Carbonated Killer

Do you really know what’s in a can of Diet Coke? Are you just going to believe that Diet Coke is good for you because it says “diet”? Although you may not think a simple can of Diet Coke could cause you much damage, you’re wrong. It is actually slowly eating away at you’re insides, without you even knowing. Diet Coke has been linked to a 61% increase in your chances of having a heart event (stroke, disease, etc.), and a 30% decrease in kidney function, and yet, we still drink it anyway.

One way that Diet Coke is actually very damaging is because of how it tricks your body. Some studies suggest that when our taste buds sense sweetness, the body expects a calorie load to accompany it. When that doesn’t happen, due to the artificial sweeteners in Diet Coke, it may cause us to overeat. This is because we crave the energy rush our body was expecting, and we need to catch up. We do this by eating, and often too much, and get fat. The scary part is, you may do all of this without even thinking that you are craving food. You probably just think of this as hunger, even though it is your body trying to catch up with the artificial sweeteners.

Another way that both Diet and Regular Coca Cola are not beneficial is due to one of Coca Cola’s main ingredients, phosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid has a pH level of 2.8, and can dissolve a steak in 2 days, and a nail in 4. So why do you want this in your body? Think of your body as a giant steak, getting eaten away by the soda lurking in your body. In addition, phosphoric acid causes calcium to be excreted from your body at a pace more rapid than normal. As a result, your bones lose calcium and have trouble keeping up with demand. This causes your bone health to drop significantly.

Aside from being a refreshment, Coca Cola also has many other (slightly concerning) uses. In many U.S. states, the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coca Cola in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident. Also, you can apply Coca Cola to car battery terminals to bubble away corrosion, or to clean rust spots from chrome car bumpers. You can even use Coca Cola to loosen a stuck bolt. In fact, the distributers of Coca Cola have been using it to clean the engines of their delivery trucks for about 20 years! Both Diet and regular Coca Cola does all of this, and yet, people still drink it on a regular basis?

As you now know, there are many aspects of Diet Coke that are very damaging to your body. Its artificial sweeteners make you gain weight, and its highly corrosive acids are literally eating away at your insides. Although the label may say, “diet”, that doesn’t make it healthy. Diet Coke is a killer, no matter what labels people put on the can. And if the delivery truck for Diet Coke has to use a warning sticker for “highly corrosive materials”, why should you drink it? Think of all of the cold hard facts that are in front of you. Now, would you like a Diet Coke?

Angels and Demons Prediction

Author's Note: I am not very far in the book yet.. And I feel that my prediction probably will be completely wrong once I read more, but for now, this is what I have.

I think that Langdon is going to get blamed for the murder. I think this because the illuminati (the guys at the lab) are probably mad at him for exposing them through his books and studies.When he gets to the lab, he will probably discover that this was all a setup. Other things that could happen include them killing Langdon, or severely injuring him. Although the guy on the phone seems legit, I feel that something is not right..

Good Vs. Evil

Author's Note: This is my essay for To Kill A Mockingbird, and I hope you enjoy reading it. I also plan to keep editing and revising it.

The most important theme of To Kill a Mockingbird is the book’s exploration of the moral nature of human beings—that is, whether people are essentially good or essentially evil. The novel approaches this question by dramatizing Scout and Jem’s transition from a perspective of childhood innocence, in which they assume that people are good because they have never seen evil, to a more adult perspective, in which they have confronted evil and must incorporate it into their understanding of the world.

As a result of this portrayal of the transition from innocence to experience, one of the book’s important subthemes involves the threat that hatred, prejudice, and ignorance pose to the innocent: people such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are not prepared for the evil that they encounter, and, as a result, they are destroyed. Even Jem is victimized to an extent by his discovery of the evil of racism during and after the trial.

The moral voice of To Kill a Mockingbird is embodied by Atticus Finch, who is virtually unique in the novel in that he has experienced and understood evil without losing his faith in the human capacity for goodness. Atticus understands that, rather than being simply creatures of good or creatures of evil, most people have both good and bad qualities. The important thing is to appreciate the good qualities and understand the bad qualities by treating others with sympathy and trying to see life from their perspective. He tries to teach this ultimate moral lesson to Jem and Scout to show them that it is possible to live with conscience without losing hope or becoming cynical.

