The Bus is Yellow

put idiom here

apples abolish anger
refrigerator

Reading Response Assessment

In my book, Graceling, Katsa changes in many ways. At the beginning of the book, Katsa is a puppet controlled by her uncle, King Randa, because she is a Graceling (Gracelings are people with a specific skill, or Grace. e.g. cooking or juggling) and all Gracelings are required to work for the king. Since her Grace was thought to be killing, Katsa was used as a henchman to do the King's dirty work. For example, on page 126, Randa orders Katsa to take one of Lord Ellis's daughters away from him. Her time with Prince Po of Lienid changed her, She realized that she didn't have to listen to Randa and that he couldn't force her to do any of the things that he wanted her to do (page 132). She proceeded to save a Princess (page 280), Bitterblue, who then became Queen (page 417) and became close friends with both Bitterblue and Po.

Should Violent Video Games be Banned

             Everyone has heard at least one rumor about how “violent video games make people more likely to kill someone else.” I disagree with this statement for one large reason, I have many friends that all play these video games and out of all of them only one of them has actually ever intentionally hurt another person. This kid has also been through a lot in his life; his parents were irresponsible and he was living with one of his college-age brothers. He hardly saw his parents and spent a lot of his time alone. He may have hurt someone but it was because he wasn't getting any attention at home and simply wanted people to notice him. These games may not directly cause violent tendencies in people but people have a good reason to believe that they do.
            These games all make war look like something that you come back from unchanged and unhurt. This may cause people to join the army think that it would be “cool” and maybe even “fun.” However, that is just about the only potentially bad thing that comes directly from playing these violent video games. People know that these games are meant as a way to waste time and begin playing them to fit in or simply to take a break from reality. However, I do agree with enforcing that only people 18 and older can play violent video games because young children may imitate what the character says or does due to the fact that they are still trying to figure out how the world works and what is or isn't okay for them to do.
             Most of the rumors being spread about violent video games only apply to young children because they still have a hard time telling what is wrong from what is right. As long as the video games are played only by the intended audiences the games won't cause any killing sprees or shootings. Do you think that these violent video games should be banned or should the restrictions be enforced more strictly?

Works Cited

"Pathways From Childhood Conduct Problems to Adult Criminality." Childhood Conduct Problems
             and Adult Criminality. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.              
             <http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/panko.html>.
"Violent Video Games & Aggressive Behaviors." Violent Video Games. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.
             <http://www.pamf.org/parenting-teens/general/media-web/violentgames.html>.

MLK Jr.

When I was a kid I heard all about how heroic Martin Luther Jr. was and about how important he was to the history of the U.S. Martin Luther King fought for civil rights and he overcame problems as a child and throughout his schooling and how these led him to protest against the discrimination of African-Americans in a peaceful manner. Martin Luther King Jr.was an influential man even before he ended the Jim Crow Laws with his life changing "I Have a Dream" speech.

Martin Luther King Jr. decided to take the same path as his father and become a pastor. As a pastor, he often preached in front of many people, which helped when he started protesting the Jim Crow Laws. One of his first protests was called "Letter from Birmingham Jail" which protested against the imprisonment of Rosa Parks and other African-Americans for disobeying the segregationist Jim Crow Laws. This protest wasn't actually a speech but a letter to the current president, John F. Kennedy. Other peaceful protests included Loving Our Enemies, Our God is Marching On and Give Us the Ballot. All of these protests peacefully pointed out the racist and inhumane Jim Crow Laws.

Dr. King’s speeches affected the lives of millions of people by creating civil equality between all races not just between the whites and the African-Americans. His most famous speech, known as the "I Have a Dream" speech, was spoken in Washington D.C. And it was by far the most influential of his speeches. This speech was so influential because he pointed out that even after they were freed from slavery they were still treated as less than the Whites, the mistakes the government had made since the abolition of slavery and it was heard by the President.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. changed the U.S. for the better and has made us into the country we are now. He grew up as the son of a pastor in a small town and grew up to become one of the most influential men the world has ever seen. He proves that with enough effort and the right words anyone can make changes to the world. 

Works Cited

"American Experience: TV's Most-watched History Series." PBS. PBS. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.               

           <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/jfk-mlkdream/>.

"Martin Luther King Jr. Childhood." Martin Luther King Jr. Childhood. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.               

           <http://castle.eiu.edu/~wow/classes/fa03/mlkchildhood.html>.

"Upbringing & Studies." Upbringing & Studies. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. 

          <http://www.thekingcenter.org/upbringing-studies>.

Reaction to NFL/Tennis Video

The announcer pointed out that "If there is any word that describes the Nfl recently, it is 'ugly'" and that some of the teams are using deflated footballs so that they can win. On the other hand, Tim Smyczek is "living the moment of a lifetime" and has a chance to beat Fidel Castro in a Tennis match but decides to give him a reserve due to someone in the crowd screaming. This points out that football is becoming something that people are cheating in so that they can win but tennis players are retaining their honor and playing an honest match

Argument Reflection

I did have a clear claim. However, I am uncertain that it was within my thesis statement. I did notice very much evidence to support my claim but it was all relevant and useful information. I had one counter-claim that I disproved to show my point. The paragraph didn't begin with a hook and I'm uncertain if it had a thesis statement. I only had one paragraph and it did read somewhat smoothly but the first sentence is kind of long. The evidence did make sense and supported my side of the argument. I did avoid plagiarism and used a small in text citation. The bibliography is present and properly formatted. There are a few mistakes involving missing commas and long sentences. I didn't think of asking my peers for advice buy probably should have. 

Response to "The Invaders"

The main theme in my book, The Invaders by John Flanagan, is: Teamwork is necessary to achieve some goals, this is represented through the current scene because Hal has to cooperate with some of the local people to get back an important artifact from a group of pirates. They have devised a plan to get back the village and the artifact from the pirates. However, the man leading the locals decided to not follow the plan and Hal's best friend, Stig, knocks him out and one of his men, Jonas says "I rather wish that I'd slapped the pompous idiot myself" (page 282)