Pecha Kucha Response; Lucid Dreams

           I believe that the presenter could have done a better job emphasizing what he was saying. I have learned that if you sound bored with what you are talking everyone else gets bored too. So, he needed to make sure to sound extremely interested in what he was talking about. Also, he could make sure to use better language when presenting a topic. He needed to refrain from using provocative language.
            It is a very interesting topic that he picked. He started getting extremely excited when he addressed his own personal experiences with lucid dreaming. It was definitely more enjoyable to listen to when he was interested in what he was talking about. He ended up saying "um" a lot and talked fast occasionally, which made it hard to follow.
            He had very funny pictures in his slide which made it more relatable. I feel like I could use this to make my slide better by improving on the amount of interest I have in my topic. I am very excited to help others understand what is going on with the Chinese population and their rights. I also feel like I will hardly cover anything with only twenty second slides. It will be hard to fit all the information I want to share in such s short amount of time. This presentation made e realize what I need to do to have a successful presentation.
         

Religion within China

 

       Throughout China there are many widely recognized religions, such as, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Islam, and Confucianism. Although most recognize China as an atheist country, only around 15% don’t participate in any religious practices of any kind. (“Religions & Beliefs in China”). The culture within China differs from the United States because religions are looked down upon by the Chinese government. This lack of approval for different religions is the reason as to why the culture is so accustom to claiming the title of atheist.

            Xinjiang, China is known for its acceptance of different cultures, and religions. It is also suggested that there are over fifty nationalities that live in peace and harmony (Wan li Han, Wu “Autobiography”). Also, within her biography she admits to being a Muslim girl and is accepted for her religion. She recognizes that she apart of the minority with China, only 1.64% of the Chinese population is Muslim. Although we do recognize China as a majorly atheist country it does have many religions existing within it.  

I found researching religion as a challenge, but when reading the autobiography it caught my attention. I thought a majority of China was atheist, but in reality it is very similar to the United States. It is a mixture of different nationalities, and religions, but unfortunately the Chinese government isn’t as accepting as the United States government. As Americans, we have a lot of pride in our religions, but other countries aren’t as bold with their religions. This is a very fascinating aspect of China that I am very excited to research more in depth.

 

                                         Secondary Sources

“Religions and Beliefs in China.” Travel China Guide.com. Travel China Guide. 2014. 10 Nov. 2014. Web.  

 

                                                Primary Sources

            Layla. Letter to Marisa Mayo. 19 Oct. 2014. MS. Qingdao, China.

Todays Response

Today's Work Log:

         Today I took the implicit bias test, and my results came back as mutual. I don't prefer a specific race, but I am confused as to why we had to do that? When I heard we were taking a bias test I thought it would be over our thoughts and opinions not over racial preference. I do realize we are reading stories about racial bias instances, but I feel like it wasn't essential for us to take a test.

 

            Jihad's story moves me, it makes me realize that American Muslims didn't see that coming either. They are appalled that they did this in the name of Allah. It is awfully sad that someone has to be stereotyped because of their religion. Essentially, religion is to create peace. It's terrible that Muslims are categorized by what the minority of that religion does. Maybe 1% of the Muslim population are apart of the extreme efforts of these terrorist organizations, but the many, many others are peacefully trying to live out there lives without being persecuted. Jihad had to endure a true struggle, which is dealing with the persecution.

         

        Amna Chaudhary says it best when she states, "The fact that I’m a Muslim doesn’t make me, as a person, any different from anybody else. You know, the fact that I wear an extra piece of clothing on my head doesn’t make me any different. And people don’t seem to understand that. I’ve lived here all my life and even if I hadn’t lived here all my life, I’m not any different." They weren't the terrorists that attacked the twin towers, but innocent Americans who mourned this tragedy.

 

          I believe the idea behind todays assignment is to look beyond what you see. Don't judge a person based on their looks or beliefs. Allow everyone the opportunity to be treated equally. Everyone can have their difference of opinion, but that doesn't make them any less of a person. It is just weird how people are so easily persuaded to believing that if someone is a different color or have a different religion, they are less important.

