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“This is beautiful,” my grandmother breathed. She stood in the front room with her arms around her children and her makeup immaculate. “And the kitchen installation is included?”

“Yes, of course,” said the real estate agent, but there was no happiness in her voice. She was white, and she eyed my grandmother’s Mexican family distastefully, all the way from their tea stained skin to their big brown eyes to their Spanish speaking tongues. My grandmother has always had a strong accent.

“How much?” she asked. There was a short pause.

“I don’t believe it’s in your price range,” said the agent.

“Excuse me?”

“I have some less expensive housing options I can offer you … ”

~

Ten years later, my grandmother leaned forward on her couch in California. Her big family of aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews were all gathered around, me included. It was last summer, and she was telling us one of her favorite stories from when she tried to buy a house down the hill.

“And what happened next?” I asked.

“Well, I told her exactly where she could put her less expensive housing options -- ”

“Grandma!”

“What? She was racist! She thought we were poor because we were Mexican! When she found out the house we were considering moving out of, she got all green. Because this is a nice house! We paid a lot for this house!”

I looked up at the ceiling, at the huge windows. It certainly was a nice house, a real gem of prime real estate. My mother had told me before that it could be worth millions.

My grandmother continued. “I let her know that we wouldn’t be needing her anymore, we were gonna stay where we were.”

The whole family laughed and twittered among each other, their voices canceling out hard r’s, tough j’s and double l’s, creating a magical cacophony of sounds I’ve always loved to be in the middle of. But my family has been stereotyped because of the way they sound throughout their lives.

Humans as a species prefer to simplify. We are programmed to organize our knowledge by creating their own representations of the reality that we are perceiving, displaying its most fundamental elements instead of minute details or objective characteristics. In this way, these basic principles of the world around us become our basis for opinions, emotion control, and social cognition. Our thoughts and actions are governed by these preconceived notions, and it can take a lot to overcome them. One type of fundament is that of stereotypes.

Elliot Aronson, an American psychologist, said, “stereotypes are used to attribute the identical features to each member of a certain group without taking the existing differences among the members into consideration.” They show the viewpoint from a specific group of people, and sometimes, when exposed relentlessly for long periods of time to these opinions, humans may adopt them as their own. They are internalized during socialization. Some influential sources are parents, friends, siblings, teachers, and media. Stereotypes do not present the full picture; instead, they put forth a warped, incomplete, subjective and often false image. They are usually negative, and usually based on a traditional mindset. It is most common that arguments defying stereotypes are treated as exceptions rather than counterexamples.

Language has always been one of the most popular stereotype creators, a deciding factor about one’s place on the power hierarchy. As soon as someone opens their mouth, a million assumptions are made about their background, their history, their lifestyle, their names, their friends, their family, their culture, their choices. All from a couple of words.

Here is an example from The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingstan. In this particular story, a mother is going to a very far extent in order for her daughter to be able to speak. Here, she is explaining to her daughter why she did it. “I cut [your tongue] so that you would not be tongue-tied. Your tongue would be able to move in any language. You’ll be able to speak languages that are completely different from one another. You’ll be able to pronounce anything.” Families take ridiculous measures to make sure that their children are prepared for a world ruled by the so-called, “standard English”. It teeters on the edge of insanity, but is not seen as unrealistic. As you can see, my grandmother faced the discrimination based on speech and race. In that moment, her power had been taken away from her and she had been assumed to be everything that she was not.

It is worth noting that race is a big factor in the stereotyping of language. Many people have preconceptions about how one may speak depending on their race, and if that person’s speech turns out to fit that stereotype, they may assume that all of their preconceived notions are correct and discriminate against them all the more.

Here is another example from Kingstan’s text. In this scene, Kingstan remembers drawing pictures of all black when she could not speak English in school, and her concerned teacher gave them to her parents. “My parents took the pictures home. I spread them out (so black and full of possibilities) and pretended the curtains were swinging open.”

The concept of language being a performance fascinates me. I don’t have an accent of language barrier myself, but it’s interesting to consider the dynamics of learning a new language and always having it feel strange in your mouth, as if you’re putting on a show for someone else that you can’t quite understand the point of. Especially if learning that language was not one of your original intentions, and it was for the sole purpose of communication.

“E-nun-ci-ate your words and stop muttering!” My father says slowly to me as if I’m too slow and that is the only way to insure I understand english.

“I am enunciating. I’m trying my best.”

“Well obviously you're not, in the event that I’m still repeating myself. You need to speak more clearly and pronounce your words right.”