 In this way, Atticus is able to admire Mrs. Dubose’s courage even while deploring her racism. Scout’s progress as a character in the novel is defined by her gradual development toward understanding Atticus’s lessons, culminating when, in the final chapters, Scout at last sees Boo Radley as a human being. Her newfound ability to view the world from his perspective ensures that she will not become bored as she loses her innocence.

Speak Up

Author's Note: I know this is very bad but I intend to improve and tweak it.

In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character, Melinda, is a normal girl in high school, but when she calls the cops during a party, everything takes a turn for the worse. Her friends won't speak to her, she's doing bad in almost every class except art, and she's afraid to speak. She needs to learn to speak up if she wants to get her friends back, or if she even wants to accomplish anything in life.

This may seem simple, however, throughout Speak, a reoccurring  theme is the negative consequences for speaking up. Every time someone speaks up, they seem to get punished. While speaking up may seem daunting to  Melinda, if she wants things to be better, she's going to have to face the consequences and speak up. At the point she is at now, what does she really have to lose? Her parents don't treat her well, she has no friends, she has bad grades, and it seems as though she might as well give speaking up a shot, because the worst  case-scenario is that there is no difference in her current life.  If she starts speaking, people will see her side of things, she will gain confidence, and she may even gain a few friends.

What Melinda really needs to do is look at her life and say, "What is the worst that can happen if I speak up?" If she does, she may realize that speaking is in her best interest, and is the first step in solving her problems.

Thy Dystopia

Author's Note: This is my second draft of this essay, and I would appreciate any feedback.

In Fahrenheit 451 and The Hunger Games, the power of the government has become so strong that no one questions the decisions that the government is making for its people, even though it really isn’t in their best interest. In both books, the citizens' extreme apathy to stand up to their governments is based on their inability to trust one another, and the fear of the repercussions of questioning authority.

In The Hunger Games, the government has set up a system of oppression in order to control the standard of living of their people. Those deprived of food and other basic necessities are motivated to participate in “the hunger games” in order to improve their standard of living. Others who are living a higher lifestyle are made to think it’s fun and "normal" to watch people kill each other on T.V. because they believe it’s ok since the government itself is sanctioning the hunger games. In a rational world, it would seem counterintuitive that people would watch, let alone volunteer, to participate in a killing game. But this government has positioned the games as a necessity for some, and as a form of acceptable entertainment for others, and neither group thinks to question the system.

In Fahrenheit 451, the government has banned all books based on the fact that they believe that books can be offensive.  There are people who try to keep their books, but if anyone is caught with them, the government quickly sends firefighters to burn the books. Friends and family members turn on one another, so no one knows who they can trust. The government works so hard to try “not to offend anyone” that they actually stifle individuality and many people lose their interest in life.

Both novels demonstrate that when a government has excess power, it can cause downward spirals in their societies. Burning books in the name of “making everyone happy” ends up causing a loss of intelligence, purpose, and meaning in life, so many people are actually not as happy as the government intended. On the other hand, having people kill each other causes much violence, and as people are taught this is okay, the world becomes a dystopia, all at the expense of a bit of entertainment, that could be provided by other means.

These books are examples of the how extremely powerful governments can be damaging with their ways, causing people to greatly alter their way of life. If governments change something to please someone, or themselves, it is often at someone else’s expense. So they can't change things too much, or they could reach the tipping point in which everything becomes a downward spiral, where instead of creating a positive society, they have instead created a dystopia.

The Nightmare

Author's Note: This is a FICTIONAL piece I wrote, inspired my my winter break, during which my family went skiing out west. No, this didn't actually happen to me, or anybody, I hope you enjoy it. Please comment and tell me what was good or bad.

Although Jack was unsure that he could tackle the nightmare, his friends had pressured him into doing so. There was no turning back now, he was already on the chairlift, rising up to his doom, slowly, he glanced down. There it was. The nightmare. So steep that professional skiiers from all around the world came to try and survive it. Finally, they got to the top. He looked down, and started to shake in nervousness. His friends were standing there laughing, then he felt a push. He stumbled forward , and started to glide down the hill. He started off okay, doing some usual turns and such, when he saw a small bump ahead.  He tried to swerve to the right, but his skiies hit an icey patch. He twisted sideways and flew off the bump. He felt weightless as he peered down through his crossed skiis to see nothing but 30 feet of air underneath him. He felt his stomach turn as he plummeted to his doom. Ten seconds later, he heard a loud "CRUNCH!"

