Authors note

On September 11th 2001 many families were devastated and many lives were killed. The terrorist attack had mad a big impact on New Yorkers. After that day New York City hasn't been the same and neither have the people who lost a loved one. The twin towers had collapses and caused New Yorkers to run for there life at that time it wasn't the safest place to be. While the towers were collapsing the ir was black filled with some harmful gases. This situation was devastating to many people there were many police officers and firefighters who have lost there loves trying to save others.

My grandfather is a 9/11 survivor he was in the twin towers when the tourist attack happened got thing he made it out alive and I am thankful for that. The reason I choose to write a picture book about 9/11 is because this is something every child should know about no matter how old or young they are. This is a topic that is never going to go away because like I said before the terrorist attack left a big impact on New Yorkers. 

My hope for this story is to tech younger kids how important this day was.  You have to learn how to things while you have them because they can be gone any day. On September 11th these families thought that It was just going to be a regular day at work and they thought that there loved ones would come back home after work but it definitely wasn't a normal day at work. 

Synthesis page

argument essay

Khalia Parris - 812

Argument Essay

 A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is based on a child soldier. There’s a lot of discussion in the book about guns, killing and there’s a small portion of the book that has sexual content but that’s alright. This book is based on a true story about war. It talks about war from the perspective of a person who was actually there. Children in the grades 5-6 should be able to read this book because but the right audience for this would be a middle school student. In middle school in Social Studies classes students start to learn and discuss the different wars that have occurred. Some parents might want this book banned just because they talk about rape, drugs and killing. I would disagree because these are topics that are discussed on the news daily. There is always a story on the news about someone being murdered, attacked, raped, gun violence and unrest erupting.

"Boom" the trigger is pulled and your are dead. At what age do you plan on talking to your kids about guns? Once your kids enter the fifth grade they should know what to do when they hear a gun go off. Most kids start to travel to school by themselves when they enter middle school and talking to them about what to do if a gun goes off in the fifth grade will prepare them for traveling alone to school. Their safety is important. They should always know what to do when they hear a gun.

In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael is a child soldier. He is just a younger version of an adult soldier who has the same responsibilities as an adult soldier.  His job is to kill people. “Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us I close my eyes and think of death”.  Books don’t need to be banned just because of little violence.

 In the article Can Book Censorship Save Our and Their Innocence said “if parents feel that their children are simply too young for such information, then there must be an establishment of a system where students must obtain a guardian’s permission”. If a parent doesn't want their child to read a book but also wants them to gain the knowledge the parent should read the book with the child instead of banning it. As the parent and their child are reading the book together and there is something that the parent thinks is inappropriate they can either skip it or explain it to their child in a way they would understand. There is also the option where the parent can research the book and see the reviews on it and if they don’t like it then you shouldn’t allow their child to read it. There are several different ways that you can prevent your child from reading something inappropriate.  

Drugs aren't the main topic in the book but it is discussed. This might make parents want to ban it. As I said before if you don't want your child to learn about this stuff but you know this is important you should read the book with them to educate them on what's right and what wrong. When I was in the 7th grade is when kids started talking about drugs, as I stated earlier in the book the appropriate audience for this book would be middle school students. Middle school is when you get introduced to the topic of drugs and learning about what it is but when you enter high school is when kids actually start using it. In the book when the soldiers would get bored they would take drugs, “ instead of playing soccer in the village square, I took turns at the guarding  post around  the village, smoking  marijuana and sniffing  brown brown, cocaine mixed with gun powder”. America has a huge drug issue and children need to be educated on drugs because The US Federal Government spends more than $51 million annually on the war against drugs. This is proof that drugs are an issue.  One day someone might offer drugs to your child and you want them to know what it is and their answer to that person should be no. Every parent should inform their children if they use drugs just once they can become addicted. No parent wants to see their child in jail or even worst bury them. I don't think the book should be banned            

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah shouldn’t be banned. The book talks about real life events and topics that are happening in 2014 such as rape, murder and shootings. Hopefully, kids would be grateful for what they have because some kids are living in war torn countries where many people are dying. This book should educate and show them the perspective of a person who has been at and lived in war.  A long Way Gone definitely should not be banned from schools or libraries.

Jake Rich. Can Book Censorship Save Our Child And Their Innocence?  university wire, ,n.p. Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.com

Nonfiction reading response

Khalia Parris
November 18th 2014
Nonfiction reading response
 
                According to the article Outbreak By Patricia Smith she wants us to know exactly about Ebola. There are lots of rumors going around and one thing we hear all the time is *cough * you have Ebola. That can get very annoying, everyone should read this article because it tells you how Ebola started or could've started. Ebola was out before 2014 but this is the biggest Ebola epidemic ever. They think that Ebola was started by a little boy but type can also get the disease from an animal. The animal that you can get Ebola from is the type of animals that they eat in Africa. That also means that they could've gotten it from the animal. Ebola is way more than coughing it's more about the inside.

              In the article is said “victims have terrible stomach pains and start vomiting and gasping for air. They begin to bleed internally as the virus attacks vital organs . The skin erupts Into bruises and large blisters". These are the symptoms to Ebola but if you go to Africa for a week and the next day you think you have Ebola  because you get one if the symptoms you don't because it takes 21 days  for your I get the symptoms.  Is there a cure to Ebola? No there is no cure but some of the symptoms you have like low blood pressure or dehydration can be treated when you body is immune. Ebola isn't airborne so you can only get it through blood or saliva. If you are helping the people in Africa and you have a cut and it touches your skin then you may have a  99.9% chance of having Ebola.

