Read Response CTQ: How does Money Figure in this Text?

This is based on the critical Reading Question: How does Money Figure in this text?

In the world we live in today, money is everything. The world we live in today is not the only place where money is everything. The book, “The Ranger’s Apprentice The Icebound Land” by John Flanagan is about a boy named Will (the main character) and a girl named Evanlyn who are captured by the Skandia. The Skandia are a group of warriors that battle for anyone, but only if you pay them enough money for the job. After hearing about the kidnap of Will and Evanlyn, Halt a powerful ranger and Will’s Master goes on journey with Gilan on of Halt’s other apprentices, to rescue Will and Evanlyn. While reading this book I noticed how money in this books in taken very seriously and some of the characters are greedy and would deceive others to gain money more.

            One of the first things I noticed about money when reading this book is that some of the characters were greedy and took advantage of other people. This is shown in this part of the book:

This idiot is going to demand tribute from us to allow us to cross his precious bridge’… ‘It’s a form of highway robbery,’ Halt explained. ‘ If there were any real laws in this idiotic country, people like our friend there would never get away with this.’  … Knights set themselves up at bridges or crossroads and demand that people pay tribute to pass. If they can’t pay tribute, they can chose to fight them. Since most travelers aren’t equipped to fight a fully armored knight, they pay the tribute (Flanagan 95).

This quote shows that some of the characters like the Knights would deceive other to gain money because Halt himself says that it is a form of highway robber or in other words deceiving others to think that it is mandatory to pay a tribute. This also shows that money is taken seriously because the Knights blocking the way across the bridge are willing to fight anyone that can’t pay the tribute or aren't willing to pay the tribute.

            When the Skandians found out that Will burnt down the bridge they start thinking of the money they earned and whether or not they should deceive and abandon Morgarath’s army. This is shown is the book when a Skandian named Nordal is talking to the other Skandians and says:

For mine, we get out of here as fast as we can,’ he said ‘We only came for the  booty and there’s going to be a precious little of that now that the bridge is gone’ … Horak, I’m not here to help Morgarath take over Araluen ,” he replied. ‘Nether are you. We fight for profit, and when there’s no profit to be had, I say we go (Flanagan 193).

This quote shows that the Skandians are greedy people and when they deal with money they take it very seriously because they didn’t care if Morgarath’s army won the war.  All they really cared about was the money that they were paid. So in result they wanted to abandon Morgarath and left with what little money they had. This quote also proves that they are greedy because they called the money that they had precious that means that they gave the little money they had a higher value by saying it was precious they most like said precious because to them money is everything and that means the Skandians are really serious about money.

            This text relates to the world in a lot of ways. Mainly because the world we live in today is all about money. This book also relates because there are people in the world that do deceive people to earn more money like all these big companies like Nike and Microsoft. I doubt that they make and sell their products because they care about us. So the next time you see a wallet on the floor what will you do? Will you return it to the owner? Or will you keep it for your self?

Reading Reading Is this book Fair?

This reading response on is the "Ranger's Apprentice" book three fair? Why/why not? In the world we live in today not everyone is treated fairly. Like all those poor people in the world that go threw starvation, poverty, illnesses, war, and death. And in this book "Ranger's Apprentice" book three is exactly that, unfair. 

. The book the "Ranger's Apprentice" book three is unfair because the king of Araluen doesn’t let Halt go and save Will (the main character) and Evanlny (the king’s daughter from the Skandia warriors. All Rangers swear an oath that the kingdom and King’s orders comes before anything else so he is accused of committing treason when he disobeys the Kings word. In the book it says,” The law sets only two possible punishments for treason, Your majesty,’ … ‘Death or banishment. Nothing else,’ the chamberlain intoned solemnly.  … ‘Halt.’ He spoke firmly, feeling every eye in the room upon him. ‘Former Kings ranger to the Redmont Fief, I hereby, as lord of this realm of Araluen, declare you banished from all my lands and holdings”(Flangan 43). As you see the king banished Halt from all his lands just because he wanted to save his apprentice it’s not fair how Halt just stands there while his beloved apprentice is on a ship that is separating them at every second, that one reason this book is unfair.

