Benjamin Franklin Autobiography

     Benjamin Franklin wrote an autobiography of his life, his accomplishments,and all the decisions he made. It discusses his lifespan, ideas, and goals he wanted to accomplish.The part we read in class was when he was seventeen years old in 1723. The portion talks about how he wants to achieve "moral perfection" and tries to be as perfect as he can be. He wrote this autobiography to show his readers his true personality and what he really thinks and feels about certain aspects. Benjamin Franklin's tone is descriptive, practical, and descriptive. Benjamin's main goal was to show people that they have to do tasks which can lead to moral perfection.
     Franklin had made a chart, and it had different categories, or the thirteen virtues. Every day he would work on perfectecting one of the virtues, and if he accomplished it he would transfer on to the next category. Examples of his virtues are humility, silence, and tranquility. Benjamin Franklin wanted to achieve at his best, and every morning he would ask himself what he would achieve today, and he would answer his question at the end of the day. He did not succeed with it completely, because it is difficult to multitask, but he did become a happier person.

Lebanon

     If I can travel anyplace in the world, it would have to be Beirut,Lebanon. The reason behind this, is because both my parents are from Lebanon, and the stories I have heard about the beauty and landscape of the country amazes me. I have been wanting to go to Lebanon for so long, but because of a tragedy it is hard for my mother to travel there again. When she was just twelve years of age, her father died from a bullet to his heart, and that scarred her for life. The stories she has told me about the waters,trees, and shops, just make it sound so wonderful, that I can not help but ask her to go. I love, love, love, the simplicity of this place, but the history behind it also sparks my interest into travelling there one day. Who does not want to go to a place where generations of your family have lived and loved? Who does not want to experience the life of their parents back when they were children in their own hometown? I could have easily chosen Europe, Spain, or Jamaica, but my heart has always longed to go to the place where my family grew up, and thrived.  I will see Lebanon , and I will fall in love. Beauty does not only rest on physical aspects of a country, but also the history behind it. Lebanon, to me, is a place full of hopes and dreams, reborn into a different era, but has the same sentimental meaning. I pray that one day I will accomplish my dream, and set foot on the land that we call Lebanon.

"Speech in the Convention"

     The speech I chose to talk about this week is "Speech in the Convention". It takes place in the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The speaker in the speech is Benjamin Franklin, who was trying to emphasize to the audience the importance of having a constitution. He talks in a persuasive and calm manner. The audience he was trying to reach were the colonial representatives, who had come from the thirteen colonies to hear such an amazing speech that can change their lives. The purpose of his speech was to persuade the representatives to be uniform, and stick together, not drift in different directions. He wanted the people to have rights and follow them in a orderly way.His tone during the speech was calm, reasonable, and logical.
     His speech was not just an ordinary speech. He used a method called rhetorical devices, in which he got to emphasize the important parts in a different way. His speech included many rheotorical questions, where the audience was asked with a question but given the answer. The audience at that moment, was thinking about the question without even suspecting that Benjamin had already given them the answer. Franklin also compares the audience to instruments, because the audience can echo the information they hear, and for the Constitution to work, they have to be unanimous and united. Benjamin Franklin's main purpose of the speech was to persuade and inform the colonial representatives what the constitution was about, and what they had to do to get it passed and well administered.

My Favorite Ice Cream

   Everyone in the world loves ice cream! I do not know one person who does not love ice cream. It is a way to cool down after a hot summer day, or just to fulfill your sweet tooth. People's choices for flavor will differ, because people do not always have the same taste in food. My all time favorite ice cream flavor would have to be Smores. The reason why I love it, is because it tastes exactly how a real smore should taste. I love to go camping and make smores, but when I am at home and crave those delicious fire roasted marshmallows and chocolate, I just open my freezer, and eat as much as I want. I love, love, love, Smores ice cream. The taste makes my mouth water, and if you close your eyes, it feels as if you are at a campsite, eating real smores. I am in love with smores ice cream. I am fond of many other flavors, but this particular one hits me everytime. It takes me to that moment where I am surrounded by friends around a campfire, and making smores. Will I ever get enough of this ice cream? Smores is the choice to go when you are at a supermarket just starring into a cold freezer. I guarantee it will make you fall in love all over again!

News Article #2

    I recently visited CNN.com and was immediately drawn to the article by Michael Martinez, that read "Father charged with abuse for treatment of son on harbor cruise." This article was about a man named Sloan Briles who was on a cruise with his two sons and his girlfriend. Sloan, the father, was in a argument with his girlfriend, and his son, age of seven, started crying. The father started poking the child, and threatening him, and saying that if he does not stop crying he will be thown off the boat. His father was under the influence of alcohol, and that mainly caused his reckless behavior. He continuously slapped the boy and threw him ten feet overboard. Thankfully, another tour boat was there to rescue the innocent seven year old boy. The father had jumped to "rescue" his son, but the boat had already done the job.
    Sloan Steven Briles was arrested by the Orange County Sheriff's Department for child abuse and misdemeanor for resisting an officer. When the police started to question him, he denied it all by saying, "We were having fun, it was a harbor cruise!" If he is charged for both child abuse and misdemeanor, he will have a maximum of six years in prison. This article shows how far alcohol can go, and what consequences it can lead to. An innocent seven year old boy would have been dead, but God saved him, because it was his father who messed up. Parents nowadays have to be protecting their children and acting as good role models when they are around their kids, not acting like childish teenagers at parties. Justice should be served, and he deserves to go to jail.

