Elsewhere By:Gabrielle Zevin

Life After Death - Slam Poetry

There are things we were told, 

When we were to get old.

But what if we never had a chance to grow old.

How do we know what will happen in the next 5 years,

Or next week, or even tomorrow.

The problem is that we don't know,

Well how do we find out? 

The answer is that we can't.

So the most important lesson in life is to let go.

Forgive, Forget, and Move on.

Life after death, huh!

Who are we kidding?

Elsewhere by:Gabrielle Zeven

Link to Article - CBC

The main social issue in my book is life after death. I chose this article because it relates to how the main character in my book dies. Her death leaves her confused, for a long while she believed that she was just dreaming. I think a death or near death experience effect our brain in ways that cannot be explained. 

Elsewhere by:Gabrielle Zevin

          This is a song by Cristina Perri called Human. I chose this song to represent the social issue, loss, in my book. This is because I feel that this song reflects the feelings of the family after Elizabeth, the main character, dies. The lyrics, "I can fake a smile, I can force a laugh," reflect the show that the parents and her brother have to put on for others to cover their loss. When the lyrics, "I'm only human, And I bleed when I fall down, I'm only human, And I crash and I break down," play, I think about her parents breaking down and crying at her funeral.   

'The Sniper' By: Liam O'Flaherty

          The war  between Republicans and Free Staters was waging, a Republican sniper lay waiting to get a chance to shoot his enemy in the dark night. He lit a cigarette  but was spotted quickly, he had to dodge the bullets that came his way. As an enemy car was spotted, the sniper shot the enemies that were visible, but he was shot on the forearm by a man on the opposite roof. He cleaned the wound as fast as he could and came up with a plan. He let his enemy think he was dead by putting his hat on his gun and letting the man shoot it. He let the hat and riffle fall making his enemy think he was dead. He used his riffle to shoot the enemy once he was in plain sight. The sniper felt remorse and guilt for what he had done. He wanted to see the enemies face before reporting the good news to his commander, when he turned the body over he look into his brother's face.

          The Theme I think that the theme of this story is that everything is not always how it looks. This is expressed in the story when the sniper, through out the whole story thinks that the man on the opposite roof is his enemy. Where in fact, all along it was his brother.

          News Article relating to 'The Sniper' by Liam O'Flaherty

Child Soilders

Connection: There was a major connection between the video and the article, which was child soldiers. There were, and probably still are, children fighting wars and battles on others commands. On top of that, the media that surrounds us everyday supports the usage of weapons. The new games coming out influence our generation to think that violence is good and can solve problems. Call of Duty, Clash of Clans, God of War, and Mortal Kombat are just naming a few.

 Challenges: The environment around the person also determines their behavior, if the person has a peaceful past they will more likely be a peaceful person in general. They would try to find ways to solve a problem they know best, peacefully and calmly. On the other hand, if the person has had a more violent past or was forced into violent actions they would have problems in withdrawal. The Internet and games also play an important role in this, if they are played from a very young age they become a part of our past, making our actions and reactions dependent on them. 

Concepts: A key concept would be that, we can do anything we put our minds to. If Ishmael did not want him self to quit doing drugs and go back to leading a "normal" life, he wouldn't have been able to change. I put normal in quotes because there are many definitions of normal, and the normal I'm talking about is a job with a house and a regular routine. 

Changes: A change suggested by the text would be to stop using others to fight our battles. We have to stop forcing unwilling children to fight in wars. Also we have to stop the promotion of war using games and everyday media. 

Resources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kEL_LRBSqk
http://intra.iam.hva.nl/content/1213/propedeuse/maatschappij_en_interactie/lesprogramma/Grossman_Teaching-Kids-To-Kill-1999.pdf

War in Europe

Link to Article

          This article talks about the confrontation over Ukraine. It seems to have taken on a momentum of its own. If somehow the Ukraine crisis ends, the likelihood of a new Cold War developing will drop drastically, but not end. If the crisis in Ukraine deepens (or a crisis elsewhere arises), so will the new Cold War. In other words, Ukraine is central to the direction the encounter will take, but not everything depends on what happens there. Just like the original Cold War, the new Cold War will play out on many stages, and it will not even begin to be resolved until both sides recognize the high costs of the course they are on and decide to tackle the difficult steps leading to a different path.

          This relates to the world because, if there were to be another Cold War, this time we might not be as lucky as the last. The Cold War could turn into a hot war, and destroy half the population of people and world.