Outside Reading #4

Just as I had predicted, Bella's visit to Jacob ended up really paying off. She enjoyed being with him so much that she began to hang out with him on a daily basis. Although it was obvious that she was significantly happier, there were still some side affects of her depression that remained. In fact, there was one in particular that she developed an interest in. This unique side affect consisted of hearing Edward's voice talk to her in her head. Only when she would do something life-threatening or extremely dangerous is when she would hear Edward repeatedly scold her and tell her not to do it. Bella loved this, and soon began to rely on it to make her happy. She would literally crave the sound of his velvety smooth voice, to the point where she would risk anything just to hear it. At one point in the book she becomes so desperate to hear it that she decides the perfect way to trigger the voice is to go cliff diving. Naturally, she knows no one would approve of this so she decides to go alone. She immediately took the car and raced to one of the highest cliffs in La Push. She was so overwhelmed by the complete thrilling and terrifying feelings she was experiencing before the jump, that she completely forgot to think about what she was jumping into, literally. Once she landed in the water below, the death-defying waves that repeatedly thrashed against her fragile human body took her completely by surprise. The combination of monsterous waves and whipping winds forced her under deep inside the never ending blackness, making it impossible to find the surface. After what seemed like hours of struggling for just one breath of air, she began to slowly give up. She began to let the water sink into her lungs when everything finally went black. All a sudden, she woke up in Jacob's arms barely able to comprehend the world around her. She couldnt speak let alone breath properly, and all she could see was jacob's worried face carrying her and a firey red figure floating far accross the water. I really like this section of the book because it was really suspensefull and there were a lot of things that took me by surprise. One thing I found really interesting was when she was drowning, instead of freaking out she just kept thinking things like "this is a nice way to die" and "this is easier than other deaths". I found that interesting because I know for a fact that if I had been in that situation my head would be filled completely with panic

Outside Reading #3

After Edward said his final goodbye to Bella, her life changed drastically. She instantly became a whole new person, but definitely not for the better. She no longer smiled, never laughed, and avoided any type of contact with people as much as possible. This sudden change affected not only her but also everyone around her. Charlie, her dad, became extremely worried and her friends didn't know what to do with her. She spent as much time as she possible could alone, trying desperately to shut herself off from the world. Even though her friends refused to accept the new Bella, I personally don't blame her for acting this way. It's not like she can control it, and after suffering such a sudden stab to the heart, I too would act this way. At this point I thought it seemed almost impossible for anything positive to come out of this, but as soon as I continued to read I was proved wrong. Charlie eventually became so worried about Bella that he finally couldn't take it anymore. He simply couldn't stand watching his daughter suffer every day like this, so he built up the courage and insisted she go out and have fun. Naturally, Bella instantly rejected this idea as soon as it came out of Charlie's mouth. After a long heated argument, Charlie ended up getting his way and persuaded Bella to go visit Jacob Black for the day. Jacob is a freshman that lives down on the Indian reservation La Push, who's known Bella since they were born. I personally think that seeing one of her oldest friends and spending a little time with him will be good for her. Although I do completely understand where her sadness and never ending desire to be alone is coming from, I also think she needs some time back in the real world if she ever wants to recover. Reflecting back on my first blog entry, I've noticed how the overall mood of the story so far continues to be really depressing and negative.

Outside Reading #2

The next big event that happened in New Moon was Bella's 18th birthday party. Eventhough this was definately last thing she wanted, she really had no choice but to go. The idea of celebrating the thing she dreaded the most was completely sickening to her. But despite her negative outlook on the situation, the Cullen's insisted on throwing her a party, gifts and all. When escorted by Edward into the giant white house, she was happily greated by every member of the Cullen family. Aice, Emmett, Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, and even Rosalie, were all there and ready to celebrate. To Bella's surprise, the evening wasn't turning out as bad as she had predicted it would. Everything was going particularly well, so she decided to open her presents. While attempting to open the first one, she accidently sliced her finger open just the slightest bit with the wrapping paper. Only a minor paper cut resulted, but this had been enough to completely overwhelm Jasper. It all happened very quickly; the cut, the blood, Jasper completely losing control. Before Bella even realized what was going on, Edward threw himself on top of her in an attempt to sheild her from the blood-thirsty Jasper. Edward's huge body knocked Bella over onto a glass table, completely shattering it. She fell into numerous shards of glass, spilling blood everywhere. By this time, Jasper was going insane, and even Edward wasn't sure if he could control himself. The whole Cullen family, except for Carlisle, immediately had to leave the house to prevent harming Bella. This whole incident didn't mean that much to Bella, but it completely shattered Edward. He became overwhelmingly disgusted with himiself, to the point of making a life changing decision. He made up his mind that it would be best for everyone if he left Bella, for good. He became truly convinced that his presence only threatened Bella's life, and with him around she would suffer greatly. Of course when Bella heard this, she lost control of everything around her. Except when Edward told her he was leaving her, he didn't exactly tell her the truth. He made it seem like her was leaving her because he simply didnt love her anymore, and was ready to move on. This, naturally, was what made Bella lose control. She lost all hope in everyone and everything around her, and for the next few months her life became a world of depression and axiety. My opinion on Edward's choice is that I definately think it was a bad one. How could he think that telling her he didnt love her anymore could be the right thing to do? It sent her spiraling into a depression that nobody thought she would ever come out of.

