You walk into a classroom with children silently reading, the girls are diligently reading while the males into the class are acting out. This can be a seen found through-out America. It seems today that more girls are reading than boys. So I pose the question, “why are girls reading more than boys?” There are many answers to the question and solutions as well. Although, boys are reading there is a reason why girls are reading more this can be due to biological reasons, self-fulfilling prophecy, and the cause for other interests.
According to Science Daily, boy’s brains work differently with different with language then girls. Girls and boys rely on different parts of the brain to process language. Boys are more sensory while girls are more abstract. (Northwestern University) With that said boys may have trouble processing abstract things like language i.e. reading. So this can cause boys to read less and girls read more. I am not sure how I felt about this articles research. However, it was a actual experiment that found concrete evidence through brain scans. I’d like to think though that if boys are encouraged to read they will.
Self-fulfilling prophecy may be another factor. Explained by Live Science, schools are playing a large role in why boys are not reading. Schools give girls more incentive to read and may argue “its okay boys are not as good as girls are at reading.” (Britt) So, basically schools are allowing boys to not read as much as girls because it is socially accepted. With schools allowing this male students believe they are not good at reading so they actually are not good at reading. I think this is a pretty sad statement, if schools just expanded their outreach to boys reading programs quite possibly the issue may start to be solved.
Lastly, on the same note male students are expected to be good at other activities opposed to reading. From my personal experiences male students are expected to be good at sports and then subjects that are more concrete such as math and sciences. With expectations like these boys put all their energy and effort toward the aforementioned activities. This occurrence happens to the extent that boys find reading boring and the other activities more entertaining.
Without a doubt boys are reading less then girls. I feel this is a problem that must be addressed at a young age in school and at home. Boys need to be encouraged to read. Today boys are faced with biological reasons along with self fulfilling prophecies. More needs to be done to correct this issue.
Works Cited:
Britt, Roy. "Why Johnny Can't Read: Schools Favor Girls." Live Science n. pag. Web. 25 Nov 2009.
Northwestern University. "Boys' And Girls' Brains Are Different: Gender Differences In Language Appear Biological." ScienceDaily 5 March 2008. 24 November 2009
For my freestyle Blog I chose to write about Multicultural books. I recently did some extra credit for a class that required me to read a few multicultural children books. I think multicultural books are importnat for Elementary-age students to read. Simple books that just have different racial charachters. Exposing students to different cultures is great and good for creating more culturaly senstive students and children.
1952-- This version of Othello is in black and white, this gives the play a bit darker or dull feel, this fact lets the play make use of shadows. The setting is inside and outside with stone work all around.Othello is in armour while Iago is wearing a black robe, the robe signifies that Iago is the "bad guy".There is background music that adds to the scene between Iago And Othello the two don't seem to enjoy each others company. Inside their is a mirror prop that Othello looks into, as he begins to get mad.
1981--This one is different from the black and white version. The setting is inside in a large airy room during the day. This takes away from the use of shadows. Othello and Iago seemed to converse more easy. Othello is calm opposed to Iago who seems to be a bit more nervous. The dialouge between the two is different then that of the play, which thank gosh was easier for me to follow. This version is changed due to current times and doesn't follow so much what one would picture while reading the play.
1995--This version seems to be a little more altered then the last. In this one Othello and Iago first are outside during the day with some sort of battle practice going on around them. The characters move into some sort of weapon room, the tone moves away from the lit not so dark to a more dark one.This clip uses flash-backs to set the mood of Othellos anger, as does the change in close-ups and body frame.
Othello: Ay let her rot and perish, and be damned tonight, for she shall not live. No, my heart is turned to stone, I strike it and it hurts my hand. Oh the world hath not a sweeter creature! She might lie by an emperors hand and command him tasks.(clark 1008)
This quote from Othello seems to be him having a struggle of his feelings for Bianca. He is so angry his heart is stone , however he says theres no sweeter creature on earth. He really is having an enternal struggle.
