Playground by: 50 Cent

        In the memoir, Playground by 50 Cent it tells a story of a big bully named Butterball who is in Junior High School who is really aggressive and is suffering with a lot of problems in him life. The secondary characters in the story affect the way Butterball is a lot, and I'll show you how.
         Butterball is very aggressive and after attacking a former friend named Maurice with a sock full of D batteries, Butterball begins seeing a therapist named Lizzie who he hates going to talk through his anger issues. Overweight and an outcast at his junior high school school, Butterball finds that his violence and him being a bully earns new respect with the cool kids also known as Andre and his posse of friends. Butterball's relationship with his parents are very different. His parents are divorced and it's because of his mom being a lesbian. Butterball hates being with his mom because they share no similarities at all and ahe doesn't let him do what he wants. On the other hand, Butterballs relationship with his dad is great, they go to the movies all the time, he can watch tv (which he can't do with his mom because she thinks it's a waste of time and money) and he can do whatever he wants. One time he and his dad go to a shoe store who that Butterball can buy a new pair of sneakers. Butterball and his dad end up stealing a limited edition pair of sneakers and everyone at school just keeps looking at Butterballs sneakers and how cool he is. Butterball starts feeling so good and the cool kids, all of a sudden, start to let him hang out with them. Butterball isn't realizing that it's the bad things that he does (violence and theft) that makes him feel good and be "cool".
         In conclusion, this book relates to the world because it shows the struggles of a teenage boy and how he deals with them. This book is directed to teenagers or really anyone with struggles because it show how your struggles can really affect yourself as a person.

Non-Fiction BLOG POST Upfront: INVASION OF THE DRONES

Ayman Jabr 806

Wednesday 

January 21, 2015

Upfront: INVASION OF THE DRONES

In the article, "Invasion of the Drones" by Patricia Smith it talks about drones and why how they are used positively and negatively. Drones have been tested by places like Domino's and can deliver "piping hot pizza". Even though they can be used in good ways, drones can spy on you without you knowing and can really invade someone's privacy. People are concerned about their privacy and safety and are worried about how drones can affect their everyday lifestyle.

Drones can have some really good uses but can also be used very negatively. It states in "Invasion of the Drones" that Mandy Lingard was sunbathing in her secluded backyard when a drone controlled by a real estate agent was taking pictures of a house next door accidentally took some pictures her almost completely naked body. She was in shock and couldn’t believe that pictures of her naked body were being put on billboards and real estate websites. She then states "Last spring a 375-pound drone operated by the Pennsylvania National Guard crashed outside an elementary school near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania." It was great that school was out and no one got hurt by this huge drone crashing after becoming out of control. Patricia Smith then states that she feels that drones are making war too easy and like a video game instead of something very serious. Drones can be used in good ways sometimes but aren’t the best tool to be used in my opinion.

This makes me think of the future and how at any time I can be spied on. It makes start to realize how drones really shouldn’t be put into use because of how easily they can become out of control and are a danger to us all. I can now understand why drones are disturbing and a BIG invasion of peoples privacy.

"Stitches" by: David Small

Ayman Jabr 806 

Wednesday 

December 17th 2014

Stitches by: David Small

                Stitches by: David Small is a brutal memoir about the author, Small’s childhood in an abusive family, whose members included his father, an emotionally distant doctor who treated David’s sinus troubles with carcinogenic X-rays; his brother, a bully who forced sensitive David to look at their father’s R-Rated medical books; and his mother, a brittle, closeted lesbian prone to silent rages and devoid of any love for her sons. In the book, David learns a lot about his family and their secrets.