Outside Reading #1

For my 4th quarter outside reading assignment I chose the book New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. I am really liking it so far, except for one thing. The thing that kind of bothers me about the main character of the story, Bella, is how she is always so negative and makes everything seem so depressing. Throughout the whole beginning of the book Bella is constantly in a bad mood. Although this does get annoying, I do understand her reasoning for some of it. The book begins with her waking up on the morning of her birthday, and she instantly starts complaining. She's distressed because it's the dreaded day she's been avoiding ever since she found out Eward's secret. It's the day she turns 18, when she officially becomes a year older than Edward. The fact that she'll never be the same age as him really stresses her out, which I understand. Edward is completely against turning her into a vampire, or "monster" as he would call it. I was thinking about it, and if I were in her situation I would definately want the same thing she does. The fact that Edward won't turn her into a vampire would make me mad too. It just dosen't make sense to me to be like 80 years old and have a 17 year old boyfriend, and knowing that I was going to die and he wouldn't would just not be an option. So obviously I understand how that puts her in a bad mood, but then later it talks about how she refuses to accept presents or any recognition that its her birthday at all from people. For instance, when Alice tries to give her a birthday present, Bella immediately refuses to accept it. I just found it really interesting that she is so against a day most people happily celebrate. Other than this though, I really like the book so far and am excited to keep reading.

Reflection: Why I Chose New Moon

For my 4th quarter outside reading assignment I decided to choose the book New Moon by Stephanie Meyer. New Moon is the second book in the Twilight series. The reason I chose this book was because over winter break my sister came home from college and brought back the movie Twilight with her. I had never seen it or read the book and didnt really plan on doing either, but she ended up persuading me to watch it with her. After watching it I instantly became addicted. I watched it 6 more times that day and bought the book the next week. I recently finished the first book, so I decided it would be a good idea to read the second for outside reading.

Gender Roles

I recently read an article titled "A Breadwinner Rethinks Gender Roles" by M.P. Dunleavey. This article is about a couple who decided to switch things up a bit. They were expecting a baby, meaning one of them would have to be out of work to care for it. Instead of the usual, stay at home mom routine, they decided to have the dad quit his job and take care of the newborn. Before launching the plan, they had no doubts about it. The fact that she would be providing economically for the family and her husband would be providing domestically didn't bother them at all. However; once they began this expiriment, she came to find it wasn't going to be that easy. The probelm wasn't being able to care for the child or the ability to support the family enough, but rather something more on the emotional side. Since she is being considered the "breadwinner" of the house, certain responsibilities are being put upon her that she isnt used to. The reason men don't get as negatively affected by these responsibilities is, according to Barbara Risman, professor of sociology at the University of Chicago, is because “men have a sense of esteem, of identity that comes with being the provider” I found this article very interesting because if I were put in this situation i would automatically think that switching the roles of the Husband and Wife would have no affect on them at all.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/business/27instincts.html?scp=1&sq=gender%20roles&st=cse

BLOG 2

For Wednesdays blog that was supposed to be focusing on overcoming the struggle of facing a difficulty, i read an article from cnn.com called The world's most heinous crime. This article is about the act of genocide, and how many people around the world have suffered from it. The actual definition of genocide is "the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group". Christiane Amanpour from CNN decided to travel to Africa and Asia to further explore the problem faced by 4 individuals. They all had one goal in mind; to stop genocide. Every attempt they made however was shot down, and they were told it was simply not their problem. In the next few sections of this article there are numerous examples of countries trying to eliminate this horrid crime, and failing. In the 1970's Cambodia's attempt was approached by a catholic missionary who wrote a book called "Year Zero" which contained accounts of slave labor and torcher that lead to half the population's death. "No one believed us" he stated. Another unsuccessful attempt happened in Iraq. They found that having an intervention would be extremely expensive and not worth it. Overall the article reflects the theme of overcoming facing a difficulty by showing that many people around the world have suffered from genocide and their families and friends are not able to do anything about it. I believe that genocide is a horendous crime and should never be allowed.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Andy Segal, Jennifer Hyde and Ken Shiffman contributed to this report. The world's most heinous crime http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/11/20/sbm.overview/