The theme of “The Giver” is we need history to understand why something happens. This is a theme throughout “The Giver” because the people aren’t aware of the events that took place before their community developed. They know their community’s history, but other than anything dealing with their community, they know nothing. In the middle of “The Giver”, Jonas starts learning about the events that took place before the community developed in detail. He experiences events that he would never had known about had he not been selected as the “Receiver of Memory”. For instance, he experiences war, violence, and terrorism, things he would have never even known about. By the end of “The Giver”, Jonas realizes the events of history affects us in the now. They are contributing factors in decisions made by the Committee of Elders. The Elders make their decisions with the help of the wisdom of the Receiver of Memory. The Receiver, since he has knowledge of the mistakes made by humans before the community, can help the Committee not make the same mistakes. The past also affects us in the now because if acts of terrorism hadn’t occurred, we wouldn’t have such high security. Government officials often look back on the causes of tragic events in history so they would not make the same mistakes and cause catastrophic events to occur. This is why this is one of the many themes of “The Giver.”

In the beginning, “The Giver” starts out by providing evidence to what Jonas’ life is like every day. The children obey every one without a question. To make sure that no feelings are hurt, they avoid talking about differences and state apologies when the rules regarding rudeness are infringed. Phrases that we probably use in our everyday lives, such as “I’m starving”, which Jonas says as a little kid, are considered lies and exaggerations to how they really feel. The instructor reacts by telling Jonas that he is not starving, he is merely hungry, and will never be starving. The Committee of Elders makes sure no one goes hungry, that everyone has what they need, and that they are content. They use systems developed by knowledge of the past. The Elders themselves don’t know what happened in the past, only the Receiver of Memory ever knows what happened before the community was formed. The Receiver advises the Committee based on events of the past and the Elders act accordingly. This ensures that the catastrophic events of the past never happen again. This makes everyone in the community happy, even though they have no idea why the Committee adopts certain rules based on the past. The community members have no idea what lead to the community adopt some rules, they just assume they are for their own safety and well-being; which the rules are, but they have a much greater purpose than what the community truly understands.

This might seem like a pretty good place to live, but these people have also never seen color, felt love or other good feelings. The Elders, with the help of the Receiver of Memory, decided people should not have choices of their own or feelings. They take a special injection to numb these feelings, and the Speaker, without singling any one out, says an announcement reminding anyone who forgot to take their injection to take it. This is based on evidence of the past that when people make choices, they can either chose right or wrong. They can’t see color either, which is tied to the choices. If you held up a blue balloon and a yellow balloon, the Elders believe you can still choose wrongly. Colors play a very important psychological role in our lives. They can help define who we are. The color for newborn boys is blue, and the color for newborn girls is pink. We also have pastel baby colors, and more rich and dark colors for older people. This is totally eliminated in “The Giver”. The community only sees black and white, to eliminate not only choices but differences as well. Finally, they don’t have love in their lives. This eliminates differences because people can all choose who to love and who not to love. Everyone is kind of like friends with everyone. They want to be inclusive, so they eliminate love and other feelings, like feelings of content, happiness, hate, Through his training Jonas realizes that she mild impatience and exasperation, if she felt anything real.

In the middle of the book, we see that Jonas is starting to realize that we need history in our lives, and that we’re repeating some of history. They aren’t repeating all of it, just some of it. It’s a little like the ideology of communism. In communism, everyone is equal, everyone is happy, there is total control, and no one really has a choice to make. This is when communism is at its best. It’s repeating history in a way because they kind of succeeded in the ideology of communism. Unlike other previous nations, like China and North Korea, the founders of the community actually succeeded in establishing a “perfect” world. In the middle of the book, Jonas has his first meeting with the Giver, and he goes sledding for the first time. The Giver places his hands on Jonas’ back and gives him the memory of snow and sledding. In his community, they have Climate Control, and have never heard of or seen snow. Jonas doesn’t understand why they don’t have snow until he realizes they don’t have it because it was inadequate weather, which made it difficult to farm and grow food. Now they can enjoy fruits all year long. One time, he saw farmers bringing pumpkins to the community. The pumpkin was seen as orange in an instant, but then it was gone, returning to its flat and hueless shape. This shows that they have believed in control so much that they have eliminated color. This also shows that they took communism to a whole new level.

