Final Issues Blog

I figured that this would be a good time to wrap up the year. First and foremost, I want to thank you, Mr. Kramer, for a great year. This was easily one of the most interesting classes I've ever had. And, because of the variety of topics we covered, I feel as though I learned a lot. My favorite topic was Abortion. Not because I had a strong view, in fact I really didn't have an opinion. It was because I was able to hear so many people give their thoughts and opinions, it allowed me to form my own conclusion. I also thought the work load was very fair. Giving us an assignment to read that outlined the topic was very fair. In addition to not overflowing us with work, we were able to learn and think about our discussion input for the next day. I think you did a great job of helping the class get into discussion, and you also played a huge part in asking deeper questions. I loved the way you and the class interacted all year. By the way, our first playoff baseball game is home on Thursday against Lake Forest. I believe I'm pitching that game so if you want to stop by and watch for a little that would be great. There's absolutely no pressure though...Anyways, have a great summer!

The Hatchet #5

The beginning of Brian's troubles started with him catching his mom cheating on another man. Our society today tends to sell "sex" as something that tends to just go around. TV shows and movies always have something sexual in the plot. With the internet people also have sex at their fingertips. Along with pornagraphy, newspapers and magazine have amazing looking people on their covers. It seems as though every magazine has a cover story about how to get sexier. My point is that society today tends to throw sex around like it doens't matter. People get the perception that everywhere you go, there is someone waiting for you to get laid (sorry if this isn't appropriate). Beer and car commercials always have good looking people. TV shows always have their "model." A movie isn't good unless there's a good looking model in it. Everything today seems to revolve around sex. What happened to the family values? In Brian's case, our lax society cost him his family, and we quickly saw the negative impact it had on him. Like I said multiple blog posts ago, we aren't going to get rid of divorce and bad decision making. But, I think society as a whole should do a better job of controlling what the general public can see.

The Hatchet #4

Materialism. It's a disease that effects 95% of Deerfieldians. I happen to be one of them. Who doesn't want the nicest car, nicest house, and largest bank accounts? Materialism is a natural, competitive game among the majority of humans. Do we really need all of it? Do we need the big houses for a family of 4 or even 5? Do we need 3 cars for a few people? Brian realized very quickly that he doesn't need the material things. For months, Brian survived with literally nothing. For the first few weeks, he explained how much he missed his car, his house, his money, etc...but by the end he didn't even think about it. In fact, when he got home for the first time in several months, he realized how unimportant everything was. The cars, the big houses, even the grocery stores, made him realize how dependant and sad our society is. Everything is handed to you if you have money. If you have money, you compete with other people who have money. The world is in a competition, but not for the important things like survival. Rather for the very unimportant material things. People will continue to try and get the latest and greatest, but my plea to you is to not give in. Don't spend money on things you don't need and don't spend money if you don't have it.

The Hatchet #3

"Treasure. Unbelievable riches. He could not believe the contents of the survival pack" (Paulson 171).

Every year the United States spends millions of dollars on aid for other countries in need. But does it have the same impact it did on Brian? Throughout the book, Brian did everything from scratch. He made fire from rocks. He made bows and arrows from trees and stones. He made shelter from the nature around him. Everything he did was natural and was completely his own. When the survival pack came, Brian almost didn't like. At first, he couldn't believe how much there was and how easy it would've been to survive. But then he started wondering if the survival pack took anything away from him. He began feeling detached from nature and from everything he accomplished. Is it the same way with the rest of world? The United States seems to just dump aid on all these different, seemingly aid hungry places. Do the people and villages that had survived on their own with no outside help feel as though the aid is helping them, or taking things away? I'm sure in some aspects, aid is helping people survive, but in other ways it may be taking away from the traditions of villages. The United States needs to pay more attention to the distribution of aid and make sure that our aid is going where it's needed and not necessarily where it's accepted.

The Hatchet #2

"The thinking started. Always it started with a single word. Divorce. It was an ugly word, he thought. A tearing, ugly word that meant fights and yelling, lawyers-God, he thought, how he hated lawyers who sat with their comfortable smiles and tried to explain to him in legal terms how all that he lived in was coming apart-and the breaking and shattering of all the solid things. His home, his life-all the solid things. Divorce. A breaking word, an ugly breaking word" (Paulson 2-3).

It's a known fact that about 50% of all marriages end in a divorce. What people tend not to do, is look beyond the numbers and see the total impact. It doesn't only effect the spouses who break up. It effects everyone around them. In Brian's case, his parents had gotten a divorce, and the whole process stuck with him. In fact, if it hadn't been for the divorce, Brian would never have been on the plane that crashed. In addition to being put in that situation, the word haunted Brian. As shown in the quote above, the only thing Brian could think about is the divorce and how hopeless he feels in the whole thing. People make mistakes, so I'm not saying by any means that we should eliminate divorces all together. What I am saying is that people need to do a better job of realizing the impact of their decisions for not only them but the people around them.

The Hatchet #1

The first time I read The Hatchet by Gary Paulson, I was 13 years old. The same age as the main character, Brian Robeson. Well, since it had been 5 years since I last read, I decided to read it again, this time blogging about multiple issued that arise from the book. The first and most frequent issue in the novel, is Brian's fight with hunger. Although this seems to be at a very individualized level, Brian's fight signifies the millions and millions of other people who are hungry. For many people, the sight of available bread is the highlight of their day. In Brian's case, he didn't even have bread. For over two months, he survived on fruit and meat. Nothing was handed to him, and everyday was a fight for survival. This is how most of the world lives. People fight everyday for survival. Here in Deerfield, it seems like the end of the world is when we do poorly on a test grade. People have earned the right to live here through hard work, but the majority of the world's population doesn't have the same rights and opportunities we do. I'm not sure it's possible to ever completely eliminate hunger, but the only thing we can do is raise awareness. In Brian's case, he was entangled in a fight with hunger each and everyday with no one to lean on. People who starve often feel this way, but it should be our job to make them feel secure and hopeful.

The Future of Fuel

It's predicted that in 40 years, the world's supply of oil will run out. My hypothesis is that we need to spend more energy on creating renewable energy sources. If our reliance on oil continues to increase, than it may be too late. I'm trying to get everyone to agree to a personal contract. The contract states that everyone will do their part to become more eco-friendly. I'm sure you've heard that before, but if we keep pushing it off like it's no big deal, it will be too late. I belive that the future of energy will be created from solar, hydro, wind, and nuclear power. Solar power has the greatest potential, and that may very well be the future of energy. Within the next 50 years, renewable energy will be the source of our energy. If it isn't, mankind will change forever due to wars and greed.