Nileh's Wonderrrbook

[nileh27-blog]

So, it seems like people liked this idea to do fake news articles from polarized news outlets on the basis of the events from Monster. To give more insight on how I will conduct this without injecting too much of my own personal opinions in it, I am going to use scholarly articles written on how polarized, bipartisan media has different effect on how people things and our selective nature to go towards  confirmation biased articles. I will also be using articles from CNN and FOX themselves, to express where I am making my claims of their biases on their language used in their articles. 

[nileh27-blog]

For my project, I am going to be following the sequence of events from Steve Harmon's life in Monster and document it in fake news articles as if it were in real life. I am going to write a version from CNN’s perspective (left-winged news outlet) and use real life cases such as OJ Simpson’s case and tie it into the article when writing about Harmon’s arrest and trial. I am also going to be writing another article from Fox’s perspective (right-winged news outlet) and use some of the language and biases that they are known to use. This will give a contrasting two articles, based on the same events. I wanted to do this project to point out the influence of the media on the masses and their own different perspectives and biases when it comes to reporting news. I want this project, not to offend anyone, but to highlight the flaws that occur in reporting news and encourage hyperawareness of the readers or viewers.

[nileh27-blog]

I think the reason that the author added in the emotional storyline with Hopper’s father and mother is to develop her character more-over to appeal to the reader. I thought the different elements that the author brought in was interesting, but may have confused the reader a little too much for people to want to delve in deeper than they could've if just a few less elements were explored in depth instead of touching upon many of them; more quality than quantity would've benefited the book in my opinion. Overall, it was a fun book to read and I did admire the creativity and curiosity that was explored in Secret Coders. 

[nileh27-blog]

I really enjoyed the creative layout that this book took form in; the comic strip layout was a light and easy read that I can imagine appealed to many pre-teens. The coding concepts were introduced neatly and were described in a way that made sense to even me, a not-very-techy person. I hope this book got a conversation started about how easily it is to incorporate coding concepts into everyday reading that younger kids can read to start giving them a leg up in the technology world, since it is becoming a prominent force in our society. 

[nileh27-blog]

I chose to do activity 15 in Hello Ruby. This was a Sudoku challenge using computer icons instead of numbers; it was really fun to match each bit up with its counterparts. Hello Ruby is a very unique book, in that it is covering a vast amount of avenues here. Gender roles in math and science, generational technology gaps, and the use of technology in young ages are just a few topics that can be discussed after reading this. The author’s TedTalk was inspirational in giving insight into why she decided to write this book and her genuineness for doing so.

[sheridanbrooks-blog]

This is Exercise 4 of the Hello Ruby build your computer. I thought this book was very interesting because Liukas took a complicated subject, computer programming, and tried to simplify it for a young audience. Not only did the artwork contribute to an innocent understanding of programming, but the exercises in the back allow young readers to participate in a complicated subject at their level!

[nileh27-blog]

That is a great model, I agree with the activities being very engaging for the reader and giving us an insight on a more tech-related side to children’s books. 

[alexismmarcantel-blog]

In similarly ambiguous terms, the question arises of how readers render their own verdict, given the difficulty posed by the courtroom evidence as Steve presents it, by his refusal or inability to say that he is guilty, and by the jury’s decision that he is ‘not guilty.’

Engles & Kory p. 53

This question we talked about in class quite a bit, whether or not we believed he was guilty. The book was really ambiguous, so it was hard to decide whether I thought he was guilty or not. My feelings changed as I read, at first I immediately assumed he was guilty but then as the book continued on, I started to lean towards his innocence. The evidence in the book was also very ambiguous, every part of this book was actually and it was very frustrating. I now remember why I do not like this book was because I was constantly frustrated with what was going on. I also, thought that the very end when we found out his verdict, that was vague as well. I had to reread that part twice to make sure I was reading the right thing. 

(via alexismmarcantel)

I feel as though the Walter Meyers was purposefully ambiguous in pertaining to the physical evidence of the crime, it mainly seemed circumstantial and never talked about any forensics or lack thereof. I don't know if there was any more evidence other than what was mentioned in the book or not but I think regardless, Meyer’s wanted us to focus on the issue of perception and stereotyping rather than the case itself. By framing the book through Steve’s perception and through his “screenplay” technique, we are able to get a more raw version of what we would say if we were one of the jurors. If they had made it clear as to what his actual part of the crime was and whether he was guilty or not, I can’t say for sure whether I would have got distracted from what I presume to be the crucial theme of the book and writ my conclusion off as “he is guilty, done” instead of realizing all of the in-betweens that were going on in each scene and delving into Steve’s life on a more personable level. 