'Mission Update"

     During the past week, we read a blog called "Misson Update". The speaker of the blog was Steven Squyres, an astronaut in space. He mainly blogged about what he was seeing and experiencing. The blog takes place in 2006, during the landing of the rover "Opportunity" on Mars.
     The speaker, Steven, writes to an audience that includes the entire world. People all over the world would love to find out more information about Mars and become fascinated by it. His main purpose was to inform the audience and attract them to Mars, and finding out more information about it. The subject of the blog is life on Mars, and the landing of Opportunity, the rover.
   Steven's main points in writing this blog were to show his emotions and feelings toward what he was experiencing, instead of doing it for the money and selfish benefits. He was utterly excited about the landing of Opportunity, and that is a focal point in his blog. Squyres gives the audience a sense of excitement, and tries to encourage them to learn more about life on other planets. The way he talks about the view and surroundings of Mars, the more the audience wants to be in his shoes. The speaker was strucken by Mars' beauty.

"A Journey Through Texas" SOAPST

   "A Journey Through Texas", written by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, is a personal narrative piece of literature that he wrote for the king and queen of Spain. Cabeza de Vaca, the speaker, joined by three other coutrymen travel from Texas to the Spanish settlement in New Mexico in 1528. He was given this oppurtunity by the Queen of Spain, and they would pay him in return for knowledge about the lands. He narrates the story in a first person perspective, allowing the audience to visualize the experiences he had encountered on his journey. The usage of imagery in the story, helps the reader grasp the detailed aspects of the trip, and picture themselves in their shoes. The story is also in chronological order, meaning that the storyline goes step by step. Cabeza wrote it as if he were writing a diary or a journal entry, because he expressed his own opinions on the problems and experiences he saw and lived by.
  Cabeza de Vaca's purpose of the story was to inform the readers about the experiences he had, and all the new concepts and ideas he had discovered. He wanted to also inform the people who wanted to settle there and make contact with the tribes. By writing about the tribes and new discoveries, he was trying to persuade and inspire other explorers to join him on the journey to finding new lands. Another purpose was money and wealth. The Queen of Spain offered him money if he took on the journey to bring back information and knowledge. His purpose was to give his own voice, or opinion, on the first hand events that occured throughout the time of his journey. Cabeza writes in such an honest way, that the reader can visualize themselves on the journey.
  The tone of the piece begins off being descriptive and quite detailed. He flourishes the audience with imagery and helps them gain  knowledge of what life was in anothers perspective. His informative narration gives an insight to his own life, thus, giving us more background information about who or what he is. The tone later on changes to anger,when a few of the tribes are not friendly, and he had to find a way to manipulate them.
His depictions of the tribes, events, and food, show that he truly wanted to explore the land. Cabeza also studied their religion, because Spain was also religious, and that would look better to them. Cabeza at the end, changed the tone to happiness, when they find squash and eat it together.

News Article

I recently visited the Los Angeles Times website, and found one particular article that caught my eye. The article is called "Exercise in hot weather is OK for kids-with precautions". It was written by Shari Roan for the Los Angeles Times on August 8, 2011, featuring the booster shots blog. Exercise is needed for  human beings but mostly for kids. Kids and adults need exercise to live their lives in a healthy and fit way, but sometimes the weather can affect that perfomance. The article talked more about how hot weather can put serious dangers to childrens' and adults lives. Heat can cause death if there are no limits to being outside, or poor acts of hydration and proper exertion. "Most healthy children and adolescents can safely participate in outdoor sports and other physical activities through a wide range of challenging warm to hot climactic conditions," wrote the authors of a new policy statement.
The article stresses the importance of looking at  kids in a different way. Not all the kids are the same in physical characteristics, and because of obesity rates in the United States, the children must be monitored when having fun in the sun. Heat illnesses can be caused by many factors such as; lack of hydration, poor exertion, not enough breaks, and wrong types of clothing and equipment needed for that event. Today, coaches and supervisors want kids to be on the same level when it comes to sporting events, but they have to keep in mind that people are different, and each of their needs must be taken seriously. They need to realize that an obese child can not perform the same way as a fit 12 year old,under the blazing sun. This article caught my attention because, it happens quite often in schools and major sporting events, and people, kids or adults, can have heat strokes and those can end in death. We have to keep in mind that not all kids
can act the same way under certain conditions, and we have to understand, and help them feel comfortable but most importantly, keep them safe.

MY FAVORITE BOOK

     I have read numerous books throughout my lifetime. Books are a great way to escape the world, and live through someone else's perspective. My favorite book of all time would have to be Before I Die by Jenny Downham. It is about a 17 year old teenager, Tessa, who is dying with leukemia. She lives with her brother and father, and gets to see her estranged mother once in a while. Tessa had made a list of  things she wanted to do before she died. Most of the things on her list were foolish and immensely dangerous. Tessa's father wanted to protect her from the things she was doing, mainly drugs and sex, but she wanted to live her last moments on Earth doing what she wanted. She wanted to experience the rush of any adventure that came to her head, and she wanted to conquer every task before cancer beat her to it. Tessa did not want to be depressed and lay in bed all day because her life was going to end, but she made a journey to the innevitable. Her life started to get better, and her parents started getting closer and closer. The boy next door took an interest in her, but deep in her heart she wanted to stay and watch the happiness rise into the air like a balloon. She accepted death and tried to live in the moment. This book was the most heart-breaking and real book I have ever read, and it taught me a major lesson about life. We all have to live in the moment, and do the best we can, because life can end before "life" can actually begin. Tessa was a brave teenager, who embraced the real meaning of life and love. At the end, her life slowly slips away, but she died knowing that she was ready to be sent to the heavens of the world. This book teaches teenagers a lesson, to never look down on life, because it is the only one you have. Cherish life to the last minute, and when it is your time, leave as if you just arrived. Fulfilled. Strong. Reaching your dreams.