Article 1 Response: Internet Integrity?

     In the online article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" it discusses how the Internet and being able to have easy access to the web is causing people to not be as smart and with it as they used to be before Internet usage became popular. Majority of people spend their time on the Internet or on their smart phones doodling with Facebook, Twitter, Google or YouTube, but almost all of them cannot see the effect that it is having on them. The author of this article discusses how he finds himself not being able to read as well as he used to. He also admitted that he hardly ever reads actual books anymore, also. He says that almost everything he reads is all from things online; whether it be articles, blogs or and social networking. The author of this article also states that because he is constantly online, he finds himself not being able to focus for long periods of time like he used to. He has also talked to many other people that agree to having the same problems.

     I can agree with what the author had to say. Sometimes I feel like things are a lot harder to read and a lot harder to focus on now-a-days. I also believe that it could potentially become a problem if parents or even teachers don't start limiting their sons/daughters or students usage of Internet. I personally love using the Internet because it is so accessible and quick, but it also almost feels like cheating because sometimes things are too easy. Before Internet their was a challenge in 'finding' the information that was needed; rather than just typing it into Google and boom there is the answer!

     At this point in time in the world just no longer had any access to any computers or Internet, it would be like starting life over again. The Internet has become a huge part of society and a way of living. There is definitely an addiction that people can obtain from using the Internet so much. They start to crave being on it in a way. I've seen it first hand! Most young adults either have a Facebook or a Twitter, and those people are becoming more and more addicted the longer they have the unlimited access to it. I see people on dates and both of the people are normally sitting their on their phones rather than interacting with one another! I find it crazy that something that seems like nothing can become such an ongoing habit. 
     While reading the article I honestly had a difficult time reading it. The article said, "Now my concentration often starts to drift after tow or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I'm always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle." This is what was happening to me while reading the article. The length and complexity of it began making it hard to focus on what was really being said. There was a constant pull of trying to get back into the text. I do believe that a lot of people, especially my age struggle with this because of using the Internet for so long. Long passages become novels, compared to reading short posts and status'.

Reading Response 4: Divergent

     Divergent is a book that takes you into an entirely new setting of life. The post-apocalyptic setting creates a new environment that can be taken as reasonable or completely unacceptable in life society. The way of life in the book is split into different factions; each being a way to function in society. Each of the factions are supposed to work hand-in-hand, holding to their duties and responsibilities to allow society to run as smoothly as possible.
     Nearing the end of the book the main characters, Tris and Four, end up secretly falling for each other. They keep their relationship a secret so Tris doesn't look like she is just given her place in dauntless during her initiation, but as initiation comes to a close bigger problems seem to find their way into their lives and Tris and Four are the only ones who are able to stop the madness. For one reason only; they are divergent.
     The faction of Erudite (the scientists/bookworms) begin to secretly form a plan to start a war between the factions. The Erudite leader, Jeanine, is the mastermind behind all of plans to start the war, destroying and killing all the Abnegation leaders. Jeanine is a scientists who creates all the simulations that the dauntless and other factions use during the initiation process, so she has an insight to all of the other factions without being detected. Secretly Jeanine injected every member of the dauntless faction to become "sleep walking soldiers". When they were injected they were told it was a tracking device, incase anyone ever got lost. Instead she took over their abilities to function for themselves and turned them into killing machines by almost completely wiping out the entire abnegation faction.
     Throughout the end of the book terrible things happen to Four and Tris has to do this on her own to fight off the war that is taking out her former faction, abnegation. Tris soon finds out that because she is divergent she has capabilities that no one else has. She learns that being self-less and brave are not all that different. Tris discovered who she really is.

     "I feel like someone breathed new air into my lungs. I am not Abnegation. I am not Dauntless. I am Divergent."-Victoria Roth, Divergent
     This quote is one that has the most impact on the entire story. The quote is by Tris who finally believes and states who she really is, and who she always has been; she just never knew it. After Tris said that she was able to overcome so many things that seemed to always be getting in her way. She came to face who she really is and how she was able to use every inch of it as strength.

     Victoria Roth is an incredible author. She expressed her writing in thought and dialogue, which I find to be very helpful to understand, and to feel like I'm in the story itself. I love her writing style because I always find myself wanting to read more and more. I will soon be starting to read the next book in the series called Insurgent. I can't wait to get started and become enthralled and engrossed in my next read.

     

Reading Responce 3: Divergent

     Over the past couple of weeks as Tris has been going though initiation she has been growing closer and closer to one of the instructors named Four. Four is only a couple years ahead of Tris. In the faction, Dauntless, they like to select the youngest and best to be the leaders of the faction. While other factions choose the oldest and most wise.
      In the section of the book I have most recently read; all of the initiates have to be given a serum and undergo a process in their own conscious while being overseen by Four. They call the process simulations. In the simulations you have to face your worst fears and learn to overcome them because that is what Dauntless is all about. Being brave and doing things that regular people are threatened and scared by.
      A normal simulation typically takes 10 to 15 minutes for an initiate to finish. The simulation ends once you find a way to overcome what is happening to you. While Tris was undergoing her initiation she was put in a situation to where she was being attacked by big black crows. Tearing at her flesh and pecking at her from every angle. Tris was so frightened that she was crying and calling out for help from Four even though he could do nothing because she was in her own mind. Once Tris came out of the simulation she immediately went straight for Four balling her eyes out, but with a huge amount of fury that he just put her though that. Four calmed her down and comforted her. Then Tris's worst fear actually happened. Four looked at her very seriously and said, "Are you Divergent?". Tris's heart sank into her stomach. Being divergent is the one this she is supposed to keep secret. For the safety of her life.
      Later Tris went and talked to the one and only woman who knew she was divergent. She warned Tris to be extremely careful. She said that the only people that know anything about divergent are either the people who are divergent themselves, (which is extremely rare) or the people who kill the divergent. What is Four? Divergent or deadly?

      "But becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it, that's the point."
      This quote is my absolute favorite in the entire book. It has such a powerful message, yet it is so simple. Fear is something that people will always and forever have in their lives. But being able to control your fears is such a great attribute. It makes you a stronger person and more able to overcome the difficult things in life. Instead of letting the fear control who you are; you can use it as an advantage. Its smart. This quote may be the single most important line in the entire book. Setting the ground for more to come. More fear. More fight. More overcoming.

A Class Divided

     While watching A Class Divided it gave me an insight to how prejudice people really can be. It's not the fact that someone is better than another, but whenever someone with more authority makes a rule or a judgement and others follow it, is when problems start beginning.
     Once Mrs. Jane Elliot created the rule that blue eyed people are greater than brown eyed people it created an outstanding amount of controversy. The third graders began being mean and spiteful towards one another if they didn't have the same eye color; even though just the day before eye color wasn't an issue or even thought about.
     It's amazing how much a person with more influence can completely manipulate people to think in different ways without even realizing that the person is changing the way they think and believe in things.
     I truly believe that this lesson should be taught to all people. Even though America doesn't have as many racial prejudice's today, doesn't change the fact that it should be taught. Not only does it teach against prejudice's, but it also allows people to experience being judged harshly and differently. Which allows people to see that they need to treat others the same way they want to be treated.
     It all comes back to the golden rule that everyone should live by.