In Class Prompt #4

      The hall was quiet until she heard....
           BANG! Everyone screamed frantically as they scattered through the halls. Nobody knew where the shot had come from but obviously people were panicking. The principal quickly came over the loud speaker and said, "There is an intruder in the building, everyone needs to clear out." She stands there, alone, watching as people run out doors and jump through windows. Her best friend had just been shot in the chest and was lying there, dead. The shock had clearly taken over her body and she couldnt move. She didn't know what to do or where to go. All of a sudden she saw the man with the gun. She turned her head and spotted another man, also with a gun. Clueless, she turned and ran. She ran down the junior high hallway and turned around to see one of the intruders following her. She thought to herself, "What do they want from me? Why didn't they just shoot me?" She continued to run and decided to turn into a classroom and locked the door behind her. She pulled down the paper in front of the window to keep the intruders from being able to see her. Frantically, she ran over to the window and opened it but clearly she could not fit in order to escape the building. The intruders started to bang onto the door yelling at her to open it. She's panicking, trying to think of what to do. All of a sudden she heard the door unlock. She watched as the handle slowly turned...
         All of a sudden, she opens her eyes, staring at her ceiling. It was only just a dream.

In Class Prompt #3

In class, we watched an episode of "How I Met Your Mother." I had never watched the show, but I heard from other people that it was really funny and I should watch it. The episode started with a man spying out the window with binoculars at another man who apparently walked outside and took exactly seven steps and smiled every night consistently for several nights in a row. The man who was spying on him didn't understand what was going on and went crazy. His wife was frustrated with him and eventually went to stay with her parents. The show proceeds with three guy friends talking about their futures for every three years and showing clips of what they expect it to be like. After they show their prediction, the show shows what really happens. One of the main, cuter characters evidently likes to have many different women in his life, but towards the end of the show, he decides that he wants to stick with this one girl. He goes to their apartment, which they shared at the time, and he hugs her and makes up with her and he explains that he wants to be with her and he wants her to be the only girl he is with and he smashes all his coffee cups on the floor, because he didn't want to share his with her. After smashing the mugs, he explains to her how he always had to walk out to the street at the same time every night in order to fart, because he didn't want to do it in front of her, bringing us back to the beginning of the show why the random guy saw him take seven steps, stop and smile.

In Class Prompt #2

       Okay, so the object I brought to class is my Macbook Pro. It is a thirteen inch laptop, so it is the perfect size to carry along with you wherever you go. In a couple days it will have a teal, plastic case on the outside of it. That is besides the point, because I have not received it yet. My laptop is shiny silver, with a white apple shape on the top and located in the center. I can feel the coldness of the surface every time I grab it to use. I honestly have never tasted my computer? So, in reality, I can't describe the taste to you. If I were to guess, I would say it tastes like a cold bit of nothing. When I open the laptop, I can hear the quiet hum letting me know it is working properly. Lastly, my computer smells like..well..nothing. I would tell you if it smelled like something, but to be completely honest I have no clue and really don't feel like pulling it out and taking a big whiff and making a fool of myself. Now, you are probably wondering what my laptop has to do with reading or writing. Growing up, I was never a fan of writing or reading, until my biology teacher had us create a scientific based blog on the internet. I learned all about blogging, and it has inspired me to write, because I know in my blog I can write about whatever I want. O my laptop, I am able to get comfy on the couch and write about whatever I would like to. 