 Another reason this book is unfair is because the Skandia Warriors kidnapped Will and Evan. In the book it says,” Kidnapped and taken to a frozen land after a fierce battle with lord Morgarath, Will and Evanlyn are bound for Skandia as captives”(Prolog Flangan). As you see it is not fair because the main character gets kidnapped along with the princess of Araluen. During their time on the ship when they were kidnapped they were not treated like royalty, in fact they were have a bad time. In the book when Evanlny says, ”You mean we could be blown overboard?’ … ‘maybe, ‘he replied to her question. ‘More likely washed overboard by the waves.’ He saw the boy’s (Will) go pale with fear” (Flangan 4). Wills face went pale with fear of the wave, that proves that they didn’t have a good time while being kidnapped so this book is unfair.

 

 

Monday Muses Prompts

 This wasn't really resent but last year when I was in Yemen my home country I woke up for school and realized I didn't memorize the verses for my holy book or should I say Quran. You might be thinking well the worse thing they could do to me is just lower my grade. Well you should think again because the worse thing the teachers could and would do is take a stick and hit me with it. So I told my 20 year old cousin that I forgot to memorize and he said that I should try to memorize on the bus. If you’re wondering why he lives with my family it’s because he was born and raised in Yemen and my dad was in America and my cousin knows every place in Yemen like the back of his hand. So I ate breakfast and was waiting for the bus to pick me up. It was probably my luck day because the bus was late and that gave me an extra ten minutes to memorize. Then I heard the honking of the bus and I knew that time was running out so I started walking toward the bus trying to make every moment of studying count.

 When got on I told one of my friend on the bus for advise because this was the first time I was going to get hit and he said," You better get your hand ready for that stick because it going to hurt so bad." Then he started laughing at me. That was by far the worst advice I had heard all year, so when we got off the bus I slapped him in the face. When we got to class I forgot that we had Quran class first period. I started freaking out because I only memorized one verse of Quran. I was hoping that the teacher would forget, but as soon as he stepped in the class he took out his grade book and said whoever didn't memorize step outside the class. When he saw me stand up he couldn't believe that his star student didn't memorize.

Me and five other kids stood outside waiting for the teacher to come. Then I saw my friend stand up with us I was about to explode from laughter. Than he told me that we should ask to go to the bathroom and jump out the fence before he hits us. The bathrooms in my school were not inside the school they were outside in the yard and there were bricks that made a staircase that were big enough to make it to the top of the fence. The fence wasn't that tall anyway so when we jump no one would get hurt. His plan may have been crazy but I was willing to do it if it meant that I wouldn't get hit. So we both asked, and the teacher let us go to the bathroom. Step one was a success next we had to climb the stairs to the fence. And believe it or not we jumped and made out of school. That day was one of the riskiest stunts I have ever done in my life. But there was one problem. What's going to happen to us tomorrow?         

 

Banned book argument Essay 2

 Whether or not certain book should be band has always been a problem in middle school libraries. Like “Of Mice and Men”, by John Steinbeck. After finishing this book I came to the conclusion that this book should be banned from middle school Libraries because it is racist, it can be a bad influence, and it contains mature content in it. While this book may contain some lessons the messages of the book may not be fully understood by the reader.

I believe that certain books like of men and mice should be banned from middle school libraries because it is racist. It should be band for this reason because being racist is offensive to other people and when you’re being racist it can really hurt people and cause them to think negatively about themselves. This is show in of mice and men when Crooks is talking to Lennie and says,” I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse and you ain’t wanted in my room. ‘ ’ Why ain’t you wanted?’ Lennie asked. ‘Cause I’m black. They Play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, all of you stink to me”[Steinbeck 68] Now because the other people were being racist to Crooks now he thinks negatively about himself, and everyone else. This is racist especially to black people. Being racist is also a form of bullying.  For these reasons middle school teachers and librarians must ban certain books like of mice and men in order to prevent those things from happening in and outside of middle schools and libraries.