With all the trouble I've had reading Shakespeare's Othello I decided to try to possibly figure out why the sentances were so difficult. Folger, explains that Shakespeare is diffcult to read since his language has far changed from todays standards. He also explains that like most poems Shakespears poems are highly structred and condensed. Folger goes on to say that poems such of these are best read with a dictionary at hand. This was a welcomed reading consider I was starting to question my own intelligence.
http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=937
I chose to write this quote response on the beginning of scene 2 that takes place in Venice on another street before Othellos Lodging.
Lago: "Though in the trade of war I have slain men, Yet do I hold it very stuff o' the conscience To do no contrived murder. I lack inquiry Sometimes to do me service. Nine or ten times I had thought t' have yerked him here under the ribs." (Kennedy 945)
Othello: "'tis better as it is"(Kennedy 945)
Lago: "Nay but he prated, And spoke such scurvy and provoking terms Againest your honor That, with the light godliness I have, I did that full hard forbear him. But I pray you sir, Are you fast maried? be assured of this, The the magnifco is much beloved, And hath in the effect a voice potential."(Kennedy 945)
I really have had trouble really understanding what was going on in this play. The phrase that I did understand that lept out of this was when Lago says " Though in the trade of war I have slain men." this really helps show how deceitful and horrible of a person lago really is.
For the movie "O" I chose to do my scen response on the scene when O basically accuses Dezzy of cheating on him. O ask Dezzy where is scarf is and if Mike has it. Then she confronts him and asks him if she thinks she's cheating. I think this scene is important because it seemed to be the beginning of all of Mikes deceit coming to a head. I was interested by it since O really seemed insanely jealous and its interesting to see how Dezzy dealt with this by confronting him right back.
County Attorney:"What was she doing?(Kennedy 838)
Hale:"She was rockin' back and forth, She had her apron in her hand and was kind of--Pleating it." (Kennedy 838)
I chose this, part of the play because I feel like the reader is thinking what is going on here? The way Hale desrcibes Mrs. Right really paints a picture of how the woman looks the following lines I didn't include also add to the scene. I personally picture this woman sitting there looking a wreck ringing her apron. The phrases that stick out are "rockin' Back and forth" & "Pleating it" it gives the reader a sence that Mrs. Wright looked discotent and a little unstable.
I chose to write my freestyle blog entry on books that are remade into movies. All in all movies usually are never able to truly catch the essence of a good book. Whenever I get my hopes up about the remake of a favorite book I always find myself leaving the movie theater disappointed. I am assuming this is due to the fact that books are obviously so much longer and can't be packed into a two hour time period. I think for the instance of "O" and Othello considering the story in fact is so old that the translation into current society doesn't really ruin the story since they can be viewed basically as to separate things.
In my Opinion the book will always be better then the movie. I also think society today need to pick up a book opposed to the remote. They may be delightfully surprised.
I chose to discuss pages 18 and 19 from Persepolis for my quote response. The first picture is of demonstrators Shouting "DOWN WITH THE KING!"(Satrapi,18) the dialogue depicts the young girls parents demonstrating the next illustrations show the army marching up on to the protesters while the protesters throw rocks at the army. The next illustrations have the parents talking to their daughter whose pleading them to play Monopoly with her..they both laugh at the irony of their daughter wanting to play Monopoly with the given circumstances.
Page 19 was a pretty interesting the dialouge is as follows "As for me, I love the King he was chosen by GOD"-Perspolis "Who told you that?"-Father "My teacher and GOD himself."Persepolis.(Satrapi,19) The rest of the dialouge contiues on with her father explaing the false-hood of what his daughter believes.
I think the words that stick out to me are when she says and GOD himself. it's interesting that she herself didn't really understand what was going on around her.
"A strange beautiful woman
met me in the mirror
the other night.
Hey
I said,
What you doing here?
She asked me
the same thing."(kennedy, 796)
I chose this for my quote-response because the poem by Marilyn Nelson really appealed to me. The poem was pretty short so I included it in its entirety. The words that stick out to me was the phrase "strange beautiful woman" it seems as if some woman is looking at herself in a new way possibly shes dressed up or changed something about her physical appearnce. EIther way the poem really seems to fit how female feels when liking what she sees in the mirror.
