What do you think is the main message that the author is trying to get across to you in your book? This main message is the theme of the book. Provide three quotes from your book to back up your answer.

I believe that the main message the author is trying to get across is the idea that anyone can overcome their anxiety and fears. He's trying to make the audience understand that it's okay not to know what the future holds. Toward the end of the book, the message becomes more clear. An example would be on page 303, "The future swirling in. Suddenly a little less worrying." When Mikey says this we can understand that he has learned to manage his anxiety, which shows that the author is trying to tell us it's possible. There's a large section of the book, where Mikey is with his therapist, and they talk about how part of managing his anxiety starts with him realizing it's not his fault that he has anxiety. On page 238, "Then here's my help. One, your anxiety is a genuine and very painful problem not one you're making up. Two, you're not morally responsible for causing it." This helps the reader understand two steps that could help managing your anxiety. Towards the end of their conversation, Mikey agrees to take the medicine that will help him. Another example would be on page 313, "Don't worry about it... Everybody's got something." This shows that it's fine that you have something wrong with you, everyone has something wrong with them. Nobody's perfect. The message the author tries to send is very uplifting and beautifully written.  

Describe the major characters in your book. Who is the protagonist and antagonist? What are the major characters like - appearance, age, mannerisms, clothing, etc. Also, do you think that the author has effectively developed these characters. Please explain your answer.

There are four major characters in my book. The protagonist of The Rest of Us Just Live Here is Mikey. He is a senior who is graduating soon. He overthinks and constantly questions himself in his decisions. He has a lot of anxiety and is a huge germaphobic. Since he's a germaphobic, he washes his hands so much to the point where he has unhealthy, dry skin. So far from what I can tell, the antagonist is his parents and a new kid named Nathan. Mikey does what he wants and avoids his parents. Another major character is Henna. Henna is friends with Mikey and other two major characters. She is described a lot on the story because Mikey likes her. Mikey wants to ask her to prom. On page 58, Mikey describes her, and he notices that she has a scar, she has freckles, and she is African American. She's best friends with Mikey. Another major character is Jared. Jared is one Mikey's best friends and he is tries to help Mikey. Jared has a weird connection with cats and cats are attracted to him. Jared is also gay however, Mikey notices that they barely meet any of Jared's partners. Last but not least, Mel is Mikey's sister. She is high school as well. She use to have a eating disorder, and she tries to avoid her parents as well. She doesn't like it when people watch her eat. She is somewhat shy with people she doesn't know. Nathan is a new kid that joins their school three weeks before graduation because of his army mom. Henna likes Nathan and wants to ask him to prom, which is why he is one of the antagonist. He stands in the way of Mikey's goals. Mikey's parents are the cause of his anxiety due to his mothers job. His mother wants the family to seem perfect to the media due to the reason that she wants to be govern of their state. Unfortunately, I think that Patrick Ness, the author, could have developed these characters more. Since the point of view is from Mikey, I feel as though I don't get a good description of several characters such as, Nathan and Mel. I do have to admit that the other characters are described well. However, there's something off about this book, but I can't put my finger on it.   

1984 Final Post

I think a very important topic about 1984 that we did not mention was leadership. On page 13, “But what was strange was that although Goldstein was hated and despised by everybody, although every day, and a thousand times a day, on platforms, on the telescreen, in newspaper, in books...in spite of all of this, his influence never seemed to grow less.” It’s very interesting because there is plenty of examples that could be found today. A huge example would be Donald Trump. Many on social media have admitted that they strongly disagree with his ideas, yet they’re the ones who mostly talk about him. Another important thing to think about is, most of America strongly dislikes him and yet he might be our next president. Donald Trump reminds me of Goldstein, however Trump is in the process of becoming a huge leader. 1984 was a great book! 

What is the main message that you think that George Orwell is trying to communicate to you through 1984? Provide three quotes from the book to support your claim, and explain HOW those quotes support your claim.

I believe the main message that George Orwell is trying to communicate to us through 1984 is that the we shouldn't let out future become like this. The fact that Orwell mentions in the back of the back that this is his theory of how the future will be, it shows that Orwell wants us to know that he thinks this will happen. "1984 is still the great modern classic of 'negative utopia'" (Afterward By Erich Fromm) I think he wrote this so that people in the back could understand that technology could eventually take our privacy and be all around us. For example, the telescreen is first mentioned on page 3, "The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper..." I believe this is why technology is mentioned a lot of times. There are several messages that Orwell tries to explain however, the use of technology is one of the main ones.  

Find an argument made by The Party to the party members or proles that contains one or more logical fallacies. Quote it, and explain the fallacy or fallacies as well as what you believe the agenda of The Party is for making this argument.

The Party makes the party members believe that if they are thinking or rebelling against the Party, then they are committing a crime. If they are committing a crime, then the entire nation will be filled with chaos, traitors and terrorism. On page 23, the children mention the Party's argument briefly as they say, "You're a traitor... shouting 'Traitor!' and "Thought-criminal!'" They use the logical fallacy slippery slope and aim towards scaring the people into order. I think the Party uses this argument to convince people that the ones who might question their power are highly dangerous. This is obviously false. However, since they use the slippery slope it seems highly realistic to those in that type of society. It is very easy for the Party to use this kind of fallacy since they have higher authority.  They also use appeal to authority because most people believe it since the authority said it.

Using the questions you learned in class on Thursday, deconstruct some kind of persuasive media (magazine cover, advertisement, political ad, commercial, etc.). Please either upload the image here or link to whatever you choose.

Whose message is this? Who created or paid for it? Why?

This is Vogue's message and they created. And paid for it. They made it so that people would buy the magazine and the products advertised in the magazine.

Who is the “target audience?” What are the clues (words, images, sounds, etc.)?

The target audience is mainly women. This is because they have a women in the cover with "new fashion clothing." Also, they clearly say "All Women" in bold letters on the top right corner.

What “tools of persuasion” are used?

It mentions words like "bold and beautiful" which many people want to be like, so they hope this will persuade them. Also, they say "YOUR NEW LOOK starts here" which kinda indicates that the audience needs a new look. They say "Chic eats..." and it says that if you wanna be chic you have to follow their food guide.

What part of the story is not being told?

The magazine doesn't mention that the truth is these things aren't really gonna make audience love themselves. Also, it doesn't mention that the audience doesn't need these things to love themselves.

What groups of people does this message empower? What groups does it disempower?

This message empowers women who follow their tips and the latest fashion trends. It disempowers women or people who don't follow their tips.  

What I have Learned So Far! -Iris A.

When I first thought about digging in the Red Beds, I imagined that the ground would be flat and the rocks would all look the same. But in reality, the field was an endless, bumpy ground, full of cactus and fossils. I learned a lot on this trip. One of the main things was learning how to disguise a bone and rock. A way to tell the difference is if you lick a bone it will be sticky due to the pores it has, but a rock will not be sticky. Another thing I learned is what an actually site looks like, and I got the opportunity of digging up some bones. I learned about different pre dinosaurs as well, such as the Dimetrodon. It was weird, but I also adjusted to be in a small town with very few people, unlike Houston. We talked with people in the museum, which helped me understand more what I learned in Seymour. Even though I was very tired at the end, I had a lot of fun!