 

Reading Response Four; Identical by Ellen Hopkins

Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical twins. They both look the exact same but on the inside they are completely different. Kaeleigh likes to excel in school and never really does anything to get in trouble. She tries to go to school and hide because she doesn't want to be noticed. Raeanne is the complete opposite. Raeanne does drugs, and tries to find attention it guys at her school. After a car accident when they were younger their father changed drastically. He started to drink and after he got drunk he would abuse Kaeleigh. During the story you realize how different the twins truly are. They are complete opposites with very little in common as they are often very jealous of each other. Raeanne is jealous of the attention Kaeleigh gets from the dad. The character that changes the most during the story is Kaeleigh. At the beginning of the story she is very innocent and focuses on school and excelling. She seems to have nothing holding her back from reaching her true potential. In the middle of the story she meets a guy and starts to have flash backs of her dad and her dad starts to abuse her again. This causes her to go into a downward spiral. She starts to experiment with drugs like her sister. She ends up having suicidal tendencies and at one point her sister Raeanne has to save her. "Happily ever after is a concept I'll never believe." This goes to show how unhappy she is with her life. At the end of the story she realizes that her life is a complete lie. She started to change reality to deal with the things she couldn't handle on her own. This causes her brain to make up things so her life will be more comfortable and it helps her escape from reality. You learn a lot about what is actually going on toward the end of the story. It causes you to rethink the whole book because there is a huge twist in the story that is very hard to pick up on. The picture that I used for this story is of identical twins. Although they make look the same on the outside it doesn't mean they are the same person. It is easy to look at someone and expect them to be something that they are not. The important message of the book is that not everyone is the same as their siblings or anyone else for that matter. Everyone is unique in their own way and share different beliefs and views of the world and it's easy to overlook that.

Reading Response Three; Rumble by Ellen Hopkins

      Matt is the main character in Ellen Hopkins book "Rumble." He is a brother of a boy named Luke that fell victim to relentless bullying due to his lifestyle. During the first pages of the story you learn that Matt's younger brother died a year before the present day. As the story progresses you learn that Luke committed suicide because he was gay and bullied by everyone in the community including his own father. The only person that was ever there for him was his older brother Matt, although Matt never stood up for his brother only told his brother to hide who he was. After Luke's death Matt struggles with his religious identity as well as facing his priorities. Matt places blame in everyone for Luke's death except for his girlfriend, Hayden, whom he relies on throughout the story.

“I think it’s easy
to confuse love with other things.
Lust, for one. Need, for another"

     I think this is a very important quote in the story because Matt confused his love with Hayden. During the story he says that he loves Hayden and she is his whole world. What Matt doesn't realize until later in the story is that Hayden was just a safety blanket when it came to dealing with the problems that his life threw at him. Matt confused love with need in this case. Toward the beginning of the story you learn that Matt doesn't believe in a God. He actually despises Christians because their relentless bullying is what he believes killed his brother. This is a great example of irony because his girlfriend is completely devoted to God. Matt believes that if there really was a so called "God" it would have saved his brother. Matt struggles with this throughout the story. After his parents get divorced and his girlfriend leaves him because God doesn't want them together he has to rethink his priorities. Matt finally concludes toward the end of the story that he needs forgiveness. He needs to forgive himself, and also forgive everyone else that he found at fault with Luke's death. That was the only way that he could truly move on and really be happy.
     The picture that I chose is of a cross with rainbow handprints. The reason that I chose this picture is because it represents what Rumble stands for. Rumble explores the idea of religion and what it truly means, while also shining light on different lifestyles. The essential theme of this book is to find out what religion means to you while deciding when and where to find your own personal forgiveness.

