Should palm trees be growing hands or should we have palm fronds growing off our wrists?

Everybody struggles with something or another, some with memories, some with relationships, and some with other things. Both “The Giver” by Lois Lowry and “Praying” by, and I quote, “the great poet Kesha” portray people who struggle with one or more of those things. They both show how it is hard to deal with painful memories, but at the same time moving on past that is important. In “The Giver”, Jonas, the main character, is the new Receiver of Memory, and he has to deal with the memories of the world, and no matter how hard he tries, he can’t move on past those memories of pain and sorrow. Similarly, in “Praying”, Kesha describes the painful memories of an abusive relationship and she is trying to move past those experiences.

A common theme in both texts is that moving on past memories that are painful and crushing can be extremely tough. In “The Giver”,  Jonas is Chosen as the new Receiver of Memory, and so he has the job of taking on an entire worlds’ memories. He receives memories of extreme pain, more than he has ever felt, and also memories of heartbreak so deep he can hardly breathe. He needs to move on past those memories, but he is still hung up on them. In “Praying”, the text says, “You brought the flames and you put me through hell…”  This shows that Kesha is remembering how  things used to be. In both texts, both Kesha and Jonas have been hurt by someone close to them. In “The Giver”, Jonas was hurt by his father when he killed the newchild. Jonas felt betrayed by this act. In “Praying”, Kesha was hurt by maybe a partner. In the text, it says, “…Oh, but after everything you’ve done…” This shows the memories she struggles with. But in both texts, Jonas and Kesha begin to move past the hurt. In “The Giver”, The Giver helps Jonas cope with the pain and sorrow of the memories. In “Praying”, the text says, “…I can thank you for who I have become…” This shows that she is moving on past the pain and hurt.

Even though both texts portray moving on past painful memories is hard, there are differences between the two in how the theme occurs. In “The Giver”, Jonas is tortured by the memories he receives. Even though The Giver tries to help him move on past what has happened, he still fells torn. In “Praying”, Kesha seems to be moving on past a broken relationship a bit easier, because she is forgiving the person who hurt her. In “Praying”, it says, “Oh, sometimes I pray for you at night / Someday, maybe you’ll see the light…” This shows that Kesha is beginning to forgive the person who has wronged her.

In conclusion, both “The Giver” and “Praying”, the writers show the importance of moving on past painful memories and forgiving those who have hurt you. After reading both the book and the song, the readers can conclude that moving on past bad memories can be hard but is essential to becoming mentally and physically healthier, as shown in both “Praying” and “The Giver”.

The Giver, by Lois Lowry, takes place in a dystopian future in North America. Jonas is approaching his Ceremony of Twelve, which determines what job you will train for, and basically sets your future. When the Ceremony arrives, Jonas learns he hasn’t been assigned. He’s been Selected to be the new Receiver of Memory. During his training, he learns the truth behind his community. Jonas, with the help of The Giver, plans to run away to escape from his community. One lesson the story suggests is that while things might seem perfect, they rarely are.

This lesson is built up throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, Lowry shows that everybody strives to be perfect. There is no such thing for them as imperfection. “The Giver” describes how everyone strives to be perfect, saying, “‘They acted like… like…’ ‘Like animals?’ ‘Yes. They acted like animals.'”  Lily, Jonas’s younger sister, says this statement. The way she says this shows that no one acts unnatural or steps out of line in the community. Another detail that shows how everybody strives to be perfect is that  whenever they step out of line or do something incorrectly, they are threatened with Release or actually released. The book says, “‘That’s it, Asher! You’re released!'” In this instance, Jonas’s friend, Asher, loses the game for his whole team. Because he messes up “everything”, Jonas yells this at him. This shows that everybody strives to be perfect with no flaws or mistakes.

In the middle of “The Giver”, Jonas is selected to be the new Receiver of Memory. He goes into training with The Giver, as the old man calls himself. While he is training, little by little, Jonas learns that things could be different in his community; People could make decisions that actually mattered and nobody really has to be perfect. In “The Giver”, the text says, “The Chief Elder made no mistakes.” This shows that nobody really makes mistakes in Jonas’s community. Lowry says, on page 83, “‘But what happened to those things? Snow and the rest of it?’ ‘Climate Control. Snow made growing food difficult, limited the agricultural periods. And unpredictable weather made transportation almost impossible at times. It wasn’t a practical thing, so it became obsolete when we went to Sameness.'” This shows how Jonas is learning that things could be different. The leaders of the community changed things to make everything perfect.