Reader's Response #2 The Canary-Colored Caravan of Death

      So, pretty much, that was the most confusing thing I have ever read in my entire life. I am not one of those people who read comic strips for fun, so I was completely lost. Not only did I not know which box to read next, I didn't even know what half the words meant.  Maudlin? Crepuscular? Premonitory? I will admit that I do not have the widest range of vocabulary, but that story was flat out weird. I would start to understand what she was talking about and then she would change topics for no reason and then I would be lost again. I was a little grossed out when she said her grandmother was a Bechdel before she was even married. Ew. Obviously her family was messed up. She first started talking about her father, and then he killed himself because he was a manic-depressive, closeted fag? What in the world?? Then she moved on to the funeral, which seemed to be quite the experience for her. Somehow she got on the topic of the Appalachian Ridges and where they lived, and then back to talking about her father, when he was alive. Confusing. At last she finished by talking about her mother and father and how disoriented her family was. While reading this story, I felt a very depressing vibe coming from the daughter, therefore I felt bad for her. The words she used throughout the comic strip were very vulgar, which was strange coming from a person of her age. Before reading the story, I read the biography on Alison Bechdel and found out that this particular comic strip is from a book that was named by Time magazine as number one of its 10 Best Books of the Year. I honestly would have never expected that if I were to read the biography after reading the comic strip. All I can say is..good for her!

In Class Prompt #1

      I wouldn't say that I am afraid of reading or writing, but I will tell you that neither of them are my favorite things to do. I will read something "for fun" if I am interested in it. If I am forced to read something, I usually catch myself being sidetracked and honestly not caring about what I have to read. When I am allowed to write about whatever I want to, I enjoy it. I don't enjoy it when I have to write about a topic that I really do not understand or clearly don't give a rats behind about. I believe that people can achieve self- efficacy by going outside their comfort zone and achieving something that they never thought they could. There are a lot of people out there that do not know how to be positive with themselves and they give up when they think they cannot do something. My dad always tells me that people are just people. There is no reason to be afraid to go up and talk to someone if you sincerely want or need to talk to them. Similarily, there is really no reason to be afraid to write about something that you truly want to share with someone else. I believe that self-efficacy is very important, because there is nothing like the feeling of self-accomplishment. If you are down on yourself all the time and don't give yourself any credit, you will not achieve in life. You will turn away from uncomfortable situations, and miss out on some pretty amazing things. When I am able to write about anything that I want to, I feel better about myself when I am done. I love to talk to people and share things that are on my mind, and writing about them is a good way to get them off your chest. When people turn away from situations when they are afraid, they will forever live with that regret. They will wonder what would've happened if they would've taken the chance. They may have met someone great that they could've been good friends with. They may have gotten over a fear that has held them back their whole life. With this said, don't be afraid of something that is not going to hurt you. When in doubt, go for it.

Reader's Response #1 The Secondhand Bookseller

       While reading Marina Nemat's The Secondhand Bookseller, my first thought was about Ayatollah Khomeini's regime. Neither my roomie or I had any idea what or who it was about. So what did I do? Googled it. Works every time. I found out that Ayatollah Khomeini was a radical Muslim leader who challenged the world’s infidels in the name of Allah. For all of you who are not aware, Allah is another word for God. In Arabic, the word means "the God." All of that information is besides the point, though. The story starts off with Marina talking about her relationship with her mother. She shared with her audience that she tried to stay away from her mother as much as possible, therefore, she spent a lot of time in her room by herself...reading. She shared with us that she borrowed many books from her school library, but she had already read them all at least three times. Her and her mother were not wealthy by any means, which meant Marina was not able to buy any more books to read. She saved up her own money and snuck out of the house to go buy a book from the Secondhand Library downtown. She walked into the library and was confronted by a little old man who introduced her to the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe series. Marina didn't have enough money to buy it, but the older gentleman allowed her to take it anyway. She took the book home, read it twice, and came back for more. This time, the old man allowed her to borrow the book, because he obviously caught onto the fact that she loved to read and didn't have enough money to buy the books. What a sweetheart, don't you think? Marina's story was very descriptive, allowing the reader to get a good idea of what she was going through. You could tell how badly she wanted the books, and how hard she was willing to work in order to get them. As the reader, I was able to picture the library, the little old man, and the many other things that Marina thoroughly described in her story. I personally felt bad for Marina, because you can tell she was a very young girl full of passion and intelligence. It isn't fair that she was arrested only for speaking out about Ayatollah Khomeini's regime in her science class. Let alone at the age of sixteen! I enjoyed reading Marina's story, and I hope that she is able to inspire young girls just like her in the future.