I chose to paraphrase the same poem that I used in my quote response. The poem is "Care and Feeding" by Billy Collins
"Because I will turn 420 tomorrow
in dog years
I will take myself for a long walk
along the green shore of the lake,"
I am really interprating the poem in two ways the first interpratation is a person who see's their dog really as a part of them and is taking their dog for a walk. Second, the person is really taking care of themselves and literally going on a walk
"and when I walk in the door,
I will jump up on my chest
and lick my nose and eyelids
while I tell myself again and again to get down"
This is where I think the first interpratation is more true, I think the writer is describing how their excited dog is happy to them.
The rest of the poem goes on to describe variations of how he himself interacts with himself as a dog?--sounds counfusing but basically he is just describing how close he is with his dog.
Because I will turn 420 tomorrow
in dog years
I will take myself for a long walk
along the green shore of the lake,"(Kennedy 765)
I chose these lines from Billy Collins "Care and Feeding" because I thought the poem was pretty funny the words that stand out to me were "420 in dog years" because it's a comical line that sets the tone for the rest of the poem. Next I liked "along the green shore of the lake" because its a good description even if its not really detailed I can see what Collins is getting at.
"It's not a war no, it's not a rapture
I'm just a person but you can't take it
The same tricks that once fooled me
They won't get you anywhere
I'm not the same kid from your memory
Now I can fend for myself"(paramore)
I chose this stanza from Paramores Ignorance. I feel its saying that it's not as bad as the atagonist is making it out to be and that whoever is singing it isnt going to fall for the same old stuff since they have grown. The phrase that stands out is the first like "It's not a war no it's not a rapture." I just like the phrase it sands out a lot.
Puppies are pure joy.
Cuddle with me so warm.
I just love puppies!
I decided to paraphrase the poem on page 798 in kennedy by Yone Noguchi.
Birds Flown Away"
This stanza is discussing how in the fall leaves fall of the trees and then birds migrate and fly away.
"I wander in and out the Hall of Autumn>"
I think this would mean they are day dreaming a bit about fall, walking around in the wonderment of Fall.
Are The fallen stars
Returning up the sky?--
The dew on the grass.
This means that the stars are shineing brightly on clear fall nights so they seem to be returning to the view of the sky.
Like a cobweb hung upon the tree,
A prey to wind and sunlight!
Who will say that we are safe and stong?
I think this stanza is refering to the leaves on the tree being like a cobweb being like prey to the wind blowing them off the tree and sunlight shineing through them.
Oh, How cool--
The sound of the bell
That leaves the bell itself.
This seems to mean that the leaves have all blown off the tree leaving alone the tree itself.
For my freestyle blog I chose to write about my favorite set of books the Twilight saga.I recently decided to re-read the second book in the series New Moon. Partly because my first book in the series Twilight was lent out and partly because I wanted a refresher on the book before the movie comes out, on 11.20.2009! I could choose to take my blog one way and write about how the movie is never ever as good as the book! However, most all of us would agree that the movie is never as good at the book! With that said I am just going to write my blog about the second book in the series entitled New Moon.
I really love this quote found in New Moon in the preface. Most of us have had the dream of running and not moving at all. Meyers really painted a great picture with this quote I feel like I right there! The preface, this quote included really sets the stage for the rest of the book. A great read that I would recommend to everyone!
"There was clearly nothing to but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating."(kennedy 165)
This quote seemed to really pop out of the text at me. It fits the story "The Gift of the Magi"(kennedy 165-168), the story is pretty ironic since both parties of the story sell off valued items to buy the other a gift in the end the gifts bought were partners to what the other sold. I feel both parties in the story started out in sobs because they had no money to buy the other a nice gift. They both hoped to make the other happy and both some what end up in the middle of saddness and happiness aka sniffles.
I feel this is true that for the most part people are in between being absolutly sad and being absolutly happy.
For my freestyle reading assignment I read The House on Mango Street written by Sandra Cisneros. I really enjoyed this story. A young Hispanic girl explains the different places she has lived and how she had hopes to live somewhere nicer. The family finaly lands on a House on Mango street that the family owns. The house is not what the family had hoped for, it was small with a small yard. At a previous house the narrator explains of an encounter she had with a nun.