The community is thought to be perfect, but it really isn’t. Some could say that it really is perfect because there is no hunger or poverty or anything, and it’s basically utopia. While this is a good point, because everything does seem to be perfect, it doesn’t include the fact that people are killed to control the population and that nobody but the people who kill off the sick, elderly, and the extra children actually know what happens. We see this several times in “The Giver”, first on page 7 where Jonas’s father, who is a Nurturer for the newchildren,  says in a conversation with his family, “‘…But the committee’s talking about releasing him.'” Another example of this is on page 150, which says, “He killed it! My father killed it!” So in all, this claim isn’t supported throughout the entire book.

The final paragraph finishes the whole building-block-theme. Nearing the end of “The Giver”, Jonas is training with The Giver. He is learning the truth behind his community. He is struggling with the truth, though. For Jonas, everything he knows and knew to be true is suddenly changing as he receives more memories. In the book, Lowry describes how Jonas is regaining his emotions through his training. She also shows how he struggles with the truth behind his community. In “The Giver”, the book says, “‘I felt angry because someone broke the play area rules,’ Lily had said once, making a fist with her small hand to indicate her fury… But Lily had not felt anger, Jonas realized now. Shallow impatience and exasperation, that was all Lily had felt.” This shows that Jonas realizes that everything that the people in his community feel is all really just lies. The book goes on to say, “He knew with certainty because now he knew what anger was… Experienced injustice and cruelty… Reacted with rage that welled up so passionately inside him that the thought of discussing it calmly at the evening meal was unthinkable… Jonas had experienced real sadness. He had felt grief. He knew that there was no quick comfort for emotions like those. These were deeper and did not need to be told. They were felt.” This shows that he struggles with the way things are and the way things should be.

This final part ties the whole theme together. First, all Jonas knows is that he has to try to be perfect. Then, he begins to learn how things should have been. Finally, he learns the whole truth behind his community. In conclusion, the theme of this story is that while things might seem perfect, they rarely are.

The Giver, by Lois Lowry, takes place in a dystopian future in North America. Jonas is approaching his Ceremony of Twelve, which determines what job you will train for, and basically sets your future. When the Ceremony arrives, Jonas learns he hasn’t been assigned. He’s been Selected to be the new Receiver of Memory. During his training, he learns the truth behind his community. Jonas, with the help of The Giver, plans to run away to escape from his community. One lesson the story suggests is that while things might seem perfect, they rarely are.

This lesson is built up throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, Lowry shows that everybody strives to be perfect. There is no such thing for them as imperfection. “The Giver” describes how everyone strives to be perfect, saying, “‘They acted like… like…’ ‘Like animals?’ ‘Yes. They acted like animals.'”  Lily, Jonas’s younger sister, says this statement. The way she says this shows that no one acts unnatural or steps out of line in the community. Another detail that shows how everybody strives to be perfect is that  whenever they step out of line or do something incorrectly, they are threatened with Release or actually released. The book says, “‘That’s it, Asher! You’re released!'” In this instance, Jonas’s friend, Asher, loses the game for his whole team. Because he messes up “everything”, Jonas yells this at him. This shows that everybody strives to be perfect with no flaws or mistakes.

In the middle of “The Giver”, Jonas is selected to be the new Receiver of Memory. He goes into training with The Giver, as the old man calls himself. While he is training, little by little, Jonas learns that things could be different in his community; People could make decisions that actually mattered and nobody really has to be perfect. In “The Giver”, the text says, “The Chief Elder made no mistakes.” This shows that nobody really makes mistakes in Jonas’s community. Lowry says, on page 83, “‘But what happened to those things? Snow and the rest of it?’ ‘Climate Control. Snow made growing food difficult, limited the agricultural periods. And unpredictable weather made transportation almost impossible at times. It wasn’t a practical thing, so it became obsolete when we went to Sameness.'” This shows how Jonas is learning that things could be different. The leaders of the community changed things to make everything perfect.