Some people might say that they never bothered to ask about the past. While this is slightly true, there is a loophole. Maybe they did ask about the history before the community, and they were scolded for doing so. They never received the answers they wanted, but because they wanted to be perfect and not singled out, they dared not ask again. However, Jonas’ situation is different. Although he was brought up to believe that one should never question the great workings of the community, once he goes to see the Giver, he is free to ask any question. He asks many, many questions about why this happened or why that occurred. The Giver encourages this behavior, unlike at home where is scolded for asking about such things. So, the community could very well want to ask about what happened before the community or why they have a rule, they just don’t dare to ask. Or maybe they are right, that they just never bothered to ask.

By the end of the book, we see the wisdom Jonas has gained through his training. He finally realizes after receiving a memory about love, that everyone should have the memories, otherwise known as history to us. Whether good or bad memories, everyone should have the memories, according to Jonas. The Giver agrees with him, although it will be tough to get the community under control after the shock of receiving all these new memories. They devise a plan to make this work out. Reluctantly, Jonas agrees to the plan because he will be separated from those he loves the most. They set a date, but when an out-of-the-blue announcement is made within Jonas’ family, Jonas decides he has to leave before the date that he and the Giver had originally planned. Once he completes the first bump in the road, it is up to the Giver to take care of the community and Jonas to rely on his strength and stamina to survive. This is about where the community would probably start asking questions why they have certain rules, but we never hear from the community after Jonas completes his first task.

In conclusion, the theme of “The Giver” is that we need history to understand why something happens. For example, in our everyday lives, we have traffic lights so that less accidents happen. This is based on that when cars first came out, we didn’t have traffic lights and there we often accidents. In “The Giver” there are many rules and everyone must follow them without a question. The people don’t have memories of the past and don’t understand why the Elders have certain rules for them to follow, but they don’t ask why, probably for fear of a scolding. Jonas, once he learns about what happened before the community came about, starts asking questions why they have certain rules. Sometimes he gets an answer, and sometimes he has to make an educated guess. Once he receives a specific memory, he realizes that everyone should have these memories even though some of them are not pleasant. When he decides to take action, he uses his wisdom to overcome the obstacles. This proves the theme: we need history to understand why something happens.

The book I read was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It is narrated by Death, and he is telling the story of Liesel Meminger. She is growing up in Nazi Germany. Her mother has been taken away for an reason unknown to Liesel. She has been sent to live with foster parents with her brother. Sadly, her brother dies on the way their. She now lives on Himmel Street, which translates to Heaven Street. The foster parents are Hans Hubermann and Rosa Hubermann. As she gets used to Himmel Street and her new situation, she is comforted by Hans. She has horrible nightmares that often end in violent screaming, and Hans goes and comforts her. Sometimes he reads to her, sometimes he plays the accordion, sometimes he just sits there and sleeps. I liked the narrator, Death, the most. He had this sort of dark humor, for instance, he starts of the book with ” here is a small fact: you are going to die”, and “a reassuring announcement: please, be calm, despite that previous threat. I am all bluster- I am not violent. I am not malicious. I am a result.” He is very sarcastic, which adds the humor to the book. This book compares well with other books I have read. I have read very good book so far this year, and this book is definitely better than the movie. Rather than having a complicated vocabulary, it has tough information, sometimes I had to read paragraphs or pages twice to be able to understand them. I would totally recommend this to a friend, and would recommend seeing the movie after reading the book. I am definitely becoming a better reader. My interests are not changing, I still love historical fiction. Something that surprised me is that Death was more of a “eh, you’re going to die, deal with it humans”, not so much a ruthless killer who took people at random.

