I just finished reading Bridge of Spies, a book about the Cold War. It was a very interesting read, and I loved every page. However, I believe that there is a deeper meaning to this book. But before we get to that, let's recap. Bridge of Spies ends when the spy exchange between the USSR and USA finally takes place. James Donovan (the orchestrator of the exchange) is saddened to see Rudolf Able leave him forever. Able had a huge impact on his life, even if they were both on opposing sides of the war. The book has a happy ending, and everyone gets what they came for. Now we can get to the deeper meaning. In Bridge of Spies, they heavily stress the idea that war is not the answer, and that both sides in a war are responsible. For example, its says "Food is scarce over there and things have started to fall apart. There are gangs, and rule of law is less firmly established over there. And definitely stay away from the Wall. On their side, there's a line cleared of buildings along the Wall. They call it the "Death Line." Cross it and you'll be shot. Trust me, this war isn't good for anyone."(Whittell, Giles. Bridge of Spies, 2010). My book matters because we can use this idea of non-violence in our daily lives. We should not be playing with life and death, because in the end, we all get hurt. This message is still valuable today, especially with our current political situation. Violence is not the answer. Thanks for reading my last post in this unit!
0 Comments
I my book I am currently reading is called Bridge of Spies. It takes place in the Cold War, focusing on the spies in the field. The Cold War had a huge impact on the world of today. Our ties with Russia are very complicated, and our history is anything but friendly. In my book, there is an exchange between the United States and the USSR. The USSR will allow America to regain their spy that the Soviets have taken captive in exchange for their spy. It is one of the few times during the war when both sides agree, and is a win-win situation. One of the spies is Rudolf Able, a communist genius working for the Soviets. The next is Gary Powers, an American pilot who crashed a spy plane in USSR territory. The last person being exchanged is an American student named Frederic Pryor. The trade is significant because it shows how war can be avoided if we all compromise.
This story relates to our current lives because the same thing is happening. Many articles describe todays events as being the start of "the new Cold War", and that our relationship with Russia is getting worse. There are countries that are now testing their nuclear bombs, and nuclear war is a general concern. Americans are also being distrustful of Russians, and many people are suspicious of hacking. Countries such as North Korea are also starting nuclear testing. They are encouraging suspicion to arise, which is not a good thing. The media predicts that spies will start coming in to steal secrets on bombs. All of these clues would lead to the Cold War repeating itself. It also could possibly lead to another world war. Thanks for reading, and that is how the Cold War relates to today's events! Article: https://mic.com/articles/173702/what-was-the-cold-war-how-today-s-russia-us-relations-look-a-lot-like-the-1960s#.9v1AClhdg I am currently reading a book about the Cold War. It is called Bridge of Spies, and it's by Giles Whittell. I haven't gotten too far into the story, but it's about a group of spies from all different backgrounds. One is Russian, and two are American. It takes place in the middle of the Cold War (1960), when both Russia and America had installed spies. The book is actually based on the real events in the War, and the main characters are real people who had lived back then. Since the characters in my book are from different sides of the war, they have different opinions on who should win. For example, Francis Gary is American, therefore wants America to overpower Russia. These characters stories intertwine with each others, giving us a clear depiction of the Cold War. My book also gives us historical context. They will explain a certain important time in history, and then give us information surrounding the dates. For example, they told us about the Bikini Atoll bombs, and then described why that is important. History.com describes the atomic bombs as "The first H-bomb test, in the Eniwetok atoll in the Marshall Islands, showed just how fearsome the nuclear age could be. It created a 25-square-mile fireball that vaporized an island, blew a huge hole in the ocean floor and had the power to destroy half of Manhattan." In my book it says, "At Bikini....weapons were to explode of the tip of Manhattan and two million people would die. Stalin and our spies deemed this problem number one." Most of my book is like this. It thoroughly explains all the event happening and how they affect the characters while describing the event with immense detail. Thanks for reading, and that is how my book connects to history!
