LATE journal entry for summative

How does the environment affect ones decisions?
In Lullabies for Little Criminals, the environment is a major contributor to the decisions that Baby, and even Jules make. When Jules was in a comfortable environment, like his own home, he would act like he would all his life. He would make the decision to constantly go out and get heroin. "Its been on my mind. Id like just a little taste to straighten me up a bit!" Page 10. This quote shows that when Jules is in this environment, he is always thinking about heroin. When Jules was in rehabilitation, their job was to make sure he didnt think about drugs. He became closer to himself and became further from drugs somewhat. He didnt have that need for heroin as much anymore. He became spiritual, saying "Im going to start going to church once i get out." page69. This shows that he has made the decision to attempt to stay off drugs for as long as possible, after giving himself a good, hard look in the mirror at what hes doing to himself. I can relate, not in terms of drugs, but attempting to devote your time to changing yourself. Personally, I am very unflexible. I can not even come close to touching my toes. But once I made Team BC for martial arts I felt i needed to take care of my body if I was going to go through grueling exercises. So i devoted my time to doing stretches and dynamic exercises that would make me more flexible, because the less flexible you are, the higher chances that you will injure yourself. I made sure I stretched every day, and I try to stick to that just like Jules tries to stay off drugs. There is always a turning point in our lives, for Jules it was rehab, for me it was making Team BC. The important thing is to stick to our decisions, no matter what environment we are in.

journal april 25

lullabies for little criminals is a book that follows the life of a girl named Baby from her perspective. her dad is a heroin addict, often leaving baby by herself for days. Remember she is a very young girl with no mother. this is very early in the book. one day, her dad, Jules, decides to go and get some heroin. She makes the decision to follow him without his consent. She made this decision because she has been left by herself many times before, and she was simply curious of what goes on when he leaves. However when Jules finds out, he shuts the door and leaves her outside on the street. she now has to find her way home or learn the life of the streets. Her decision to follow him has introduced her to the street life, and his influence will ultimately lead her down a dark road of drugs. Looks like a very compelling plot so far.

Children of the Genecide, The Rwandan Girl Who refused to die

These two stories, to say the least, are terrible, and show you that there are genuinely evil people in this world. The children of genocide story was impacting, however it was nothing in comparison to the girl who refused to die. This real tale is by far one of the most gruesome and disgusting stories i have ever heard. The author sets the mood just by talking about how this girl was so badly injured, saying "Her hand had been chopped in half and the wound had become infected. It had taken on an ominous black colour." That made me look at my own hand and be thankful that we do not live in that kind world. Also, thinking of your neighbours walking around town killing the people you love is disgusting. We dont realize that this sort of madness actually happens, because the only way we see this is in movies and in books. These articles are similar in the way that they show how bad life is for children in Rwanda, and how bad it has been for a long long time. However they are different in the pure fact that The Rwandan Girl Who Refused To Die is just so much more gruesome and it makes me feel terrible just reading about it. The author said, ""You have eight children, how in God's name can you help to kill a child?" to one of the men who was responsible for many of the murders. I respect the author because he called this man out and got angry with him. I would've done the same. The man responded saying that he was just following orders to kill every living person. In that situation, I would say screw your orders and screw whoever gave you those orders, because killing innocent children is just wrong, and this man deserves to die. The Rwandan Girl without a doubt impacted me more due to the sheer darkness and evil of this article. These people are sick, and all deserve to die. There was a boy who "had seen a man decapitated in front of him and then a pregnant woman cut open." This without a doubt shows darkness and evil in humanity, while at the same time impacting the reader because unless you live there, you have no idea what it is like to go through that kind of situation.

The Cask of Amontillado Response

How is the setting developed? The setting is developed by the author saying where they are (Italy), and he deeply explains the catacombs of which they travel to.
How is the author conveying the sense of evil? He conveys the sense of evil because when his "friend" is crying for help, he just laughs and mocks whatever his "friend" is saying.
The character is a symbol of evil, this is because even though he never killed his friend, he left him to die and ignored any requests for help.
The factor that contributed to his actions was that Fortunato made an unspecified insult that made him angry.
The roots of his behaviour are that he is very high on himself, so any little remark will make him angry, thus making him kill his friend.
The character impacted me the most because the plot and setting seemed very normal, but this story was sinister and evil becuase of the character.