Chapter 12 Journal

    I suppose Ralph cries at the end of the novel is because they finally get to home and escape the nightmare that is the island. Two of his friends died on the island and he witnesses all the others slowly turn savage and evil. His dreams finally come true and he now gets to go back home to a civilized society. The character that I despise the most is Jack because most of the issues that occurred on the island were due to his influence. The boys turned savage due to Jack's desire for hunting and since he broke up the boys to start a tribe. Since Jack influenced the boys to turn savage, the fault of the deaths of Simon and Jack falls on him. I feel like the boys would have done much better on the island if Jack had not been on the island or had dies. I wouldn't recommend this book to a friend because he's bound to read it one day in his life in school.

LOTF Questions

1. Jack decided that they need to go and get the fire and Piggy's glasses back from Jack and his group.

2. The twins "saw Ralph for the first time", because he began to start acting more like a chief and had a new confidence.

3. The boy's attempt to get Piggy's specs and to make the boys maintain signal fire is bound to fail since Jack and the others are now savages and will not listen to them.

4. I think Roger pushed the rock of the cliff because he is the most savage and his savage instincts have taken over at this point of the book.

5. The destruction of the conch symbolizes the fall of government which means now Jack and the savages are fully uncivilized and do whatever they feel like.

6. The boys want a chief so that he can make decisions for them for everything. A chief usually controls most of the people and tells them what to do.

7.  Do you realize that you are turning into a complete savage?
     Don't you feel any remorse for the things you have done?

8.    The island now feels unfriendly and dark to me. This island seemed like a paradise at the first glimpse but now it seems like a nightmare. Some resources are starting to dwindle and that is staring to worry me. We're all terrified of the Beast now and we all live with that fear every day. I am praying that we can get off of this horrible island soon.
       The boys seem to have been affected by the island and I think I'm starting to get affected too. They seem like complete savages now and I'm worried I'm going savage as well. Their old perfect images are now shadows of their savage selves. Everyday I witness them murder pigs and they seem to love to go all out and make the thing suffer. I'm fighting with myself to not become a savage as well, but the desire to go savage is over whelming.

Editorial Questions

1.She thinks the problem is that the CDC wants to make many hospitals ebola ready instead of expanding bio-containment hospitals to reduce the risk of ebola spreading.

2.She thinks ebola patients should be sent to one of the bio-containment hospitals in the nation instead of treating them in hospitals which increase the risk of nurses catching it.

3.Sean Kaufman views the CDC's guidelines for protective gear for treating ebola as wrong since it doesn't protect the person from the virus completely.

4. Rep. Micheal Burgess pointed out that CDC head Thomas Freidan's suit covered him completely while treating an ebola patient while the CDC's guidelines for the protective suits for ebola were very flimsy

5.a. I do agree with her recommendation because it's the safest way to deal with the problem and it reduces the risk of the virus spreading to others such as hospital staff
   b.My mom said she doesn't really care but she did agree with the recommendation

Summary Homework

   In the news article titled "Lompoc police shoot teen", Kyle Harding informs about a teen that was shot for advancing on a officer with a knife. First, Harding reports that on Friday the teen was involved in a fight between him and his brother and then was taken to Lompoc Valley Medical Center at the request of county mental health officials. Next, Harding states that the teen had broken through a glass door and fled the hospital and so a search for the teen was made. Also, Harding explains that when an officer found the teen. the officer shot him in the upper torso after the teen wouldn't stop approaching the officer with a knife after several warnings. In addition, Harding mentions that before the shooting the teen had attacked his brother again but with a dumbbell and his brother was taken to the hospital because of head injuries. Finally, Harding informs readers that both the names of the teenager and the officer were not released due to the boy's age and the investigation.

Article: http://santamariatimes.com/lompoc/lompoc-police-shoot-teen/article_9e9572f2-e8f3-5c8d-ab6d-a70013dbb321.html

Should Video Games Be Considered Art?

Video games have been debated many times for many different topics. Whether it’s if they should be a sport, if they cause violence, or if they should be considered art. Video games have been some what controversial for a while. One thing that I am certain of is that some video games do deserve to be called art. For some that have little experience with video games in their lives, this may sound preposterous. For those that have had video games as a significant part of the life, I’m sure they would agree on the spot. While some games don’t help at all with this argument, there is a hand full of games that have been seen as masterpieces and works of art.

Video games can be seen as art in different ways. The most obvious would be if it’s visually appealing and beautiful. Other ways it can be a work of art would be if it’s story is amazing or if it’s gameplay is great. There are various ways that things can be beautiful and it can be different for everyone. Not everyone can agree that something is art without others that will disagree and criticize it. The beauty of art differs from person to person so it’s most likely impossible that a piece of art will be appealing to everyone.

There are many examples of games that can be seen as a piece of art. One example, would be a game that is called Shadow of the Colossus. In the game, you play as a character that must search and kill 16 giant beasts in order to restore the life of a girl. It was a really influential game for it’s time and won awards because of it’s quality. It won awards for it’s landscape designs, immersive gameplay, soundtrack, and emotional journey. It’s a game that is used many times in debates regarding video games being seen as art.