The community is thought to be perfect, but it really isn’t. Some could say that it really is perfect because there is no hunger or poverty or anything, and it’s basically utopia. While this is a good point, because everything does seem to be perfect, it doesn’t include the fact that people are killed to control the population and that nobody but the people who kill off the sick, elderly, and the extra children actually know what happens. We see this several times in “The Giver”, first on page 7 where Jonas’s father, who is a Nurturer for the newchildren,  says in a conversation with his family, “‘…But the committee’s talking about releasing him.'” Another example of this is on page 150, which says, “He killed it! My father killed it!” So in all, this claim isn’t supported throughout the entire book.

The final paragraph finishes the whole building-block-theme. Nearing the end of “The Giver”, Jonas is training with The Giver. He is learning the truth behind his community. He is struggling with the truth, though. For Jonas, everything he knows and knew to be true is suddenly changing as he receives more memories. In the book, Lowry describes how Jonas is regaining his emotions through his training. She also shows how he struggles with the truth behind his community. In “The Giver”, the book says, “‘I felt angry because someone broke the play area rules,’ Lily had said once, making a fist with her small hand to indicate her fury… But Lily had not felt anger, Jonas realized now. Shallow impatience and exasperation, that was all Lily had felt.” This shows that Jonas realizes that everything that the people in his community feel is all really just lies. The book goes on to say, “He knew with certainty because now he knew what anger was… Experienced injustice and cruelty… Reacted with rage that welled up so passionately inside him that the thought of discussing it calmly at the evening meal was unthinkable… Jonas had experienced real sadness. He had felt grief. He knew that there was no quick comfort for emotions like those. These were deeper and did not need to be told. They were felt.” This shows that he struggles with the way things are and the way things should be.

This final part ties the whole theme together. First, all Jonas knows is that he has to try to be perfect. Then, he begins to learn how things should have been. Finally, he learns the whole truth behind his community. In conclusion, the theme of this story is that while things might seem perfect, they rarely are.

The Giver is a dystopian novel that takes place in the future. It doesn’t exactly give an exact location, but I’m pretty sure it is in North America. The setting is a city-like “community” where there is no forest, only buildings from what I can gather. The Giver’s setting is similar to Fort Wayne in the fact that everybody is held up to a certain standard and there is a nursing home-like place and a building kind-of like a newborn ward at the hospital. It is a civilized community with advanced building structure. It is different from Fort Wayne because everybody there is constantly monitored and it is against the laws for people to be impolite or rude  and they have to apologize is they even break a minor rule.

Jonas is a boy who is nearing his Ceremony of Twelve. Jonas is not an awkward person, but he doesn’t feel connected to any of the jobs that the other children in his community are attracted to. His community influences him a lot because of all the rules and the way that they learn. He is anxiously awaiting his Ceremony, but when it’s his turn, he isn’t called. He thinks that maybe he just didn’t do enough and he’s not getting an Assignment, but at the end of the Ceremony, Jonas learns that he has not been Assigned, but instead he has been Selected to be the new Receiver of Memory. He has to train differently from everybody else because he is the only Receiver of Memory-in-training. I can’t really relate to Jonas in any way, because I am not color-blind and I just don’t live that life.

Picture this: Spring comes and students in Indiana file into testing rooms and prepare to take a test, a test which will, in most students, cause anxiety and stress. The ISTEP+ test is  test that students in an array of grades have to take every spring, closer to the end of the school year. No one in Indiana enjoys this test, not even the teachers who give it. Does this test increase your knowledge or increase the amount of “test anxiety” felt in the air?

The purpose of the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus, as said by the Indiana Department of Education, is to “Measure student achievement in the subject areas of English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science (Grades 4, 6 and 10), and Social Studies (Grades 5 and 7).” But without the test, we can still examine the levels of academic success in our students. For many, the ISTEP+ test is a hindrance in the eyes of our teachers and their students.

ISTEP is sucking the joy out of teaching and learning, according to teacher Teresa Meredith. “As teachers, we do test preparation, we teach to the test and we build lessons around the test format. We do local tests to see if we are on track to pass the mandated tests,” said Meredith, president of the Indiana State Teachers Association and a 20-year classroom teacher. Students come to school expecting to learn, not to test non-stop. Teachers also expect to teach, not to sit while their students are taking ISTEP for an average of 9 to 12 hours.

One parent with children in grades 4-8 says, “Every year, my children, especially the ‘overachievers’, get so worked up over this test. If I could, I would opt them out of the test, but they [the children] insist on taking it. It matters a lot to them because they believe ‘horrible things’ will happen to them if they don’t take it. Most of my gray hairs come from them stressing out over the ISTEP+ test.”