Another reason certain ban certain books from middle school libraries because it can be a bad influence to kids. You wouldn’t want your kids your kids solving their problems with drugs or by committing suicide. You wouldn’t want your kids reading about a kid’s journey in drugs and rape. To support my claim in the article “The sick-lit” it states, “One girl. Jess says that while the book put into words what she felt, ‘It was also too close to home for me to read’. She added: I’d finish reading and immediately reached for my blade… ‘I know a girl of 12 in whose class the book spread like wildfire- several of them also started cutting themselves’”.  This is a bad influence because after reading a book the girl reading immediately reached for her blade.  Normally when a kid finishes reading a book they wouldn’t reach out for a knife. It also mentions that a book in the class became popular and then several of the girls started cutting themselves. Now ask yourself is this the normal thing you do after you read a book? Most likely not so imagine if you were a parent would you even want your kids touching a knife? Would you want them reading something that in resulted they start cutting themselves? That is why certain books should be banned from middle school libraries. If every Kid gets influenced badly mainly because of what is written in it, then kids are going to go home with bloody fingers.

In addition to those reasons, why certain books should be banned from middle school libraries is because it can contain mature content.  Some of the mature content in most young adult books is drugs, alcohol, and rape. Kids shouldn’t be encouraged to do any of those things because they might not be ready for those things yet. In the book of mice and men page 20 it says,” tell ya what-`know what he done Christmas? Brang a gallon of whisky right in here and says, ‘Drink hearty boys. Christmas comes but once a year.’ ‘The hell he did! Whole gallon? ‘Yes sir. Jesus, we had fun. They let the nigger come in that night. “The mature content in that was how they said they had fun drinking a gallon of whisky which is alcohol and they said they had “fun”[Steinbeck].  When they mean fun that means they got drunk and that’s dangerous .If your still not convinced here is another quote from of mice and men ” so you forgot awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I? Jesus Christ, you’re a crazy bastard”[Steinbeck 4] The mature content there was the cursing. A kid being exposed to cursing is not a good thing bause next thing you now he starts using that word to people without knowing what it means. If a kid tells that to the wrong person he could end up getting hurt.

One might argue that a lot of these banded books contain important life lessons, but what if a kid doesn’t get the “lesson” and gets influenced badly by the book.  In the article Darkness too Visible is says,” If a teen has been abused, the logic follows, reading about another teen in the same straits will be comforting. If a girl cuts her flesh with a razor to relive surging feelings of self-loathing, she will find succor in reading about another girl who cuts, mops up the blood with towels and eventually learns to manage her emotional turbulence without a knife.”  You might be thinking well at least she solved her problem, but cutting yourself with a razor is not a good way to manage your emotions. That is not a good idea.

Certain books like of mice and men should be banned from middle school libraries because it is racist and be a bad influence with the mature content in it. While some of these band and challenged books have lessons that will teacher the reader to not take drugs by telling a story about a teen that dies taking drugs is not a good way to teach a kid going through that. So the next time you’re going to read a book that has been challenged or band in some libraries ask yourself this: Am I ready to read this? Will I be influenced badly by it? Will I manage to control myself while and after reading it.  

 

Monday Muses Childhood

For many people, including me, childhood contains some of the greatest memories and moments in their life's. Like when you first learned to talk or to read or write and walk. But some people don't realize these memories until they are gone. Like some people are in such a hurry to get older that they don't realize what they are missing, there missing their childhood. Childhood is full of wonder and as you grow up you start to lose that wonder. and everyone in the world has gone threw it, whether that person was the good or bad. My advise to everyone is that childhood is a once in a life time thing so don't waste it. Here are some of my childhood memories.

