At first it seems to be

a blank

photograph: absent of all colour but white

serene and unblemished;

then,  as you scrutinize

it, you see a fleck of green

blotched with black--

an evergreen branch

hanging down

and black is the ship,

a mass of dark steel--

the messenger of my death.


In the background there is a thunderous sky

and rolling waves far in the distance.

(The photograph was taken

as I perished.


I am frozen in a white shell

strands paralyzing me

and covering the camera lens

for none was left untouched.


If you look close enough

you may see a fleck of skin,

a white, cold fingertip,

for by now it will be dead

and join the mass of white.


You may be able to imagine

what befell me,

for it was the blasphemies who slayed us all--

a fate deserved for themselves.)

Of indigo is its weave,
Looming shapes, refusing to leave,
Murmuring in an ear,
A cruel twisted leer,
Gate screeching for it to pass,
Always there, slight or in mass,
Smell of rust, of bitter spice,
Shrouded in disgust for a vice,
Lingering bitter, herb and metal,
Taste not refusing to settle,
On all sides, but visible from none,
Creeping vines, growing never done,
Wounds never close,
Guilt arose.

           Personally, I found this statement – ‘Watch thou for the mutant!’– the most impactful as it was the only one that was completely blunt about the society’s dislike for difference.  While others encourage one to be normal, this blatantly declares its opinion in a negative way.  It measures the fundamentalism and strict rule of the society well.  In the book Chrysalids, it has already occurred - Sophie is forced to hide her difference or else face terrible consequences.    However, it appears to be one of the most controlling aspects of David's society.  It means to watch out for people who are literally mutants, physically and mentally, and also implies to watch out for difference.  Although it only says to watch out for mutants, it is highly likely that to be a mutant also does come with consequences.  It is possible that a mutant may be put to death to prevent the 'tainting' of 'the Lord's holy lineage'.  For me, I doubt it would affect me if it were to be incorporated into our society very much.  However, it could affect me in the way that I act strange and that could be seen as different, or else the fact that I had my tonsils and adenoids removed, or that my grandfather could have four toes (I don't remember clearly so maybe I'm mistaken).  Stephanie could also be taken away from me and slaughtered for mental insanity.  Furthermore, I am agnostic, and that could be viewed as a difference as well and the fact that this quote is based of the Bible, although misinterpreted. 

          I believe that all repentances, including this one, will be highly impactful within the novel.  All of the repentances state the differences are terrible things in different ways.  "People in our district had a very sharp eye for the odd, or the unusual, so that even my lef-handedness caused slight disapproval." - David's thoughts, page 1. chapter 1.  It shall impact the book greatly as David will begin to realize how foolish and cruel prejudice is against difference: "Clearly there must be a mistake somewhere.  Surely having one very small toe extra - well, two very small toes, because supposed there would be one to match one her other foot - surely that couldn't be enough to make her 'hateful in the sight of God...'?  The ways of the world were very puzzling..." - David's thoughts, page 14, chapter 1.

Name: Linnea Crow (Nea)

Age: 17

Family members: father – Luke (47), mother – Alice (45), brother – Will (20)

Job/your daily routine/status in the society: Crow exterminator; Wakes up at 4am, shoos crows away and practices fencing with them, teaches Rye self-defense against crows for an hour, goes on races with crows, plays leap frog with crows, and sleeps in the field; weird person that barely anyone knows.

Personality: Slightly off the rails because of mental depression, neutral about the Capitol and Reaping due to the fact that she’s known no one who has been selected in the Reaping and just sees it as a way to get more grain, and thinks that the Capitol people are just trapping themselves with luxury.

Additional info: Blonde hair, permanently pale, blue eyes. 

Wait I’m supposed to say my name?  Oh yes, um…  What was it again?  Crow!  Yes, it’s crow!  Linnea Crow, though I must say curse my parents for giving me such a strange first name, except sadly it’s a touch hard to curse someone in a non-magic world.  So I seem young?  I can assure you I’m 71…er 17.  No I’m perfectly fine, I assure you.  Oh so what do I do for a living in such a poor, poor district?  Crow!  Crow!  Something to do with crow!  Oh yes, indeed a crow exterminator!  She’s a crow exterminator!  I mean… I am.  I’m blonde?  How did you guess?!  Wait give me a moment I need to go fence with the crows.  Don’t ask how I do this; ask how the crows do it.  …  So I’m strange?  Don’t worry, I’m really quite normal.  I teach Rye self-defense against crows, go on races with crows, play leapfrog with crows, and most of all, I shoo crows away from stealing grain, although I see no point in such a pitiful occupation.  Did I go through some trauma as a young child you ask?  Nope.  My family’s perfectly normal.  My older brother Will farms.  My father Luke farms.  My mother Alice farms.  They live in a house.  I live in their field.  A simple, stereotypical life.  We aren’t really affected by the reaping.  Like it’s hilarious how the Capitol while trying to punish us traps themselves and incriminates themselves.  In the meantime, we get more grain for the crows to eat!  How lovely!  What else?  Ah never mind.  Leap frog time!