He does this every time I speak. He mocks how I mutter words or pronounce them the way he wants to hear them. On any occasion when I talk around him, it turns into an english lesson and he begins to turn into a strict teacher gradually getting angry with me when I don’t do exactly what he says. It’s not my fault that my tongue doesn’t make the same shape that his does. I only mutter for the reason that I no longer feel my words are important in light of the fact that what I say is never heard, only how I say it. He limits my power making me no longer want to communicate through speech, leaving me with the other ways to communicate that might not seem fit.

***

“Say ‘chips’.” My mother says as she watches the road, giggling to herself.

“Ships.” I say, knowing what comes next.

“No it’s ‘chips’, I swear you do it on purpose.” She is now laughing so much I see a tear running down her cheek.

I used to get my “sh” sound and my “ch” sound confused. I could never tell the difference;  I thought it was the same sound, spelled two different ways. I never understood why she laughed at the way I said certain words. Eventually I broke out of saying the sounds the way I did. I cannot tell the difference to this day. I only know I changed because my mom stopped laughing at me. Either way, I still feel that her laughter took power away from me just because the fact that I misunderstood the english language.

When I am at home, language used to be an area of conflict for me. My father tends to use the way I speak against me and took it as a way to make his way of speaking the superior intelligence. My mother used to do the same but unconsciously, she would use it to get a quick laugh and make her own way of speech seem superior.

***

“I don't know.’ That's my response to what feels like millions of questions he throws in my head. I can feel all the stress, the anxiety, the blood boiling. His stern voice begins to rumble in my ears-”

“What? In your fears? Speak louder. We need you to be clear, so we know you will  be clear when you go on stage.” Imani mocks the words out my mouth as I practice my poem for PYPM Slam League.

I know Imani is right and just trying to help. Also she is only making fun of the how I say things just in order to show me how people hear it and to lighten up the situation, because preparing for PYPM Slam is stressful without having to worry about your speech.

My friends at school tends to make fun of the way I say things but they use it to help me with my communications. They ask what it is I’m saying and tell me what they hear, then give suggestions along the lines of slowing down my sentences.

Girls in some countries do not have the right to decide whether they want to marry.They are forced into arranged marriages with men much older than them. It has become so normalized that no one says anything about it. Today, this is a practice in some African, Arab and Asian countries, but in fact, this kind of “marrying off” of girls has happened all around the world, depending on how much the culture values their girls. For many young girls their culture makes it impossible to exist on their own,  then girls are not as much as boys, which is why they are married off by their families at a young age to relieve the burden.

A majority of these girls that are being married off are in poor countries. In South Sudan people live in agricultural places, where this is a lot of poverty. The worth of these girls are measured through their dowries. Dowries are a way to improve the financial status of a man,they provide enough money and objects that would boost the economic status of a person.“In Jonglei, cattle are the only path to marriage. A typical dowry is 30 cattle.”(Burnett)  A typical dowry in South Sudan  are cows, they are very valued because they can provide a source of food and income. This tradition is also one that tries to protect girls from premarital sex and pregnancies which reduce the value of the girl. One statistics shows, 48% of girls under the age of eighteen are forced to marry often much older men. (Maze) This goes to show that a majority of girls are only valuable for their dowries, and marriage is what it takes to keep their “worth”. Not only does a “pure” girl have a lot of value, it also keeps the honor of the family and status. Boys are not forced into marrying at young ages, this is because they are the ones who play a huge role in keeping this tradition alive. Boys have the power of freedom, which tends to result in abusiveness towards their young wives.

Domestic violence is a huge factor in these child marriages. The girls are so young that they often die from giving birth or from being abused by their husbands. Many girls go through this form of abuse because there is no one to help them or no one cares. It is the norm for the husband to be able to such things. A Yemeni woman, named Noora explained the abuse she went through as a child bride. "I was rushed to hospital – I was a child being treated as a sex object, but the abuse did not stop. Nobody was interested in my complaints, as I was legally a wife." (Noora) In Yemen, it is common for girls to be married under the age of 15. Girls like Noora are forced into having sexual relations with their husbands, which causes them to have physical injuries. Young girls pre-pubescent bodies are not strong enough to give birth or to be sexually abused. However, no one tries to do anything about this, because it has become so common. The families of these girls do nothing, because now the husband is the one who has power over the girl.They can’t get out of this situation because it the norm and common practice for a husband to be dominating in the marriage and it is not questioned.

