Reading Response

        What really hard things are happening in this text? Are these things happening in the world now? Where?

        Around the world, many people are currently going through hard problems such as abuse, poverty, divorce, bullying, etc. Some people who aren't going through some of these things may take life for granted. This is why I think the Author Craig Thompson wrote "Blankets" to show readers what it is like to go through some of them. In the book "Blankets", written by Craig Thompson, the Author puts some of the main characters through hard things that are happening in the world today.

        The first common social issue the Author puts one of the main characters through is going through a divorce when he was used to seeing his adopted parents happily married for a long time. At a certain point in time, children's parents may not have the same love for each other as they used to. Sometimes this may lead to a divorce. Depending on the person, each child will react differently. One of the common emotions a child will feel is anger. Raina's adopted brother Ben finally expresses the anger he has been holding in for a long period of time. "You can't get a divorce!" He screams to his adopted Father. "NO DIVORCE DAD! YOU AND MOM ARE MARRIED!....IT SAYS SO--IN THE BIBLE!" (Thompson 352). He then slams a chair into the wall, Throughout the book, after throwing that small tantrum, Ben locks himself in his room for long periods of time and refuses to talk to anyone. This quote shows the effect divorce can have on a child.

        Unlike others, some children weren't born into good homes. Some of them may be abused physically, mentally, or sexually almost every day, and are too afraid to tell this problem to anyone. This is what happened to Craig and his little brother Phil. Whenever their parents went out together, they would hire the same babysitter to look after them. He would trick Craig and Phil into going in a room with him to "hear a joke", when really he would just touch them inappropriately and do other things. "Hey I've got a really funny joke. So funny, I can only tell it to you one at a time" (Thompson 31). Is what he would say. Then he would take one of them into a room and when he was done, both Craig and him would come out laughing. This quote shows what some children have to go through in their homes.

        The last common social issue the author puts one of the main characters through is being bullied. Sadly, close to half of all children will experience bullying while they are in elementary or middle school. Atleast ten percent are bullied on a day-to-day basis. ("Bullying Statistics" 1). In the beginning of the book, Craig was constantly being bullied in middle school by a group of older kids. "You know it's not just you we hate, it's your whole family. Your dad looks like a Mexican-- too poor to feed you, and your mom is so religious it makes everyone in town sick!" (Thompson 21). After insulting him Craig would get angry and try to hurt them, but since he was smaller than them it did nothing. They would say, "Sorry we don't fight babies." and then throw him into a pit by the school. This quote shows one of the many hard things people go through regularly.

        This text makes me realize that I should be grateful that I don't have to go through any of those things today, and that I shouldn't take my life for granted.

Monday Muses

Who's perspective is missing in this text? What would it be like if we put it back?

        In the book "Blankets", written by Craig Thompson, I think that Craig's little brother's perspective is missing in the scene after they were sexually harassed by their babysitter. Even though Craig is the main character and the story focuses on his love life with Raina, it would answer any questions about how Craig's brother is doing. For example one question I had after reading that part in the story was, how did he feel about what happened to him? Will he ever be healthy emotionally/mentally? Since they were both sexually abused he had to be damaged emotionally or mentally in some way. I think it would've been better if they added his perspective as well and not just Craig's. The only time the reader see's Craig's brother is towards the end of the book when they are seniors in high school. But even then the Author makes no detail of how Craig's brother was doing.

        If the Author added Craig's brother's perspective, it would allow the reader to fully understand what their childhood was like growing up, and how being sexually harassed effected the both of them. For example, since the author brings that social issue up more than once, it is obviously important. We would've also learned how he felt about Craig after he let the babysitter do that to him when he knew what would happen.

Reading Response On Divergent

        If the character in your book has problems, can you see how those problems are about having or not having money, struggling with others for power, or being cheated, or helped by society's rules?

        In the book Divergent written by Veronica Roth, one of the main characters Beatrice had to struggle for power the become one of the top five in her faction. In this dystopian world, there are five different factions. They are, Eruidite, Abnegation, Candor, Amity, and Dauntless. Every day Beatrice and about twelve others were tested to see how strong they were and had to compete against each other. Almost every day She was matched up to a partner to fight. Based on how well she did in each test, she was ranked. Whenever Beatrice did better than some of the other people competing against her, they would brutally beat and taunt her. In the end, she becomes one of the top five in her faction, and would not become factionless like the others who did not make it.