 

Reading Response Two; Looking for Alaska by John Green

Looking For Alaska by John Green

"I may die young, but at least I'll die smart." This is a quote from the book looking for Alaska by John Green. This is from the character Alaska. Alaska is a young girl who is sent to a boarding school and is very educated and also popular. Alaska shares a love for books and education. She views herself as someone that isn't very important. Throughout the story you start to understand how her mind works. She is a very free spirit and also very stubborn. Alaska only wants to do the things she wants to do with no regard to anyone else. She only does what makes her happy. Alaska sees dying as a doorway to escape. At one point she says the answer to the "labyrinth of suffering" is straight and fast. This means that the only way to really stop suffering is to die in a way that doesn't take much time at all and is instant. During the story Alaska forms a very close relationship with the main character Pudge and makes him experience new things that he had never even dreamed of before. They had many adventures together and at one point filled bottles of shampoo with pink hair die to get back at the rich kids at their school. Alaska has a very free soul and doesn't like anyone to get in her way of things. She loves to pull pranks on people and wanted to create one of the biggest pranks ever pulled at her school. She could never even start the prank because she died in a car wreck with the motto straight and fast. She thought that she was very well educated as had a love for books, and dying didn't scare her. She embraced the idea of dying from the first few lines of the book. That's why the quote "I may die young but at least I'll die smart" is so relevant to the story. Because she does die at a very young age. But she thought of herself as achieving the ultimate knowledge by taking her own life.

Reading Response One: An Abudance of Katherine

An abundance of Katherine by John Green, is about a boy named Colin who wants to do something bigger with his life than the normal and he wants to make himself known to the world by achieving an outstanding accomplishment. He was a child prodigy because he could read before he could walk. He graduated from high school the top in his class. Colin also knows more than four languages and he can speak fluently in all of them. He has a great desire for words and creating anagrams. Unlike most people who look for a specific hair color or eye color in people they want to be romantically involved with Colin prefers girls with the name Katherine. He has dated 19 girls with the first name Katherine. Colin is determined to prove that names can predict the future of relationships. He has concluded that guys with the name Colin are the boys who get dumped and girls with the name Katherine are dumpers. He dated nineteen Katherine's and he was dumped every single time. Throughout the book he is searching for the love of his life with the name Katherine, and also to live an outstanding life that everyone will remember. I can relate to this story because I don't want to die and be forgotten about just like what Colin is afraid of. Making a difference in the world and having my name known would be an outstanding yet very hard achievement that I want to strive for. Everyone wants to make their life significant in some way, but very few people actually strive and make that an accomplishment. Also, I can relate to the story because people have types or specific things they look for in a romantic interest. Typically their type is things like eye color or hair color. Colin has a thing for girls named Katherine, that is his type. In the process of trying to find his great calling in life he takes a summer road trip with his best friend instead of learning a new language and attending college. I can connect this with myself a lot. Everyone wants to graduate from high school and then attend college. I think it is good that you take some time off before you go to college and just explore your options. That's what Colin does, and in the end he found out exactly who he was and where he wanted to be in life. 

101 things about me

1) I play softball for Parkview, and I am the varsity left fielder.
2) I do speech and debate at Parkview, and I do public forum debate, oratory, and duet acting.
3) I also do DECA and FBLA at Parkview.
4) I have four dogs, Big Paw, MaryAnn, Gabby, and Bastian.
5) My favorite animals are giraffes and penguins.
6)I am employed by McDonalds.
7) I love to sing, and I am involved in concert choir.
8) I love country music, and I like rock music.
9) I want to go to Missouri State and major in Business Law, and marketing.
10) My favorite sport to watch is football. GO CHIEFS!
11)My favorite season is fall because I love how beautiful it looks outside.
12) My favorite subject is history. I wish I could just only take history classes.
13) I love politics, well I love watching the news and learning about current events.
14) This summer I attended Missouri Girls State, and I learned so much about politics and the election process.
15) I enjoy writing. I don't like when people read my work, but I like writing.
16) I love movies, but especially comedies with Adam Sandler, and Jim Carrey.
17) I was born in Springfield, Missouri, but was raised in Marshfield, Missouri.
18) I attended 4 different elementary schools, Hubble, Disney, Eugene Field, and Mark Twain.
19) My parents got divorced when I was 5 years old.
20) I have two sisters, Jade and Mariah.
21) My favorite place to be is in Florida.