After these girls are turned over to their husbands families, they have no freedom to do what they want. In Nepal, girls who are married off at young ages do not get to continue their education. Classroom attendance gets lower for girls, as the school level grade is higher.These girls are not worth anything to their parents after they leave their parents, "As soon as she becomes someone else’s "property", the parents show little willingness to invest in their education as they grow.” (Sherpa) This goes to show that after they are married, educating girls is not as important as it is to educate a boy. The parents of these girls are basically giving away their daughters to another family to do as they please with her. She is not significant to their lives anymore. Money also becomes the issue because parents are not willing to pay school fees for their daughters education. They are not worth enough to be spending money for. The enrollment of boys in school are much higher than the girls. Parents are more willing to do things for their sons than daughters. This is because educating a girl is pointless if the girl is going to be married off to someone. They do not see any benefit in educating their girls because they won’t be able to do anything with the education. Therefore, since boys are the breadwinners of the family they must have an education to obtain a job or pursue a career.

Girls are not valued as much as boys, because their culture does not allow for them to be independent and they are used to be benefitted from. Although the government might not think that child marriages matters much its influence goes beyond the household and to the rest of the country. If this continues to go unnoticed then it will create a statistical barrier in education and jobs in the country for girls. If these girls are held back then the country will never face any economic growth.

Works Cited:

"As Young as Twelve: South Sudan's Child Marriage Epidemic | Enough Project." As Young as Twelve: South Sudan's Child Marriage Epidemic. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2014. <http://www.enoughproject.org/blogs/young-twelve-south-sudans-child-marriage-epidemic>.

"NEPAL: The Hidden Costs of Early Marriage." IRINnews. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2014. <http://www.irinnews.org/report/95654/nepal-the-hidden-costs-of-early-marriage>.

N.p., n.d. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Flifeandstyle%2F2013%2Foct%2F01%2Fstory-yemen-child-bride>.

"In South Sudan, Cows Are Cash And Source Of Friction." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2014. <http://www.npr.org/2012/08/16/158776225/in-south-sudan-cows-are-cash-and-source-of-friction>.

Online social networks reduces the amount of face-to-face conversations that people use to have back in the twentieth century. A social network is an outlet where people can chat, make new friends, share experiences, bond, and meet together- all at the same time. Common websites like Facebook and Twitter, more intensely Facebook, fit the description perfectly, when describing a niche for social interactions. Although they are an easy gateway to gratification, they diminish the quintessence of real human interaction.

              Back in the old days, typically the mid to late 1900s, people did not have all these fancy virtual websites so often there would be personal conversations. But now, it is becoming a problem for us to be able to approach and speak to people or make a phone call, without seeing it as awkward or a hassle. According to the article Why can't we all just stop texting and have an actual face-to-face conversation for once?, by news editor David Thomas, people are starting to consider things like ‘’What? TALK to someone? Who does anything as old-fashioned as that any more?” Now a days people text, tweet, and make Facebook post. Although these modes of communication are certainly convenient and easy-to-use, they are definitely not as effective as a legitimate phone call. In the article, Social media is Transforming the Way We Communicate, by Sukhraj Beasla, a blogger on viralheat.com, this was her reaction of phone contacting: “I stare longingly at the phone missing out on hearing a dial tone, the butterflies I get when it connects through and the person on the other end picks up and I hear their sweet voice.” Obviously by her reaction, it is reasonable to say that the feeling of a phone call, in comparison to a text message, is much more intimate. It also says that old ways of communicating via phone call, face-to-face conversations are more real and feel a lot more human because they trigger emotions like jitter and nervousness.        

              The biggest problem of social networking sites is anonymous intimacy. This is when people spend countless hours on Facebook and Twitter and start to develop a false sense of actually knowing and befriending people who they communicate with. According to Rachna Jain, a clinical psychologist specializing in couple and marital therapy, this poses problems because considering what really makes an intimate relationship: “shared experiences, shared time together — like doing things together — and it relies on a shared history.” Being on Facebook or Twitter does provide some form of shared experience, since there is involvement in the same spectrum of imparted information; however, there is still a digital divide. There

is a big difference in feelings when you are in the presence of a person as opposed to being accompanied by people online. In person, there are facial expressions, body language, and voices are heard. They are a lot more resilient indicators of someone’s feelings toward a person than online because none of those characteristics are present; feelings are always mislead online and can never always be able to be estimated well, so it can’t really be telled when someone really considers a person to be friend or not. That is why communicating online is more effective in making friends.              

               Considering what anonymous intimacy does on social networks, It gives off a fake feeling of engagement and makes it seem a user has thousands of friends, when really the numbers are quite shorter. The infographic: Is social media making us socially awkward?, given by Sam Laird, a Mashable reporter, states that “despite the ease of connecting online, only 50% of Facebook users have 100 or more “friends.” This means that only half of all Facebook users have actual and real relationships with other people, not 1000 or 3,000, which is blown way out of proportion. The friend list is what keeps people tuned in and gives the false idea that someone has all of those friends, but they really don’t. This is because instead of going out and making actual friends, people would rather add or follow random people on Facebook and consider them a friend when they really aren’t. The statistics don’t lie, in the article Is Social Media Destroying Real-World Relationships?, it says that “20% actually prefer communicating online or via text message to face to face conversation, while a third said they're more likely to approach someone new online than off.” This shows that people are endeavoring more to make these “fake” friends/followers on facebook and twitter rather than developing real relationships and friends through personal communication, in the 21st century.

