Reading Response

Reading Response on "New Moon"

Who has power in the text and how does that power get shown?

In New moon, Edward leaves Bella, Edward and Bella are the main characters, so when Edward leaves, Bella is alone and she has most power in the book since the book is in her perspective.

Just like in the movie, The point of view is in Bella's direction, so throughout the whole book, everything Is going to be happening through her eyes. Bella gets emotionally sick after Edward leaves, she decides to stay in Forks with her dad and her best friend, Jacob.

Many months pass and there is no sign of Edward, and instead of Bella moping around, she tries to get over the fact that Edward isn’t coming back. In the book, every step Bella takes is described, everything she sees is in her point of view so the book is written in a way where Bella sees the setting.

Bella does reckless things in order for Edward to come back, she keeps doing dangerous stunts, because Edward can see what she is doing and she has a feeling that he would come back. She sees visions of Edward when she performs stunts, but he never shows up so she continues. In the book, you can read Bella’s thoughts and feelings, and you would be able to realize how she feels about Edward leaving.

Bella describes herself throughout the book, and the reader can vision her state, the writer made the text really descriptive and It draws readers into the book.

Everything is in Bella’s perspective, so Bella has power in the book. The readers are reading about her and her life.  

You cant really read about the other characters in the book, its all in Bella’s perspective, you would be able to read what Bella thinks about the Characters.

Reading Response

How does this text address the points of view (perspectives) of other groups, especially those who don't get to tell their side?

I'm currently reading "New Moon" by Stephanie Meyers, and in this story, the point of view is from Bella or Edward, mostly Bella, and they are the main characters. 

In the story, Rosalie, Edwards "adopted" sister, shows hatred to Bella, and most of the story, you can't actually tell why, but in one part, when Rosalie is telling Bella her story, the reader is in Rosalie's point of view. In that section, you cannot tell what Bella is thinking about her story, its all Rosalie's point of view. Bella's perspective comes right after. 

"When the Cullens (Edward’s vampire family) throw a birthday party for Bella at their house, clumsy Bella gets a paper cut while unwrapping one of her presents, and spills a little blood. Jasper Cullen, still struggling with his family’s no-human diet, loses control and attacks Bella. Edward fights him off but, in the process, the boys wreck the house and leave Bella with a gushing wound on her arm. Everyone except for the head of the family, Carlisle Cullen, and Edward, hurries out with pinched noses to escape the tempting smell of Bella’s blood."  In this part, you can sense how Jasper feels about the blood from Bella, and it's a little section of his perspective. 

"Bella’s need for a mechanic causes her to renew her relationship with Jacob Black, the handy young son of Charlie’s best friend Billy, from La Push Indian Reservation. Two years younger than Bella, Jacob has had a crush on Bella since the first time they met. He also unwittingly told her that Edward was a "cold one," a vampire. Bella is surprised to see that Jacob has grown into a handsome young man. Always happy and supportive, he quickly becomes Bella’s healing balm, soothing some of the cracks in her broken heart. They become best friends. It’s obvious that Jacob has romantic feelings for Bella. Although she makes no secret out of the fact that she still loves Edward, she also has trouble curbing Jacob’s romantic advances because being around him makes her happy, something she hasn’t felt for a long time.

After Edward leaves Bella it is all Charlie's perspective and Jacob's because Bella gets traumatized and she kind of quits on herself for a long section of the book, so you can see what Charlie and Jacob is thinking and seeing in their perspective. 

In half of "New moon" you could see the other Characters Perspective not only Bella's, because in this book, Bella spazzes out. 

Argument essay

Sunzida Mahbub                                                                                                                    12/3/12

811                                                                                                                           Argument Essay

Are Child soldiers Victims or perpetrators?

            Child soldiers are victims, not perpetrators; they don’t fight or kill on their own will. They are forced into war. The child soldiers get drugged, and soon, killing becomes easy for them, and they would keep killing without knowing what they’re really doing. Child soldiers are abducted, sold, or forced into war; they are used as weapons, thinking they would be safe, going along with the child recruiters.

            One way children are put into war, is abduction. When children are abducted by their war recruiters, they think that they are going to be safe, with the recruiters, because they do not know where they’re going and what is going to happen to them. “They killed my mother and father in front of my own eyes. I was 10 years old. They took me with them” from the article “Children at war” by P Singer. This sentence, is about a child soldier, that was abducted at the age of ten, after his mother and father had been killed by child recruiters. He was a Liberian child. He didn’t want to go into war, he did it for his own safety. “Government forces have abducted 20,000 Liberian soldiers, forcing many of them into frontline combat” Statistics, of the number of kids that has been put into war.

            Child soldiers are scared to hold a gun at first, they are too young and they obviously haven’t done it before. The children get drugged, which brainwashes them, and once they get hold of a gun, they start killing, they’re brains don’t function right, they are fed a variety of drugs, such as cocaine and gun powder mixed together. Killing becomes easier for them every time they kill, and soon they become a great weapon to use in the war. “the first time I killed someone, I got so sick, I thought I was going to die…” this line is from the article “Children at war” by P Singer, this is about the experience of a child killing. “Killing became as easy as drinking water” – “Armed and Underaged by Jeffrey Guttlemen. This is how a child soldier described, killing someone.

            Problems of warlords and other misunderstandings between countries create war. And that causes the number of child soldiers to increase. Children are technically weapons to the warlords, and they need more weapons every time a fight/war breaks out. Kids as young as the age of 10 were placed into the war, encouraging other countries to do the same. “When conflict breaks out, children are quickly swept up”- “armed and underaged” (Jeffrey Guttlemenmen) this is how kids are recruited into war. Warlords start fights with other warlords from other countries and start war. “In some countries, hunger and poverty drive parents to sell their kids into service” not only kids are abducted, they are sold, due to poverty, by their parents. Parents don’t have any other choice.

            Child soldiers are victims, not perpetrators, They don’t choose to be in war, they are kidnapped, threatened, or sold. They don’t choose to kill, they get injected with drugs, which changes them, and make them kill. Warlords, cause the number of child soldiers to increase, and the age of the child soldiers that are swept up, get smaller. They don’t know what they are doing, they become family, and they have to do whatever the commanders say. When they are told to kill, they kill and they don’t ask for anything in return because there is nothing to ask for. Child soldiers are victims, they do not choose to be in the position they are in.