Final Reading Response

 One of the best books I'v ever read was The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. It is 

about a girl with cancer who is seventeen years old. Her name is Hazel Grace. She reluctantly goes to 

a support group  (which she hates) for her mother. There, she meets a boy called Augustus Waters. He 

had his leg amputated, and is cancer free. Slowly they become friends, and then more. They share 

experiences together, like going to meet the author of Hazel’s favorite book called “An Imperial 

Affliction,” watching movies at Augustus’s house, and spending time with their other friend, Isaac. 

Through the book, Hazel struggles to deal with the effects of cancer. Hazel and Augustus were star-

crossed lovers, best friends, and guides to one another. However, Augustus gets cancer again, and 

slowly becomes a different person then he was before because of the cancer. Hazel doesn’t care and 

tries to help him get through it, and Augustus spent his last days together with Hazel.

    

     I thought this book was incredible and deeply emotional. This is one of the best books I’ve ever 

read.   John Green does a wonderful job of showing a very real side to illnesses, and also a very real 

side to teenagers in general. He doesn’t sugarcoat it, and puts it bluntly. The Fault In Our Stars shows 

with teens with cancer, but it is much more then that. It teaches us about loss. Hazel and Augustus are 

forced to deal with losses. John Green introduces us to characters that are asking big questions and 

dealing with big issues such as love, being forgotten after death, and cancer.

    

    One thing I was inspired by was how Hazel fought through cancer, and kept fighting and didn’t 

give up. On page 236, this quote shows how she is strong:

"When you go into the ER, one of the first things they ask you to do is rate your pain on a scale of 

one to ten, and from there they decide which drugs to use and how quickly to use them. I'd been 

asked this question hundreds of times over the years, and I remember once early on when I couldn't 

get my breath and it felt like my chest was on fire, flames licking the inside of my ribs fighting for a 

way to burn out of my body, my parents took me to the ER. The nurse asked me about the pain, and I 

couldn't even speak, so I held up nine fingers. Later, after they'd given me something, the nurse came 

in and she was kind of stroking my head while she took my blood pressure and said, "You know how 

I know you're a fighter? You called a ten a nine." (236 Green)

   I got inspired by that because she got through that pain, and she had to face it so many other times 

in the book, even when she’s doing things that most people would call simple, like going up the 

stairs. On page 199, she describes how hard it is to climb up the stairs.

“I began to climb the stairs, crawling up them like a little kid would, slow at first so I could breathe, 

but then faster because I knew I couldn’t breath and wanted to get to the top before everything else 

gave out. The blackness encroached around my field of vision as I pulled myself up, eighteen steps, 

steep as hell. I finally crested the staircase mostly blind and nauseated, the muscles in my arms and 

legs screaming for oxygen. I slumped seated against a wall, heaving watered-down coughs. There 

was a empty glass case bolted to the wall above me and I stared up through it and the ceiling and tried 

not to pass out.” (199 Green) To me, going up the stairs seems easy and not hard to do at all. I 

thought how hard Hazel’s life must be if something that simple affects her so much, and me, not at 

all. I learned to appreciate myself.

    There are many examples of archetypes in this book. Hazel and Augustus are warriors in the 

physical aspect because they deal with the effects of cancer, such as Hazel being rushed to the 

hospital, and struggling to do everyday simple things that we think are simple to us, but not to them. 

Augustus often has pain in his body due to his osteosarcoma coming back. Hazel's mother and father 

are the mother figures, because Hazel often turns to her for guidance and she they care very deeply 

for each other. I think Augustus is also the rebel and the avenger, because when Isaac was devastated 

from breaking up with Monica, Augustus told him to egg Monica's car. Also, when Augustus played 

video games with Isaac, he often sacrificed himself to save other peoples's lives in the video game. In 

a video game, your suppose to save the people without sacrificing yourself, but Augustus did the 

opposite. Patrick is a mentor, sort of like a teacher to Augustus, Isaac, and Hazel because he beat 

cancer and tries to help them with it. I think that Augustus and Hazel defeated the archetype of a 

typical teenager in real life, they aren't lazy or unwilling to do anything, they are the opposite. 

    

    Overall, The Fault In Our Stars by John Green was a great book which shows the lives of cancer 

patients, how they came to know each other and experience things with eachother, and how they 

became star-crossed lovers. It shows people that the world isn't pleasant, its straight to the point and 

forceful. 

Works Cited: 

Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. New York: Dutton, 2012. Print.

Non-Fiction Article Summary: The End of Extreme Poverty

Reading Response 

Upfront: The End of Extreme Poverty 

Extreme poverty is everywhere in the world. China, India, Africa, etc. However, in the article "Extreme Poverty," we are are making huge changes in defeating the worst of world's poverty.  The world has improved since the 1900's. For example, the global literacy rate in 1990 was 76%, and in 2013 it has gone up to 84%. Another example is in 1990, more then 12 million children died before the age of 5. Now, that figure is down to about 6 million. Bill Gates's foundation, Microsoft, pioneers those vaccines and medicines. His goal is to get down to 1 million in his lifetime. Thanks to him, a huge global investment in vaccines, medicines, schooling, sanitation, and technology. Many diseases are dying out. Cases of polio, measles, guinea worm, and malaria are dying out, thanks to massive vaccination programs, improved sanitation, and effective drug treatment. Child birth death rates are also declining. Diseases aren't only dying out in the world, but many other things are helping with extreme poverty. One thing that is helping with extreme poverty is technology. For example, a woman in Kenya had a eye exam done by smartphone. Improved techniques in farming are increasing crop yields. Education has improved by a lot. The percentage of the population in developing nations with no schooling for teens 15 and older since 1950 was 61%. However, in 2010, there were only 17%! That is a really big improvement. 

