Nonfiction Reading Response

Kicking The Bad Habit

By Robert K. Elder

Smoking has been around for a long time, and in the 1950s, it was extremely popular to always have a cigarette dangling from your mouth. The article “Kicking The Habit” by Robert K. Elder explains when it went out of style, why, and how tobacco companies responded. Based on the information the author gives in this article, I think that he’s against smoking.

Smoking became popular in the 17th century, and by World War Ⅰ, cigarettes were even in soldiers’ rations. In the 1960s, 42% of American adults were addicted. Tobacco companies used television to advertise with jingles and slogans, and they used celebrities to make smoking seem cool. There had been a few studies of a connection between smoking and some diseases, so many tobacco companies dressed up actors as doctors for their commercials to try to contro\adict this information. As soon as it was official that smoking can kill you, tobacco companies were instructed by Congress that they needed to put “warning labels” on cigarette packs, saying things such as, “Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous To Your Health”. As more knowledge about the dangers of smokng was obtained, these warnings turned into thing like this: “Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, and May Complicate Pregnancy.” Tobacco companies knew they were losing their adult customers, so they started to target children. They did things like create logos that were directed towards kids. The company Camel made Joe Camel, a cartoon camel mascot that they used to advertise.

Now that people know smoking cigarettes is unhealthy, companies have made a new product to solve this problem: electronic cigarettes. Even though e-cigarettes are not a bad as real ones, they still contain nicotine, which is what makes regular cigarettes addictive. Companies are targeting children again with this new product, by developing different fun flavors, such as cotton candy and banana cream pie.

Overall, the author is giving mostly negative information about smoking, which is making me think his views on it are negative as well. After reading this article, I understand the history of cigarettes and smoking. I knew that people smoked a lot more in the 1950s and 60s, but I didn’t know why until now. They had no idea how bad it was for them. I also think that its very unethical for companies to target children when they’re advertising cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

On this trip I learned many things about activists all throughout different times in New York. One of the most interesting things was how they used humor as a form of activism. The activists for bicycle safety used humor by dressing up as clowns and falling over on their bikes. I thought it was interesting how they would think of using humor to protest, but it got the attention they wanted.

I also thought it was interesting how the gay rights activists used violence against the police. I would’ve thought they would do something more peaceful, like give a speech like Martin Luther KIng Jr. They did get some results, but I was just surprised.

Reading Response

To Kill A Mockingbird

“Boy’s don’t cook.” Phrases like this and many others are loosely tossed around, especially in the 30s. The main character of Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Scout, is a girl, (a bit of a tomboy), and often gets told by various people that she can’t wear pants or be tough. Sexism is one of the main themes in this book. Even though she gets told these things, she still believes some gender roles, as did most people back when the book was written.

Every Christmas, Scout and her family go to visit Aunt Alexandra and her grandson, Francis. Aunt Alexandra forces Scout to wear a dress instead of pants every year. When Scout argues that it is difficult for her to play wearing a dress, Aunt Alexandra says that the kind of playing she should be doing should not have need for pants. She thinks that Scout should be playing with tea sets and dolls, instead of outside, with her brother. Aunt Alexandra believed that girls and boys each have specific clothes they need to wear and games they need to play. She says that Scout “could not possibly hope to be a lady if [she] wore breeches” Aunt Alexandra doesn’t respect Scout’s tomboyish personality, she judges people based on gender.

Also during Christmas, Francis told Scout that Aunt Alexandra was going to teach him how to cook. To this she replied, “Boy’s don’t cook.” This shows that back in the 30s there were defined gender roles for people. Everyone might not have believed in all of them, but everyone believed in some, whether they realized it or not. Scout didn’t agree with Aunt Alexandra saying that girls have to wear dresses and play with tea sets, but she still thinks that girls should be doing the cooking.

Before Scout and her family go to visit Aunt Alexandra and Francis, Scout’s Uncle Jack comes to visit them. Around this time, Scout begins to curse, saying things like damn and hell. Uncle Jack noticed this, and told Scout to stop. “You want to grow up to be a lady, don’t you?” he asked her. Uncle Jack thinks thinks that Scout should stop cursing because she’s a girl, and is supposed to be a ‘lady’ and have perfect manners. this shows that Uncle Jack doesn’t think she should be allowed to be tough, just because she’s a girl.

All of these unfair stereotypes prove that its important to respect everyone and their personality. Don’t just assume they are one way because they are a boy or a girl. Aunt Alexandra told Scout what type of games she was supposed to be playing and what she should be wearing, all based on her gender. Uncle Jack told Scout that she had to have nice manners because she was a girl. Scout told Francis he couldn’t cook because he was a boy. A lot of these stereotypes are part of the time period of the book and not modern day. We have made so much progress in terms of stereotypes and sexism from the 30s, and hopefully we can make more until there are no more left.

Archetypes Synthesis Page

To Kill A Mockingbird

The Tricksters - Jem and Dill

Jem and Dill are tricksters because they cause trouble. They played the game where they pretended to be the Radley’s, and they gave the note to Boo Radley on the end of a fishing pole.

Outcast - Boo Radley

Boo Radley is rumored to have stabbed his father in the leg with scissors, and to look into people’s windows at night when they are sleeping. No one knows if these rumors are true, but everyone assumes they are. Boo Radley also never comes out of his house, and no one knows if he is dead or alive.

Female Hero - Scout

Scout is a female hero because she doesn’t think that all the things that Jam and Dill are doing are right. For example, when they were playing the game where they pretend to be Radley’s, she was reluctant to take part in it, and said that they should stop when Atticus almost caught them.

Mentor - Calpurnia

Calpurnia teaches Jem and Scout how to have manners and be a good person. For example, when Walter Cunningham was at their house for dinner, and Scout asked what he was doing when he put syrup all over his food, Calpurnia scolded him for being rude, and told him to respect everyones “ways” of how they do things, whether they seem strange or not. Calpurnia also taught Scout how to write.

Mother Figure - Miss Maudie

Miss Maudie was a mother figure for Scout. She is also very close to Scout’s father and uncle. Scout and Jem can go over whenever they want to play in her yard as long as they don’t go in her flowers. When Jem and Dill started to exclude Scout a lot because she’s a girl, Scout goes over to Miss Maudie’s quite often. Miss Maudie is also very smart and wise, for example, when Scout asked her about Boo Radley, she said that she knew he wasn’t dead because she hadn’t seen him being carried out yet. She also told him that the idea that Mr. and Mrs. Radley stuffed Boo up the chimney when he died is ridiculous, and she shouldn’t believe it just because her brother said so.

Reading Response

Eleanor and Park

In the book “Eleanor and Park’ by Rainbow Rowell, Eleanor and Park’s emotions change constantly throughout the book as their relationship develops. In the beginning, Eleanor and Park don’t talk to each other. In the middle, they talk a little, but they get nervous around each other when they do, and in the end, they are really comfortable in each other’s company.

Eleanor and Park first met when Eleanor was new at Park’s school and all the seats on the bus were taken. Park was reluctant to let Eleanor sit down, but no one else was giving her a seat. “ ‘ Sit down...Just sit down.’ ” They never talked. One day Eleanor was glancing around, and started reading Park’s comic book along with him. Park noticed, and moved it closer so she could see it better. Park started bring comic books to the bus to give to Eleanor to read when she got home. This is how is how their relationship bagn to blossom.

The first time they talked on the bus was the day when Park overslept and forgot to bring Eleanor the comics he was going to give her that day. He was looking at the doodles all over her school books and noticed the title of a song, and started a conversation about music. Eleanor said that she’d never heard the Smiths, but she wanted to. That night, Park made her a mix tape of his favorite songs by the Smiths. She said she didn’t have a walkman to listen to it on, so he let her borrow his. This indicates that Park is really starting to like her. He let her borrow his walkman no matter how many times she refused. He practically forced her to take it to listen to the tape he made her. During school, Eleanor counted down the periods until English, when she saw him in class. This tells us that Eleanor is excited to see him, so she started to like him too.

At the end of the book, Eleanor and Park are really comfortable together. It started when one day on the bus, Park held Eleanor’s hand. This is the first time they both realize the other likes them. Eleanor goes over to Park’s house and starts going over there almost everyday after school. Eleanor even feels comfortable enough with him to tell him about her stepdad who beats her mom, which she had never told anyone before. At the end of the book Park helps Eleanor run away from home to her uncles house, driving her far away from where they live. Once Eleanor and Park get more comfortable with each other, they open up to each other a lot more, and spend all the time they’re apart missing one another.

Reading Response

Looking For Alaska

By John Green

In the book Looking For Alaska by John Green one of the main themes is death. In the story, Miles (the main character) goes to boarding school and meets a girl named Alaska. When they first met, Alaska brought up something she read in a book: “‘Damn it, … How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!’” Throughout the rest of the book the author mentions this a lot. Miles and Alaska become good friends, and in the middle on the book, Alaska gets in a car crash and dies. When Alaska dies, they Miles and his friend find a note in her room that says ‘Straight and fast’. This leads Miles to think that the car crash was a suicide and not an accident at all. This effects Miles in many ways. He and his friends are now determined to figure out what lead her to commit suicide, or why she rushed off drunk in the middle of the night to go for a drive.

After Alaska died and Miles and his friends figured out that it was a suicide and why, it changed the way Miles viewed the world. Alaska realized she had forgotten her mother’s death, and she started crying and screaming and left her room drunk to visit her mother’s grave. On the way, there was an accident on the road and a police car with it’s sirens blaring and it’s lights flashing. Alaska drove past it and decided that forgetting her mom’s death was too much guilt to live with, so she drove straight and fast right into the police car, dying on impact. Miles thought a lot about the labyrinth. This was Alaska’s way of getting out - straight and fast.

Miles and his friends needed closure, they had to figure out Alaska’s motives to kill herself in a car crash. Once they did, they realized that life goes on for the rest of them, and they all still need to find a way out of the labyrinth.