A Good Man

Author's Note: I recently had to write an analysis on a quote from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I chose "He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old City knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world." This was towards the end of the book, when Scrooge starts acting like a regular jolly person celebrating Christmas. I know its short, but I hope it speaks  message. I might edit it some more and add stuff to it, but I think for now it is a good interpretation of the quote above. Please comment and let me know what was bad/good about it, and what could be improved.

I think this quote goes to show that if you keep up a positive attitude, you can make a huge positive impact on your friends, family, and neighbors and even yourself. Don't be the Scrooge at the beginning of A Christmas Carol, a bad friend, master and man. Instead, be the positive influence that you want to see in the world. Be a caring person, just like scrooge was at the end of the book. A good friend, master, and man.

Milkweed: Loss Of Innocence

Everybody knows that there are times in life, where we do something that we very well know that we shouldn't, but we do it anyway. Why? Because we have to. Sometimes it's because we really want something, but in Milkweed, Misha does things he shouldn't because if he doesn't, he, along with his family, wouldn't survive.

Back in the holocaust, it was a bad time to be Jewish. You had pretty much no control over your life, because the Germans made decisions for you. One of these was to move to the Ghetto, where you rarely had any food, and the Germans just tried to starve you to death. Your only hope was to smuggle food from the outside world, even if it meant risking your life in the process. Soon, the Germans caught on, and warned the Jewish to stop, or they would get killed. It took flamethrowers, guns, and clubs to convince the Jewish that smuggling food was a bad idea. But still, Misha cares about his family enough, to do whatever he needs to do, even if it means losing his innocence, for the survival of his family.

A similar case, is in Life of Pi, when Pi Patel is stranded on a lifeboat for 227 days, with no food. At one point he comes across an island, and finds a person. The person is a bit crazy, as he has no food either, but at one point, Pi has no choice, even if it means losing his innocence, he has to eat the man. He doesn't want to, but with his starvation, he would've done anything for his survival, just like Misha did when he smuggled.

We all do things that we shouldn't, and in both Misha and Pi's case, they do them for a good reason, survival. But have you ever done something that you shouldn't have, that wasn't for a good reason? Next time you're doing something you'll probabaly think, Can I live without doing this?

Point of View: Milkweed

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli, is a book about rough times back in the Holocaust. This is told by a very young boy named Misha, who has no knowledge of his parents, or much of his previous life before the story, or of anything. As you can probably guess, the time period of the Holocaust was not a good time to be confused. If you unknowingly did something wrong, you were killed, and that was the end of it. Luckily, Misha has his friends, and adopted family, to guide him along.

One of Misha's best friends is Uri. Uri is almost everything Misha isn't. He's smart, patient, and is a lot less confused as to what's going on around them. The one thing that they have in common, is being a thief, which is how the two met. They both tried to steal a loaf of bread, but Misha got there first. Thinking that a small, quick kid could be useful, Uri builds up a type of "partnership" with Misha, and helps him survive. In my opinion, the story could be very different if told from the perspective of Uri.

Throughout the book, you almost want to yell to Misha, "No! Don't do that! You'll get caught!" or, "What were you thinking?!" but then you remember that he's just a little kid and he doesn't know any better, which also provides an interesting aspect to the story. It is fun to listen to Misha's point of view, because he is often a bit off on his philosophy, with simple facts such as things like milkweed. He thinks that milkweed is where angels come from, and doesn't think otherwise. When someone tells him something, he doesn't really have any reason to think that it is wrong, and he therefore believes it. On the other hand, Uri knows better, and his perspective would probably be more appealing to an adult audience, an audience who wants to hear the mature side of things. Instead of hearing "I saw people walking down the road, and I couldn't help marching along to the parade. I saw a nice man with really shiny boots and an eagle hat, so I started to talk to him," they'd rather hear a more mature point of view, like that of Uri's which would be something like, "I can't believe that Misha participates in these childish games, he has to think before he does things, because marching along to imaginary parades and walking up to Nazis will get you killed in an heartbeat."