                The sheer fact that the preference of online chatting is more prevalent than face to face conversations shows that people don’t talk as much personally. As a result of this, there will be less intimate relationships if these trends continue to rise, because people will prefer the more artificial feeling of communicating online (less personal bonding), rather than in person.

Works Cited:

1. Laird, Sam. "Is Social Media Destroying Real-World Relationships? [INFOGRAPHIC]." Mashable. Schools.com, 14 June 2012. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. <http://mashable.com/2012/06/14/social-media-real-world-infographic/>.

2. Morgan, Mandy. "Social Media Impacts Real Relationships."DeseretNews.com. DeseretNews, 27 Mar. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2014. <http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865576858/Social-media-impacts-real-relationships.html?pg=all>.

3. Beasla, Sukhraj. "Social Media Is Transforming the Way We Communicate." Viralheat Social Media Is Transforming the Way We Communicate Comments. Viralheat, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 08 Oct. 2014. <https://www.viralheat.com/blog/2013/01/15/how-social-media-is-changing-the-way-we-communicate/>.

4. Bates, Chelsea. "The Dangers of Social Networking Sites | Commonplace."The Dangers of Social Networking Sites | Commonplace. McGraw Hill, 2009. Web. 08 Oct. 2014. <http://www.mhlearningsolutions.com/commonplace/index.php?q=node/5582>.

5. Goessl, Leigh. "How Does Social Networking Affect Socialization." Sciences 360. Sciences 360, 21 Sept. 2010. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. <http://www.sciences360.com/index.php/how-does-social-networking-affect-socialization-2-8428/>.

6. Thomas, David. "Why Can't We All Just Stop Texting and Have an Actual Face-to-face Conversation for Once?" Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 18 July 2012. Web. 08 Oct. 2014. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2175274/Why-stop-texting-actual-conversation-once.html>.

What comes to mind when someone says  “high fashion”? Maybe a ball gown, a cashmere shirt with a pair of slacks, or maybe a 800 dollar pair of shoes, but probably not yoga leggings and a cropped sweatshirt. There is a  new take on the way people dress and it has not only changed ideas of fashion but also the clothing market. Instead of people buying jeans, which have had a very high steady market since the first pair of blue jeans were made in 1873, they are now buying more leggings and yoga pants. In recent years, people have become enthusiastic about being active and having active lifestyle. This has changed the fashion industry, going from an everyday basic glam look to, “I just worked out but still look this good” look. The idea of having a simple, active life, has changed more than just lifestyles but the way designers in fashion industry display their high fashion clothing.

At the 2014 Chanel fashion show, leggings, sneaker and cropped sweaters took the runway. Showing off every abb and other muscle was very important. These articles weren’t always worn together but apart with a pair of slack or a loose skirt, maybe for a nice lunch out with friends. Chanel is known for their high fashion clothing, purses, shoes and make up, but they are now also taking part in the sport clothing market. "We found that there was a bit of a gap in our offering for someone who loves fashion and exercise and wants to look great doing it," said Net-A-Porter President Alison Loehnis. This quote shows how the fashion industry is switching from “fancy clothes” to “fancy work out clothes”. This is a change that not only Chanel designers are making but many other designers as well. With this change that Chanel has made, being one of the bigger names in high fashion, there will, and have been more to follow in their footsteps in making this change.

At New York’s fashion week, a couple of weeks ago, leggings were seen walking down the runway side by side with ball gowns and zip ups thrown over a pantsuit. Throwing a zip up jacket on before leaving on way to work is something some may never bat an eye at, but this wasn’t always the norm. Only about 70 years ago was the trend of women dressing in more of a masculine way controversial trend. In the 50’s the trend was a tight pencil skirt. All of these changes in fashion trends changed the fashion industry. The active clothing trend seems to be different, it goes farther than clothing. This is a trend that seems to go along with a change in lifestyle as well. “A 2012 study conducted by the highly respected, San Francisco-based publication Yoga Journal estimates that 20.4 million Americans practice yoga, a 29 percent increase from 2008, when 15.8 million were attending classes.” (BOF) This trend isn’t simply about the clothes but also the lifestyle that comes with it. The change in clothing has changed people’s lifestyles because this type of clothing is made tight and fitted. It makes people want to be healthier, to look better in the clothes.  

