children.

In this book, a character by the name Sylvester McMonkey McBean really shows a great point in the book. He is a symbol to represent a sense of moral or angel of sorts that helps to resolve the story and show the meaning of the issue. This character tells the sneetches with no stars to get a round in his star-on machine for three dollars and once that happens, the originally star bellied sneetches were enraged. Wisely, Sylvester McMonkey McBean tells the originally star bellied sneetches that he has a star off machine that costs 10 dollars for a round. Those sneetches greedily go for a ride in the machine. Soon the star-on star-off process becomes chaotic and massive lines are created that cause the sneetches to constantly get stars put on and take off. Their pockets are emptied and soon Sylvester McMonkey McBean drives of with a very large amount of money. This shows that the issues of segregation and civil rights are so argued about that they are so stupid and ridiculous. In the end, the sneetches all get along. This shows how fighting for fairness is so ridicuclous when justice should just be served at no cost, people should just get along and not argue with things. This perfectly resembles the story of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's and all of the ridiculous and unnessecary things that is causes.

I find this book to be so interesting because the many times I read it as a young child, I never noticed this important idea and now that I have realized the importance of this idea and the time period of the book, I have realized how important this topic was and how it must've impacted the people of that era. Because of the picture book analysis projects we have been doing in class, I have realized that almost all picture books have important meanings that have to do with real life issues and I find that to be really important.

Hunger Games Response

In this book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, a girl (Katniss), and a boy (Peeta) who were born and raised in a very poor place are faced the challenge of winning the Hunger Games, a so called event where two representatives from each of the twelve districts are randomly chosen to fight against all the other representatives. Whoever was left alive in the end wins. This massive annual competition is controlled by the wealthiest of all. Katniss and Peeta are from the poorest district, District 12 which is furthest from the city. The most well trained representatives are from the districts 1, 2, and 3. This book deals with a lot of classism and power due to the wealth of a person. This book helps me deal with and think about social issues that I care about.

The main issue deep in my heart that is touched on in this book is classism. Classism causes some of the worst problems including stereotypes, forms of bullying, and wealth in power. Before the games start, the officials of the games hold an evaluation to give each person a rating of their skills, on a scale of 1-12. Everybody is expecting a terrible score out of such a poor untrained person. She gets so fed up with how the rich are treating her that she shoots and apple of of a pigs mouth which is about to be served to the rich. This astonishes them and gives her a score of 11, the highest of all the competitors. The stereotypical expectations by the officials was truly false and she deserved it. Classism is also represented when they jest arrive to the capital. People look at them like as if their toys. The point of the Hunger Games is that it is meant for entertainment. These rich people frankly don't care about the people in two thirds of the districts, they just hope that they die so they can make more money, even more than the net worth of the 12th district just because they won this competition. It is so incredibly unfair.

Classism is most commonly noticed in the past few years of Park Slope's most accomplished elementary school, P.S. 321. As many young families move into Park Slope, the price of houses has skyrocketed and the lovely diverse school that used to be P.S. 321 is now becoming a predominantly white school. In the 1980's and 1990's, many problems with African Americans occurred, causing them to live in projects and not have the opportunities that they deserve. Many of these people have so much potential and the luck few get the chance to thrive. This is similar to the residents of district 12. These people have the potential to thrive but because of their yearly income, they are separated from the rest and denied the ability to shine in our world. This issue is very close to my heart and it is well represented in this book.

Poem/ Song Lyric

Poem/Song lyric:

Words I Never Said- Lupe Fiasco

1.     This song talks a lot about the glamorization of negativity in the media and how it needs to be stopped. I believe that this problem angers many people whom just want fairness and happiness but instead are stuck with all of these news stories.

“If you turn on TV, all you see's a bunch of what-the-*****
Dude is dating so-and-so, blabbering 'bout such and such

And that ain't Jersey Shore, homie that's the news
And these the same people supposedly telling us the truth
Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist
Gaza Strip was getting bombed, Obama didn't say ****

That's why I ain't vote for him, next one either
I'ma part of the problem, my problem is I'm peaceful
And I believe in the people
Yeah”

2.     Another point that this story talks about is status symbols dictating our worth as individuals. It’s like having a label on you that says –poor or –black. This problem clearly shows that your worth is near nothing and that you can’t escape your titles.