This is one of the many reasons why I think that the story could be altered greatly if the main character's point of view were changed from Misha to Uri.

Uri

Uri, Misha's guidance for most of Milkweed, was a very important character in the book. He was a static character, because he doesn't change for most of the book, and never undergoes any real change. Although static, Uri still made a large impact on our main character, Misha, and without Uri, Misha probably wouldn't have survived.

Throughout the book, whenever Misha unknowingly makes a mistake, Uri is usually there to tell him that he is wrong. Without this guidance, Misha would keep making the same mistakes, and end up getting caught, or worse, dead. But, thanks to Uri, he corrects his mistakes, and ends up surviving. An example of this is when Misha wants to keep stealing food, but Uri knows that the Nazis are cracking down on thieves, so he tells him to stop. Luckily this saves him from getting caught, and probably getting killed. Similar to how Cairon is always guiding and saving Percy in the Percy Jackson series.

If it weren't for Uri, Misha would've made a lot of bad decisions, and probably would've ended up dead, but because of his guidance, Misha lives to have a good life after the holocaust, and even has a kid, and a grandkid. Is there anyone like Uri in your life, correcting your mistakes, and saving you from going horribly wrong?

A Perfect Metaphor

Author's Note: This is what I think Martel meant when he said, "The idea of a religious boy in a lifeboat with a wild animal struck me as a perfect metaphor for the human condition. Humans aspire to really high things, right, like religion, justice, democracy. At the same time, we're rooted in our human, animal condition. And so, all of those brought together in a lifeboat struck me as being... as a perfect metaphor."

 

What I think Martel was trying to demonstrate was how although any wild animal would simply give its life for the food of another, as in the food chain, any human will most likely pray to not die, and say that this “Isn’t right.” or something. We look for things with meaning, such as justice, fairness, and religion. The tiger could have simply killed Pi before the other animals, but that would defeat the purpose of the human aspects and beliefs. We long for that fairness, and justice, but really, in the wild, Pi is just another animal, and it was just luck, or chance, that Richard Parker, or even the hyena, didn’t eat Pi.

Our Country

Author's Note: This is a short paragraph that I threw together explaining some of the reasons that I'm proud of our country.

Our country is definitely one to be proud of. We have freedom of speech, wealth, elected government officials,  and a strong military force. We can stand up for ourselves, and fight. There isn't much that there isn't to be proud about in our country, except a bad economy. We have good schools, and can provide education for kids. We have homes, and food, and don't need to worry about starving to death. These are just a few of the reasons that I think our country is definitely one to be proud of.

My Hook

"Are we there yet?" said Laura, the blueberry.

"Not quite," replied Carlos, the talking waffle shark. They kept walking, through the unicorn pastures of cloud 9. Then, out of nowhere, they heard a deep voice.

The E.A.W.C.

They cleared the fake security gate as Wilson shot the guard with his custom 2001fps Airsoft Sniper Rifle. He motioned to Stanley, who swiveled the truck around and slowed down just slow enough so that he could jump in the truck bed. He slammed down the sniper and took position of the gattling gun (also airsoft) which was mounted on the roof. He prepared for the war to come, and stuck his semi-auto airsoft pistols into his side holsters.  Glen took out his G36C, and aimed it out the passenger window.  The first stage of the Airsoft World Championships (AWC) was about to start.

        One of the other teams advanced fast, but their 530fps guns were no match for the armored f150. Glen hit the driver with his G36C and they spun out. Stanley cheered as he shot his pistol out the window with one hand. Suddenly, they got cut off and Wilson almost flew over the truck as Stanley stomped on the brake.

“That was close,” said Glen.

“Too close,” Stanley replied. Stanley slowly stepped back on the gas again and they moved forward. There were only 3 teams remaining, and the trio steadied their grips on their guns. They were coming up on another team, with a truck twice their size.

“Whatever you do, don’t run into them,” said Glen.