[the-book-diaries]

I’m like everybody else: weak, full of mistakes, but basically good.

Junot Díaz, This Is How You Lose Her (via the-book-diaries)

When I read this quote, I imagined that this is something Steve Harmon thinks to himself on a daily basis. He made mistakes that lead up to him awaiting trial on a capital murder charge, but he doesn't feel as if he belongs there. He keeps trying to remind himself that he is a good person and that he doesn't belong with the other “hard-core” inmates but the book makes many connotations that, due to his race, he isn't going to be given a voice and will just be judged based on his skin color and the crowd he hung around with. To what extent this is true or not, is debatable; this quote does make a point though as to how many other inmates feel this way and to what extent of mercy the jury or judge would have on people if they approached their mistakes from a more humbling perspective. 

[nileh27-blog]

This sounds like Steve is spilling his insides and nobody cares what he has to say. That instead of being treated innocent until proven guilty and being seen as a human, he is being ignored by everyone around him. The people defending him that should be humanizing him, are the ones included that are making him feel as if he isn't a person at all. His defense should be giving him a voice, but this quote shows that he feels he has no voice and sadly, this is probably the case with most cases in the criminal world. 

[laurenconces16-blog]

In this quote, Steve was referencing to the movie he was writing about the Trial and experience he’s going through. This thought aligns with him seeing himself as this “monster” that he titles the movie he’s writing. It makes me think that maybe he is using this movie script as a way to defend himself, or at least justify in his own mind that he hasn’t done anything wrong. And if Steve truly is innocence, then it is his way of defending himself when no one else seems to listen to him. I think it’s also interesting the choice of words that he uses in this quote. Instead of saying “it shows that I am a real person”, he uses the words “it makes me seem like a real person”, and that could also indicate how he truly feels about himself in that he believes he really is a monster. 

[nileh27-blog]

I think it goes back to what we discussed in class about the “sociology of crime”. If someone labels you something, you can deny and resist it at first but when they lock you up and keep labeling you as a “monster” then it is going to be extremely hard not to look at yourself like that and embody that label. It seems to me that his autobiographical playwright is one of his drastic measures to keep fighting off that label as he goes through the trial (where the prosecutors will be trying their hardest to make him appear like the monster they are labeling him to be). He needs this screenplay to not only drown out some of the negative, dark emotions that he is going through at that point but, yes, I agree with you, to also convince himself or whoever will listen that he is innocent and not a monster. 

[allieholdridge-blog]

Steve’s internal turmoil that he is questioning the balance of good and evil. To be wrongfully convicted might be one of the worst things that could happen to innocent person. Having the justice system fail you has the potential to completely destroy an individual’s faith in humanity. So, I can understand Steve’s wonderment of how the law operates in this specific case. He wants to believe so badly that the verdict will work out in his favor; but given the other boys who have been questioned and were seen in a negative light, and along with his timing at when the crime occurred, it will be difficult for his attorney to prove his innocence. I am interested to see how his testimony will change the jury’s perspective. 

[nileh27-blog]

I am curious as to how a person’s inner dialogue/thoughts transcend from the time that they still have some faith in the justice system and after-the-fact of the system failing them and convicting them (if they were innocent of the crime). It would be interesting to see how those people cope or don't cope in that situation. 

[nileh27-blog]

Warren Zevan’s song, “Prison Grove” would be a great song choice for the soundtrack in Monster. The rhythm is slow and jarring with lyrics like “Dug in, hunkered down, Hours race without a sound, Gonna carry me to where I'm bound...Take one last look at the prison yard, Goodbye Prison Grove.

Johnny Cash’s song, “Folsom Prison Blues” was the one that popped into my head when thinking about prison songs. He played this song and some others to state inmates in prison’s and did a good job of depicting life behind bars, although he himself, never spent more than a day in jail. “Well I know I had it comin', I know I can't be free, But those people keep a-movin’, And that's what tortures me” are some of the lyrics and moreover the entire composite is brilliant in illustrating the thoughts that I can see the characters in Monster having, which would make this song an ideal choice as well.