People see the game as an emotional journey because of the struggle of the main character you are playing as. He made a deal with a disembodied voice known as Dormin to bring his loved one back. He was warned that there would be a price to pay for reviving the girl but in a hurry he leaves to kill the beasts without listening to him. Every colossus he murderers contains a fragment of Dormin’s body each time progressively turning the main character into a possessed body for Dormin.

People appeal to the story of Shadow’s of the Colossus because the experience the journey of the character. They see him as he anxiously rushes to locate the giants and murder them to bring his beloved back. Throughout the game the player gets to see the great giants fall just so that he can get the girl back. Each time watching a fragment of the demented antagonist go into his body and slowly take his body. As he slays the beasts he becomes paler, his hair becomes darker, and he gets dark streaks on his face. Even though he is giving up his body he still wants to get the girl back. Once he kills the last colossus he turns into a big shadowy giant, but then get defeated when his sword is cast into a pool and light consumes both the giant and the main character. The girl ends up waking up and finds a baby with small horns in the pool where the shadowy giant and the main character were consumed.

   This game is a great example of art because along with the story that appealed to many players, it had stunning visuals for it’s time and a great soundtrack to play along with. The creators of the game could express their idea through this game perfectly. Overall video games should be considered art because it’s just another medium for people to show their creative ideas and work. If games can be used to express things like emotions it for sure should be seen as a new form of art. Now with more advanced technology and graphics people can express themselves through video games better than they could ever before. The technology of video games leaves many possibilities for people to convey their artistic ideas and share it with the  world.

Literary Analysis

The Joy Luck Club Literary Analysis

In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, Jeng-mei is given the responsibility of fulfilling her mother’s legacy. Jeng-mei’s mother, Suyuan Woo dies of cerebral aneurysm and Jeng-mei is to take over the Joy Luck Club. They never had a great relationship but Jeng-mei still accomplishes her wishes. Through changes that Jeng-mei goes through, she becomes able to take over the Joy Luck Club and play some games of mahjong. In the end, Jeng-mei succeeds to honor and fulfill her mother’s legacy and wishes.

The Joy Luck Club was started so that Suyuan Woo and others could forget miseries and hardships they had to go through. In the club, everyone took turns to host it and they shared happy memories together. When Suyuan Woo dies and Jeng-mei takes over, Jeng-mei feels like she is incapable of fulfilling the role of her mother. Even her mother thought that Jeng-mei didn’t much about her. Jeng-mei had always felt insecure about herself and didn’t believe in her capabilities.Though after some encouragement she stopped feeling so insecure and joined in the games of mahjong. She began to connect with her mother and took the first step in fulfilling her legacy.

The next thing she does that fulfills her mother’s legacy is going to find her mother’s lost twin daughters to meet them. Her mother had wanted to go back to China to find them herself, but she died at the time she got their address. Jeng-mei decides to go to and find them for her mom. Since, she decided to go find them, it further fulfilled the wishes of Suyuan Woo. By doing this, she took over her as her mom even more, because she made her wish be her own. She wants to tell her long lost sisters that Suyuan Woo had died and tell them all about her. Jeng-mei allows the sisters to meet their mother in a way. Jeng-mei fully finishes what her mother dreamed about accomplishing.

In the end, Jeng-mei does everything necessary to honor and fulfill the legacy of her mother. The Joy Luck Club that her mother started was continued by Jeng-mei. She becomes confident in herself and takes over the Joy Luck Club. She also finishes what her mother had begun. Her mother’s wish was to track and find her long lost daughter’s in China but does not get to finish her dream. Jeng-mei fulfills her wish and goes to China to the twin sisters to tell her about Suyuan Woo. The legacy of Suyuan Woo is continued and honored by Jeng-mei. After completing her mothers desires, she succeeds and becomes more connected to her mother than she ever was.

Suyuan Woo’s dreams were to find her twin daughters in China and to keep the Joy Luck Club going. Suyuan Woo died before any of her dreams could have been completed. These hopes were passed down to Jeng-mei and she succeeded in completing them. Jeng-mei overcame her insecurities, finished what her mother had started and connected with her even more. Jeng-mei most definitely succeeded in fulfilling and honoring the legacy of Suyuan Woo.

Leopard Man Questions

9. Tom Leppard is called Leopard Man because he acts like one and modified his body to look like one. I think the reason they don't use his name Tom Leppard is because they don't respect him just since he is a lot different than everyone else in society.
10.The author feels that people tattoos and piercings get them to get attention from others. I think he has this opinion because it's actually true sometimes. A lot of people with stuff like that tend to shove their "non-conformity" down peoples throat for attention.
11.Leopard Man is different from other people with tattoos and piercings because he tattooed his whole body with spots so he could look like a leopard. Other people get tattoos that are there so they could try to look tough or better than other people.
12.Leopard Man lives in the Scottish wilderness in a small cabin but he does go into civilization occasionally to get food and other necessities.
13.According to Feys, society fears people that are seen as freakish and extraordinary, because people fear things that they don't understand.
14.Fey thinks that conformity is the world's most common but dangerous disorder. He argues that an individual destroys himself because of the pressures of society.
15.Leopard Man is so happy, because he can be who he wants to be without dealing with society and the pressures it puts on everybody.