This new active way of dressing has not only changed high fashion but has helped companies like Nike grow in crazy numbers. Lulu-lemon, is another company that has benefited from this change. They were one of the first yoga clothing stores. “From 2008 to 2013, sales increased by more than $1 billion, hitting $1.4 billion in the 2012 fiscal year.” (BOF) This is just in the past 5 years. From 1998, when the company was founded, until 2007 the company raised $327.6 million. Obviously this trend is getting more popular.  In the past few years fashion has taken a turn for the fittest. Activewear has become everyday wear, not just gym attire. This trend is related to the new obsession with an active lifestyle. More and more people are taking exercise classes, buying healthier food and looking like it while they do so. With the change in the industry the “popular” stores are changing what they carry, as well as the stores that are known for their active wear sales growing.

Although people in high fashion might not think that gym clothes matters much, his/her/its influence goes beyond that of gym rats to all clothing consumers. The lifestyle that comes with active wear is a more non-chalet way of living, a more laid back, less stressful way of living. It is also healthier, more active and eating healthier. In the past few years the popular lifestyle has changed. This has brought a change in fashion, which has helped grow many companies that before were well known but now are larger than imaginable.

Work Cited:

• BRAZILIAN, ALEXA. "The New Trend in Workout Fashion." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 9 July 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-new-trend-in-workout-fashion-1404425123

• SHERMAN, LAUREN. "For the Activewear Market, There's No Way But Up - BoF - The Business of Fashion." BoF The Business of Fashion. The Business of Fashion Ltd., 15 Jan. 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. http://www.businessoffashion.com/2014/01/activewear-lululemon-nike-hm-sweaty-betty.html

• Timberlake, Cotten. "Track Pants Grace Runways as Activewear Goes Up-Market." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 10 Feb. 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-10/track-pants-grace-runways-as-activewear-goes-up-market.html

• "Our Story | Levi Strauss." Levi Strauss. LS&CO., 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. http://www.levistrauss.com/our-story/

Hola me Nombre eres Savannah manns, Tengo Trece años. Soy de England pervivo en Filadelfia.

Soy perezosa, muy sociable , boba, más o menos alta,and muy inteligente.

Me fascina musica,Me gusta nada cantar , Me gusta  Escribir y narative y creative escribir.

¿ te gusta escribir?

The transgression that the offender has done is viewed, but the other aspects have been associated with what the punishment will be. In court, unfortunately a lot of cases have been judged by different variables rather than just what the offender has done. Race, occupation, income and religion play a huge role into a lot cases, especially when determining the death penalty. The death penalty is sentenced unfairly, causing people to be put on death row due to who they are rather than what they've done. The death penalty is unfair due to the fact that one may be on death row due to income level, race and the retribution in the hearts of victim`s family.

The death penalty is given out to certain people, not necessarily being solely based on their crime. Income level is a major factor when it comes to the death penalty. The income level of one offender is looked at based upon if they are able to afford a good attorney. If they are unable to present a good attorney the state will adjourn one making it even harder to beat the case.  Anti- death penalty activist Helen Prejean said, “After all the rhetoric that goes on in legislative assemblies, in the end, when the net is cast out, it is the poor who are selected to die in this country. And why do poor people get the death penalty? It has everything to do with the kind of defense they get. Money gets the offender good defense. Getting a defense team that will win a death penalty case will have to be anywhere from $8,000 to $50,000. People who are sentenced to death tend to be lower than the poverty line or close to it. Many of what goes into consideration is if the offender has a good attorney. A good attorney needs to be appointed due to the fact that one can not afford to have a less worthy defense team on a death penalty case. If it was a drunk driving scenario, then it would be much different.

Race can determine whether a criminal is sentenced to the death penalty or not.This next verification shows how the death sentence is unfair is because of the race of the criminal.Studies have shown jurors in Washington state are three times more likely to recommend a death sentence for a black defendant than for a white defendant in a similar case where the sentence should be the same. (Prof. K. Beckett, Univ. of Washington, 2014). This shows just how the color of a person`s skin can persuade the jurors. One may say the evidence and crime should be the only thing weighed in for a  fair trial, but there are people saying otherwise".Another quote, from NAACP said, “The U.S. Department of Justice’s own figures reveal that between 2001 and 2006, 48 percent of defendants in federal cases in which the death penalty was sought were African Americans… the biggest argument against the death penalty is that it is handed out in a biased, racially disparate manner.13 percent of our population is African American, but 50 percent of African -American make prison`s population. The death penalty is biased and is evident through the statistics. African-Americans are at a way higher risk at receiving the death penalty than a white person. The statistics are very overwhelming going off the fact that an African-American is 3 times more likely to go to death row. The jurors are chosen because they are not biased to the case, but when given all the information, like the color of the victim and or suspect, things shift a lot. Thus proving the  thesis that  race is a key component to giving one the death penalty.

The last  piece of information that may shift the decision of the death penalty is the retribution in the heart of the victim`s family. The anger in the family`s heart makes the decision of the death penalty be pushed even further.  When the loved one of a family gets killed, it is one`s instinct to want to kill the offender. People may say that sending the offender to death row is giving closure or desistance to the family, but indeed that is a lie and is only being done to get revenge back.  A professor for Humanities at St. Peter's College, Raymond A. Schroth, SJ  once said  To kill the person who has killed the loved one of a family is simply to continue the cycle of violence which ultimately destroys the avenger as well as the offender. That this execution somehow give 'closure' to a tragedy is a myth. Expressing one’s violence simply reinforces the desire to express it. Just as expressing anger simply makes us more angry. It does not drain away. It contaminates the otherwise good will which any human being needs to progress in love and understanding." ( Raymond A. Schroth, SJ) This is a cycle that must be stopped. Killing the offender is not the answer and definitely does not put heal the scar because the loved one will never come back. The anger of one, will then set off the next and will be a repeating cycle that will continue unless someone can see that is is palpable that the death sentence is just another way of violence that is justified by the court systems and by society. Also including that the testimony of the family can sway the jurors, due to the fact they may want them to feel as if they lost the loved one and to make the case sound very personal.

In conclusion, the death penalty plays a lot into the biased sides of things. Crime should be judged purely off of the evidence and how it played out, instead of the logistics of race,income and so forth. The statics are very overwhelming going off the fact that an African-American is 3 times more likely to go to death row. The atonement of losing a loved one is not by killing the offender, because it is just contradicting the entire situation and also continuing the cycle. Although the death penalty may only seem important to people on death row, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about families of the victims. People may think that the people on death row are chosen due to die due to their crime, but it also involves, race, income and the retribution in the family of the victim`s hearts.   

Works Cited:

"Death Penalty - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2014.

"BalancedPolitics.org - Death Penalty (Pros & Cons, Arguments For and Against, Advantages & Disadvantages)." BalancedPolitics.org - Death Penalty (Pros & Cons, Arguments For and Against, Advantages & Disadvantages). N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2014.

"The Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty: Two Parallel Discussions." St. Louis Public Radio. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.

Penalty, Death, and States (32). U.S. Military NUMBER OF EXECUTIONS SINCE 1976: 1,389 (n.d.): n. pag. Death Penalty Information Center. Web.

Hola mi nombre es Nadya,Vivo en Filadelfia.

Tengo quince anos.

Soy muy baja,simpatica,guapa y boba.

Me gusta mucho bailar. Odio ayudar en casa.

Me encanta comer.

The Spectacular Now Book Review By Kevin Horton

Ever felt as if you're the only one that has failed miserably at school but is the King Of Partying? Well, there is a tale out there, that you can relate to. The Tale Of Sutter Keely starts off with normal teenage issues. He is in a world of drama until he meets Aimee, another troubled teen trying to figure it out.

Tim Tharp was one of the most underrated Authors of this time. In The Spectacular Now, He talks about the struggles a 17 year old high school senior faces. Girls, employment, family matters and figuring it all out is just some of the issues. Tharp uses sharp and dense descriptions to create a humorous image.

This book is recommended for any young adult or teenager. This book has a captivating perspective. The Spectacular Now has a very good sense of humor, realism and imagery.

Monologue For Creative Piece

Have you ever felt you might just be the biggest joke ever? Like you want to be rich, famous and remembered for something great but all you can do is hang up shirts and get paid and be known for being an alcoholic? Well I’ve been there many times before. Like, more than I can count. Well, on my hands at least. Never have I cared about anything but downing my daily alcohol, seeing my girlfriend,  and partying with Ricky, who was my wingman. I also find myself staring at my feet when walking. Its wierd. Whatever. Anyway, I thought i was on the right track when I thought that me and my now ex girlfriend was gonna move to St Louis while she chases her dreams through college. I was about to, but once I met my father, then it hit me. I'm suppose to be a drunken failure with social smarts. So here I go, cutting my co-supportive relationship with someone who mattered the most, pushing my family away because my mom refuses to get a new job and my sister is just another bratty sibiling. Of Course, school didnt work out so i got one less burden on my back. But here I am ready to disappear. My name, is Sutter Keely. Im from Oklahoma City, and Im living the spectacular now.

Mellamo Tony Romo, el mariscal de campo numeros nueve para los vaqueros. Soy trienta y cuatro.

Soy deportista y bajo. Me gusta practicar deportes y comer. Odio cantar y nadar.