“Murdering is not Islam, and you are not observant, and you are not a Muslim, Israel don't take my side, 'cause look how far you've pushed them”

3.     Education- we want our education system to be meaningful so we can educate our future politicians.

“Uh, and a bunch of other cover ups
Your child's future was the first to go with budget cuts
If you think that hurts them, wait, here comes the uppercut
The school was garbage in the first place, that's on the up and up”

This an Lupe Fiasco clearly cares about the future of the US and he

believes that solving our greatest issues will make the world a better place. In the music video for this song, it seems that people have little masks over their mouths because the government is forcing them to. It is like a future dystopian scene right out of a movie. At the end of this video, a woman takes off her mask and others start doing that too to show rebellion against the government and their terrible ideas.

Ms. Berner Letter for Book Banning

Dear Ms. Berner,

Recently, book banning in middle and high schools has been sweeping America like an epidemic, especially young adult fiction. Many of these books reference sexual acts, racism, and religious disrespect. I have heard of the recent discussion of banning books in sixth grade libraries here at MS 51. I believe that our sixth graders are mature enough for these harsh subjects being that they are making the transition into teenhood.  Since you will make  the executive decision on whether  to remove certain books from class libraries or not, it is most important that you understand the importance of YA fiction. Banning YA fiction shouldn’t be allowed but kids should still get parents permission to read them for books that may be potentially violent or inappropriate.

In an alltime 10’s video of the "Top 10 banned books of all time", are the greatest classics that the world has come to know are included. This list includes The Diary of Anne Frank and The Da Vinci Code, and even the dictionary. Chances are you’ve heard of these books before because of how much they have brought people too great discoveries and even tears. On another untitled top 10 list, many autobiographies are displayed. During the video, rock and roll music is played to show a sign of rebellion and change to remind people of the story of rock and roll and that book banning will hopefully turn out the same, with the rebellious people coming in on top. Book banning has gotten absolutely out of hand and sooner or later, books like Oh the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss wil be the victims of book banning because people can’t really move mountains. These minor problems cause overreacting and this madness needs to stop. People absolutely adore the most banned books because they hold some of the most meaningful themes and the most vital lessons to know.

On ABC channel 13, a segment called “Book Under Fire” took place in Montgomery County, Texas to address the banning of the book Fahrenheit 451. High schooler Diana Verm received an assignment where she would read from Fahrenheit 451 which contained a scene depicting  the burning of the bible and other religious books. Reporter Deborah Wrigley interviewed her, her father Alton Verm, and Darrel Lee, the student organizer of Caney Creek high school. Diana Verm refused to do the assignment because of the burning of the bible, then her father tried to ban the book all throughout the school. I strongly disagree with Diana Verm because in this book, the characters burns all of the religious books and every other book as well. They aren’t singling out christians, they are just burning everything. This shows the stupidity that book banning comes from and how ridiculous book banning becomes. In this news story, not only  did book banning look like a joke, it shows the side effects of the powers of book banning.

Author Sherman Alexie of the popularly banned book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, wrote about his experience with the feedback of this book and his very own opinion on Young Adult fiction in the article “Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood”. To give some background info, this book being written about shows how a teen boy overcomes problems that have to do with his social class and friend problems. Of course this book is inappropriate but it is vital to know the lessons learned. Sherman Alexie writes, “I spoke about resilience-- about my personal struggles with addiction and mental illness-- but it was the student speakers who told the most important stories about survival.” This shows that this YA fiction can work even better than a common psychiatrist because of the IMPACT is has on readers. Young Adult fiction explains the problems in the world and shows how a teen overcame it, as an example that teens can learn by. Young adult fiction is so realistic and truthful, that it has many qualities of non-fiction narrative.

Bill Moyers, an American journalist once said, “Censorship is the enemy of truth, even more than a lie. A lie can be exposed, but censorship can prevent us from knowing the difference.” This means that censorship completely hides all of the truths from us, whereas lies can be uncovered. Book banning is an example of censorship or maybe just hiding the truth all together. As our 6th graders mature, they must know how to solve their problems, and these books have cured many people of common teen problems such as depression and drug related types which, the problems 6th graders might be starting to feel and learn about.

-Kevin Gold

811

Upfront Magazine: The End of America's Car Culture

Recently, the percentage of teens receiving drivers licenses is dropping drastically. From the year 1983-2011, the percentage of teens with drivers licenses has dropped 21%. But why are they doing this, what is their new form of transportation? It is biking. Many people realize that they can save their money and save the environment by not driving. It has become almost a fad to ride bike literally everywhere, it is considered "hip". According to Upfront Magazines article "The End of America's Car Culture", this has been proved to be an epidemic sweeping the nation.

Back in the early 1900's, the first affordable car was created and manufactured, the Model T by Ford. As time went by, both world wars, new highways were created, boosting the amount of car drivers by a lot. As gas prices began to go up, the need and want for a car had weakened and people finally realized the importance of saving the environment. I find this important because it show how pop culture and opinion has changed. At the end of the second sub-section, a quote is given about a 23 year old who's parents seem to remember the cars all of their friends used to drive, but nowadays teens and young adults don't even know what color their friends car's color is. This really shows the change in car driving and owning a license over the span of time where cars are used.

There is a quote: "The iPhone is the Ford Mustang of today". This means that people choose things like internet over things like cars. Therefore, useful gadgets such as the iPhone are deemed the better things to have. This shows that the way the Mustang is a very nice compared to cars the way that the iPhone is. So the iPhone is as important as a Mustang but an iPhone is better than the average car. The way that people think about important expensive objects is changing, less of a necessity.

Lastly, the car companies are struggling to bring the youth back to car driving. An example of this is that GMC went to MTV to try to help come up with ideas and names for the cars. The names weren't really important, it was how MTV responded. They said that more electric cars and hybrids should be made to interest them. But bike riders respond that they love their bikes and that they wouldn't let them go. Pop culture has really changed.

From this article, you can tell how the average american teen/young adult has changed. You can also tell how close they have become with repairing the world  and preserving it. The same people also ride over 30 miles everyday, like as if it is really nothing anymore. This might really be the end of American car culture. Almost like it was a little speck in our existence.

4 reasons why: Samuel Cohen Eckstein

Backstory:
It all started with my mom and his dads close friendship in law school.  Because of this, Sammy and I would hang out very often. Throughout elementary school, we became closer because we both were at the same place at almost all of the day. As I would always walk into his house, I would see this little object by the top of his doorframe by the front door. It is called a mezuzah. I'm jewish and so is he but in elementary school, I didn't know what it was. Then later on, I figured out what they were: it is a piece of torah (jewish bible) that is hung up by a doorframe to remind you that god is one. He was faithful.
As middle school started for me at M.S. 51 and Brooklyn Prospect for him, our friendship was forgotten. We slowly drifted apart to the point that i wouldn't even say hi if i saw hi on the street. Then, the best thing happened. He transferred to M.S. 51 and he was in my homeroom. Suddenly memories came back. We became so close again.
Then, yesterday at 5:16, my dad was driving me and Davide Bianchi up to soccer practice and we saw normal people guiding traffic while they surrounded a limp, lifeless body. I thought it was him but my dad doubted it. The real deciding moment was at practice. Usually his team practices in the field next to mine. He wasn't there. Then later that night when i was coming back from hebrew school with a few friends, I saw cop cars surrounding the bottom of his block, not letting any cars up. People crowded around and watched.
Then the next morning, at 6, my dad had told me the news. At first i felt no emotion, just confusion. but when i got to school, I instantly felt all the bad emotions there are. I was crying and i couldn't stop. The 200 of us out there all felt the pain and as many more people came and we hugged, the bond between my friends and I grew stronger. All morning I stayed in the auditorium and then I went home at lunch with friends and we tried to distract ourselves from the trouble and hate for the world. I still right now at 5:03 pm can take in the fact that he is gone. It's too hard too take in. It happened to fast for me to get used to.

Reason 1: Faithful
Sammy would always touch the mezuzah, payback his friends and help to repair the world. I don't even think he would kill and animal and eat it if it would make his dreams come true, he was a dedicated vegetarian. Sammy would never be unfaithful. He was the perfect role model.