                In the beginning of the story, Small starts off with when he was only 6 years old. As a kid he had a big imagination and would run around in the neighborhood and play. A lot of the time he would get yelled at by his grandmother because he was "ignorant" and he "needed to learn". He would run away from his grandmother and play in the neighborhood. Only to get called names such as "faggot, bastard, or queer" from the bullies. As he grew older he started to grow a sabaceous cyst, a strange infectious lump on his neck. As he would be put into surgery his parents would yell and abuse him for "wasting their time and money" and they said that he would pay. His parents disapproved of his fond for reading, so they burnt all of his favorite books and made him watch. The surgery leaves David with only one vocal chord and we wasn't able to talk. A couple years after his first dyagnosis he finds out that his parents have been keeping a secret; a secret that would change Davids life forever. David finds out that he had cancer and that his parents haven't told him all this time. As the book comes to an end, David starts finding out many secrets. He finds out his mother was a lesbian and that she had a sexual relationship with one of her co-workers. He then finds out that his grandmother has had the urge to kill her husband for over 20  years.

                Overall, the story was great. I personally love memoirs and this one was probably one of the best I have ever read.

        On my synthesis page I talked about important quotes in the story "Clean" by: Amy Reed. In this essay I will be talking about three of those quotes and I'll elaborate on how important this quotes are to the story
         One very important quote was " The scene does not end with fireworks. The girl did not get arrested or overdose. She just finally got caught. But the truth is, she never really tried to hide it. The truth is, the father just decided one day to open his eyes. And there she was, right in front of him. There she was, right where she had been. This quote is very meaningful because it shows how Eva has been treated, how she has never been really cared for. She is started to open up. Another important quote was "They were watching the game, and my dad saw me and said 'Come here you little pussy'. So I walked over even though I was sure he was going to kick my ass. But instead, he gave me a beer and said ' Drink this, it will put hair on your chest'. This quote is meaningful because it shows how Jason's dad got him to start drinking and it was his dads fault that he is an alcoholic teen in rehab. The last but not least was "The truth is, the girl wanted to feel something else, to get out of her body. The truth is, that was the best part, Do you know what it feels like to become someone new? Do you know what it feels like to do something as easy as swallow a pill and be transformed into someone you don't hate. This quote is extremely meaningful how it shows that Eva started drugs because of how much she wasn't pleased of herself and how much she wanted to change.
          In conclusion, there were many meaningful and important quotes in  the story "Clean" by: Amy Reed.

Ayman Jabr 

806

11/10/14

Non-Fiction Reading Response

In the article, “ Watch out: Cell phones can be addictive” by: KathiAnn Kowalski published on September 17, 2014 it states that cell phones can be very addictive. This is because the average college student uses a smartphone for about nine hours each day. That’s longer than many of those students spend sleeping. In fact, such extended cell phone use shows that the technology could become an addiction, according to a new study. An addiction is a type of uncontrolled and unhealthy habit.

The quote “It’s well known that people can become addicted to drugs, such as alcohol, narcotics and the nicotine in cigarettes. What’s not so well known: “People can be addicted to behaviors,” says James Roberts. He’s a marketing professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Roberts also was the lead author of the new study. It appears in the August Journal of Behavioral Addictions. Some cell phone users show the same symptoms that a drug addict might have, Roberts explains. Certain people use smartphones to lift their moods. And it may take more and more time on those phones to provide the same level of enjoyment.” This quote really made me start to think because of how it states that cell phones can be as addictive to someone as things like drugs and alcohol. Another quote that made me think was “ For such people, losing a phone or having its battery die could cause anxiety or panic. That’s withdrawal, says Roberts…  “I spend more time than I should on my cell phone,” said one such statement. “I get agitated when my cell phone is not in sight,” said another. (Agitated means nervous or troubled.) The more calls someone made, the more likely they were to show signs of addiction.” This startled me because of how something like cell phone battery loss or not having your pone near can make someone panic or start to have anxiety. The last quote that made me think was how it started to talk about the difference between men and womens addictions, “The data also differed a bit for men and women. Among men, for instance, signs of a possible addiction showed a positive link, or correlation, with time spent on a Bible app and apps for reading books. As use of either app increased, so did the risk of addiction. Men’s use of social media apps, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, also correlated with risk of addiction.

Women were more likely to show signs of addiction if they often used Pinterest, Instagram, Amazon or apps that let them use their phones like an iPod. Apps for the Bible, Twitter, Pandora and Spotify showed an inverse correlation. That is, heavy use of those apps was linked to a lower risk of phone addiction.