“Don’t worry. I won’t.” They sped towards it, and just as the other team thought that they had them, Stanley dodged to the side, and Glen started open-firing on the truck. His expertise caused a pellet to fly straight into the driver’s temple, causing him to become unconscious. Wilson fired the gattling gun in the rear windows, hoping to get the remaining members of the team. They were, after all, the smallest team there, with only three people. They would have more recruits, but nobody could live up to their excellence. The other two teams were dueling on the other side of the stadium, and Stanley saw one of them flip over, which meant that there was only one team left. They spun around and went racing at their opponent, and when they were about ten yards away, Stanley pressed a button on the dash. All of a sudden, the car flew up in the air and did a flip over the other truck, the whole trio firing at the hopeless car below. The gattling gun destroyed the duct-tape windows, which had been put in as replacements, and Glen knocked out their entire team of about 8 in a mere 3 seconds. Yah. He was that good. Then, a bell rang, and the entire crowd cheered. The Trio had won the Extreme Airsoft World Championships. They jumped out of their truck, and went to collect their trophy, a gold statue of a kid holding an airsoft-gun, and as a team, they raised it in the air, so that everyone could see. These champions still live in disguise today, but no one, not even those entrusted with the secrecy of the Dojo, (it’s another story) know who they are, or where their location lies.

Beaver Assault

Author's Note: I wrote this with my upcoming vacation in mind, and I tried to place my character in an interesting, but maybe not realistic, spot, where I could go somewhere with it and make a good story. This takes place in Arches National Park, where there are lots of interesting rock formations, etc. I'll put a picture of it at the bottom.

Derill and John, homeless ninjas, are hiding behind a rock, waiting for sun-down.

Derill peeked out from around the rock, "The coast is clear."
"Okay, should I go for it?"
"Sure, you've got nothing to lose."
John sneeked around the corner, and started for the trailer. Once he got there, he put his ear against the wall as if he were listening for any noises inside the camper. He gave a thumbs up to Derill, and slipped on his black mask. Derill did the same, and slowly crept over to John. They got out their lockpicks, and tried for the door. Neither of them could seem to get it. But then they came up with an idea.
"Sensei Chin-chin..," he called
"Sensei Chin-chin..," he called a little louder. Then there was a ball of mist hovering over the ground. Soon, there was a man sitting there crossed-legged.
"How can I help you?"
"We, uh, need this door unlocked."
"Okay." He flicked his wrist, and the lock clicked. "It's unlocked."
"Thank you Sensei."
"No problem. That'll be $89.99 plus tax."
"We, uh, don't exactly have that much. That's why we're robbing, uh, borrowing rather, money from, uh, Justin Bieber,"
"Oh, why didn't you say so! I hate that kid too. There's something wrong with him you know!"
"Yes, we are very aware of that."
"As much as I would like to see him sing some high pitched song about losing his money, I cannot. See you later boys!"
"Bye Sensei." Sensei Chin-chin nodded and disappeared in a cloud of mist.
"Well he was nice."
"Yes. Yes he was."
The boys stepped inside, and looked around. Justin Beaver was sleeping in a pull-out bed, and his security officer was sleeping in another. John crept over to the guard, and karate-chopped him in the throat. The guard didn't make a sound as he died a short, painful, death.
"Wait, lets leave the "girl" alone. I want to see what kind of song the kid makes up about this tomorrow. He will be a delight to watch"
"Yah, lets leave him. Let's focus on the prize." Slowly they opened drawers, suitcases, and backpacks, until finally John whispers,
"I found it! I found his wallet! And Credit Cards!" The boys didn't waste time celebrating, instead they opened the door, and started to step outside, when they heard a very high-pitched voice,
"What do you think you're doing?"


TO BE CONTINUED...

 Arches National Park

Delicate Arch

Total Randomness

Author's Note: I know what you're thinking. "Where in the world did he come up with that?" But I have an explanation. Recently, we did a group writing piece where the people next to you influence your writing and help you decide what direction that you take it in. It may sound simple, but it makes your story pretty random. Anyway, Enjoy!

I am driving across a bridge, toward a country you have never visited before. On the other side of the bridge, I can barely make out what seems to be a series of homes that look to be abandoned, for there is no one in sight. There is a train station with a steaming locomotive parked on the track.  All of a sudden, a big llama appears in my passenger seat. "What the heck?!" I yell.

"Hi, I'm George, welcome to Llamaland!" he says.

"What? I thought this was magic beanstalk land!"

"No, this is Llamaland, magic bean land is back in the other direction. Now that you're across the border, you can't turn back."

Then, he snapped his fingers, and he turned into an antelope.