Snow, snow and more snow. It was a cold winter day in Connecticut and  I was 6 year's old. The day started as any regular day so my dad decide to spice things up a bit. After we ate breakfast my dad told me to get in the car with my sisters. I kept asking my dad where were we going he just said it was a surprise. So me and my sister's got into this whole fight over where we were going. I said we were going to buy hot ,chocolate, my younger sister Heyat said, we were going to the doctor, we all shivered at the thought. My other younger sister Amel said we were going to Six Flags. I started cracking up. Going to Six Flags in the middle of the winter! At least my guess was reasonable, I thought. Than my dad parked in front of my cousin's house. And called my cousin's out to come inside the car. I was so eager to find out where we were going so asked my cousin if he knew, he said he had no idea. Than my dad finally parked the car near my cousin's school play ground, and told everyone to get out and look what was in the back of the car. So I look and it was a sled and I started freaking out because it was my first time going sledding. I decided that it would be fun to go down the hill while standing up on the sled. When I stood  up on the sled I fell right off it and rolled all the way down the hill without a sled. Than my cousin started laughing at me so I decided to get pay back. So right before my cousin went down the hill I jumped on his back. That wasn't the best idea because we ended up crashing into a big pile of snow.

It was 12:00 am at Yemen and we were watching T.V, this is when I was in Yemen for a year.As we were watching T.V my little cousin stood up next to my other girl cousin and he got close to her ear and farted a big one. Then she screamed and ran to the bathroom to wash her ear from the "fart". Every time I think of this I laugh out load. So those are some childhood memories of me, and you should never forget childhood comes only once in a life time so don't waste it.



 

Ranger's Apprentice Book 2 (Theme)

Yes! I am finally ten pages from finishing this book. While I was reading this book I noticed that one of the theme was that nothing is impossible. This is shown threw out the book, For example when everyone in the kingdom thought the fissure was impossible to cross. Another example is when Horace challenged Morgarath to a one on one battle.

One example in the book that nothing is impossible is when the Kingdom thought that it was impossible for Morgarath's army to get across the fissure. So if you don't know what's happening in the book this is what's happening Morgarath want to start a war between him and the kingdom, in order to gain control of the kingdom. So in preparation for this Will and Halt go to the mountains of rain and night to steal Morgarath's battle plans. After they stole it, they read what the battle plan said,  it said that Morgarath will be attacking the King's army from the planes Uthal. So the king moved his army there waiting for the attack. The king knew that it would be "impossible" for Morgarath to get his army across. Morgarath excepted that so he built a bridge across the fissure. This part of the book proves the theme that nothing is impossible "A bridge,' he told him. 'building a huge bridge.'
Horace frowned, puzzled by it all. 'A bridge? he repeated. "Why would Morgarath want a bridge?' 'It's a huge bridge, I said. Big enough  to bring an army across. Here we've been discussing how Morgarath couldn't move an army and all its equipment down the cliffs and across the fissure, and all this time he's been building a bridge to do just that." As you can see they never expected for Morgarath to build a bridge, because they it thought it was impossible but it wasn't because nothing is impossible.

Another example in the book that proves the theme, nothing is impossible is when Horace challenges Morgarath to a one on one battle. This task seems impossible because its like telling a 5th grader to do college math. This part of the book proves that everyone thinks that it is impossible, "the boy(Horace) will have to take his chances, Halt,' he said(Morgarath). 'What chances? He has no chances!' Halt replied" That proves it because Halt said he has no chances, AKA impossible. But this part of the book proves that its not impossible for Horace to beat him, "Horace slipped the dagger free and, with every ounce of his strength behind it, drove it through Morgarath's chain mail and up into his heart. Slowly, the Lord of Rain and Night sagged and crumpled to the ground." So Horace did the impossible and with his small amount of experience he killed the evil Lord Morgarath. So that proves the that the theme, and next time think twice before saying to your friend, that's impossible.

