On The Water Front

In On The Waterfront, many of the different characters believe tons of different things. Their opinions seem to differ based on what their own personal gain would be in the end. For example, Charlie and Johnny Friendly, at least at first, would consider Terri a traitor. This is because instead of gaining something, they are the ones being ratted on, and it is hard to do the right thing when you know you will get in trouble. I think this is the reason why mob members, even ones who don't believe in what they are doing, won't come forward and tell the truth. This is the decision Terri had to make, and it was very hard for him to come forward, because he did not want to be considered a traitor. However, the other people who are not members of the mob would definitely consider him a whistle blower, because it would stop the violent killings and be beneficial to themselves. Likewise, Edy would consider him a whistle blower because she would be gaining knowledge about who killed her brother. It is interesting to me that everyone sees differently on the difference between a traitor and a whistle blower, and it is mostly for selfish wants.

For me, it completely depends on the situation as to whether I would consider someone a traitor or a whistle blower. I think that if the effects of standing up benefit a large group of people versus a small group, then the person should defenitely be considered a whistle blower. Also, if something that would happen if nobody stood up is a serious as murder, I would never call them a traitor. I do think that telling on a friend for cheating or something insignificant is tattling. This is because there is not a large group that is being affected. that if I really think that it is all in the position that a person is in a situation that causes them to see someone as a stool pigeon or a freedom fighter.

Outside reading #2 and or #3

I am now on page 163 of my outside reading book, and a lot has happened. Nielsen arrived in Antarctica and found out all about the crazy life on the ice. She arrives at the main "city" McMurdo in Antarctica, which actually surprising that people live there. "There was a barber shop, a two-lane bowling alley (set your own pins), a coffee house, and two bars,all housed in shoddy prefab boxes"(43). I had no idea that Antarctica had any sort of public places, I definitely thought of it more as a place where only scientists, researchers, and people craving adventure went to.  After a few days spent there, touring the medical facilities, she ventured south to the Pole, where she would be living and working for the next year. The pole is very very different from McMurdo, and it overwhelms Nielson. She describes it as "The next thing that hit was a cold so deep and complete it was surreal. My first breaths torched my throat and chilled my lungs.  It was a cold from another dimension, from an ice planet in a distant galaxy"(46). I really like this quote because I can sense the cold and it seems more like Antarctica that I would think of. 

Nielsen is going to be the only doctor at the pole and has to get trained by the previous one. Her job seems so hard and demanding I really can't imagine it. She is the only doctor at the whole place, which means that she is on call 24 hours a day, and she is responsible for every accident and emergency. This puts tons of pressure on her, which is definitely not what she was expecting or what she was used to. "It would take me some time to abandon the tenants of third-party payer medicine that had controlled my life and judgement for so many years"(58). 

This quote shows how practicing medicine on the ice is completely different then at hospitals in the US. I think it would be really hard to make this change because it is like transitioning from a huge high school into a one-room school house. When her best friend became hypothermic and unresponsive, Nielsen was very scared. "Oh dear god here comes my greatest fear, I was thinking as I walked in the short hallway to my examination room. The terror of a doctor in Antarctica is that one of your friends (and that includes everyone) will be seriously sick or injured and there won't be much you can do about it"(149). That would be extremely scary to have the life of somebody close to you be in your hands, and I think that would be a really scary thought all the time.

Another thing that is interesting about this book is how many people visit the South Pole and Mactown during the summer, but how the people who stay there year round really look forward to winter, because that is really when Antarctica is isolated and amazing. "Antarctica was a place so alien and hostile to life, that life sang out, and every small breath was a triumph against nothingness. You were forced to recreate yourself again and again or risk being swallowed in the emptiness, and to do that you know you had to know what you were made of"(148). This quote said by Nielsen really captures the feeling of Antarctica. It makes it seem like it is completely different world from the one we are living in, and it really sounds like an amazing place to experience. It kind of surprises me how excited Nielsen is for winter, because I would be very scared and nervous. "For me, the coming of the terrible and terrifying darkness is exhilarating!"(159). If I were her I think I would feel more scared and nervous, because I have no idea what it would be like to be in darkness all the time.

I think that to be able to spend a winter at the South pole you have to be really strong and you have to really want to be there. It seems really dangerous and scary, and I don't know how anybody could take the cold. "By now it was minus 90 degrees F and falling, a new record for mid march"(155).  To me, 90 below would be crazy, I don't even like it at 20 degrees above. It would take a lot of getting used to, plus the darkness would be scary. There is also a lot of foreshadowing of her oncoming breast cancer, which makes the cold and dangerous seem even more scary. This book is very suspenseful because I can sense Nielsen's anxiety, and it really seems like she knows she might have cancer, but is doing her best to forget about it and ignore it. "My mammogram had been negative only six months ago, so I wasn't particularly worried. I decided to keep an eye on this lump and wait a month to see if anything changed"(144). I would be extremely nervous if I were her because of how isolated she is. Also, she is the only doctor, so she would have to fix herself or if she didn't, there would be no one to help anybody else who got hurt or sick.

All My Sons

In All My Sons, a lot of different characters chose to do different things when it came to sticking up for their family versus being honest to society and doing the right thing. Joe and Kate Keller both lied about the cracked cylinder heads for what they considered to be the benefit of the family. Keller says, "Chris...Chris, I did it for you, it was a chance and I took it for you"(70). This shows how he really thought he was doing the right thing because he didn't want to lose the business for his son. I think this shows how he had a different idea on what was the right thing to do in this situation, because his main goal is to provide for his son.  Ann and George are completely opposite on this view. They both went along with society, and didn't for a second believe their dad was innocent, which is actually a little surprising. It shows when Ann says, "Joe, you owe him nothing"(49). Ann sticks up for what she thinks is right, even though it is going against her own dad. By the end of the play, I think that George begins to realize that he has to balance family with what society believes. He tells Ann, "He loved you so much... Annie... we did a terrible thing. We can never be forgiven. Not even to send him a card at Christmas"(54). Although initially he believed in society, now he is beginning to think that believing his family is better.

I think that it really depends on the situation when or when not to go against what society it telling us to do. For example, I would not tell on someone who is cheating because to me, them cheating is not effecting anybody except themselves. I think it is mostly important to stand up against something if it has a large impact. The rocket ship that crashed is a time when I believe the scientists who knew there was a faulty part should have said something. The rocket blew up and killed people, something that was probably preventable. Also, I think it is appropriate in society to stand up if everybody else is saying something that is extremely offensive, and you really disagree with them. For example, I really hate it when people use the word "retarded" as an insult, and I try to let other people know that this is something that bugs me and is really offensive. Overall though I really think it depends on the severity of the issue as to whether it is better to stand by your own ethics or go along with what is easiest. 

Ice bound: my book for outside reading quarter 2... YAY!

For this assignment on memoirs or biographies (ect) I have decided I would like to read "Ice Bound", by Dr. Jerri Nielson. So far in the book, I know that she is an emergency room doctor who has decided to take up a job in Antarctica as the doctor for the scientists working out there. She escaped a 23- year marriage of domestic abuse in which her kids were turned against her and her life turned into shambles. The way that Nielson describes the abuse is really sad and I really see how such a thing could happen to anyone. "Another time, he strangled the family dog right in front of me and our daughter, to teach us a lesson. He later told my mom how he'd watched the look of disbelief on the dog's face as he squeezed its throat"(18). To me this is horrible and disgusting, and I don't know how anybody could stay with someone like this. Then she tells us, "If someone with my profile walked into the ER I would have spotted her immediately, but I could not see her in the mirror. Others noticed, however"(18). I think that this is what probably does happen with a lot of cases of domestic abuse or other things. The problem is clearly visible with others, but not noticeable when it is happening to you. I think it was probably very hard for her to get out of such a relationship, especially at the loss of her three kids, whom she loved so much.

There are also a lot of things in this book that remind me of my mom. My mom is also an emergency room doctor, and I see a lot of things she talks about her work that Nielson talks about in this book. She is describing a patient who had tried to take his life by shooting himself, and says, "But I knew the man would go to surgery and I would never know his story, probably never know his fate"(4). This reminds me of my mom, who always does her best to get follow ups on patients she has because it must be really frustrating not to know if somebody you treated lives or dies. Another thing that Nielson has that is similar to my mom is her love for excitement. "But the upside was that it would be a hell of an adventure, with plenty of time to read and study, explore and reflect"(24). My mom loves adventure, but she also loves to read. It is one of her favorite things to do. My mom actually suggested this book to me and I can see why, it is very much like herself.

Side note Mrs Froehlich: Paragraphs don't show up on the blog, this is 2 paragraphs, the second one starting at "There are also..."

