Reading Response #4: Malala’s Mission

Reading Response #4: Malala’s Mission

In Pakistan, there are some unfair laws. Certain TV and music are banned, and so is women’s education. That’s what 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai fights to bring back, as told in the Upfront Magazine article “Malala’s Mission” by Alessandra Potenza. When the Taliban took away the right of women’s education where she lived, she started to speak out. She kept going to school even though it wasn’t allowed. Then on October 9, 2012, when Malala was still only 15, the Taliban found out about her school visits and hunted her down. They found her and shot her in the head. Miraculously, she survived and is now living in England, getting a full education, and still fighting for her rights in Pakistan. For this, she has won the Nobel Peace Prize. This article wants me to know that women should have a good education in Pakistan and other places that don’t allow it.

The author wants me to support women’s education because the article is an interview with Malala. Malala tells the interviewer her opinion on this subject, inspiring me and making me want to think the same. Malala says things like “I’ve seen so many situations in which girls are denied their basic human rights. . . .I realized girls’ education is important, and that’s why the terrorists are afraid of it - because they do not want women to [be] empowered.” Ideas like this tell readers that girls shouldn’t be denied these rights, that they should get an equal education to man. It tells readers that they shouldn’t be discriminated and kept from school just because she’s a girl. In the article, Malala uses loaded words like “injustice” to explain what is happening in her country. Injustice is the act of taking rights away, which is a perfect word to describe her plight. This shows that the authors supports Malala and wants us to support her and her cause too.

Furthermore, the author also wants me and other teens to stand up for ideas like this that I believe in. Besides standing up for her beliefs, Malala encourages other people her age to stand up for theirs. She says, “[Some] teenagers think that standing up [for] women’s rights or human rights is not their job to do. They usually consider themselves as people who have fun [and] take selfies, but I think it’s important that teenagers take active roles in speaking up against injustice and inequality.” This shows that Malala wants kids her age to stand up for what they believe in. She wants them to know that their voice makes a difference. This clearly shows that the author wants me to feel this way.

Overall, The authors wants us to support Malala’s ideas for women’s education and speak for our beliefs too. This article made me think about how I have lots of ideas like this, that I’d like to stand up for, but I don’t because I felt as if my voice didn’t count. But Malala was one person and now so many people know about her and support her, maybe me and the kids in my school could do the same someday.

Works Cited

Potenza, Alessandra. "Malala’s Mission." The New York Times Upfront 17 Nov. 2014: Print.

Trip Homework

Trip Homework

The trip our class took to the Museum of the City of New York made me think about all the social issues there are in the world. Many were presented there, like women’s suffrage, racism, gay marriage, and even parking in bike lanes. But then, when we went to make buttons, we uncovered so many others. Bullying, drug addiction, abuse, and global warming were just a few that we made into buttons that we didn’t see in the exhibit. What I thought was interesting about this is that we all believed in stopping these issues. Sure, some of them were jokes like the bring back McDonald’s supersize buttons, but some people who actually experienced one of these social issues, like bullying or racism, were serious in wanting to stop it.

Another thing the trip got me thinking about was how social issues were always around. We experience them today, but I find it interesting to think about how someone could be fighting many years ago for something I’m fighting for now. Of course, that does mean the issue still hasn’t been fixed even after however long it’s been around. For example, racism has been around for hundreds of years, and we’re still fighting to end it now. It has gotten less and less over the years, but never ended completely. Hopefully this generation can stop it, and other social issues like it.

Reading Response #3

Reading Response #3

Teenage boys all grow up differently. Some are raised poor, with a family that always sticks together. They go to school in a one-room school house, making best friends for life, and getting amazing grades with their ambition to be the best. Holden Caulfield of J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, lives the exact opposite, having a rich family that sends him to boarding school, where he has some annoying enemies and doesn’t care about his grades. In fact, Holden failed 4 out of 5 subject in his school. This makes Holden think he isn’t that smart, and therefore illiterate. Holden thinks he is illiterate, but is actually a very good reader and writer.

First of all, Holden is actually literate because he likes to read. Near the beginning of the book, he says, “I’m quite illiterate, but I read a lot.” This is a very important quote because it shows the reader that he thinks he’s illiterate. In the quote, Holden states that he’s illiterate, but then immediately goes on to say the opposite, that he reads a lot. He then goes on to to name many books he’s read and liked, such as Out of Africa, The Return of the Native,  Of Human Bondage, and The Great Gatsby. Holden even says, “I was crazy about The Great Gatsby.” By saying that he was crazy about this book, Holden is saying that he really likes the book. So, by liking the book, and reading being part of literacy, Holden is literate. Without a doubt, this shows that Holden is actually literate because he likes to read.

Second of all, Holden is actually literate because he likes to write and is good at it. Near the beginning of the story, Holden has to write a report describing something. Most boys would think this task is a chore or a pain, but Holden, in his words, “sort of liked writing about it.” Writing is part of literacy, and by liking to write, Holden is literate. But, you can still like writing and be a terrible writer. That wouldn’t make you literate. But, Holden is a good writer. At one part in the book, Holden’s English teacher talking to him, and he calls Holden, an “ace composition writer.” When someone is called an “ace” at something, it means they are very good at that subject. And when Holden is called an “ace composition writer” by his English teacher, an expert in literature, it can definitely be confirmed that Holden is good at writing. Clearly, these quotes show Holden is actually literate because he likes to write and is good at it.

Overall, Holden is a great reader and writer, but even so, he thinks he is illiterate. If we tell students that they are illiterate, or fail them without a good explanation, like Holden’s teachers, it can make the student not believe in him or herself, just like Holden doesn’t. For a student to succeed, they must be told what they do wrong, and be positively told the ways they can improve. That way, they can believe in themselves, unlike Holden.