[Name:] Evisse

Reason: It’s the rearranged letters of a word minus some letters plus some letters of a site my used to be best friend and I made because it’s amazing.

[Definition:]

1 : an imaginary and indefinitely remote place

2 often capitalized : a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions

3: an impractical scheme for social improvement

                                                                                                                                 -     Merriam Webster Dictionary

[Declaration of Intent:]

“We, the Society of People Who Don’t Like the World, are going to change it.  Now how do we plan to do this?  Well you see, what the world needs is magic.  So poof we have magic.  Now we need some strange, partially insane, lacking in intellect person to rule this kingdom.  And you’d better marry fast.  Oh and you, you can rule another kingdom.  Remember to have kids so you have an heir and we don’t start going on murderous rampages for power like what happens every other time.  I, on the other hand, ladies and gentlemen, shall hide away in my little castle doing magic because I’m just that epic.  Satisfied?  And all you can have cool jobs and do cool stuff and not die of global warming in the next year.  Sounds amazing, right?!  See there is a Utopia it just ain’t perfect; it's amazing.  So why a drastic change?  Well the world really sucks for a lot of people right now they’re miserable and we’re going to die because of all the dumb things we are doing.  Also, where’s the sense of humour?  So is this necessary or what?  Otherwise you’re all going to die and be miserable people!  One more thing!  We’re going to have giant lakes so we never run out of fresh water.  Plus the world’s going to somehow be ten times as big and magic will keep you from dying from the pressure.  Thank you.”

-          World leader of the Society of People Who Don’t Like the World, February 1 2013



[Rules:]

1.       Do not complain about politics unless people are dying.  These people have no idea what they are doing.

2.       Do not murder anyone.  This would be kind of bad because we’d have to put you in some ugly, dirty place and no one deserves that.

3.       Don’t eat anything that someone with horns gives you.  Either you are going to be the best jig dancer in the world or start floating until you disappear.

4.       If you walk in the forest, you cannot sue us for putting bad stuff in there.  We were just having a bit of fun. 

5.       If you see a gingerbread house, make sure to eat the whole thing within two days. 

6.       If you are wearing a red hood in the forest, make sure to pet the wolf and hug it when it says hi.

7.       If you find a sleeping princess, don’t kiss her.  She’ll probably have you arrested.

8.       If you have a stepmother, you’d better give her a glass slipper or an apple if you met some dwarves.

9.       If you are the oldest sibling, make sure to seek your fortune before a younger sibling does and makes it all cliché.

10.    Don’t throw stones at the mayor.  He’ll throw them back.

11.    Don’t try to ride dragons.  This will start a whole series by some teen obsessed with Tolkien. 


Note: A picture was drawn, but sadly it failed to upload on the computer.

                
           The Kony 2012 Video Campaign has been highly beneficial.  Although there were inaccurate facts and misuse of the fundraised money, the video succeeded in catching the attention of many globally.  It wasn’t as beneficial as it should’ve been, but the world is more aware of the general issue, although many have warped knowledge of the details.  Nevertheless, it taught many about an issue they were previously unaware about and thus has made a positive impact. 

`    Connections between the Pat Tillman news story and the Hall of Fame by the Script:

     Dedication to what you believe in; to your dream; for your country, is the ultimate accomplishment and sacrifice.  In the Hall of Fame, it says "Dedicate yourself and you can find yourself."  In the life of Pat Tillman, he dedicates himself to working in the army for his country ("Do it for your country." - Hall of Fame), to find himself and meaning, giving up the wealthy life of a football star for what he truly believed in.  Both the news story and the song express a powerful belief of dedication for country and meaning.  

      Connections between the news story and another news story:
     
      In the news story Avoiding friendly-fire accidents proves challenging, even for pros, it discusses a quote in part of it - "Prudence is the better part of valour, but prudence might get you killed." - David Burnell.  This relates to the news story because it voices a similar dilemma - to stay alive, or risk your life in prudence for other's lives.  In the Pat Tillman news story, Tillman is killed as a result of friendly-fire by soldiers who were so desperate to stay alive they didn't even consider the possibility that they might be shooting at their comrades.  Likewise, the officer in the second news story voices how if you shoot you might hit an innocent or fellow officer in self defence.  To choose yourself or others is a vast choice with many consequences, common in military matters.

      War is a fissure in a rock, cracking the peace, widening until it cracks a hole in the very hearts of those afflicted by it, to separate one from friends and family alike.  As people grow up, they react to stimuli in ways based on how their brain works, developing their beliefs.  It could be one difference in a personality, a slight difference in a situation that some undergo, that can push two apart in times of war.  A friend is a comrade, while a foe is someone on the opposite side - whether two are brothers or best friends, in a battle against each other one will be dead, as one values people for a singular belief, rather than their whole personality in such circumstances.  Therefore, war is one of the greatest dividers between people, warping relationships.

     The following is based on an article regarding water issues that can be viewed here.

     On June 27, 2012, a forest fire devoured the area around Rampart Reservoir, Colorado, polluting the water with ash and fallen debris.  Furthermore, the fires caused there to be less organic material to be in the soil to absorb the water, and for plants to release a water-repellent substance, causing flooding and erosion, which in the long run is also not good for the water supply since the flooded water will get polluted from the fire's residue on the soil before it subsides.  In this scenario, there is a simple solution not directly related to water - that of preventing forest fires.  If a river is fortunate enough to not have problems related to human pollution, then we should take advantage of such simplicity and try to solve it before it also becomes out of hand.  Since dryness of the area is likely not a problem due to the reservoir, the cause of forest fires in the area may be caused by humane means - it would be wise to not permit open fires in the area.  If not caused by humanity, then there is little to be done but ensure that the area is kept under close watch so that a wildfire does not spread uncontrollably as it did in the recent fire.  As to solving the current issue, the government has already dedicated funds into improving the water quality, as well as controlling the sediment, to slow runoff to the reservoir.  In order to deduce if the water is safe to drink at the moment, they should take some samples, if they have not already.  Such issues in water cleanliness happen often, and should be solv

    The following paragraph is explaining the connection between a news article about bullying that can be read here and the short story All Summer in a Day:

    Bullying is a crime that happens everywhere - a town in Massachusetts; a whole other planet.  Although one story is fiction, these stories share several similarities.  For example, both were done by children who viewed the victim as "unacceptable" in a certain way.  In one case, the victim was in a relationship with a guy who was too popular for her - the "mean" girls intended her to learn her place.  In the other situation, Margot was envied because of her ability to return to Earth and was also unacceptable because of her attitude, and thus she also became a victim.  Furthermore, in both situations the victims were left out in something, or missed it: Margot was locked in a closet and therefore missed seeing the sun, while Phoebe of South Hadley missed the rest of life because she was forced to end hers early.  Through their unique situations, both Margot and Phoebe were deprived of something, whether it be life or the sun, by means of bullying.

    The following paragraph is explaining the connection between the book the Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks and the short story All Summer in a Day:

     In both stories, bullying is an important concept, driving the beginning of the plot of the Way of Shadows as the protagonist tries to apprentice to a "wetboy" (assassin) in order to kill the bully, who has permanently maimed one of his friends and threatens to attack another.  In both stories, the boy who bullies the protagonist manipulates other children in order to get his will and causes the victim to change, or at least, such is likely as in All Summer in a Day one can only assume that Margot (the victim) was greatly impacted by her loss of hope as she was forced to wait another seven years.  Bullying is a significant part in both stories - driving the plots as well as the characters. 

     The following paragraph is explaining the connection between a news article about monsoons and the short story All Summer in a Day:

    The article linked above describes monsoons in Asia, and their impacts.  There are many similarities in the impacts versus the impacts on Venus (describes the children remaining inside and the environment being affected).  Also, in both scenarios the rain continuously pours, although on Earth only for a season, but it likely seems like eternity to those experiencing it.  Rain is a relentless force that can be both a blessing and a curse - a curse in these scenarios.

     The following paragraph is explaining the connection between the story All Summer in a Day and myself:

     Margot and I both live our lives waiting for something - while her wait is seven years mine is a mere six months.  Twice each year, I visit the countryside of Quebec, the only place I feel remotely happy, a place where I can visit my friends who I haven't seen for a long time.  Both fading into shadows of our selves during our wait, the six months are agonizing for me, and the seven years for even worse for Margot.  Margot and I both spend our lives in anticipation for an event.