Reflection for "The Lost Children" by Margaret Talbot

Getting punished for something that you did is a good why to learn. If someone does something wrong, like a child, they need to learn how to do it the right way. A method that parents use on their children is by punishing them by sending them to their room. This is a method that many people around the world are using and have been using for a long time. Choosing what punishment to give however is the hard part of it. You have to choose what they right punishment is for each ‘crime’.

Since this way of learning and teaching has been used for a long time, I think that it is a good one. What I do not agree with about this is how people choose the right punishment to give. A long time ago people used slavery and beating people as the right punishment for almost everything. They thought that beating people, hitting them and threatening them was teaching them how act right. After a while people realized that this was not the right way to punish and people started to use different ways, jail. Jail was what taught them to behave for a while and then it let people out. As I grew up, I learned what I was not allowed to do and what I was a allowed to do by punishments. The usual punishment for my family was getting sent to their room. This is what would be called a good punishment for what they did. A bad punishment would be hitting the child. This is a crime now but people still do it. In very few families parents get very mad at their children and hit them. This is a very bad punishment and people should know this by common sense.

In the story I thought that it was good that Hutto’s environment was changed. I did not think that it was a good place for children to grow up in and live in. Children are meant to be free and be able to run around. In this place they were not allowed to do this. Also I felt that children are innocent, they still don’t know about the troubles in the world. In Hutto they were experiencing how cruel the world is. They are learning about the bad things that happen to people in the world and they shouldn’t have to go through that when they are so small. When they made the changes in Hutto, it was good that they were putting the effort of making it a better place but I do not think that they should have closed it at the end. I do agree that it was not a good place for children but the parents should have been kept their as ‘punishment’. The place had three meals a day, clean beds, open doors to their cells and more. It was a much better place then the other prisons. I disagree with the story when it says at the end “sometimes children have to suffer for their parents sins.” I think that the children shouldn’t have to suffer. The children follow were their parents go but have no say in what is happening. They should be able to be with their parents if they wanted to but they shouldn’t have to suffer because of them.

Reflection for "The Countertraffickers" By William Finnegan

Violence is shown in this story a lot coming from the people that were taken as prostitutes. The girls in this story have to go through a lot of hard times in their lives and one of them was prostitution. This is something that leaves a Permanente emotional scar. This type of experience, however, might make the weak, stronger. Going through hard experiences always helps you get through another experience that is to come. Very hard experiences are not meant to be the ones to keep you from going on in your life and prostitution is one of them. This is an experience that is very hard on people and it shouldn’t be an experience that people are worried about.

I’ve never had to go through any type of violent experience and I am thankful for that. Violent experiences that people have to go through are blackmail and threats with knives and guns. I can relate to this story more than other men might because I am a girl just like them. I know what they feel like when they are taken. I do not know exactly what they are going through but I will never be able to know exactly what they are going through.

In the story the girls are taken and made believe that they are going to have a good paying job. When they realize that they can make money for their children, they accept the job. Later they notice that they were tricked and they are taken to be prostitutes. They suffer a lot in this because the women’s body is shown to a lot of people. They are also beaten and they can do nothing about it. Once of the girls in the story tried to escape their owners. Even though their plan did not work, they later tried again to escape. I really liked this because I showed that they were strong and that they will fight for who they are and try to escape. What I didn’t like and surprised me was that once the girls were able to escape with the help of other people, they wanted to go back. They saw how hard life was with no money, food or shelter and they thought it would be easier in the prostitution home. They wanted to go back and risk dieing. Some of them respected their owners even though the owners didn’t respect them. The ones that respected the owners wanted to go back to them and not leave them. What I think they meant in the story when they said at the end “some things can not be fixed” is that they can finally escape but emotionally they will never be the same. They will be better because they don’t have to go through that life again. What will never be the same is the permanent emotional scars.

Reflection for "Struggles" by Philip Gourevitch

In struggles I noticed that just like “The Rebellion Within” they also used violence as the answer. What I think will happen if this continues to happen is that more and more people will start to you violence as the answer. When one person wins with violence then the other people will believe that violence does help. Because of this, everyone will start to use it. If at least one group of people starts to use peace and show the world how good it will be with peace, then more people will use peace as the answer. Peace will get nobody hurt and it will make people live their lives happier.

Something that shocked me in the story was when they talked about who was the people that were beaten. It said that the foreigners were all beaten and they were forced out of their homes. Even though they think that by doing this everything will get better it does not mean that it is not rude. They try to take the foreigners out of their country for being different. Some people don’t respect the people that are different to them and I do not think this is right. Also it said that they would beat the people that looked like foreigners. They would look at the people and decide if they were foreigners or not. If they thought that they were foreigners then they would beat them. Innocent people would get beaten and the mob would be racist against the people.

Everyone has to fight through struggles in their life and war isn’t one of them. Everyone has a different life and different problems to fight through in their life and other useless things are in their way. People start to get worried about looking like a foreigner in a different place or they get worried about people killing other people for no reason. These are not the problems that people are supposed to have stopping them from doing other things. People should be able to get through their life without having, as a main problem, useless things. These things can be one little thing to think about but not what ruins a persons life.

Reflection "After" Looking for Alaska

Losing someone that you care about is something that is very hard to get over. It is something that you don’t see coming and it happens when you least expect it. When you have the people that you love, you don’t realize that you wouldn’t be able to live if they weren’t with you. Since you don’t realize this, you act as if they were nobody and sometimes you don’t appreciate them as they are. You also want more from them when that is all they can give to you. After they leave you when you least expect it, you realize how much you loved them and how much you miss them now that they are gone. You finally see what you had and how good it was once you lost it. You can lose a friendship and notice how good it was once they are gone.

A question that is repeated a lot in the story is: How do we get out of this labyrinth of suffering? A character in the story, Pudge, answered this question how he thought it was and I disagree with him. He said that to get out of the labyrinth you get recycled and that the real life is what you find after you get out of the labyrinth. I think that there is no answer to this; your life is the labyrinth. You don’t have to get out of the labyrinth; you have to choose which way to go in the labyrinth. I think that the labyrinth is your life and all you have to do is choose which way to go in your life/labyrinth.

The only time that I lost someone that was close to me was when I was in first grade. I had no idea what was going on but I understood that I wouldn’t see her again. This, however, did not change anything because I was too little to understand what was going on. Then another time that this happened to me was that my grandmother’s brother passed away. I didn’t get to know him so when this happened it didn’t affect me as much as it did to other people. What happened later was that I felt like I should have gotten to know him before this happened. I felt like I didn’t appreciate him when he was alive.

When Pudge and the Colonel found out about their best friend dieing, at first, they couldn’t believe it. Pudge started saying that it was not true and that it was just a prank. Then when he talked with the Eagle, he realized that it was true. After that you started to blame himself. He started to think that if he would have tried to stop her, then she would be alive. I think that this happened because of the shock. At first they don’t believe it and then they take fault for it. Later Pudge and the Colonel started to leave other people out from there group thinking that they were the only people who really understood them. By doing this they didn’t realize that they were about to lose another friend. Because of the shock of there best friend dieing, they forgot about their own lives.

Annotations "After" Looking for Alaska

After:

Page. 141 “Ok, seriously, she’s not dead” He is in shock. Neither he nor the colonel could believe that there best friend died.
Page. 145 “We could have stopped her” They’re blaming themselves now I’m socked about what happened.
Page. 147 “Lara came in” How will he tell her that he cheated on her? Will she be able to trust him later?
Page. 148 “Hold my hand will ya?” They are really good friends and they can trust each other.
Page. 151 “It cannot be as hard as being left behind/” I think I agree with him.
Page. 153 “I knew you wouldn’t make me do that alone” They are so good friends and they’ll stick together to get through this”
Page. 157 “e could never be anything but wholly, unforgivable guilty” They shouldn’t feel guilt! It wasn’t there fault”
Page. 161 “I couldn’t afford to lose the colonel” He is very sad but he realized about the other friends he also has. He can’t lose him too.
Page 164. “Ah hope y’all find out whatever y’all’s lookin’ for” What were they looking for and why?
Page 168. “It wasn’t suicide” Would it help them if they found out if it was suicide or not>
Page 170. “I’m tired of following orders, asshole!” He is still sad about Alaska and he’s letting his anger out. He is going to lose the colonel.
Page 174. “She wasn’t there, wasn’t anywhere” She isn’t there but she will stay in there memories
Page 177. “Yeah will he’ll hate us more if we pretend like he doesn’t exist” They are so sad about losing one friends that they don’t realize that they are losing another.
Page 181. “I learned from the best” I like their friendship. They trust each other.
Page 185. “Don’t tell Lara” Pudge can’t trust Takumi.
Page 187. “She tells me to be continued and tells him she’ll talk to him later” He is jealous.
Page 189. “I wanted to know the how and why of it, and Lara couldn’t tell me, and that was al that mattered.” Sometimes al the cares about is himself.
Page 195. “Figure out haw she died and why” Why do they want to know how she died?
Page 197. “She fell apart because that is what happens.” Maybe the only way out of the labyrinth was to fall apart?
Page 199. “It seems to me that we finally lost her” The memory of her is slowly going away.
Page 200. “She deserves a prank” They are trying to remember her and not forget how she was.
Page 207. “I was worried that it wouldn’t work because Alaska hadn’t planned it” It will never be the same without Alaska.
Page 212. “She left me enough to rediscover the Great Perhaps.” What is the Great Perhaps he found?
Page 214. “All the time later, which you are still alive” It is sad to realize that you are alive and she is not. Also that even though this happened, they are still alive and they have to get past it. Page 214. “We didn’t talk much. But we didn’t need to.” They are good friends so there aren’t any ‘awkward’ silences. Page 218. “So I let her go, too” Everyone says that they ‘let her go’ but I think they were just saying their goodbyes. The Colonel got drunk with her, Pudge kissed her, and

Reflection "Before" Looking for Alaska

Friendship can be shown in many different ways and Pudge learned how it is shown at Culver Creek Boarding School. Different people show it in different ways according to how they’ve grown up and reacted to people in there life. If someone had many experiences in witch he met a lot of bad people, he would be more careful with other friendships and he wouldn’t be nice and welcoming to new people. Other people have experienced many times were they meat nice people and can get along with them easily. This person would not be scared of new people and he would not judge people by there look. A lot of times you can tell how people are and what experiences they’ve had because of how they react with new people and school.

Since I’ve moved a lot to other schools and I’ve met people that moved to different schools, I was able to talk to them about how it was and I learned about there reactions to the people. Since I knew a little about this, when I moved to my new school I was cautions about people knowing more about me because of how I reacted to the new school. Since the school that I changed to were both in different countries, I new that I would find something a lot different from what I was used too. When I went to my new school I had to see how friendship was show there. I think that friendships, since they can be shown in different ways, are hard to get but then harder to let go. It is hard to find a good friend because it is hard to see if you can trust them. Friends are the people you choose to keep but it hard to find them. Once I thought about it, I found that I had many friends but I didn’t know witch ones I could trust. People can usually only trust the people they’ve known more.

Pudge, in his first school, was not used to the type of friendship they had and he was not able to make friends. The preps were friends with the preps geeks with the geeks. He did not like that so he decided to move to another school. In his new school it was easy for him to find out the type of friendship that they had, trust. He learned that, to be friends with the people, he has to make sure that they trust him. What confused him at a point was when one of his best friends lied to him and betrayed the group. He did not know ho to react to this and he just followed what other people did. What I noticed that happened in part one is that they would always stick together. If something happened to one person, for example in a class room, and a teacher got mad at them, then another one of the friends would leave the class with him and stand up for him. After Pudge made friends and had a good relationship with people, something happened to Alaska and nobody new what. After this, she ran away and we didn’t hear from her yet. Nobody knows what happened to her yet but Pudge really misses her. Also something that I noticed in the book was that a lot of times people would get together and be friends even though they didn’t talk or have anything in common. I thought that it was just because they needed someone to be with. Everyone at sometimes need someone to be with so they choose this person and be with them for no other reason.

Annotations "Before" Looking for Alaska

Before:
o Page 3. “My mother insisted on throwing me a going-away party” Does this mean that he didn’t want one? Why”
o Page 3. “My mother preserver, awash in the delusion that I had kept my popularity secret from her all these years” Is she not happy about whom her son is?
o Page 4. “I could feel them both looking at me, waiting me to burst into tears or something” Is he sad about not having friends?
o Page 5. “I go to seek a great perhaps” What is a great perhaps?
o Page 7. “I watched them drive the winding road off campus” What was he planning on doing one the were gone”
o Page 10. “I laughed and nodded my head at him (that’s cool right? The nod?” I can tell that he is nervous. He wants to start over and make friends.
o Page 11. “I laughed… he smirked” the friendship is starting good.
o Page 15. “So, Alaska, sell us some cigarettes” He didn’t know that this is how it was going to be.
o Page 17. “The smoke will drive the bugs away” He is trying new things to fit in. Is this good or bad?
o Page 21. “Run, run, run, run, and took of, polling me behind her” I think that they are going to be good friends and help each other get through their problems.
o Page 23. “The geeks hate the preps” I can relate to him about the groups because had groups in my old school.
o Page 27. “Have a good time, he said, ya, I had a ball” This surprised me! How will he know who his real friends are?
o Page 29. “In a place were you never know what will happen or when” He is learning what is it like being alone.
o Page 33. “Nothing you can do! She said excitedly” I think he found his group of friends.
o Page 38. “I’m a bad boyfriend. And she is a bad girlfriend. We deserve each other!” Are they really staying together because they have nobody else?
o Page 40. “I’m sorry… but that’s bullshit…were not allowed to glance out the window?” Alaska was standing up for hi. I think this surprised him.
o Page 43. “Y’all smoke to enjoy it, I smoke to die” What is the point of this”
o Page 46. “So they just suck?... I don’t understand the point of watching your terrible team gets walloped” Maybe it is an excuse for the school to get together.
o Page 49. “The ref came up and kicked him out of the game, I followed him” They always stick together.
o Page 54. “You spend your whole life in a labyrinth thinking of how you will escape it” Maybe your life is the labyrinth.
o Page 57. “You don’t need to be nervous” They are helping each other.
o Page 59. “We found you a girlfriend” The group of friends keep a lot of secrets but they always help each other
o Page 63. “Lara ran out and sat down next to me, are you okay?” hay did she got help him if he ignored her?
o Page 66. “Sadder than I thought I’d be, anyway” He realized what he had after it was gone.
o Page 67. “The rain came all at once in a furious torrent” Is this reached peace.
o Page 73. “She was smart, really, to rat on one of her friends” Why did she rat on her friends?
o Page 74. “Survival at the creek meant loyalty, and she had ignored that “She pretends to be someone she’s not.
o Page 77. “And plus, it’s really nice to have, like, friends” He is happier here. It bothered him before that he had no friends.
o Page 79. “Still, I felt unmistakably homesick” He sometimes doesn’t like his friends but they are the only ones he has.
o Page 81. “But I wanted to trust her, so I did” He needs someone to trust and really call “friend”.
o Page 88. “If people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane” He thinks of himself as very little. Maybe he thinks this because of all his other experiences.
o Page 93. “I’m grateful for just having had my best thanksgiving in a decade “what is her family like?
o Page 95. “She didn’t have to rat” Now he’s getting mad because of this but… can he trust her now?
o Page 97. “I had a family” Did he forget about his family because it had been so long since he was with them?
o Page 99. “You don’t have to care for her” He really does care about her even though he can’t trust her.
o Page 110. “I’ll take the fault with Alaska” They always help each other.
o Page 115. “Best day of my life was today” Whatever happens later they all know that they love each other and they’ll always stick together.
o Page 117. “I just never cared anymore, about being a loser or not having any friends” He really did care and now he doesn’t have to worry about that
o Page 119. “Your dad blamed you?” Alaska showed everyone and made them think about not having a family.
o Page 123. “It was a fine end of the best day of my life” He is finally happy.
o Page 124. “Pudge, what you must understand about me is that I am a deeply unhappy person” Why is she so unhappy? How did she get this way? What does she want that she doesn’t have?
o Page 125. “Jeez, go easy on the guy? Why does Pudge want to go easy on him if the almost killed Pudge. Maybe he noticed how bad revenge is.
o Page 129. “I didn’t know how to talk to her” They barley know each other. Why are they together?
o Page 32. “I just have to go! Help me out of here!” What happened to her? Why did she want to leave? Was it because she cheated on her boyfriend?