            When one of the people who had went to Africa and came back to New York City everyone has freaked out because he was on the train and even went bowling. Everyone thought they were going to get it but no one had kissed him except his girlfriend so they both went to the hospital. He started to get a fever and that was one if the symptoms and since he caught it earlier he was Ebola free. This is an example on why Ebola isn't such a big deal and isn't easy to get.

          This article made me learn more about Ebola and how it started and what the symptoms are. I wasn't sure exactly what the symptoms where before so this article made it it clearer. In the article Outbreak it was very useful for people wha don't know about Ebola.  It tells you lots of information about Ebola In such a short article.

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

               Seeing people die everyday and even killing people yourself may effect you later in life. Having flashbacks of dead people laying there on the floor might not be the best vision. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is about a child soldier named Ishmael who has seen way more then most of his friends from him village. Ishmael has been through an emotional and physical journey. This book my not be appropriate for some readers, its not that the book has foul language its just some of the events that occur. This book might make you feel a little sad at some parts and then angry at others. One thing that I think troubled Ishmael was the first time that he ever shot someone. People always says there is a first time to everything but I don't think there should be a first time to killing someone.
 
          Do you think this book should be banned? Keep this question in mind as you continue reading. This book isn't just about reading about a child soldier it goes inside the life of a child soldier. Ishmael and his big brother Junior have always been there for each other. They both went out on this journey together but by the end of their journey  they weren't together. When Ishmael and Junior were walking through the villages they came across a village were the rebels were. There was a mother who was carrying her baby on here back as she was running for  her life and her baby was shot.  Luckily the bullet didn't go through the baby and pass into the mother."Blood was running down her dress and dripping behind her, making a trail." This shows how lucky Ishmael was because if he was standing right there that bullet could have went right through him too. Later on in the book after Junior was separated from Ishmael is when Ishmael shot someone for the first time. Around this point in time he was already a soldier and this was now his job. After Ishmael pulled the trigger he would never be able to think the same again.

          Shooting and killing people is not all that Ishmael did. After all the stress Ishmael has been through I believe this is well needed but its still bad for your health. Ishmael and some of his friends decided to smoke some stuff while they were guarding the village. " I took turns at the guarding post around the village,  smoking marijuana and sniffing brown brown, cocaine mixed with gunpowder, which was always spread out on the table, and of course taking more of the white capsules, as I become addicted to them". Whenever Ishmael took all these drugs at once his body felt weird and did things that he had never seen it do before such as his eyes getting blurry, shaking of his body and the lost of his hearing for a couple of minutes.This might influence kids to take drugs. This might be one reason why this book should be banned  because of the illegal drugs that he is smoking in the book. In the book it doesn't say that it's illegal so if a kid is reading this they might think that its okay to take drugs but it's not.

          "Saidu had climbed up into the attic to bring down the remaining rice for their journey, when the rebels stormed in. Saidu sat in the attic, holding his breath and listening to the wailing of his sisters as the rebels raped them".Knowing that someone had to sit there and listen to their sisters being raped is a scary thought. If the people who were raping his sisters weren't the Rebels I think Saidu would have tried to go out and save them but he knows if he comes out of the attic the rebels would shoot him. The worst part is that he's a boy and most boys are protective over their sisters but Saidu didn't move because he could have gotten killed. This part in the book shouldn't be one of the reason on why this book should be banned because everyone is going to learn about this stuff one day so you might as well read about it.

          Back to the question I asked you to remember should this book be banned? I don't think that this book should be banned because the content in this book isn't that bad. There are no curse words in this book. This whole story is based on violence that everyone has heard on the news about someone dying. On the news I also know they talk about kids being raped or kidnapped. I don't think that one book should be banned because of one person. If you are very careful regarding what books you want your child to read then you should look at the book before they actually start reading it. My opinion on banning this book would be no.

synthesis page

reading response #2

                                        A Long Way Gone by Ishamel Beah

          The book A Long Way Gone by Ishamel Beah is about Ishamel, Junior and some of their friends . They lived in Sierra Leone with theirs father. Ishamel and his brother Junior discovered rap music that no one had ever heard of in Sierra Leone . The next day Ishamel and Junior decided to take a walk so they put some layers of clothe because they knew they weren't going to return to the village the next day the next day. When they were walking they stopped in to a village called Kabati which is where their grandmother lives in she wanted them to stay the night but they said they would return the next day. A couple hours after they left Kabati they arrived at Mattru Jong.and They met up with their friends Gibrilla, Kalok and Khalilou there.

          As Ishamel, Junior and their friends went out on a journey to the village of Mattru Jong. While they were there the rebels came to the city and all you can see is a whole bunch of people running. They had to watch so many people die in front of their faces. They even watched bullets go through people. As they were also trying to get out of the village they watched people struggle to walk just so they could get out of Mattru Jong. It got so bad that Junior, Ishamel and his friends had to run for an hour straight with out stoping because the rebels were chasing them. Eventually the rebels had stopped but they had no idea what village they had ended up in. They went days without eating actual food they could only eat raw fruits that they found growing on trees as they walked. Eventually they showed up to a village that had food so they ate there and stayed the night.

          From what I read in this book so far because I noticed that Ishamel and Junior have been through the most out of all their friends mostly because their parents are split up. They were considered the bad kids in Sierra Leone because they would always fight the other kids. With Ishamel, Junior and their friends they have definitely saw a lot more violence because they had watched people die right next to them and they could've almost died if they would stopped running from the rebels.