[nileh27-blog]

This quote captures Steve Harmon’s fear of being in prison perfectly. It gives insight into how inmates fathom their new world inside of a cell, which doesn't get told very often. We tend to demonize inmates and stigmatize the whole criminal scene but this quote from Harmon and a few other ones gives me a different perspective into their lives. It is so easy to hear about a crime on the news and watch someone gets sentenced for life to prison, but what does that really mean? This book is giving me the thoughts that I feel most people in jail are having and what it truly looks like to live in punishment, condemned by the now “normal” people who hold your rights and potential freedom in their hands. Harmon’s playwright is a creative way to give the audience a lens into his sequence of unfortunate events and the consequences/actions/thoughts that are ensuing in and around the person. 

[nileh27-blog]

In Katherine Schneebaum’s article, Finding a Happy Medium: The Design for Womanhood in A Wrinkle in Time, she describes the hypocrisy in the message pertaining to Meg’s character as being conflicting within itself. Meg’s character appears to be ridden with faults and she is constantly reminded to find a “happy medium” but her “masculine” attributes are shunned in the book by the other characters and Meg, herself, is more focused on being beautiful or envying the more feminine qualities that she believes she lacks. When in Camazotz, she realizes that to save Charles Wallace, she needs to embody “motherly” features and in Schneebaum’s words, “take on a woman's destiny and duty to care for the moral health of others.”

The conflicting message of “finding a happy medium” and in the end, muting all Meg’s attributes for a “duty to care” seems hypocritical and confused. I would've liked to see a combination of Meg’s characteristic traits that make Meg, well Meg, that would have been the solution to saving Charles Wallace. That way, the “happy medium” reiteration in the text would have been epitomized in the moral of the book by the ending. Meg’s realization that she deserves love and acceptance shouldn't have come from her newfound “motherly conduct” but from her newfound emotional stability status AND her brainiac skills that should make her realize that you can still be feminine and have a more “male” oriented skill set. 

[nileh27-blog]

I would have casted Iain Armitage as Charles Wallace. His unbounded, knowledge, telepathic tendencies, intellectual manner of speaking, and “other-worldly” personality makes this a good fit for the actor, who plays Young Sheldon (a spinoff from the Big Brain Theory). This was who I pictured when reading the book, Armitage has the young enough looking face with all of the attributes of Wallace in the show, which makes him a perfect fit for me. 

[kellymvrietran]

You’re going to be tested every step of the way

A Wrinkle In Time (2018) dir. Ava DuVernay

[nileh27-blog]

The movie version of Wrinkle in Time took advantage of the opportunity to delve into race issues, and in my opinion, rightfully so. The author was supporting of this, the director was an African American female, and the lead was as well. The  diversity that the movie represented goes along with the progressive theme to make for a black-empowering, kickbutt film that is more than welcoming in our atmosphere today. The content was a little rushed in the movie, but the overall theme reigns through when you see the final scene with Meg screaming on the screen about how she deserves to be loved and accepted; it just touched a chord with the audience that brought the movie to a satisfying conclusion. I think the book did a well-enough job of recreating the book version and included important themes and current issues effectively.

[middlemanon]

A wrinkle in time filled my heart with joy and made me optimistic forever

[maribrownposts-blog]

“Like and equal are not the same thing.” -Meg Murry

I loved reading this scene when Meg reaches the realization that “like” and “equal” aren’t the same thing.  Charles is trying to tell her that being equal is being like everyone else but that ignores the differences we have, what makes us unique. The themes in the story are beyond universal in my opinion.  It makes you realize the freedom we have to be different; to possess the many characteristics that make us who we are. It’s an important message for not just kids, but everyone that it’s better to be different than the same but we should still treat each other equally.  That’s the difference between being “equal” and being “like” other people. 

[nileh27-blog]

I loved this quote too! It sums up a major theme in the book about being okay with being different. I think it all has to do with the progressive nature of the book and L’Engle’s message to her audience. Instead of perpetuating stereotypes and reinforcing that a jock is just a jock or a nerd is just a nerd, she reminds us that even under those labels, each person has deeper layers to them. Charles isn’t just a genius and we may not understand much else about him other than he’s different, but he is just accepted as he is. Calvin isn't just a popular jock in school, he is good with talking to people and is having family issues at home that is causing him cognitive dissonance, so ultimately, he is deeper than what we would have stereotyped him to be. I like that this quote just gives the message that you don't have to fit into one group, label, race, class, etc. You are just who you are and that is perfectly okay, because everyone is and should be treated equally.