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I never really thought about how advertisments really affect our mental views on gender. On some ads, it is easy to see that there is definte gender characterization. I never really thought about the affect of this in our future and the future of our kids. Its crazy to see that they can be so easily shape by this.

I think that people should try to encourage one another in the skin that they are in. We need more shows that emphasizes being comfortable with you are. Think about how strange the world would be if everyone was the same size. Thats crazy. We should all try to be who we are do things for personal gratification instead of pleasing others.

Sister Sister

I definitely feel bad for Birdie. I think it sucks that she lost her sister. I think I feel for her more because I have a sister, that I kind of lost. I lost her in the emotional sense that we drifted away from one another. We also dont have the same taste in things.
Its so weird because I remember when my sister I were so close that we had planned on getting married on the same day to two people who were best friends and live next door to one another. This was when we were so close that we were afraid of losing one another so we kind of predestined our future so we would always be together forever. (That was when I was young and naive and reality hadnt struck me yet.)

I definitely feel for Birdie because it's like Cole made a future with her other black friends and Birdie is left out. She is in the shadows, and as much as she tries to fit in and be in the same future with her sister, she will neve fit in.

...Colored Me

This is one of the best stories that I have ever read about race. I liked Hurtson's view on her particular race.

One of the lines that resinaded with me was, "I am off to a flying start and I must not halt in the stretch to look behind and weep."

I really liked this line for two main reasons.

First, I think this line states that a lot of people dwell in the past. They sit there and just think about how they were mistreated and dont move on from that point.

Second, I think that she is using this as a message to a lot of people. She is trying to tell others not to just sit there. Hurton talks about being "off to a flying start." She is trying to tell them that there is alot of opportunities for them to take. And that they can make good out of the bad.

People dont have to sit there and be in a slump ove things. You have to make the best out of an ugly situation and she is doing that. She realizes that her ancestors died, but now she can have a better future. She can accomplish the things people never expected her to.

Speaking in Tongues

This is one of the strangest books that I have ever read. I was amazed by the intensity of the church. It was so weird how the church had such a great rule over its members. If you were a girl, you had to wear clothes that went past your knees and wrist. You also had to ask yourself, "What Would Jesus Do?" before you went anywhere or did anything that you were questioning doing.

I thought that it was extremely strange that the lady had Tia in a headlock. If you ask me, I dont think that God would ever do something like that. He wouldn't want to force people to beileve in him. I think that God would perform a miracle for Tia so that she would believe in him.

I think that this church lost the aspect of God. God is there to help and guide you, not to bring you into a headlock.

Dr. Strangelove

I thought that this movie was...different. I love the way that they were able to potray all the issues that were going on at that time. It showed how people were scared of the red scare and the amount of degree that each person took it. It also showed how the different countries were in an arms race with each other.
For example: At the end when they were discussing going into the mine tunnels to escape being nuked, they were questioning if when they got out, they would be bombed by another country that brought bombs into their mine shaft thing.
I think that this movie did a great job potraying that era.

This is a youtube link to a four minute part in the video where the President meets with the Russian President.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWP_rEWG2xkI

letters from war

19-year-old Artillery Gunner, Leon responds to his fiancée, Korean War, read by Edward Norton:
KoreaHill 10-6-2
Dear Babe,I just received your letter in this morning's mail. I held it in my hand for a minute while a little voice in the back of my head whispered, "This is it. This is the one."

You tried to "let me down easy."

I never said I was the greatest guy on earth; you did. Anyway, he's there. I'm here.
"Be careful," you tell me. "Take care." I almost laughed out loud. We wouldn't want to see me hurt, would we? There's no need to worry about me. I'll be all right.... Do I say something brilliant like "may all your troubles be little ones"?

How about "If you ever need a friend"? That presumes a future.

There are 500,000 N. Koreans and Chinese on the other side of that hill bound and determined to make sure I don't have a future. Over here where your past is your last breath, your present is this breath, and your future is your next breath, you don't make too many promises. Which leaves me what?

Goodbye,Leon

Two days later, Leon charged an enemy machine gun nest and was killed.

Response:

When I read this letter, I felt really sad for the guy. I mean the fiancee dumped him while in the war. While reading this letter, I can complitely understand what the guy is goiong through. The fiancee gave him hope for the relationship. She pretty much stated that she would be there for him but now wasn't.

I also dont think that he overacted in the letter.

What is he supposed to do now? Are they supposed to be friends? Yeah right. She was wrong to do that to him while he was in the war. She should have just waited until he came home.

From what I know, I assume that most military folks keep going because they have someone to come back home to. They know that someone is back home waiting for them to come back.

So it Goes.

In our new book Slaughterhouse-Five, the sentence, "so it goes," gets repeated quite often. Vonnegut seems to repeat this line after every statement of a death. As I was wondering why was so important about death, I ran into my conclusion in Chapter 4.
When Weary dies, he tells the rest of the people that the person who killed him was "Billy Pilgrim."
This is the reason that I believe that he uses this phrase. With this phrase, he can kind of tell the story but not make the cause of the deaths a fact. Using this, he is trying to drive home that people dont always tell the truth. Also, the story might have been passed on and on and with that, people interpert things different.