Orphan Train Post- Reading

  I am choosing to write my post reading about the quote,  " I learned long ago that loss is not only probable but inevitable." I think that this is a very powerful and true statement. It also relates very well to the book Orphan Train.
  The first examples  that I want to give are related to the book, as well as Molly and Vivian's lives. Vivian is a ninety one year old who Molly (a teenager who was put into a foster home when she was very young) is helping clean out her attic so that she can stay out of jail. When Vivian was a little girl, a fire killed the rest of her family, fortunately she was able to be saved. At this time Vivian was put into a foster home and later moved between families. Sometimes she had a good family and other times she had a cruel family just like Molly's former family. The same exact thing happened to Molly, her father died and her mother turned to drugs to fix her problems. This resulted in Molly being orphaned.  Her former family ( Dina and Ralph) were not such a good family. Her mom Dina only kept her because she got money from the government each month for parenting an orphan.  Another big loss that they both had to face was losing their birth parents. This would be so hard for me to lose my parents, I can't imagine the pain that they faced during this. Another example is when Vivian's first husband died at war and she put her newborn baby up for adoption. She voluntarily put her baby up for adoption but, her husband's death forced her to do this. There are many more examples in this book, but these were the ones that stuck out to me most.
  Loss is also inevitable in real life, not just in stories. We lose family members and friends all the time. I'm not saying that this is a good thing or something we should hope for, but it happens... It's inevitable. I've been through it, everyone has. Everybody loses friends because of disagreements or arguments, and even if it hasn't happened yet, everyone will lose someone special to them. That person could be a friend, a family member, a teacher, a coach, etc.
  So, loss is inevitable and it's going to happen to all of us. We have to learn to deal with these losses somehow. I think this was a great book and it definitely portrayed many great real life references. I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading more from this author.

Human Nature Essay

Human Nature Essay

When you were born, you were moral, you were good. You and everyone else were all born decent people. If you are an evil person, you chose to be, or you were raised that way. Everyone is good hearted in general. Have you decided to be good or bad? It’s your choice and only yours. There are definitely lots of good morals that you could live by, that teach good things. Treat others the way you want to be treated, if you are nice, people will usually be nice back. Remember, people aren’t born evil!

 People help others out sometimes before themselves. In Lord of the Flies, Piggy and Simon helped out the little kids with taking care of themselves and they helped get them food. They lost their time when they could’ve been doing something they wanted, but instead they helped the little kids. The kids were very appreciative to Piggy and Simon because they couldn’t do this for themselves. In Night there was always one really nice SS officer anywhere they went that would sneak them extra rations of bread and soup. This is what kept some of the Jews alive. It spared someone like Elie’s father’s life for a few days. He was weak and the extra bread helped give him energy. Another example in Lord of the Flies would be when Ralph took up for Piggy when people like Jack and Roger taunted him because of his size and his asthma. At first Ralph made fun of Piggy  too, but then he realized who his true friends were.

 Another thing to think about is… If you are nice, people will usually be nice back. In the Cold Within Poem, one man said he would give to those who gave, but nobody gave so he didn’t This goes to show that if you are nice, and give people will usually give back. At school, I always try to be nice to others, because I want them to be nice to me. Treat others the way you would want to be treated.

 People aren’t born mean, everyone has some kindness in their hearts. People aren’t naturally cold- hearted. They either have to be raised that way or they have to learn it from someone else. Even though in Lord of the Flies Jack and Roger are mean and cruel, they didn’t choose to be stranded on an island with no order and no grownups. They were put there because of chance. They had to do what they had to do to survive, even if that meant being cruel to one another. I think in this situation we would all see a little bit of Jack and Roger in us. That doesn’t mean we would intentionally kill others, but we would all have frustration and anger. I think that deep down Roger and Jack can be good people. In Night the SS officers and they leaders weren’t always evil. Are most of them evil? Yes, but there was the occasional officer who snuck extra food and the one who sometimes didn’t kill someone. They weren’t evil at first, they chose to be this way. Sometimes they were even told that they had to do this cruel job, if they wanted to live.

 So, I think deep down, people are naturally good-hearted. Just remember that nobody is born evil or mean. Some things that you should think about before you are mean are… Most people help others before themselves, and treat others the way you would want to be treated. Always remember that you are a good person! Before you are rude to someone, remember the kind of person you want to be. I try to be good and be the best person I can be. Are you Good or Evil?

Pre-Reading Orphan Train

For the book Orphan Train, I am choosing to write about empathy. Empathy is when you have the ability to understand and share the feelings of someone else. Having empathy is a skill that I have. Everyone should try to have empathy even if it is hard, because having empathy makes you a better person and more people will like you.
  I think that having a sad experience just one time will make a person empathetic. Sometimes another person can relate to you, in the same sad experience or time. For example, in 2008 when I was 5 years old my grandmother passed away unexpectedly. I was so sad because I was super close to her and we were always around each other. She was and still is one of the closest family members that I have lost. Obviously I had a lot of questions for my mom and dad, but I was too little to really understand most of the answers to my questions. I still have lots of questions that I still can't understand today.
  Recently one of my close friends lost a very close family member. Having been through that same situation, I was able to understand what she was going through while helping her cope. I was able to listen to her and offer suggestions that might help her get through it and move on while always remembering. I wouldn't go as far as to say that I experienced it a second time with her, but I did share her sadness and listen to her talk through her emotions. I still feel very sad for her because going through another loss like that would be close to unbearable.
  My group of friends don't just have empathy for each other when we lose somebody, but we support, encourage, and sympathize each other in good and bad times. That's what all real friends should do for each other.
  So, having empathy isn't such a bad thing because it can make you a more understanding, loveable/likeable, encouraging person. I think that by having this quality, you will make more friends, because most people want a friend who listens to them and talks about their problems as well as yours. I will always try to have empathy because I know how important it is.

Test Post

 My favorite vacation ever was going to Washington D.C.