"I don't care what animal you are, just get me out of here." I said. He kept snapping his fingers and changing. What type of animal are you? I asked.

"I'm an antelpoewhalebunnydogchickenllama. I can switch between animals. Would you like to see the whale?"

"No, just bounce out of my car already, unless if you can get me to magic bean land."

"Okay, looks like I'm leaving!"

"Ok, good!"

With that he opened the door, and jumped off of the bridge. He fell, and fell, and fell, until finally I heard a splash. All of a sudden, it started raining corn. I turned on my windshield wipers, but the sun-roof wouldn't close. My car was rapidly filling up with corn, and there was nothing I could do about it. I tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. I realized that I didn't seem to be getting any closer to the other side of the bridge. I realized that I was stuck forever, and that I would have to survive soul-ly on corn.  Then, I remembered a commercial I had seen on TV, I started singing, "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!" then, my agent appeared in the back of my car. It really worked! I was expecting some decapatated bear or something to show up, but it actually worked! My agent teleported us to magic bean land, and I thanked him dearly. Then, I sprinted towards a box. A six-foot tall bean named Emilio greeted me, and I at his head off. He tasted good. All he needed was salt and maybe some special sauce, then he would've been perfect. I thought about my friend Emilio back at home, to didn't taste quite as good. Believe me, he doesn't taste good. Another bean named fred came up to me and told me that I was under- arrest for murder. Then, he placed hand-cuffs made out of pineapples on me, and I at them, along with his legs, so thet he couln't catch me again. I left him a gift, which happened to be  pineapple bomb. And he exploded into popcorn. I decided after 20 more attempted arrests, that magic bean land wasn't for me. I developed a ton of pinepple devices, and injected myself with magical pineapple-powers, and teleported to a desert. I walked, and walked, until I found a guy that looked as though he was about to pass-out from walking so far. I gave him a pineapple, and we continued on. I had to give him the heimlech twice during that afternoon, because he was so sick from walking, but I gave him a potion so that he wouldn't remember it. Then, I realized that he was really my brother, so I showed him my secret pineapple-stash, and devised a plan to get the evil doctor pineapple. We put on costumes, and took my pineacopter to San Francisco, where we saw a kid with a nerf gun arguing with the doctor. We saved the kid, but didn't manage to shut down the evil doctor pineapple.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Our Satire

Author's Note: We tried to keep our project up to date with current events going on in Madison. It doesn't have an extremely abrupt end because nothing has really ended yet in real life. We tried to be creative and make it entertaining. Enjoy!

Click HERE to view our project.

The Fun They Had

Author's Note: Sorry for posting this late, I guess I forgot to post it all of this time. While I was writing this, I kept trying to think of how I could write about such a short story. Finally, I thought of this:


Can the advantages of having technology be taken too far? If you walk in to almost any classroom these days, you will find that you are surrounded with technology. If you ask almost any student if the use of technology is beneficial to learning, they will probably tell you that technology provides many advantages to the field of learning, and that it makes school more fun. Although this may be true, "The Fun They Had", is a good example of how too much technology can have a negative impact on our world.

One way that too much technology can be bad is that it causes a lack-of sociality. One-on-one learning, like the robot-teacher in the story, can be a beneficial method of teaching concepts. It allows the teacher to adapt their style of teaching to whatever way that particular student learns best. This, however, isolates that student from interacting with the other students in class, which is a very important part of building our social confidence. If nobody ever built up their social confidence, everybody would be shy, and never want to talk to anybody. It would make the world an extremely poignant place.

Can you imagine passing a bunch of people on the street, and not even your neighbors acknowledging you? It sure would make you feel socially isolated. If kids learn to interact with other people at an early age, it will make communicating much easier for the rest of their life. If you don't believe this, just look at the world around you. Many people interact with others through technology. Text-messaging, e-mails, and IM are all examples of this. Most people use technology because it is quick and easy, and they don't want to spend the time actually talking to the person. Not that this is always bad. Sometimes you need to get in touch with someone that is away somewhere, and you can't talk face-to-face with them. Sometimes all you need is an actual chat with someone. It can boost your social awareness, and you can get to know someone better than you would in a text or e-mail. In total, this just goes to show that technology can harshly limit our social skills, and it is important to take a break from technology every once in a while, and actually chat face-to-face with someone.