The United states is a first world country, with a relatively wealthy population in comparison to other countries. The country is considered an upstanding and prospering nation. However, the United States has the highest incarcerated population of any country in the world. The American criminal justice system has caused this large and growing amount of prisoners. The United states has an overly high incarceration rate, which is due to severe prison sentences of specific groups of people for drug related crimes, and a poor criminal reformation system which keeps them trapped in the prison system.

The United States has a population of over three hundred million people, making it the third most populated country in the world. Despite being less than a third the size of the two most populated countries, the United States has the world’s largest population of incarcerated people, around 2.3 million. More than 0.7% of Americans are currently incarcerated. One percent of adults over the age of eighteen in the United States are currently in prison. (NY Times). The fact that the United States criminal justice system puts so many offenders in prison causes the country to have an overly high crime rate because so many people are convicted.  The way that it’s criminal justice system works is what is causing this high population.

The amount of prisoners in the U.S. has increased over time. This increase isn’t entirely due to an increase of crime overall, rather the increase of a specific type of crime that has been greatly penalised by the justice system in recent years. The United states illegality on the selling and usage of certain drugs has resulted in a massive increase in the number of arrests.In 2012, 1.55 million people were arrested on drug related charges (Drug Policy.org). Penalties for drug related crimes can be severe, and have resulted in increases in the number of arrests. Introducing a new type of crime by placing such heavy penalties on drugs.

The goal of prison is to punish criminals. Ideally prisoners should leave prison with a changed attitude towards their crime, and hopefully will not commit one again. Often this isn’t the case. 68% of all released prisoners end up back in prison within three years of their release. This proves that the prison system is ineffective for most people. This is because the punishment of felons doesn’t always help them. Incarceration might make someone more wary of committing a crime, but they often they have no other ways to make a living but to live a life of crime, and that doesn’t often change after they get out of prison (Barrish). United states prison’s often do not reform criminals. Prison is a harsh place, and prisoners may feel alienated and depressed. But these emotions don’t always serve as a punishment, rather they just negatively affect the mental health of the prisoners, which doesn’t help to reform them. If anything it can make them feel like outcasts of society, which does not aid them to be productive members of it.  Also being surrounded by other criminals creates an atmosphere of concentration crime, and that doesn’t help prisoners to get away from that lifestyle (Henry).

“In seeking to severely penalize the criminals away behind safe walls actually provides them with the means of greater strength for future atrocities glorious and otherwise.” Jack Kerouac, author and former prisoner.

This is why prisoners usually end up back in the prison system.

Targeting specific ethnic groups, while unjust is an effective way of arresting a lot of people. There is racial profiling in the U.S. criminal justice system. Police specifically target neighborhoods with high black and hispanic populations, thus arresting more blacks and hispanics. Only fourteen percent of drug users are black, but forty five percent of people incarcerated for drug related offenses are black. White’s and Black’s use and sell illegal drugs about the same amount. That means that a greater percentage of blacks are being are being arrested for a crime than whites, when both actually commit the crime at the same rate (Rushing). This shows that police are racially profiling blacks. Targeting these ethnic groups has caused an increase in prison population because the police are paying a lot of attention to areas with a concentration of crime caused by non-white people. This racism allows the police to target these areas and arrest a lot of people from them.

The high prison population in the United States has to do with the fact that to many people are being sent to prison for too long, and too many people are returning after they are released. The country is trapped in a cycle of high incarceration rates. Providing for these 2.3 million prisoners is expensive and is costing taxpayers a lot of money. The police cracking down on drugs, and targeting groups of people who use them is resulting in a large number of arrests. Many prisoners are not becoming productive members of society, they’re just trapped in this cycle of crime, which will keep hurting society, both socially and economically.

Works Cited:

1. Barrish, Cris. "Study: 8 in 10 Released Inmates Return to Del. Prisons."USA Today. Gannett, 31 July 2013. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/31/delaware-prison-recidivism/2603821/>

2. Henry, Stuart, Ph.D. "Defining Punishment and How It Works." On the Effectiveness of Prison as Punishment. Wayne State University, 24 Oct. 2003. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://www.is.wayne.edu/StuartHenry/Effectiveness_of_Punishment.htm>.

3. Liptak, Adam. "U.S. Prison Population Dwarfs That of Other Nations."Nytimes.com. New York Times, 23 Apr. 2008. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2008%2F04%2F23%2Fworld%2Famericas%2F23iht-23prison.12253738.html%3Fpagewanted%3Dall%26_r%3D1%26>.

4. Rushing, Keith. "The Reasons Why So Many Black People Are in Prison Go Well Beyond Profiling." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 June 2011. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-rushing/the-reasons-why-so-many-b_b_883310.html>.