Side note 32 Mrs Froehlich: I decided I could just put extra spaces in between paragraphs =) 

Photography Tips from Robert Capulto

For my article today I read tips about how to take good photographs by a National Geographic photographer. Being a picture-taker for a magazine extremely well known for its amazing photography, Capulto is probably someone who gives very good advice. This article in particular is about how to get good pictures while traveling. One tip that he gives is to be spontaneous. He says that having your camera with you everywhere you go while on vacation is something you should definitely do, because you never know when there is going to be something photo-worthy. I think this is a very good tip because some of my favorite pictures i took on vacaions are of little kids in the marketplace in Gutemala, or this little boy in a grocery store in Swaziland.
Another tip that this article gave is, when taking photos of people you are with, always make sure to give some context to the pic. Don't just take a close-up on their face because it shows nothing of where you are, it could be in your house.
My Grampa would always take pictures in places of the place and then a little tiny picture of my Gramma's head in the corner. The pictures look so funny they are great. =)
So if you want some tips... Press on this Hyperlink!!!!
YAY

work cited: coming soon =)

Works Cited Has Now Arrived....

 i am sorry the National geographic should be underlined but its this blogs fault....

Caputo, Robert. "Travel Photography Tips." National Geographic. August, 2007. 23 Oct 2008  

My sister

Short story outside reading number 3 =)

So I spent about an hour and a half yesterday reading Dr. Suess. I think this was the first time I have actually paid attention to the morals of the stories. I read "And to Think That I Saw It on Mullberry Street", "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins", "Horton Hatches The Egg", "Yertle The Turtle", "The Lorax", and "Gertrude Mcfuzz". Gosh I absolutely love Dr. Suess. I'm actually quite jealous of him. He can make extremely fun stories that also mean something. My favorite is probably "Yertle the Turtle". The moral of "Yertle The Turtle" is that everybody can make a difference in the world, even someone as insignificant as the little turtle Mack at the bottom of the pile of turtles. I also really really like "And To Think That I saw It On Mulberry Street". It shows that with imagination something even as simple as a horse and carriage can be turned into something amazing. 

Dr. Suess is really easy to read and it is a ton of fun, even though I am fifteen years old. Reading Dr. Suess always calms me down, especially yesterday. I was stressed about a test and reading Dr Suess helped a ton. I really think that even though children's books and stories are simple to read, that everyone, even adults should still read them. They are just a nice refresher that everyone still has some child in them.

Mr Sticky- Blog post outside reading #2

So today i decided to read a fun cute story about a snail named Mr. Sticky, I was kind of in the mood for something happy. To read..... CLickerooni Mr Sticky was a tiny tiny tiny snail that Abby had as a pet. Abby kept saying how Mr. Sticky was so cute because he was so small. Abby's mom told Abby that things can be cute even if they're big, but Abby thinks they are only cute when they are small.

This is a little children's story about growing up and how it's okay to get older and bigger, and you can still be the same person. I didn't really like it that much, I actually thought it was pretty stupid, but I really just needed to read something like this today.

Week number one- short stories outside reading =)

Since I was in Swaziland this summer, I decided to look up news stories from their newspaper, The Times of Swaziland. Swaziland is an amazing place, although the government is very corrupt (the king has more then ten wives). The country in general has a lot of economic and social problems. It has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world, at 39%. This number is probably low, however, because many cases are not reported. I found an article about a 14 year old girl who dropped out of school to marry a 23-year old, which is legal. 

To get to the article... CLICK. 

This news article takes place in Ekuvinjelweni, a town in Swaziland. It says that she was "tekaed." Although the article is in english, the native language is SiSwati, and I think this word is not in english. The boyfriend doesn't see anything wrong with him marrying a girl 9 years younger then him, who is still a minor. To me, this really shows how different the moral values are in Swaziland, and how there is a double standard for sexual acts with women. Men are allowed to have multiple wives, and sex with minors. This is one of the many reasons why HIV is so prevalent in Swaziland; women are treated as if they are only meant for childbirth. AIDS is spread much more rapidly this way, and high percentages of AIDS leads to poverty. 

I think articles like this are worth reading. I am very interested in things like this, and I really enjoy keeping up with recent news of places I have visited.

Citation: I don't actually know if I am doing this correctly so if anyone can help, please tell me.

Bhembe, Skumbuzo. "Girl (14) Tekaed." Times of Swaziland Sept. 17, 2008; 1-2. September 17, 2008.  

Entry numero one

Yippppppeeeeee. This blog is uber great =) This blog is for outside reading posts =) yay reading! I need five to ten sentances for this so i thinkers i will talk about pencils. Pencils are great. Great great great. Bye bye