Another reason why technology can have a negative impact is because of reliability. Usually, technology works well. But sometimes, it can have problems. Luckily, we don't rely on technology so much that we can't do thing the old-fashioned way. These days, if your computer is broken, and you need to type something, you simply write it on paper. In the future, if we rely too much on technology to do things for us, we are putting ourselves in a risky situation. If all of a sudden the technology malfunctions, and we don't have a different way of doing things, we get stuck in a situation where we have nothing to do, kind of like how Tommy didn't have a teacher for a month because his robot teacher broke. It just goes to show that although technology can provide a fast and easier way of doing things, we shouldn't rely on it too much because it isn't foolproof!

Although there are many advantages of using technology, it can still be taken too far. Although technology can be very tempting, we should remind ourselves of the old-fashioned way to do things. We should practice doing things without technology, and talk to people more often. Sometimes, all you need is a simple break from the rapidly growing world of digital screens and codes. Just take a break from technology, and do things on your own. There are many reasons why technology could be taken way too far, and these are just a few of them.

Pigs

Author's Note: this kept going on and on, and I'm sorry that most people won't want to read it because of it's length, but I tried to touch on all of the points that I wanted to make.

The pigs and their roles in the Book Animal Farm have changed significantly since the beginning of the book. At the beginning of the book, none of the animals stood out as any different than the others. They were all mistreated, and imprisoned on Manor Farm. The three main pigs, Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer, are all living life at it's lowest along with  all of the other animals. Eventually, the animals overthrow their master, Mr. Jones, and start a new government of animalism (which is pretty much communism with a different name). Although this promises equal rights, some of the rules are broken.

Most of the animals on the farm, such as the horses, the cows, the dogs, and the chickens, all do their share of the work, and, as promised, get their equal share of the food. But eventually, the pigs start to do less work, and the cows' milk starts to randomly disappear. It is later discovered mixed in with the pigs' share of food, and the other animals think this is unfair. The pigs cover this up with a few excuses, and say that they need the milk or the farm would fall apart without them being able to think. Once apple season comes, the same thing happens. One again, the pigs use some excuses and the animals accept it. Although it may sound like the pigs started to take over, and become more like the cruel farmer, there was one pig who was still fair with the animals. His name was Snowball.
 

Although he still lead the farm to some degree, Snowball was very considerate of the other animals. He held little classes to help them learn to read and write, and tried to make things fair for everyone. Napoleon, another pig, was slightly crueler than Snowball. While Snowball taught lessons to animals, Napoleon insisted that there was no point in educating adults, because they could no longer learn anymore, and that education shouldn't be wasted on adults, but on the youth. He stood up to his word, and when the dogs had puppies, he took them away to a private spot, to teach them by himself. What nobody knew, is that he was secretly training them to be assassins.

Who might he want to assassinate? Why, Snowball of course. What he wanted more than anything was control. And in his eyes, the only thing standing in-between him and control was Snowball. If he could get rid of snowball, he could gain total control. As you can guess, that's exactly what he did. Well, kind-of. One day, when Snowball was about to cast a vote in order to decide whether-or-not to build a windmill, Napoleon made a weird grunting noise, and the dogs rushed in. They chased Snowball around, until eventually he escaped into a hedge. The dogs retreated back to their master, Napoleon. With Snowball gone, that left Napoleon in complete control.

Napoleon got worse everyday. One day he was giving the pigs even more rights, while making the other animals seem less equal. Soon enough, the pigs were barely doing anything at all, while the other animals did all of the work. Yet, the pigs still get most of the food. Whenever the animals argued, the pigs used excuse after excuse, and lie after lie. The pigs would come up with lies such as, "If we don't get more food, Mr. Jones will come back." The other animals believed this, and would keep quiet for awhile. This continues to go on, and soon, the whole farm is going o be back where they started, with a cruel master towering over them. But this time, the master is going to be Napoleon.

As you can see, although the idea of animalism may have sounded like equal opportunities for everyone, it later developed into a system where the pigs prevail, and the other animals suffered. The pigs have sure been taking advantage of their persuasive powers, and also the other animals' fear of the farm falling apart, to help themselves live the life of luxury, and to bend the rules to their liking. They really need to remember what it was like at the beginning of the book, and put themselves in the other animals' place.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes