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Katia's IRP on Pablo Neruda's Poetry

Posted by Alexa Dunn in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, June 7, 2013 at 2:23 pm

I was reading 5 poems from a book named 100 love sonnets by Pablo Neruda.

He is a chilean poet, he was born in 1904 and died in 1973. Neruda was called the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language. He won a lot of prizes one of them was a nobel prize of literature in 1971. Neruda wrote this book celebrating his love. The book is talking about the different periods in his relationship with his wife Matteld .

-Poem 1:

It says: if your eyes were not the color of moon, of a day full of clay and work and fire. this is the first line of the poem. maybe that means that this love is so beautiful but so hard it is like if we say that this love is as the most pretty rose. but the prettiest rose is the most one that have more thorns than any other tipe of flowers. it is maybe saying that love is the biggest hurt but the largest joie. we could know that he loves her so much, his life depend on her life and that this woman is everything for him. as he says: but when i hold you i hold everything that is...

-Poem 2:

The first line says: i crave your mouth, your voice, your hair. silent and starving, i prowl through the streets. It means that he strongly wants her, and he is looking for her everywhere as he misses her so much, it is saying that he is lost without her and that he is nothing if she is not by his side. she means for him a lot and he loves her much.

-Poem 3:

It is saying that the time is so short when they are together. or maybe he wants to say there is something happened and they were focusing on it then he could not enjoy her her, and now he wants to give that time to do what he could not do.

it seems that he really likes her hair. as he says: i only want to be your stylist. also he is telling that he loves her so much, as he says: do not forget me remember that i love you. also, he really needs her with him, as he says: don't let me wander lost without your hair.

-Poem 4:

The first line of this poem says: i do not love you as if you were salt--rose, or topaz...I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul. it maybe means thatthis love is a secret between him and himself and that it could be something so pretty that we can see but it is not as it is invisible. but however he it is a beautiful feeling inside, as he says: i love you as the plant that never blooms but caries in itself the light of hidden flowers.he is saying that he just love her and he can not control his feeling, as he says: i love you without knowing how or when or frome where. he loves her so much and his heart, his mind and his soul are always with her, he is talking as there is two souls in one body, as he says: so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as i am fall asleep.

-Poem 5:

in the first line it says: leaning in to the afternoons i cast my sad nets towards your oceanic eyes. so, he is trying to get something from something that can not give him what he is looking for. he is putting his nets in a sad ocean where there is nothing to get,.the fire of that love is burning him and no one could take him out even water as he is talking about fire and drowning. he is lost, he is drowning in that ocean which is her eyes or love, he is lost and he wants to be in the sea or the beach, he wants to see the land, he wants to see something that tells him that he is all right and he does not need to be scared anymore, something like the lighthouse. all of these things that he wants to see are just in her eyes, all of these places where he wants to be are in her eyes. but her eyes are so far, he can not see her eyes as they are absent eyes which means that everything is absent. he says: there in the highest blaze my solitude lengthens and flames, its arms turning like drowning man s. i send out red signals acrosse your absent eyes that smell like the sea or the beach by lighthouse. his love for her gives him a courage and strength, he could do anything just to arrive to her, as he says: leaning to the afternoons i fling my nets to the sea that is thrashed by your oceanic eyes. it seems like this love hurts him someway but it still beautiful and he is fighting for it, as he said: the birds of night peck at the fast stars that flash like my soul when i love you. the night gallops on its shadowy mare shedding blue tassels over the land..

I really love these poems, i like how the poet is using the opposite language and relating everything to nature, his poems are unclear, i feel like he has some of sheakspear language as he uses a lot of medaforms and we can not understand what he wants to say exactly. if i would have an opportunity to change something in these poems i would never change anything, when i was reading them i felt that he feels what he wrote or he wrote what he felt. and if the write what he feels he makes the reader live with him what he is saying.

i am so glad because i knew this poet and i rad his poems i hope if i could read the haul book. if some one is looking for something to read i would definitively say that this book is one of the best books.

i loved it, i loved it, i loved it.

Blog Post 2 (YATW)

Posted by Marcus Cruz in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, January 24, 2013 at 11:45 am

Hello again, for those of you that have not read my blog post #1, my name is Marcus Cruz and I’m on a mission to help prevent young students from dropping out. In my first blog post I explored different things that those that have drooped out can do to get their life back together (you can view my blog post #1 by clicking here). However, my goal for this part of my project was to find the causes of dropping out and warn the youth. I think it is better that they are exposed to why these things happen and if they see it happening in their life, they will be prepared to handle it.
First I began by interviewing my cousin Andrew, he has graduated recently from El Centro de Estudiantes, a school for those who have dropped out to get the education. I started by asking him what was his life before he dropped out? He answered “It was good, I felt like that there was a lot of pressure, for me as a student to handle all the responsibility...” I then asked him, how did he handle this? He said “I ignored it, I turned away from it, I thought I ain’t need it...”
We next talked about how was his life after he was ‘done’ with school. He gave me one word description, “broke” saying that he had no income.
However, Andy was able get back to school with El Centro De Estudiantes, a program/school to get dropouts back to school. I was there at his graduation, I was able to see his able to see his satisfaction and pride when he had that diploma in his hand. I asked him at his graduation, “now that you have your diploma what do feel?”. He responded “Way more confident, now that I’m educated, I think I ready to work in more sophisticated places.”
Second, I went to Julia De Bergos (a middle school) and spoke to up and coming 8th graders, we discussed why they feel that they dislike school. They told me that it’s boring and it’s hard. I continued forward with their opinions why they don’t like school. I asked them how can we eliminate these problems by fixing ourselves. That question had them stumped.
Thats a problem that a lot of students are facing, self evaluation and constructive criticism. If students were able to fix solutions they found in themselves, they would be able to focus on obtaining their education.
I came back a week later, I told them my opinion and we made a goal. We would see an improvement from their 2nd report card by using self evaluation and fixing problems they find in themselves.Now my next post will contain, the results of this little test. Until next blog post.

Everyone Deserves Better

Posted by Sydne Hopkins-Baker in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, January 18, 2013 at 2:05 pm

You would never know

Since my first blog I decided to go back to past to where it all started. I went back to talk to my old advisory teacher from my middle school. She had our class do a Need and Deed based off of animal abuse. During the process we connected the dots between animal abuse and child abuse. This made me go back to interview her about how she felt about the whole topic. I never got to hear how she felt in the six grade now It’s her turn. I did interview some of my friends with different questions. I wanted to know how they felt about this topic, because some people take it serious and some don’t Unfortunately the interview did not save correctly but I did get a interview with a animal lover . (insert link to interview)
After interviewing my teacher I wanted to do a little bit more research. How are animal and child abuse related? It’s simple actually, By abusing a living being that cannot defend themselves or speak out, the abuser shows its power and control. Abuse is abuse no matter how you see it. In clip you should see the women at the end says “If someone could let a dog get into that position what else would they do?” It’s sad how someone could not take care of a simple animal. In the clip the abuser has a child of his own. If you couldn’t take care of a little animal why buy one? Yes times are tough... but just leaving a puppy to die is like leaving a baby in the streets alone. I think if you can’t afford to take care of the animal take it to the shelter. Just like with a child if you feel you can’t be responsible for it take it to a adoption center or a home. It’s the right thing to do.
The following pie charts show the shocking truth behind animal and child abuse. The most popular way abusers, abuse animals and babies, is simple neglect. Which just means not feeding or bathing the animal/child. The scariest thing to me was seeing the ways people abuse animals. I could never ever burn a animal with fire or fireworks. It’s like what kind of craziness!!! Everybody and everything deserves a peaceful death. Not being beaten to death or blown up to pieces.

The new research I did was really depressing. It was sad reading about abuse just in general. It really got me thinking this is a huge issue. There has always been abuse but the amount of cases grew in the past year. It’s getting worse by the minute. I think if we don’t put a stop to this all the shelter in Philly will be too crowded and won’t be able to help save the helpless animals. I wonder what would happen if the helpless would never get help? Would there still be dead bodies all over? Will strays stay stray and die alone? It’s the sad truth. For my next blog I want to give back to the animals. I want to find them a nice home where people will love, not hurt them.

For my bibliography click here

Blog post 2 Global Warming

Posted by Alejandro Bautista-Garcia in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, January 18, 2013 at 2:03 pm

GLOBAL WARMING

For this blog I learned that most of the people that I know will not give up their electronics
since their electronics revolves around their lives, I did some research on this by making
a survey were all my friends answered questions about global warming and they all said that
they used lots of technology every day because they already got attached to it and they can do
things quick and easier with them.

Some research that I did for this project was to look more information about global warming and also ask questions about this world problem to my engineering teacher Mr. VK ; from his point of view of the global warming I learned that this was
a big thing now than it was before also I learned that some people is doing little things about
this but it’s not enough to actually help because the United States is scared that if they
pay for this to make things that we use daily more efficient and less damageable to the earths
Ozone layer, What I think of this is that the United States should at least try on making a little
more improvement on this big problem that the United States and the world is dealing with.Also
what I wonder is why is this problem was building up from years ago why didn’t the world make
an action on this problem right when it was happening.

For my next blog i will research deeply in this problem and answer some of my questions that i still wonder about global warming and what is going to happened if we don’t take action on this

This are the answers that Mr. VK about global warming

Is global warming unprecedented? we know its happening there is no debate outside the people that have a financial gain and outside of what’s happening.

Is global warming catastrophic? its getting there and i think if we change our ways of living on time we can
help it to stop but if not then it will get a lot worst
Is global warming occurring? yes
Have the forecasts of global warming been confirmed by actual measurements? yes. and actually the measurments are showing that is much worse that the what the models predicted.

Are carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels the primary cause of climate change? they are the largest but they are other important factors including from burning foils fuels and other gases from our production of fertelizers.
Can the Earth's temperature be expected to rise between 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit in this century as has been reported? I think it will be lucky if it didn’t rise to 5 because temperatures at the ecuador have been the same and temperature at the north pole has been from 6-9 degrees.

Would a modest increase in the temperature of the planet necessarily be bad? The overval effects would be negative the increase of the temperatures and the water also there are reports the of new diseases and animals and we believe there is about 4 more decades worth of more fishes in the ocean.
Are there any potential benefits? If you live along the coast in an arctic region you would have a longer period of soil.
Is there scientific consensus that global warming is underway? yes.
If so, how was this consensus determined? theres no data that does not support that the global warming is not occurring zero all the data shows that it is occurring one simple and important piece and is that the earth
would be at -4 degrees which means that there wouldn’t be any global warming and we know that if there is something that traps heat and it doesn’t then that is false because there’s is heat in the air.

Are we facing 20-foot sea level rise because of global warming? there is a decimal error its only 2 foot there increase in water it would be about a 5 not 20.
In your professional opinion what is biggest preventive measure that we could take against global warming? driving less or higher efficiency cars and buying fewer items from china if we could just fix broken things
What has the U.S. done so far? nothing And is this enough? no.

Blog post #2 Gun violence

Posted by Soledad Alfaro-Allah in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, January 18, 2013 at 2:01 pm

Hello again. My name is Soledad Alfaro-Allah for english class we have to become agents of change in the world. We had to find a world issue and try to help raise awareness for that issue. If you have been following my blog you will know that my issue is gun violence. I have conducted an interview with my Four year old, 13 year old and 12 year old brothers, and also my 10 year old sister. I talked to them about their daily lives and how they feel about v

v
iolence, how they handle violence and how they think it should be dealt with. Urban dictionaries idea of violence says otherwise. The reason I decided to look up the urban dictionary is because even though it is perceived as a sort of satire of how we think it is also true to an extent. While interviewing my siblings they had brought up some very interesting points. Such as I asked my four year old brother “what do you do if you see/experience violence, and he simply told me “I tell the teacher, if she’s not there I put up my hand and say please stop hurting me.” This is his solution to all the troubles of violence. When I asked him about guns he said “Only people with responsibilities should have them” I was shocked to hear this from my four year old brother who can barely spell the word responsibility. I asked him why and he said “because they can keep us safe”. I then proceeded to ask him, who do you think should have this responsibility?

He said “Nice people.” Nice people. It was as simple as that. We should give them to nice people with responsibility. But who do we classify as competent to handle such a hardcore burden? Officers? People who have been trained already? Or should we train new people, like teachers and parents. Or does no one get them all together? These are questions that carry the burden of even bigger questions on top of one another. Obama has recently signed into law 23 which will make it harder to get bullets and limit the number of bullets per clip, and are talking about universal background checks. The biggest obstacle is the opposing views of the massive amounts of republicans that are pro guns in congress. Something that has stuck with me through listening to the radio show was when obama says “ we can only make change if the american people demand it.” and when he said this he was speaking on the fact that we cannot depend on a select number of people to solve our problems for us, and when things don’t turn up our way blame it on the government, because in the end we will end up producing chaos. Many opinion pieces have been launched about this topic. Gun violence is being compared and connected to several issues. Such as health care. In the most recent shooting all the subjects have been established as “mentally ill”. Another popular reasoning in congress for gun violence is depression. Particularly teen depression. Apparently there is an increasing amount of teen suicides and homicides involving firearms. We are looking for something to blame. Personally, I think that we are the ones to blame and the reason for that is we are in denial and fearful of this topic that we choose to ignore the trouble that it is causing in the daily lives of many. We are putting our own comfort selfishly over the necessary closure of dozens of families, and victims.
Click here for my bibliography

Animal Cruelty (Blog #2)

Posted by Tiarra Bell in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, January 18, 2013 at 2:00 pm

Recently many of you have read my first blog that I posted portioning to my interest and need to help animals who are abused and mistreated. I believe in rights for all animals, no matter the size or the species; they are all living creatures of this world just like us, with no voice needing someone to speak up for them. Since my last blog post, I have expanded my research creating new things to examine how people think and view animal cruelty.

I have created a survey containing questions and suggestions on animal cruelty and how I can impact the lives of many animals. A few of the questions were: do you think animals should have rights? If you saw a sick, beaten up animal would you help, and etc. I have received many interesting results; almost 100% of the people who took the survey said that they do care about animal cruelty. 80% percent said that they think animals should have rights, 15% were unsure.

A screen shot of the Animal Cruelty Survey.

It was very interesting to see that 50% of the people were unsure when they were asked if they thought humans are better then animals, 20% said they were better then animals and 30% said they weren't. I then asked if they saw someone abusing an animal would they say or do something and why? 67% said yes and majority of the people said “some animals don’t have the ability to defend themselves against human beings” and then compared them to humans in a similar situation. I also asked if they think animal abuse was wrong, one response really stuck out to me it said “Depends upon the circumstances. For example say you’re trying to teach your cat not to climb on the table by smacking it whenever it climbs up on the table. Obviously thats aggressive but thats how psychological reinforcement works.”

A screen shot of the Animal Cruelty Results.

I found this statement to shine a light on a new issue, it’s may be a draw-back to my whole argument but it’s a topic that's not addressed when animal cruelty is approached. When we think of animal abuse do we think of abuse that is used to train our animals? Many Americans think it’s just a traditional way to raise our animals to behave in a proper manner. To get a better understanding, I would like many of you to weigh in: Do you think that physical aggressiveness used to raise our domestic pets is consider to be animal abuse? I have read an article examining wether it’s effective to hit your dog or not.

A photo how a pet owner hitting his cat to stop her from climbing up on things.

Most people believe that physical dominance techniques are the best possibility for dog’s with aggressive behavior because dogs are pack animals. By the dog’s having a leader in their packs they best respond to a dominate figure. So the question is “does physical force inflicted on your dog work ?” The article’s response to it was “ it depends on what you mean by work.” Sometimes by hitting your dog it can discontinue aggressive behavior when applied in the proper manner, however it can cause a large amounts of serious injuries, increase stress and in most cases increase the dog’s aggressive behavior. Majority of people claim that these techniques are more effective because we the human become the leader to our dog(s). However just because dogs are pack animals it does not lead to the conclusion that that is the only way that your dog can understand what’s wrong or right. Also that’s not the only way that they can be taught, there are other techniques such as saying “no” and demonstrating the right behavior and rewarding them when they do the correct thing.

A photo of a pet owner waving a rolled up news paper at his dog to teach him a lesson for misbehaving.

In a way that can be considered animal abuse and it may also be an effective way of training your animal, but one thing for sure beating, aggressively kicking, stabbing and many other things is in fact animal abuse and it should not be permitted by any means necessarily. This world should be aware that animals are living creatures on the earth just like us. They have emotions and can feel physical pain; it’s time to treat animals with respect and most of all love. Let’s start a movement and END ANIMAL CRUELTY TODAY!!!

A photo of three civilians beating a dog in the middle of the street with sticks.

Here in a link to my Annotative Bibliography.

Stay tune for my next and finally blog post containing my "Agent of Change"; it will be something worth waiting for. Thank you!

YATW blogpost #2: Childhood Cancer

Posted by Allison Kelly in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, January 18, 2013 at 1:59 pm

After my first blogpost in learning about all of the benefits and foundations that try to help raise money for childhood cancer, I decided to research more about the children themselves and all of their stories. So when looking up new info on my topic I looked up more personal information of the kids’ journeys.

I found an amazing website,Kids’ Stories | Children's Cancer Research Fund, that gives you the personal stories of children struggling with cancer. I recently read an article about a little boy named Jack who, after many trips to the doctors, found out he had a brain tumor. At three months old he began to sleep a lot more often and also began vomiting. The doctor kept reassuring Jack’s parents that it was just a stomach virus, but his parents knew something more serious was wrong. They finally took Jack to the emergency room, where they finally found out the extremely devastating new of Jack’s cancer. Jack’s tumor has began to grow again, but he is getting by with the support of his family and is still a very happy little boy despite his struggles. His parents decided to start a team for Children’s Cancer Research Fund’s annual event, called Jack Attack. This website provides many more inspirational stories of children with cancer and how they contribute to finding a cure. There were also a couple of other websites that I found that provided really inspiring stories too. Those include, Cancer Basics, which gives a basic understanding of cancer, and Cancer Research, Studies & Clinical Trials at CTCA and Cancer Kids Home Page which provide stories.

After reading about Jack’s story and his cancer team, I did some research of my own to add to my original research. As I said in the first blog post, my aunt is very involved in Alex Lemonade Stand and even has her own team for cancer. My uncle’s mother, Theresa, died from cancer and that inspired my aunt and uncle to create Team Theresa. They hold many benefits for their team, including their softball benefit, in which I attend. The softball benefit is an amazing event which includes different softball teams who have a lot of fun competing against one another each year, entertainment, concession stands, and speakers. The benefits are amazing to go to because you really get to see how many people want to make a change. At the softball benefit this year, the speakers who spoke at the end was one of the best parts. They told their stories and how these benefits affect them in such a positive it. What my aunt and uncle do is very inspirational and more people should join in with the benefits and cancer events. The following pictures are from the benefits and events that my aunt has taken part in, a few of which I have also been a part of.

sick kids wishes at Alexs Original stand

After talking to my aunt about how the benefits that she does are so similar to those of which some of these kids are doing, like Jack, it has really help me with deciding what I will do for my agent of change. Recently, I attended the Alex Lemonade Stand christmas party, in which all of Alex’s surviving families have a party where each of the children and their siblings gets e to sit on santa’s lap and receive 3 presents each. There is also a huge buffet provided and entertainment. This really added to my understanding of my topic because I got to hear, in person, some of their stories. It was really nice to see all of the children receive their presents because you could just tell how happy and appreciative they were.

Some of my personal opinions include that actually getting my original research first hand has helped me relate to my topic so much better, rather than just reading facts and stories online. I have heard so many stories from the children about how many difficult struggles they have come across and it is just so inspiring to see how strong and happy they still are. Something I still wonder about, though, is the things that keep these kids going. In my further research, interviews, and benefits I want to ask the children what it is that keeps them faithful and happy. I would also like to ask the parents and other family members the same question.

For my agent of change I have decided to create a slideshow including quotes, photos, and video clips of the various Alex Lemonade Stand benefits and events that I have and will be attending. So far I have volunteered at the softball benefit and the christmas party, but there are some more coming up that I plan to go to and volunteer. I have also planned an interview with my aunt’s friends. They are one of Alex’s surviving families and their son Cole has suffered with cancer. I will interview cole, his parents, and his siblings on Cole’s battle and how it has affected their lives. Clips and quotes from this interview will also be found in my slideshow.

This is a link to my bibliography.

You and the World: Us and the Art Around Us

Posted by Stephanie Dyson in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, January 18, 2013 at 1:59 pm

Hello again, readers and listeners! As a freshman at Science Leadership Academy, for a long-running English project, I have been called upon to enact change in my community. I have been called upon to be an agent of this change and to see it through.

In my first blog post, I came to you with facts. I came to you with the basis of my project; I planned to go into the city and look at the art, the story, that has been captured in murals and paintings, wheat-pastings and sculptures. Now, with a bit of my own research, I have more information and ideas at my benevolent disposal.

As Philadelphians, many of us are incredibly privileged. With 32 museums, it is one of few American cities with a number as high as this. But, perhaps art isn’t just classical. Perhaps art isn’t just what we find in museums. As I thought and thought, I noticed that most of the art we find in Philadelphia isn’t by Van Gogh or Monet, but it’s been made by the hands of people today; those living and breathing in our city now are those making art the most with the most influence.

(above, Van Gogh's infamous Starry Night)

Understand that I don’t mean to disdain or put any blemish on the concept of classical art. Having classical works hanging on my walls and having a middle name with roots in the word Renaissance itself (Reneé...), I have absolutely no reason to believe that urban art and contemporary art has a greater place in this world, this city, than the classics.

However, it got me to thinking: Is it possible that, in this time, urban art means more? It is my belief that it does mean more. I believe that urban art has a major influence on the children today, and especially on our city. For this research, I conducted a small survey which consisted of 9 questions all referring to the current state of urban art in Philadelphia.

Entitled, “What is Art in Philadelphia,” my survey’s first and second questions referred to the Mural Arts Programs which I had hoped to get in contact with before posting this blog. However, I was not able to contact the MAP for an interview due to run-ins with a lack of time and other responsibilities (I have especially learned in this project that it is a major mistake to bite off more than you can chew!). However, my first two questions did address the idea of the MAP and City Government funding.

88% of those who took the survey knew about the MAP, though 100% of those surveyed agreed completely that the Program should receive City Government funding. Results corresponded well with my beliefs; I believe this shows the vast influence that urban art has had on our community. Though most of my answers were completely anonymous, for those that I specifically reached out to, the answerers were spread throughout the city; this is a clear representation of how widespread our urban art is- just within the city of Philadelphia.

Out of 9 questions, I found three particularly interesting. When I spoke with my brother about what questions I should add onto my survey, he shot out “Ask what they think about graffiti!” At that, I typed up the following questions:

What is an artist?
Is graffiti a form of art?
Can those who graffiti, then, be qualified as artists?

The answers were widespread and the following picture is the results of this question:

With this new knowledge and an understanding that isn’t much different from mine, it sparked an idea- multiple, rather- for my ‘Agent of Change’.

The climax.

The culmination.

The consummation.

As an agent of change, I will be sending out another survey to students around the city; college students, high school students, learners of all sorts. I hope to facilitate the beautification of my school, Science Leadership Academy. Being downtown and in the heart of Philadelphia, each advisory will carefully select a wall to decorate and make wondrous with a motif or main topic that is seen in and around Philadelphian culture. I'll be sending out yet another survey across the inter-webs and around my school to prepare for this. With blog #3, I plan to have photographs and news of SLA's beautification!

Again, refer to my first blog for more information!
Here is my annotated bibliography for a reputable record of my sources.

Below is one final treat; a video of many people who see street art as art and not vandalism from Artist "Banksy" (courtesy of CBS)

You and the World Blog 2 - Gay Marriage

Posted by Anna Sugrue in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, January 18, 2013 at 1:57 pm

Welcome to blog number two of my You and the World Project on gay rights. My first blog post addressed the statistics of gay marriage supporters in the U.S, and arguments that are held against gay rights, along with evidence supporting and opposing the the correlation of civil rights and gay rights. In this post, I will give an update on some new gay rights happenings since my blog one, share some of my own opinions, and give some new statistics.

The last few months have been great months for the LGBTQ community. Same-sex marriage was legalized in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington state in November. Gay marriage and adoption is on its way to be legalized in France. The Hobbit, a wonderful success, came out in December, starring openly gay Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey. It seems both in America and in the world at large, people are slowly coming to terms with gay marriage.

On the other side, there are still people in the world fighting to protect the young generations from making the “life choice” to be a homosexual as an adult. Do you agree with men like Scott Lively, supporter of the Uganda “Kill the Gays” bill? Or Stacey Campfield and his “Don’t Say Gay” bill? Do you think that the good outcomes these men hope to gain from their campaigns out weigh the good outcomes of the lives of married gay couples?

For my piece of individual research, I created a short simple survey about who the survey taker was and if they supported gay rights. The questions were as follows; 1. Male or Female? 2. How old are you? 3. What is your sexual orientation? 4. Do you support gay marriage? 5. If no, why not?

Here are a few helpful graphs depicting my results.

The results show, on a whole, that 90% of the participants, majority of them in the 14-16 age range, support gay marriage. The 10% of participants that said they did not support gay marriage answered that religion was the reason they opposed gay rights. When I asked one of the participants why religion gave him a reason to appose gay rights, he replied, “because homosexuality is a sin.”

Interestingly enough, as a new poll shows, the amount Americans that believe homosexuality is a sin has decreased by 7% in the last year, from 44% to 37%. Even more interesting are the statistics shown from further polling. The amount of people that answer that they do not believe homosexuality is a sin has only increased by 2%. This leaves a surprising amount of people in the “I don’t know” category. Is this good news for the the LGBT community? How will we make “I don’t know” into “yes”?

This change in heart from religious americans can be rooted in many different recent cultural changes, including the support for gay marriage from Barack Obama and the rising popularity of openly gay celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres. I read another article on Huffington Post's Gay Voice's section about evangelical minister Steven Chalke. Chalke has begun "calling on Christians to support the gay community, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, instead of promoting a policy of 'condemn and exclude'". This new christian way of thinking gives hope for a brighter future for gay marriage and gay rights. Christians like Chalke would not be changing their religion, but rather letting their beliefs evolve with the quickly changing times.

I hope that this slow increasing trend of accepting gay rights will continue in America, and eventually throughout the rest of the world. Accepting the rights and differences of members of the LGBT community is the next step in the evolution of the human race. But once gay people have rights, will the world already have found a new group of people to discriminate against? Found a new step to overcome?

For the third and final step of this project, I must become an agent of change and go into the world to make a difference that correlates with my issue. I plan to do a slideshow/video of the definitions of love. People arguing against gay rights have long, rolling arguments, but in the end, it's about whether you are letting people be with the people they love. With a series of pictures, I want to show that no matter who you are or who you are attracted to, you thrive off the same happiness and the same love. I hope it will make people think, reevaluate, and accept every single person's rights as a human being. Live and let live. Love and let love.

Here is a link to my bibliography. Stay tuned for my third and final blog!

If you'd like to see another youtube video giving strong arguments for gay marriage rights - click on this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD-INsIbVcw

You and the World Blogpost 2 by Zoe Schwingel-Sauer

Posted by Zoe Schwingel-Sauer in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, January 18, 2013 at 1:53 pm

Lately in the news there has been a major uproar about the food industry. In Washington D.C. there is a bill that is trying to be passed that would force food companies to put on the package label if the food product had any trace of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). This is very similar to the bill that was attempted in California, but failed. People all across the country are starting to come together and protest for food labeling! In my first blog post I talked about GMOs and their effect. In this blog post I will be talking about how businesses are successful without using GMOs, but using natural ingredients.

While I was on break recently, I was in Massachusetts. There I went to a restaurant with my family that was called The Farm Table. I had been there once before and had learned a lot about their ingredients and attitude on food in general. All of their ingredients are 100% natural with no GMOs, antibiotics, or added hormones. Also, almost all of their food is grown or raised locally. Since fast food restaurants are so successful, there is doubt that organic restaurants will make a good profit. The Farm Table has had a major triumph with their opening and is continuing to have a constant flow of customers. Next to The Farm Table is a candle store and a Christmas store. All these profits go to to the owner(s) of The Farm Table.

Another success story of going all organic is the Weaver’s Way Co-op. One of their current locations is just around the corner from my house! Weaver’s Way is basically a mini grocery store that sells local and natural food products. The farms that provide the vegetables are very close in distance. One of the farms is even a high school! They have three different stores. What keeps people coming back for more? There are various reasons! Weaver’s Way has many loyal customers. The stores has a wide variety of organic products. While these items tend to be a bit more expensive than non-organic items, they have the same taste (even better if you ask me), and are way healthier for you! People who live within the vicinity of the co-ops can pay a certain fee, and then OWN a part of the co-op! The owners of the co-ops are the community! The community comes together and collaborates on all kinds of decisions! These co-ops are role models for the food industry, and are the future.

Fast food = Cheap vs. Organic food = Expensive

Which is really more expensive?

Above is a picture showing a dollar meal menu from McDonalds. (source)

One of the main reasons that so many people buy fast food over organic food or even just fruit or vegetables is because of the cost. At McDonald’s you can buy an entire meal for about two or three dollars. At pretty much any store two or three dollars could get you two, maybe three apples. When it comes to mealtime, parents will spend only a little bit of their money on a decent sized meal, rather than spend the same amount on only a few pieces of fruits or vegetables. When you’re comparing the prices, getting fast food seems cheaper, but is it really? In the long run, you will actually have to pay more money in a result from eating fast food compared to eating healthily. How is this possible? McDonald’s while cheaper, is incredibly unhealthy for you. Eating McDonald’s every day or even every week will most likely result in a health condition, probably diabetes. (here is a game to see if you know what's in you food!) Paying for medicinal supplements every month is much more money than paying the extra dollars for a healthy meal. In general, people are “in the moment” thinkers. We don’t always contemplate what will happen in the future when we make a decision, nor do we always care. With food I strongly urge everyone to think about the long term consequences. If you pay the extra money now for the healthy food, later you won’t have to pay the overbearing amount of bills for medicine. To retouch on an earlier topic, the reason that fast food is so immensely unhealthy for you is because of the GMOs that are in the food, hormones and antibiotics given to animals, and that these products are never organic or natural. They get shipped in from all over the country!

Individual Research: Organic Peas vs. Natural Peas (False Advertisement)

To further my research on my topic, I bought a bag of organic peas and a bag of “natural” peas. Many companies will put on the food label that their product is “all natural.” A lot of people mistake natural for organic, however there is a difference. Organic products do not allow GMOs, antibiotics, and hormones. Natural products allow all of these things! While the ingredients look the same, there are MAJOR differences. On the back of the organic peas it said that these peas were certified by Washington State Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Above is an original picture showing the back of an organic pea bag (the certification)

This proves that the product has been tested and has come back with no results or traces of GMOs, hormones, or antibiotics. On the natural peas, there were only the main ingredients and no certification! It is false advertisement saying that a food product is “natural.” During my research I have gone to a couple of grocery stores, and compared the organic to the natural over and over again. Next time when you’re looking for let’s say GMO free food, always go for organic!

Above is an original picture the back of the organic pea bag (left) and natural pea bag (right)

For my project to make a change, I am creating a "How-to-Shop" pamphlet on how to find organic foods that have good flavor, quality, and aren't too expensive. I will be putting these pamphlets around school and my neighborhood for anyone to use!

Here is my Bibliography.
Here is blogpost 1.

YATW Blog 2: Littering and its Effect on the Environment

Posted by Miles Cruice-Barnett in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, January 18, 2013 at 1:53 pm

This is a continuation of my first blog. If you have not read it, I suggest you do and then come back and read this one.

My name is Miles Cruice-Barnett. My stream’s English class at Science Leadership Academy is doing a “You and the World” project. What is a you and the world project? What we do is pick an issue in the world, or nation, or community, or wherever, and we do research on it. We then post a few blogs about it and go out and try to help fix the issue. My issue is about littering in public places and how it can effect the environment.

In my first blog I talk about how littering is bad for the environment. In this blog I will focus on what you can do to help.

For our second blogs we had to conduct original research. For my research I contacted the Executive Director of Keep Philadelphia Beautiful (a sub-branch of Keep America Beautiful) and checked out their websites. I found out that you just need to contact one of the Directors or find the website to to find out how to volunteer. For Philly, you can go to the Unlitter Us page for upcoming events.

If you do not live in Philadelphia, you can go to this link here on the KAB website; just click your state and find your city, town, etc.

Find your city

Philadelphia was placed third in Forbes's annual America’s 20 Dirtiest Cities in 2012. That’s not good. I think that everyone should go out and volunteer at least once a month. If you don’t have time for that, next time you are walking down the street and see some trash, pick it up. Next time you are about to throw something on the ground, put it in your pocket until you find a trash can. Next time you see someone else throw something on the ground, ask them to pick it up. The bottom line is that it’s easy not to litter; just wait till you find a trash can.

This is my bibliography for both of my blogs.

English 1 - Dunn Public Feed