In conclusion this relates to the world because when people think about cell phones, they don’t realize how, many people struggle with being addicted to cell phones.

Thoughts on Megan Cox Gurdon's "Darkness to Visible"

       I read Megan Cox Gurdon's "Darkness Too Visible". In the essay, MCG states how much young adult literature has changed and her take on how she feels about modern young adult books. Throughout the essay, MCG gives a handful of examples of how dark, inappropriate and gruesome these books are.

The opinion, the author MCG has about young adult literature is that is too dark and inappropriate for kids to read and she feels that if kids read these books they’ll get influenced to be doing the bad things the characters in their stories are doing. The author wants the me, the reader, to feel that modern young adult books are too gruesome for people in their adolescence and that these books should either be banned or should be put in a different age group.She wants to convince us to believe that modern young adult literature is that is too dark and inappropriate for kids to read.

My opinion on this is that I,a young adult, feels like I am capable of reading books like this and I love learning lessons because I get to know what to look out for and get to see what other people are going through.Books like Crank by: Ellen Hopkins and Tweak:Growing Up on Methemphetamines by:Nic Sheff are two of my favorite books,these two books are both banned and are both about young adults using drugs and it shows how their life has be. It teaches the reader to not use drugs and I feel young adults should know about these topics so that they to know to avoid things like this.

Ayman Jabr 806                                                                                                                    10/6/14

I will be talking about the important and meaningful quotes in Nic Sheff’s memoir, Tweak: Growing Up on Methemphetamines.This book is about a young man named Nic who is addicted to drugs like meth and heroin. These drugs have taken his real life away and he talks about his journey on drugs and how he became sober. He started drugs at a very young age and by the age of 18 he was addicted to crystal meth. While trying to find a way out, he turned to drugs or sex. He found himself hopping around drug treatment and rehab centers, looking for something. But he just couldn’t find it. The people at the centers would tell him he was insane, but he didn’t

think he was because he didn’t want a different result. During the book the main character Nic changes a whole lot as he starts to question what he really wants in life, drugs or his family.

One extremely meaningful quote took place in his Spencer’s house (Spencer is one of Nic’s friends, a recent cocaine addict who quit a couple years back and now is fully dedicated to living a sober life with his wife and daughter). This quote is on pages 166-167 and was “Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful girl. Darling, darling, darling, darling Lucy. I press my hand against her back and sing softly, almost whispering. And then there are hot, salty tears streaming down… and then there’s that feeling in there, inside me - being small, with all the confusion and worrying and longing-but also the peace and safety… And now I’m here giving that feeling to Lucy. She is an angel - light, sweet, delicate and lovely. That is so there in her. But it is also inside Spencer, in my dad lying with me as a child on the futon. It’s even in me. Sure, I buried it. I buried it and buried it and turned everything from light and sweet and delicate and lovely and became so scared and scarred and f**ked up. But that goodness is there, inside - it must be.” This quote is so meaningful because it shows him realizing how much he has changed as a person and it foreshadows how he will continue trying to stay sober so he can change from being scared and scarred to delicate and lovely.

Another meaningful quote takes place on the beach when he sees how much he has changed and how he is regaining his old life back. The quote was “ As I raise my head, my first thought is to look toward the shore. My family is on their feet, cheering”. This quote is meaningful because it shows how much Nic has changed and how for the first time in a long time he is with is family happily. Nic had decided to have family over drugs because he started to realize how much he has left behind once he entered his life of drugs.

The last of these three quotes happened before he decided to become sober and to quit drugs. The quote was “ I think about Spencer, my mom, my dad, my job and my friends I’ve left behind. I wonder if I really came to far to come back.”This quote is so meaningful because it takes the whole story to a climax as he finally decides to quit using and to go back to his old life sober. This quote brings the story to a point where it shows him choosing all his friends and family and sober living over drugs.

Nic Sheff’s “ Tweak : Growing Up on Methemphetamines” is a great book and full of inspiring 

and meaningful quotes. It relates to the world and people in their adolescence because this book shows how easily your life will turn around and become so cruel. It teaches a lesson on how drugs 

can lead you to do many things you wouldn’t have imagined ever doing.