.."There. I had to look to where she pointed--the third floor, the paint peeling, wooden bars Papa had nailed on the windows so we wouldn't fall out. You live there? The way she said it made me feel like nothing. There, i lived there. I nodded"..
I really found this story to be interesting because I am pursuing and an endorsement in which I would work with children who are learning the English language. Some of these children ,like the narrator, will probably not have stable homes and be in constant transition from homes. As educators or , even people like the nun, need to be more sensitive and aware of ESL students life-styles.
"The Children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles."
"Tessa Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hand outs desperately as the villagers moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head."(Jackson 221)
I found this excerpt from The Lottery to be the most important. It's the point when you find out truly what the lottery is about. Jackson does what she set out to by "shocking the reader with a graphic demonstration of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in ther own lives." It truly is symbolic of the senseless of inhumane acts. The women , Tessie Hutchinson, is stoned assumingly to death because of a random act, chosing a slip of paper with a black dot. This woman had done nothing wrong.
I included the first line of the excerpt because it shocked me that even Tessie's son was encouraged in her stoneing. I found this to help illustrate perhaps how society as a whole may act. How everyone even Tessie's son takes part in the violence just because it was a part of the towns ritual. None of the members of the community seemed to have sense enough to stop this violent act. I wonder why the inhabitiants continue to live in this town, when others have stopped "the lottery".
School aged boys are reading less then there female counterparts. In an article I discovered in the Readings on Reading section of week one work for English 104 goes into better detail of this point. The article written by Linda Wilson Fuoco of The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, really got me thinking about this issue. Male students are reading less and in fact are less involved in language arts altogether. I think this may be occurring because for the most part males, by society, really aren’t expected to excel in this area. Therefore, male students really don’t feel it necessary for them to try and better themselves in this area. So, they pick up other activities such as sports and the sciences. The for mentioned article explains that males are now picking up books such as Harry Potter, male students seem to enjoy the book since Harry Potter is a strong, male main character. I really think this is an important issue and needs to be addressed within the school system.
“The whole store was like a pinball machine and I didn’t know which tunnel they’d come out of.”(Updike, 17)
This quote really stuck out to me, I think I mostly just like the simile of the store being a pinball machine. The reader can really imagine the main character, Sammy, waiting for his bikini-clad customers. The comparison of the store being like a pin-ball machine is fitting in which the tunnel is the aisles.
The quote is minimal importance to the story but it helps to the build-up of the upcoming conflict that occurs between Sammy and his employer. The quote also helps display Sammy’s interest in the females and how he later would like to be like a hero to them during the conflict.
Hi, my name is Lacie Ballard. I am currently a junior at EOU studying multidisciplinary studies with an ESOL endorsement. I am pretty excited to graduate in the next few years and get started on my career I would love to teach kindergarten or first grade.
My hobbies range from reading to riding my horses. I really enjoy reading the Twilight series and am looking forward to the next book. I just recently got a new Jack Russell puppy so she consumes much of my time currently--I named her Daisy! I also really love riding my horses up in the mountains, for the most part.
Reading didn't start so easily for me. I can recall in about the first grade, I had great difficultly learning the alphabet and was placed in special group. Luckily, I excelled and in later years of Elementary school I was placed in more advanced reading groups. Starting in Second grade to my Senior year of high school my school district had a reading program called Accelerated Reader or AR for short. Basically students had to read a book with a given value of points and take computer based tests on the book. I mostly didn't enjoy it, because it made reading seem forced. In my later years of high school I began to enjoy reading Nicholas Sparks novels and still do. I also enjoy reading the for mentioned Twilight series. I for the most part enjoy reading these types of books because the are pretty entertaining and easily understood.
My dad mostly just reads the newspaper or informational books on horse training or riding. He chooses to read these books so he can stay informed on current events and to further his knowledge on equestrian. My older brother also enjoys reading informative books mostly on wilderness areas which include survival guides and maps. He enjoys reading these books because he really enjoys being outdoors and hiking. Most of my friends really enjoy reading fictional books such as Nicholas Sparks novels, basically because they find them entertaining. I mostly can relate to my friends answers as I do not really enjoy reading informational books. However, like my father I do enjoy reading the newspaper from time-to-time so I can stay informed on current events.