Reason 2: Kindness
I don't think I have ever seen him do anything wrong in his entire lifetime. He's never made fun of anything or disrespected anybody's decisions. He is the ultimate role model and you couldn't find a time he was mean.

Reason 3: Generosity
He always gave friends whatever they needed because of how much he care for them. Also, he was planning on donating half of his bar mitzvah money to charity. He was truly the most generous person I know.

Reason 4: Positivity
Sammy was never sad. He would always do a funny dance whenever he was very excited because of something he did right, and he never didn't believe in himself. He would always encourage me to follow my dreams and live life to the fullest.

Because of this, i hung up 2 more mezuzahs in my house in addition to the one i already have to honor his great life.
R.I.P. Ecky, Shmoo, Smartacus, Sammy, Samuel

Tex: post its response

In the book Tex by S.E. Hinton, the main character (Tex) faces many problems. That includes addiction to drugs, loss, and big decisions that require him to do what is considered right. He is treated differently from how he would like to be treated but its how his brother and friends treat him because of his bad habits and tendencies and how every one wants them to stop. Issues in this book are treated the way Tex would treat them, ignoring the big problems and quickly passing over the small ones.

In the beginning, Tex isn't being treated very well by his older brother. His brother lives straight edge while Tex smokes pot and screws around with his friends. One day his brother gets so fed up with Tex's behavior that he beats him up and practically breaks a few of Tex bones because of his terrible behavior while he is high. Tex is quick to forgive but this reoccurs often and causes Tex to feel hostile around his brother. Tex faced his problems but tried his hardest to ignore it so he wouldn't have to face it again.

Later in the book, Tex gets caught with a hitchhiker who threatens him with a gun and forces Tex to drive him over the state border. Of course once the hitchhiker is caught, Tex grows popular, but he is a target, he doesn't let the popularity get to him. He tries to keep himself as safe as possible because he truly knows what trouble he has gotten into. He faces his problems of this size by trying to stay far away from them.

In the end, Tex is put on gun point, he is about to be shot when he fights back, and even when he is shot, his conscience speaks to him and tells him to keep on fighting and he does by disarming the shooter. This makes him very brave for fighting his problems finally in the end of the book. He has finally changed.

Tex finds different ways to face his problems but it is only until the very end that he can successfully do it and satisfy himself, his brother, his best friend, and his father. He just had to realize that working hard will cause good luck.

Due 9/18: over the summer reading

In the book I AM THE MESSENGER by Markus Zusak, the main character Ed Kennedy is brought into some tricky business where he becomes "the messenger". In this position, he has to travel around town to help and defend citizens from people in their lives who are trying to deliberately hurt them in a way to  make the citizen's life hell. As the book goes on, Ed has internal and external conflicts that put him in situations where he has to think before he does.

When Ed gets his first mission, a playing card with three addresses on it, he instantly goes to each address. When he sees a woman being raped by her drunk boyfriend, he feels the need to take action, especially when a young girl runs out onto the porch and starts crying. "I almost walk over, but instinct stops me. You know what to do."  "It's him I have to take care of. It's him I have to face." (Both, pg. 42). He deep down inside wants to help the the girl, but he knows the dangers and he knows that he needs to take it slow and do the right thing.

After that incident, he goes to see a woman who had lost her husband n a war, and Ed is her only hope, the fuel to keep her happy and not feel alone. She treats him like an honorary guest, she seems to really care about him and his well being. She somewhat adopts his to be her son. He cant figure out whether to leave her because she seems crazy or to help her get along with her problems. This is an internal conflict.

 When Ed comes across the name Sylvia Plath, he instantly starts doing research and he figures out that she is a famous poet of the poem "Barren Woman". He decides that its time to tell his crush/ best friend hi secret messenger job. He thinks through it a lot and decides that she is trustworthy. "She was there always, but in her current state? I couldn't, she was too vulnerable." (pg. 213). He is torn but he trusts his instinct even though he knows it may not be the best choice.

As you can see, he has internal and external conflicts where he decides to trust his gut to solve them and not let them mess him up. He only wants to make his own decisions. Hs internal and external conflicts define him as a person and they show the reader his true personality and how he thinks on a regular basis.