Ranger's Apprentice Book 2 (Character)

Well I'm about half way threw the second book, and I am seeing a lot of character change that happened to Will(the main character). Will has gone threw a lot for example, Will, Halt and Gilan were attacked by monsters. Another thing that happens Horace starts traveling with Will, Gilan and Halt.

One character change is when Will's master, Halt, saw him not acting normal and started stressing about how he missed his shot twice, and if it wasn't for his horse Tug, he would have all most got killed by a Wargal(a type of monster).So Halt talked to Sir Rodney the battlemaster, about Will's problem and what he should do about it. Sir Rodney than told Halt that Will has been spending to much time with people not his age. So Sir Rodney suggested to him that he should take Horace, an apprentice at battle school that was Will's childhood enemy. When they met this time they didn't fight. Another character change that Will has gone threw is that he and his old enemy were starting to became good friends. I know this because in the book it says,"He glanced across at Horace, the childhood enemy who had become his friend, and wondered if he felt the same bewildering conflict of emotion."

Another character change Will has gone threw is stress. Because at the beginning of first book Will learns that a ranger should never miss a shot, because rangers don't really do well with close range combat. Because rangers are like warriors of the shadows so you really won't see a ranger go in front of someone and stab him then walk away, because they want to stay hidden. So they shoot the target from a long range. If your still confused with why they can't miss its really because if you shoot someone and you miss then they will notice your presence and shoot you back. Well apparently Will rushed his shot and as a result he missed twice and he turns into a nerve wreck. I know that's the character change because in the book Halt says, "He had a bad time of it when we ran into those Wargals last week,' Halt said. 'He thinks he's lost his nerve."

Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Dog Days

Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Dog Days

By: Jeff Kinney

 

The relationship between Greg and Rowley in Dairy of a Wimpy Kid - Dog Days isn't so hot.  During that summer, they went from being best friends to becoming ex. friends.  If you don't know what happened that summer, then here is a recap.  One summer day, there was a knock on Greg's front door, and it was Rowley's Dad.  He didn't look happy. Rowley's Dad had a bill from the country club they go to, and that bill was for all the fruit smoothies Greg and Rowley bought. Greg didn't know that someone had to actually pay for all those smoothies. Greg's Mom and Rowley's Dad agreed that both Greg and Rowley would pay off the bill. So they started up a lawn care service, and when someone finally called Rowley and Greg they went to their house and they realized that neither one of them knew how to use a lawn mower. So Greg told Rowley that he could have the first try mowing the lawn. Well Rowley didn't like that idea at all so than they got into a big fight and Rowley walked off the job.

 

But it wasn't always like this, at the beginning of the book Greg and Rowley were best friends, but then there relationship started to crumble little by little. For example, Greg and Rowley would always go to the pool at the country club, hang out, and go to each other’s house, everything normal best friends would do. But than Mr. Jefferson (Rowley's Dad) told Rowley he is not allowed to invite Greg to the pool anymore. Well that ruined their fun at the pool, and that's when their relationship started to go downhill. But their relationship is also kind of weird because Greg also uses Rowley, like when he tells Rowley to have the first shot at mowing the lawn while he sits in the shade and starts working on their "business plans", Rowley gets mad at him and leaves him.

 

Their relationship just keeps getting worst because after that fight Greg and Rowley don't see each other for over a month.  They eventually bump into each other when their moms see each other at the supermarket. Then Rowley's Mom tells Greg's mom how they are going to the beach next week and they invite Greg to go with them. So you’re thinking that they are going to become friend's now, well think again because during that trip Greg shocks Rowley then Rowley shocks him back, then Greg ends up taking a rubber band, pulls it back and WACK! Rowley saw the red mark on his arm and he screamed. Rowley's parents got to the room and called Greg's Dad to take him home. So that just killed their friendship.