Many students believe that they will be held back a grade if they fail the ISTEP test. This is not true, but goes to show that students get very perturbed over a simple test. Jim Bever, the principal at Greenfield Intermediate School reported that students at his school felt that they weren’t doing well and were going to be retained for a year in their studies.

While many people absolutely abhor the idea of ISTEP, there are some who believe that ISTEP is a core for the education system. ISTEP is a way for parents to see how their child is doing academically. It also allows teachers to see who might need help in certain subjects.

But there is some hope for the future of our tests. State representative Casey Cox authored the bill to shorten the test. He hopes that by creating this bill that the test will be shortened even more in the future, but he says it’s a great start.

As for now, we can only anticipate the end of this test. But even though ISTEP isn’t gone for good, we can still make the best of it. Don’t worry about the grade you will get, for starters. It is common for students to study non-stop. Take breaks about every half-hour to relieve your brain from any extra stress. Don’t get worked up if you don’t understand something, because chances are that nobody else does, either. And when test day (or week) comes along, don’t sweat it. Calm yourself down and prepare to test.

And don’t worry: you’re not they only one who gets sweat stains when it comes to the written response.

Picture this: Spring comes and students in Indiana file into testing rooms and prepare to take a test, a test which will, in most students, cause anxiety and stress. The ISTEP+ test is  test that students in an array of grades have to take every spring, closer to the end of the school year. No one in Indiana enjoys this test, not even the teachers who give it. Does this test increase your knowledge or increase the amount of stress and anxiety felt in the air?

The purpose of the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus, as said by the Indiana Department of Education, is to “Measure student achievement in the subject areas of English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science (Grades 4, 6 and 10), and Social Studies (Grades 5 and 7).” But without the test, we can still examine the levels of academic success in our students. For many, the ISTEP+ test is a hindrance in the eyes of our teachers and their students.

One parent with children in grades 4-8 says, “Every year, my children, especially Grace and Claire, get so worked up over this test. If I could, I would opt them out of the test, but they (the children) insist on taking it. It matters a lot to them because they believe ‘horrible things’ will happen to them if they don’t take it. Most of my gray hairs come from them stressing out over the ISTEP+ test.”

One site covering the topic of the ISTEP test says that students believe that they will be held back a grade if they fail the ISTEP test. This is not true, but goes to show that students get very anxious over a simple test. Jim Bever, the principal at Greenfield Intermediate School reported that students at his school felt that they weren’t doing well and were going to be retained for a year in their studies.

Test administrators are considering removing the ISTEP+ test and replacing it with another test, though. All of this goes to show that this test creates a sense of anxiety and stress in the school atmosphere. The sooner Indiana gets rid of the tests, the sooner the environment at school will be relieved.

On Thursday the 24th at about 8:20 A.M. during first period, Mrs. Godfrey  and Mr. Hoering moved the divider that separated the two classes.

Mrs. Oaks, the instructional coach at Blackhawk Middle School, came in and asked for the students attention, and the children turned their attention toward her. Saying she needed to eighth graders input on the topic at hand, Mrs. Oaks began to discuss the brand-new dress code. She asked if the flyers advertising the new uniforms would be better in black and white or in full color.

The students had only heard the word “uniforms” when they began to murmur among themselves. In a matter of seconds, the students were in an uproar.

While the two teachers attempted to calm to outraged students down, Mrs. Oaks said that the flyers would go home to parents and the uniforms had to be ordered by Labor Day at the most. She went on to say that the reason why BMS was getting uniforms was so that the students would focus more during class- which also came upon the topic of modesty-  and to equalize the students.

The students were in a frenzy. There were many comments made by the classes. Some students were asking if they could transfer to another school, while others were simply groaning.

The question still remains: Will the students of Blackhawk Middle School have to wear school uniforms?

The last book I read was Darkwood. I liked it probably because it was fantasy, and it was SUPER GOOD!!!!!! Of course I’m going to say that about every book I read, so it might not be saying much. I liked that the heroine of the story was a 12-year-old girl who got to save the day and find her parents and kill the witch. The book I chose from the library was Copper Sun. I chose this because I have read it before and know it’s a great book. It’s about a girl named Amari who gets sold into slavery. Like I said, REALLY GOOD.