Sincerely,

Regina Parker     1st Period

Jonas is an Eleven, soon to be a Twelve, and is thinking about his future. Which Assignment shall he receive? Jonas has no guess as to which Assignment he might receive at the Ceremony of the Twelve. Jonas lives in a world with no choices, colors, inadequate weather, or “problems”. He allegedly lives in a world that is “perfect”. He lives in a world which has been reduced to “Sameness”. There is no differences, no wars, violence, nothing “bad” about his community. It is different from our world because we get to choose our life’s work, our partner, we see colors, we are sometimes rude toward one another, we are different, we sometimes have inadequate weather, we have wars, violence, terrorism, and perhaps most importantly, we have choices. This takes place is the future, because the Receiver of Memory has the ability to “see beyond”. He is the only one living in the community who has that ability.

Jonas is the main character, and he feels different from everyone else. Everyone seems to have an idea about what Assignment they would receive in December, at the Ceremony of the Twelve. He always completes his volunteer hours, but he doesn’t know what Assignment he shall get. He asks his father about how he felt before the ceremony, but his father told him he was confident he would get the Assignment of Nurturer, for he had completed most of his volunteer hours at the Nurturing Center. Jonas knows he must use precision of language, but he doesn’t know how to describe how he feels before the ceremony.

Bullying in schools is an immensely serious issue. This causes low self-esteem in students and can lead to even more tragic events. It is everywhere. As much as we try to eliminate it, it is still there.

WHAT IS BULLYING
First, what is bullying? “Bullying is repeated behavior with the intention to harm,” says Mrs. Foster, the guidance counselor at Blackhawk Middle School. There are many types of bullying, but the most common types of bullying are physical bullying, social bullying, and cyber bullying. Physical bullying is more obvious than the other types of bullying, especially when it takes place on school grounds. Schools can’t help you with cyber bullying until someone on the internet sees the bullying and reports it to the school. Social bullying is always obvious to the victim.

Picture this. You’re walking to your third period class, in a rush because your second period teacher held the whole class a minute after the bell. You don’t want to be late. A kid “accidently” trips you, causing you to drop your books. You let it go because you think it was an accident. Later, on your way to seventh period, the same kid trips you and calls you “weak and stupid”. Now you start to get skeptical, because it was the same person. A week later, it happens again. Soon it starts to happen every day. Your self-esteem goes down the drain, your grades slip, you start missing school because you feel “sick”. This a perfect example of bullying in school. This could have happened to anyone.

HOW DOES THE SCHOOL REACT
First of all, the school needs to know this is happening. If they don’t know, they can’t help you. However, what if the bully tells you that if you inform your parents or the school, they’ll fight you? Now you’re scared to tell your parents you are being bullied. You can’t let this stop you. Hopefully you have a good friend that notices this and tells the school for you, but that doesn’t always happen.

Once you tell the school you are being bullied, they should run an investigation. “Bullying is not allowed and schools must investigate to determine if an incident is bullying, if it is, we must file a report,” states Foster. If you are depressed or have low self-esteem, they should connect you with someone who can help you get back to a healthy level of self-esteem. For the bully, they should call the parents to inform them about their behavior. You should not feel sorry for yourself that you have gotten someone into trouble. You helped yourself stop the bullying.

Finally, you have received help! Your self-esteem is back to a healthy level, your grades are back up, and you’re not missing as much school. You are thankful you told someone so that you could succeed in school again.

THE EFFECTS OF BULLYING
At first it may seem your best friend doesn’t want to hang out with you anymore. You only see her fourth period, lunch, and seventh period. You see she doesn’t talk to you anymore, she’s sad all the time, gives you short answers, and is moody every time you talk to her. You hope she grows out of it, she’s just going through a stage that will be over in a few weeks. The only problem is, it drags on for months.

This is a typical situation. Your best friend could be bullied. Since you don’t see her that often, it is entirely plausible. You bring your concerns to the guidance counselor, who tells you she will talk to your friend.

Sadly, you find out your friend was being bullied. The effects of bullying can be traumatic. Victims can suffer from depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, loneliness, poor grades, and absences from school. Even more tragically, students who suffer from mental illnesses caused by bullying can ultimately take their life.

This begins Chapter Two. I have made minor changes, including Charlotte’s age. I decided she should be sixteen years old. She’s aged just a little bit… Well, here we go!

They dare not eat the food that surrounded them. They would need it for when winter came. No one slept for that matter either, except for the baby, Lydia. Charlotte was gripped with fear. Is Papa safe? Where had Mama ventured off to? she thought.

She heard the door creak open. Her heart beat so fast it was as though it would beat out of her chest.

“Anyone in here?” a soldier grunted.

Redcoats! Charlotte heard it in their voice. She held her breath.

“Do you see anyone in there Sergeant?” another voice asked.

“No. Let’s move on,” the sergeant replied.

When she heard the door close, she breathed a sigh of relief. They had not been found. What would Mama do if she did not find them? How would Papa know? What if they had been found? Would they be taken away?

Hours passed. Charlotte hadn’t heard the door open. She finally let sleep overcome her. Mama and Papa had not returned. Oh, when will they return? Had they been found by the Redcoats? I only want them to come home, Charlotte thought.

She did not sleep well. She was entwined with anxiety about Mama and Papa. The others seemed to sleep as best as possible with the food around them. A thought blew past her mind. What will we do if Mama does not return? A voice deep inside told her she was being unreasonable, that Mama would return. She could only hope it was right.

Bullying in schools is an immensely serious issue. Bullying causes low self-esteem and can lead to even more tragic events. Bullying is everywhere. As much as we try to eliminate bullying, it is still there.

WHAT IS BULLYING
“Bullying is repeated behavior with the intention to harm,” says Mrs. Foster, the guidance counselor at Blackhawk Middle School. There are many types of bullying, but the most common types of bullying are physical bullying and emotional bullying. Physical bullying is more obvious than emotional bullying, and is often addressed sooner because it is more noticeable than emotional bullying. For instance, the bully could be punching, kicking, hitting, or wrestling the victim. In the instance of emotional bullying, the bully could be excluding the victim from a group.

Picture this. You’re walking to your third period class, in a rush because your second period teacher held the whole class a minute after the bell. You don’t want to be late. A kid “accidently” trips you, causing you to drop your books. You let it go because you think it was an accident. Later, on your way to seventh period, the same kid trips you and calls you “weak and stupid”. Now you start to get skeptical, because it was the same person. A week later, it happens again. Soon it starts to happen every day. Your self-esteem goes down the drain, your grades slip, you start missing school because you feel “sick”. This a perfect example of bullying in school. This could have happened to anyone.

HOW DOES THE SCHOOL REACT
First of all, the school needs to know this is happening. If they don’t know, they can’t help you. However, what if the bully tells you that if you inform your parents or the school, they’ll fight you? Now you’re scared to tell your parents you are being bullied. You can’t let this stop you. Hopefully you have a good friend that notices this and tells the school for you, but that doesn’t always happen.

Once you tell the school you are being bullied, they should run an investigation into the situation. They do this to make sure you’re not lying. If you are depressed or have low self-esteem, they should connect you with someone who can help you get back to a healthy level of self-esteem. For the bully, they should call the parents to inform them about their behavior. You should not feel sorry for yourself that you have gotten someone into trouble. You helped yourself stop the bullying.

Finally, you have received help! Your self-esteem is back to a healthy level, your grades are back up, and you’re not missing as much school. You are thankful you told someone so that you could succeed in school again.

THE EFFECTS OF BULLYING
At first it may seem your best friend doesn’t want to hang out with you anymore. You only see her fourth period, lunch, and seventh period. You see she doesn’t talk to you anymore, she’s sad all the time, gives you short answers, and is moody every time you talk to her. You hope she grows out of it, she’s just going through a stage that will be over in a few weeks. The only problem is, it drags on for months.

This is a typical situation. Your best friend could be bullied. Since you don’t see her that often, it is entirely plausible. You bring your concerns to the guidance counselor, who tells you she will talk to your friend.

Sadly, you find out your friend was being bullied. The effects of bullying can be traumatic. Victims can suffer from depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, loneliness, poor grades, and absences from school. Even more tragically, students who suffer from mental illnesses caused by bullying can ultimately take their life.

A book I read recently is called “Two Little Girls in Blue” by Mary Higgins Clark. It’s about the Frawley twins, who just moved to Connecticut. They are named Kelly and Kathy, and are identical twins. On the night of their third birthday, their parents attend a black-tie dinner party in New York. Trish is babysitting them, but when her parents come home, police are in front of their door. Trish was found unconscious in the upstairs hallway, and the twins are no where to be found. A ransom note demanding eight million dollars was found in their bedroom. When Kelly is home, but not Kathy, tension is high. Mrs. Frawley is convinced that Kelly is somehow communicating with Kathy, using twin talk, aka telepathy. So will Kathy be returned home safely, or will the parents nightmare become their worst nightmare? My favorite character is Kelly. She, even though risking hurtful pinches from Mona, or Angie, is rebellious and headstrong. She just wants to go home and see her mom and her dad. She wants to go home and forget the awful place. This book is definitely more of a suspense than what I am used to. It makes you think about what is happening in the book. The chapters switch point of view from a police officer to the mom to a big company. It’s definitely now one of my favorite books. I would recommend this to a friend because I think they would enjoy it and have a lot of fun reading it. It’s such a good book! I can’t stress enough how much I love and adore this book. Some friends I know would really enjoy this book and others I know wouldn’t. My Grandma just gave me another book by Mary Higgins Clark, called “The Lottery Winner”, so I think I’ll go read that now, bye!

Summer is a time in which students are prone to injuries. From sports to just running around, you never know what injury comes next. Kids will be kids, but when they get hurt, it’s important they get to a specialist as soon as possible, to ensure it’s not serious. Most doctors will take a X-Ray of the affected area and then evaluate. If your bone isn’t broken, you might have a sprained joint.

“I fell forward onto a boat and sprained my ankle this summer,” says Kendall, a student at Blackhawk Middle School. Sprained ankles often require crutches for a few days. They are one of the most common type of joint injury. “I was just skipping around to my language arts class, fell and sprained my ankle,” states Madi, an eighth grader at Blackhawk.

Students have also sprained their wrists and fingers. “I fell forward playing tag and sprained my finger into my palm,” says Regina, also a student at Blackhawk. Sprained fingers can also be called “jammed” fingers. Most sprained joints heal in a week or two, depending on how severe the injury is. In most causes, doctors will give you a splint and set up a reevaluation appointment to make sure it’s healing properly.  If you play sports, you should ask your doctor when you should return, depending on the sport and the injury.

Just remember, sprained joints are nothing to mess around with. Making sure you get the right treatment is important to make sure you heal properly. Also getting to the doctor as soon as you know it’s serious is also important in the healing process. Remember, doctors are specially trained to recognize and treat your injury!

I’m writing a book right now, but I’m not sure what to call it. I would also like feedback on my first actual sentences in my book. A brief overview of the book; Charlotte Price is a 13 year old girl living the American Revolution. Her father is making plans to leave for the war, while her mother plans to hire her off to a rich old lady to work as a housemaid, for income. A dramatic turn of events leaves her with no job, no money, and no where to go.

Charlotte jerked awake. There was shouting and a pounding on the door. It’s around midnight, on April 19, 1775, in Concord, Massachusetts, and the American Revolution is about to begin.

“Who’s there?” Charlotte hears her father ask.

“Paul Revere,” a voice responds. “The regulars are coming! We need all the men we can get!”

“I’ll be ready,” her father replied.

Charlotte’s heart raced. Her father is a going to fight? Now? Sure, he is a minuteman, but why is he going now? He had been making plans to go to war, but she hadn’t expected it to be this soon. And now Mama is going to send her to live with the rich old lady who lives down the road. Since her father is fighting, she needs to go to work so they don’t end up on the street. How I loathe going to live with that boring lady! She’s practically a century old! One would think she would be dead by now, Charlotte thought. I sure hope I don’t have to work for her long, how dishonorable that would be! If people find out, I swear I’d die! 

Hopefully you guys like this. If you give feedback, please be honest. I’d rather have more negative comments and have them be honest rather than more positive comments and have them be lies. Enjoy!