Article: http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cold-war-history Introduction:
As a community we can do a lot to help, and everyone has their own little part in that. Our way of helping is to help children in hospitals, and seeing how we can make them feel less isolated, and more wanted. There are people who are battling a disease everyday and neither us, nor them may know it until it is more noticeable.Currently with hospitals they have a certain amount of children they can host for a certain amount of time. At most hospitals they don't have many books, board games, or activities. So while the people who come in to volunteer have fun with them for a while, when they eventually leave the children become lonely again. Then they must return back to their sad hospital rooms. With all of the sick children my group believes that every child and every adult should have a chance to feel like they are important and a priority. My group would like to have a book drive to help the children cope with being stuck in a boring hospital room with no form of entertainment. Sadly many are living in boredom due to no exposure to the outside world. We believe the books and games will give the kids something to keep them occupied, as well as serve as an escape from a lot of their pain. My group is interested in this topic because we feel that the children should not be isolated and treated different than someone without a disease. We also believe that people should care about this issue is because nobody should be mistreated because they have an illness. My group wants to make the kids at Wake Medical feel like they have a purpose. The Issue: Unfortunately, most hospitals don’t have libraries or any other ways to cure their patient’s boredom. When kids get very sick and end up in a hospital, at times that can result in boredom, loneliness, and feeling of isolation. There are also little global organizations to help solve this problem, and it is usually overlooked. Usually,this issue affects the children in the hospital because they are more prone to boredom. 82% of all hospital stays are children, yet people are not trying to make the children feel as comfortable as possible. In the United States there are approximately 7,000 different diseases and there are about 30 million people in the U.S dealing with one of these. This is about 1 out of 10 or 10% of the population that has to deal with one of the many diseases. Most of those people are innocent children. Only 900 hospitals have forms of entertainment for these children. This has only been an issue for a small amount of time, since large budget cuts have been made to medical institutions. Children are becoming isolated because their diseases are making them at times can prevent them from interaction of any sort, and most of them can’t go outside due to their illness. This makes the children upset, and can damage their health even further. Leaving this issue and not solving it can and will lead to unhappy children. The Solution: In North Carolina there is a lot that is being done to help create a less isolated environment for children in the hospitals. At wakeMed, there are a handful of programs that have already started resolving this issue. Not only can you make a donation, but you can volunteer, organize a fundraiser, or become a sponsor. All of this can really make a difference. The money they earn from the different events that are hosted usually goes to research. While the research is very important and helpful, we believe the children in the hospitals would also really enjoy some things to help entertain them and make their stay more enjoyable. This is still a problem in our community because most of the money goes to funding research, this causes the hospitals to not have the funds to buy new books or games. As a group we believe that if the children had more entertaining items that the kids would feel less isolated. Also having these books, toys, or board games could easily make them feel more included, or active. Since most kids enjoy playing games, reading, and playing with toys having these books and games could really make the children in hospitals feel more connected. Especially if these kids played with these toys or read these books before being put in the hospitals. The Conclusion: Everyone can give a helping hand. Count yourself lucky that you’re not in this situation, but that doesn’t mean you should just blow it off. There are so many ways to do so! You could volunteer at hospitals with your friends, have fundraisers for children, donate, sponsor, and in our case, host a book drive. Soon, our group will be holding a book drive at WakeMed, for the children in the hospital, at the end of may. We will be collecting old/new books and board games to donate to WakeMed, so that the children there will get some exposure to new people, new friends and new ideas. Our plan? Its easy to find out. We’ve got the supplies taken care of, and the books and games ready to go. all YOU need to do is go there and show them you care. go there with your class, or just a group of friends, and pick up a book to read with them or just play a game with them. By doing this, we are accomplishing the happiness of isolated, unhappy, and to them, forgotten, kids by proving that they should never give up hope, or stop believing in themselves, through books and just let everyone at WakeMed know that they have a friend in us. bibliography: “WakeMed foundation” WakeMed <https://www.wakemedfoundation.org/impact> “WakeMed children's hospital” WakeMed <http://www.wakemed.org/childrens-hospital> “Care of Children and Adolescents in U.S. Hospitals”Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality <https://archive.ahrq.gov/data/hcup/factbk4/factbk4.htm> Everyone has different personalities. Mine, in particular, is confusing. I like to think of myself as being strong and very tough, but my friends would describe that as being stubborn. I also think that I am funny, caring, smart, and just a little opinionated. I am very introverted around people that I don't really know, but around my friends I am loud and confident. I also think more analytical, and like to analyze (or in some cases over analyze) everything that I see. That's my personality! Thanks for reading!
Ever since the NAFTA bill passed in 1994, North Carolina has been struggling to keep citizens employed and fed. Many are living on $7.25 and hour, the absolute minimum wage, and are struggling to feed themselves and their families. A quarter of all homeless people in NC are innocent children. %15 percent are their parents. I want to help all of those people knee deep in poverty. Most of them can't even afford food (1,764,800 people in NC). One of the ways in which we can help feed
There is a big issue needing to be solved here in NC. As many of you already know, bees are vital to our agriculture. They pollinate our fields and give us a healthy supply of delicious food. However, over the years, the population has decreased, leaving less food for us to eat. One of our farmers lost 37 million of his bees to bug extermination. If we all stopped using extremely harmful pesticides on our crops, we would all be able to have enough food. Also, humans should stop being so afraid of bees. They keep us alive, and give us food. Together, we would be saving the environment and our food supply. We need the bees, so let's all save them together.
March 1, 2017
Our country is composed of immigrants. They come here from all around the world, joining in with our society. However, many people don't know their original reason for leaving their country. Some fled to the U.S to start over, and begin a new life for their family. Others came due to problems they faced (war, money, violence, poverty). The Scottish and Irish came for farming, since the crops wouldn't grow over there. They would have starved if it hadn't been for the new opportunities in this land. All of them believed in the American dream, and the idea that in America, you could be anything you wanted to be. The "new land" was a world of opportunity for them, and they came determined to live a happy, prosperous life. This is why we have immigrants in America. |
AuthorMy name is Ro, and I love to dance, read, and write!. Archives |