Ocean of Blood Post

            In the book The Ocean of Blood by Darren Shan, Larten Crepsley faces a terrible concept that goes on through life. The concept that takes place is something that you can never forget but only destroy. The concept is……guilt! Guilt is a very strong emotion and unfortunately it is something that everyone has been through one time or another. The only way to not be guilty is not to do something guilty.

            Guilt is an emotion that lives on forever and Larten faces this problem because of his childhood. Before Larten Crepsley became a vampire he had murdered a man. In the book Tanish who is one of the Upper Vampires asks Larten “have you ever killed before” and Larten answered looking sad “not before I got blooded”. Larten is definitely not proud of his actions nor regrets his action but he does feel guilt.

            I know I have guilt and stuff that I am not proud of doing and I know you do too. A few days back my tutor was telling me about how she yelled at her sister for clogging the toilet and when she found out it actually wasn’t her fault she felt VERY guilty.

            Therefore Guilt is a terrible thing and it is a concept that is amazingly shown throughout the book. 

My Response to Naomi's Blog (Perks of Being a Wallflower)

Woah!!!! Great Reading Response! I love how deep you were and how well u were able to respond to the book with such heart and emotion. That Spoiler Alert thing was cool and your focus and lead on the book is very precise and demanding. You are able to relate the book to real life very well. Good Self to text connection and you make the reader feel like the same while reading the book. (Maybe i will read the book now?)

3 Reasons why Plagiarism is Bad!

1. Dont Plagiarize because when you finally finish the response you have nothing to be proud of. All the hard work really isnt your hard work it is somebody else's.
2. Instead of Plagiarizing you should paraphrase and at the end put the cite so you give Credit where credit is DUE!
3. Read books that interest you so you wont be encourages or tempted to plagiarize! REMEMBER MS GALANG KNOWS ALL!!! 0 for plagiarizing!

Binge Drinking....Not Good!

          The article “Binge drinking raises diabetes risk by damaging the brain: study” discusses a new study done in Mount Sinai School of Medicine.  It found that binge drinking can raise the risk of diabetes later in life.  Binge drinking is defined as 4 drinks within 2 hours for a woman, and 5 drinks within 2 hours for a man.  The study was done on a group of rats.  One group of rats was given alcohol for 3 days and the other group, which was the control, was given only sugar calories.  The group of rats that were given had higher level of plasma insulin.  Insulin is a hormone that reduces blood sugar by helping cells take in glucose.  Higher level of plasma insulin is a sign of diabetes, because it shows the insulin is not being processed.  Not only that, they rats also had inflammation in their brain.  This proved that binge drinking caused diabetes by messing with the brain.  The part of the brain that it affects is the hypothalamus, which is a major endocrine organ.  It controls metabolism, and helps the body process insulin.  When the brain is swollen, the body becomes insulin resistant.  When the researchers blocked the protein that caused the inflammation, the rats were able to process insulin again.  Initially scientists thought insulin resistance in binge drinkers were due to liver damage, but this study proved them wrong.

          This article proves yet another way that alcohol is harmful to the body.  Alcohol is already known to contribute to obesity and liver damage.  There are also many accidents due to drunk drivers.  Now it causes brain inflammation and diabetes.  Why would any individual want to put themselves through so much torture?  Diabetes is already a huge problem in today’s society, and alcohol is contributing further to the problem.  I think bars should have more limits in alcohol consumption to at least try and limit the problem.  Also individuals need to think and behave more responsibly.  

Work  Cited

Miller, Tracy. "Binge Drinking Raises Diabetes Risk by Damaging the Brain: Study ." NY Daily News. Perle Vision, 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2013. <http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/binge-drinking-ups-diabetes-risk-damaging-brain-article-1.1251457>.

The Concept of Teamwork (Hobbit)

            In the book The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien I thought the theme of always working together was very important. I also agree that in real life it is teamwork that makes a person who he or she is.

            Throughout the book Bilbo and his friends all face many troubles. When Thorin was captured by the spider demon, Bilbo and the other dwarves went to save him. Teamwork is what allowed them to save Thorin and defeat the demon. While some dwarves were holding the net the others were stabilizing the bridge, so their leader could make it back safely. If the bridge wasn’t being held up then I am pretty sure everybody would have died right there on the spot.

            I can also connect teamwork to real-world connections. People may think teamwork is just a way to get things completed in shorter amounts of time, but it is more than that. Teamwork is very special because if the cooperation of one person or thing can really make a difference. If there was no teamwork in the world then the world will start collapsing one by one with the domino effect. People will continue to become independent and wouldn’t need anybody in their lives. When I was back in Kindergarten and 1^st grade I had HORRIBLE English. Thanks to the “teamwork” of my friends and teacher I speak English much more fluently than my own language, and one day I will probably be fluent with my own language.

            Therefore, teamwork is a very big deal. Without it life wouldn’t be right and Bilbo expresses that in The Hobbit by protecting his friends. 

Who has “power” in your text? How does that power get shown?

            In the book Percy Jackson #1: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan I noticed that the book has a theme of Power into it. I noticed that some people have to work hard to achieve power, while others are just born with the given right to rule.

            In this book in particular Percy has to face many challenges because he is not royally given right. Percy is challenged for one reason… because Zeus who is the king of the gods “THINKS” Percy stole his lightning bolt. Zeus blackmails Percy by saying that his home and family will be separated if he refuses to return the lightning bolt.  Although, Percy did not steal the lightning bolt he had to rush through the world to find out who took Zeus’ lightning bolt.

            This book shows power because it represents the dangers and problems that “Power” can create. When people have power they seem to be full of themselves. They just have too much Pride to maintain. As you can see when people DO NOT have power they have to put all their effort to climb their way to the top.

            I also noticed that there is also a different kind of power. There is Good power. Good power is when a person uses his leadership not for personal gain, but benefits for their people in general. One example of this is Poseidon. Poseidon is maintaining the worlds balance with his soothing water abilities. He is also a ruler so he is using his “Power” to direct Zeus towards the right path.

            Therefore, Power can be expressed in many ways throughout a book. Power can be good. Power can be bad. Power is actually a very strong word and it relates on the characteristics of a person. People who use power to torture people to do their own bidding are using bad kind of power. Such as Zeus who is telling Percy to go get his Lightning Bolt. 

Social Issue:Critical Thinking DOAWK

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is one of the best book series I’ve ever read. It is the most unique book series because it’s also like a comic book. Jeff Kinney, the author of the books, is a genius. The books are hilarious and relatable most of the times. The first book in the series concentrates a lot on the relationship between Greg, the main character, and his best friend Rowley. 
           The books are from Greg Heffley’s perspective. Greg is a very flawed character. He is lazy, selfish, and always takes advantage of his friend. He hurts Rowley just to amuse himself. He gets Rowley in trouble, but never feels guilty about it. Greg always acts like the boss and never even considers any of Rowley’s suggestions. So I wonder how the books would be like if they were from Rowley’s perspective.

I understand why they are not from Rowley’s perspective. Rowley is a duller character than Greg. Also Rowley is too good a person to show the gray shades of a character.  So, reading from his perspective may not be as amusing. Although, I do wonder if he does or does not feel offended by the way Greg treats him. Is Rowley really comfortable of having a best friend that always takes advantage of him? I know I wouldn’t want a friendship that is so single-sided. Unfortunately, in real life there exist friendships that are not fairly balanced. Having a glimpse of Rowley’s inner thoughts could have shown the readers how the subordinate person in a relationship feels at difficult times.