5. "Drug War Statistics." Drugpolicy.org. Drug Policy Alliance, 2014. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-war-statistics>.

6. "Population of All Countries of the World / All National Populations Largest to Smallest - Worldatlas.com." Population of All Countries of the World / All National Populations Largest to Smallest - Worldatlas.com. Worldatlas, n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014. <http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/populations/ctypopls.htm>. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.

Hola.  Soy Chase Utley.  Soy de Calafornia, pero vivo en filadelphia.  Tengo treinta y cinco anos.  Soy alto y deportista, porque yo juego el besibol.  Soy super famoso.  Mi equipo es los Filadelphia Phillies.  

Me gusta jugar todos los deportes, y jugar video juegos.  Mu gusta dibujar y comer un poco.  No me gusta leer o limpiar nada.  

Te gusta beisbol?

Melissa Alvarez | Earth Stream

11/5/14

No one really knew about the Swat Valley district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan, and no one really knew that the Taliban were occupying this Pakistani Province, or the type of limits and restraints the women were being forced to live by. No one really ever knows about what’s really happening worldwide unless it’s in front of their own eyes. In front of 15 year old Malala Yousafzai’s eyes before everything changed in her life, was a gun at point-blank range and the sound of a bullet ringing through her ears.

In the year 2009, 11 year old Malala Yousafzai wrote a blog for BBC originally under a pseudonym, about what her life was like under the occupation of the Taliban in her home town of Mingora. The Taliban restricted girls from being able to attend school and receive a quality education (let alone any education), and if disobeyed, they would more than likely be facing death. Malala wrote all about how she believes everyone deserves equal rights to an education. She began giving interviews, appearing on TV, speaking with her father at events, taking part in a documentary for the New York Times. She slowly but surely became popularized from the outside, which posed a threat to the Taliban that a teenage girl was speaking out against them. On the afternoon of October 9th, 2012, the Taliban boarded the school bus Malala was taking, and shot her in the head while injuring two others. Yousafzai’s incredible recovery has only achieved the opposite of the Taliban’s hopes. Malala is now the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient in history for her bravery and activism, and she continues to speak at major events (the United Nations, the Liberty Medal award ceremony, the Forbe’s Best Inventors Under 30, etc.), and continues to spread her cause globally.

The book “I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was Shot by the Taliban” leaves you wondering about what’s next on Malala’s list of remarkable experiences. She writes all about the love and melancholy she feels by having to be separated from her home in Pakistan. Readers are taken back to the short amount of time Malala spent as an adolescent, with her childhood stories and observations she made about her family early on. She writes about how and why her father was such an inspiration and motivator to her when she needed it, and how he’s been there every step of the way with her. The descriptiveness throughout the entire book gives the audience a very vivid and surreal experience, almost as if these are our memories and not hers. From the very beginning of the book, any reader is caught and fished in as Malala leaves them wanting more. From the very beginning, the story line cuts right to the chase down to the moment they pulled the trigger to her head. You won’t be able to put it down.

Some major themes recognized in this book are survival, family, the right to an education, and the definition of beauty. Malala has overcome and written not only about hardships she’s experienced personally, but the hardships her mother has also experienced, and the women before her. It is not uncommon in her Valley for women to give up their rights just to stay home, cook, clean, and raise sons. It is what they’ve been programmed to do by their ancestors, but it is something Malala has refused to do with the help and guidance of her father. Throughout this tale, you will also pick up on a little bit of ‘Pashto’ as Malala refers to certain things with certain titles from her native language (with an english translation accompanied). You will learn more about family than ever before, and the power of what the support from the right people can help you to accomplish. Also from this book will be a strong reminder about home and what it means to have a place you come from and find to be beautiful in every way that is your own; Be it the bustling city streets of New York, to the beautiful silence of the Mingora mountains, we each have some place to call home and will remember to love after finishing this book.

Malala to me almost represents a real-life Katniss Everdeen. She is very much the survivor, the motivator, the one who never loses sight of her beliefs, and the one who stood out. If you are interested to hear a very visual tale of survival, near death experiences, and a personal comeback into a new and more powerful life that the author is still adjusting to, this book is very highly recommended.

Title: I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

Author: Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Date of Publication: November 26th, 2013

Pages: 464

Genre: Non-Fiction

Link to creative piece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrACYiz5QUE

Hola, Me llamo es Mark Zuckerberg. Tengo treinta y tres años. Soy de White Plains, NY pero vivo en Palo Alto, California.

Me gusta (mucho) jugar con mi teléfono. Soy súper inteligente. Me algo famoso.

Me gusta Facebook. Soy creativo. Soy algo serio en trabajar. Me gusta (mucho) dinero. Soy billionare. Soy más o menos alto.