Disease don't just kill people. They also leave them disabled or unproductive, that damages a country's economy. Poor people used to go blind from disease or were unable to work for the want of reading glasses. Now they are much less likely to go blind, and far more likely to get glasses. That translates into more economic proactivity. So does better education. All over the world, illiteracy is retreating and technology is spreading. Most people now have cellphones then toilets!" The achievements weren't just done by the Western donors or aid groups. Some of the biggest gains in economic growth in China and India. When the poor are able to get jobs, they make their own path out of poverty. 

This article in the "Upfront" magazine made me very happy, because every day the world's population is getting bigger and bigger, and bad things are happening everyday. But this is big news because one disaster will be closer to getting solved. I hope that soon, extreme poverty will end. The goal to end extreme poverty is by 2030, and we're getting close to it! 

Final Poetry Assignment

The Battle of Mid-Winter Break

By Panchita Lopez Li

A whole week

Of freedom!

A whole week

Of no school!

Laziness everyday

Waking up at 10

Sleeping at 12

It was Heaven!

Until a

BIG and HUGE

Pile

Of books came

Crashing down on me like a rainstorm.

The evil beast

That ruined my break

Called

Homework!!!

It roared like a tiger,

And flapped

It’s papery bat-like wings,

Leering at me.

With a pencil as my sword,

I started to slice through

But I stopped and stared,

Lured by the laptop.

A safe island from the beast,

It’s Apple logo blinking,

Staring innocently at me.

Sighing in defeat like a soldier surrendering to his enemy,

I spent the rest of my days,

On the island, safe from the horrifying beast,

Watching Youtube and playing games.

However, the beast came once again,

Flapping its papery wings,

Telling me to beware of my true enemies.

And I realized…

The laptop, my so-called safe island,

Was the actual, true enemy.

So, dear naïve children,

Beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Poetry Reading Response: Photography

Panchita Lopez-Li                                                                                  Class 808

                                  

                              Reading Response: Photography by Nikki Giovanni

     “Photography” by Nikki Giovanni shows that everyone has their own passion and will describe/express their passions in a different way. In the poem “Photography,” Nikki Giovanni shows her passion of photography and what photography means to her in life. In the poem, he compares parts of the camera to the human body, and describes what poetry is.  The poet uses imagery, symbolism, and metaphors as a literary device in the poem to show readers what photography means to her in life, and why she is passionate about photography.

      Imagery is vivid descriptions of the five senses. In Nikki Giovanni’s poem “Photography,” there is use of imagery. Two examples of imagery are “Watching the red sun bleed/ into the ocean” and “to forget the ice and ravages/of winter yet.” I think these are examples of imagery because I can see vivid, detailed pictures of them in my mind, when I read those lines from the poem. When I read the lines “watching the red sun bleed/ into the ocean,” I picture a sunset at the beach, the rays of the sun sinking behind the water. I also see a woman standing knee-deep in ocean water, taking pictures of the sunset. When I read the lines “to forget the ice and ravages/ of winter yet,” I have a picture in my mind of a blizzard with hail raining down from every direction. There is a man attempting to climb up a hill full of snow. The poet uses imagery to make her readers see what she is writing. I think the poet it showing us that photography is a necessity in her life, and that regardless of conditions rain or shine; she will take photographs for as long as she lives.

      Symbolism is an object/action/person that represents a greater importance in a text, often emphasized in some way. The poem “Photography” has many examples of photography. The poet compares parts of the human body to a camera. Some examples are “the eye we are told/ is a camera”, “but the film is the heart,” and “then the photo assistant is god.” I think since she is comparing parts of the body to a camera that you all need these parts to make a good “photo.” In order to take a good photo, you need the basic parts of the camera, like film and the camera itself. Another thing I observed is the line “then the photo assistant is god.” My inference for this line is the photo assistant helps take photos and maybe edits/prints them, for the whole world to see and spreads the photo throughout the world.

      A metaphor is a comparison of unlike things; stating that something is something else. In the poem “Photography,” there are many metaphors. Some examples of metaphors are “the eye we are told/ is a camera,” “but the film is the heart”, and “then the photo assistant is god.” The poet is comparing parts of the human body to the camera. I think what the poet means by “the eye we are told/ is a camera” is that we take everything in using our eyes, so our eyes are like a camera. For “but the film is the heart,” I think the poet means that our heart keeps us alive, like how you need film in order for the camera to take pictures. And lastly, when the poet writes; “then the photo assistant is god” I think she means that the photo assistant develops the product.

     This text connects to the world because everyone has their own passion and will show/describe it in their own and different way. Nikki Giovanni showed her passion for photography with imagery, symbolism, and metaphors in her poem “Photography.” She also shows deep detail in describing photography.