Final Project

Abraham Lincoln once said “A capacity and taste for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others.” Reading is as important now than it has ever been and there are many different reasons why. Some people argue that reading is boring and pointless when there are millions of movies out there that could tell the same stories that books can. These people would definitely change their mind if they knew all of the benefits that reading actually gives people. I personally know firsthand that I have benefitted from reading in more ways that I could even realize and would recommend everyone read a lot more. Some benefits of reading range from memory improvement, stress reduction, and mental stimulation. Although those benefits are more than plenty to provide non­readers with a reason to pick up a book, the most substantial advantage one can gain from reading comes from a social standpoint. Reading more will boost your social success.
Firstly, and most obviously, reading will expose one to a huge number of new words and after reading those new words it will not be long until they start showing up in some of the conversations a reader will have. Having a well rounded vocabulary is always important when talking to higher ups. It will give you the confidence to talk to anyone with ease. This is also a very important skill to have when being interviewed for a job or when talking to a boss. Aside from only the English vocabulary, learning a new language through book is something that has proven to be a lot more efficient and will help in situations when English is not spoken

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somewhere. I learned the importance of reading for the Vocabulary expansion benefit from our very own Vera Dietz who never gave up the chance to use one of her newly learned vocabulary words in a sentence and applying them to everyday life. “Okay ­ Here’s me using stultify in a sentence. My father who won’t let me go to school with a contusion the size of a baseball, has grounded me and banned me from working to stultify my life” (King 212). Vera has led me to try and go out of my way to find new words to use every day and it has definitely helped me to talk to people much easier. Vocabulary is something that is an obvious benefit from reading that anyone can see working. There are some benefits that are not so obvious.
Reading can help you understand and relate to people (and dogs) better. I have found that when reading a book that is in the first person point of view I can hear their thoughts and get a look into their brain allowing me to understand what that character is thinking. This experience allowed me to understand what people are thinking at certain times. This is something that I did not think was actually happening as I read but it turned out to be very evident in everyday social experiences. Although I am focusing on first person novels, understand and relating to people better can be found in any kind of book. Even one narrated by a dog. In T​he Art of Racing in the Rain b​y Garth Stein Enzo is a dog who can understand everything that humans can say but can not talk back. In this book we get some very interesting viewpoints on life and on people in general. Enzo says “I don't understand why people insist on putting concepts of evolution and creation against each other. Why can't they see that spiritualism and science are one? That bodies evolve and souls evolve and the universe is a fluid package that marries them both in a wonderful package called a human being. What's wrong with that idea?” (Stein 173). I can relate to this in a sense that I totally see what Enzo is talking about and although Enzo is not a human

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himself, the author of the book obviously is. Garth put his thoughts and emotions into the dog and I can easily say that I know a lot more about him by reading this book than I would have known by reading a biography or documentary. In a sense, this book is all of Garth’s life experiences professionally coded into a book about a dog.
Books are life experiences. Most of the plot lines or little things that happen in a book are things that have actually happened to the author at some point in their lives. In a book like J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter there are many true life experiences that J.K. addresses in an interview
w i t h E n g l i s h r a d i o s h o w . E v e n R o b i n S l o a n i n M​ r . P e n u m b r a ’ s 2 4 H o u r B o o k s t o r e s​a y s “Walking the stacks in a library, dragging your fingers across the spines ­­ it's hard not to feel the presence of sleeping spirits.” (Sloan 316) implying that authors have literally implanted their souls into these books. Books are a way to gain a “Free life experience” without actually having to actually experience things. This would help in a social sense in seeing what kind of things that people actually go through. Readers can see what worked for people and what did not work for people making their lives much easier. Another thing a reader can gain from reading books is the social knowledge that might come to other people naturally.
Social Knowledge is something that most people acquire naturally through life however, some people who are more sheltered than others. These types of people can gain this knowledge through reading books and other material. I am not as sheltered as some people might be however, I still could learn a number of things about people from the books I read this year. Most notably, I have learned about the way that people act in ways that I had never thought about before. Erin Morgenstern in T​he Night Circus s​ays “People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told that they see.” (Morgenstern 123). T​he Night Circus i​s a book

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about magic and mystery and still taught me so much about being socially aware. The lessons I have learned from this book alone easily show the impact reading can have on social knowledge.
In conclusion, there are many things that reading can teach people. Especially in the aspect of society and learning the ways of people. I know that reading has taught me a lot already and I have only been reading for fifteen years. I can only imagine what I will learn as my life goes on and I continue to read. I would like to thank my parents for making reading a priority for me and I would especially like to thank Mr. Davidson for making reading in school fun again. 

Lone Survivor Book Review

Marcus Luttrell is a warrior. He was determined to join the Navy Seals and did not give up even when he did not make it past training (which is explained in detail) at his first go. He wanted to be a Seal more than anything and with the help of one of his greatest role models, Billy Shelton, he becomes one. His Seal Squad consists of three of his best friends Danny, Mikey and Axe who are some of the bravest people introduced in the novel. The plot of the book really starts to kick off when the Seal team is given their very important mission called Operation Redwing in which they are to hunt down a man named Ben Sharmak. As soon as the mission kicks off, the seal team is spotted by a group of three goat herders. This is when the mission starts to go wrong and all hell breaks loose. Marcus is the only one to survive this chaos.

The first reason this book is such a great one is that the Author of the novel, Marcus Luttrell, actually is the “Lone Survivor” and experienced all of these events first hand. The reader is assured a very accurate and passionate story. Some of Marcus’s passion and feelings come out throughout the story making the emotional connection with all of the characters very strong. The reader also gets a very accurate representation of what it is really like to be in the military and what goes through a soldier's head when in battle. Marcus also goes through what the soldiers think of the media and the way that they have to act in order to keep the media quiet. He says “In the military, if we don't know something, we say we don't know and proceed to shut up until we do. Some highly paid charlatans in the media think it's absolutely fine to take a wild guess at the truth and then tell a couple of million people it's cast-iron fact, just in case they might be right” (Luttrell 132). The soldiers have it tough and the media played a huge role in Operation Redwing since they were not able to do anything to the goat herders and were forced to set them free. Even Marcus himself says “My heart dropped directly into my stomach. And I cursed those fucking goatherds to hell, and myself for not executing them when every military codebook ever written had taught me otherwise. Not to mention my own raging instincts, which had told me to go with Axe and execute them. And let the liberals go to hell in a mule cart, and take with them all of their fucking know-nothing rules of etiquette in war and human rights and whatever other bullshit makes ’em happy” (Luttrell 154). The battle would have played out a completely different way if that had not happened.

Secondly, this book is very motivational and really changes the reader's perspective on people fighting for their country. Some parts of the book were very emotional and most of the novel was filled with motivational quotes that were some of the things that got the Navy Seals going when they thought that they could not fight any more. Again, Marcus says “I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time” (Luttrell 202). Marcus shows true patriotism and reassures the reader that the soldiers of the US military are dedicated to keeping the people of their country safe. It is amazing to see how strong these soldiers can be during these tough times.

Finally, a feature of this book that made it stand out from other war novels is just how realistic it is. This book is not just some war story that has a happy ending where the main character survives the battle and makes it to the end. This is most definitely a tragedy novel. Although Marcus survived he was physically and mentally injured and lost his brothers to the war. He was not happy with the outcome at all and even says “Look at me, right now in my story. Helpless, tortured, shot, blown up, my best buddies all dead, and all because we were afraid of the liberals back home, afraid to do what was necessary to save our own lives. Afraid of American civilian lawyers. I have only one piece of advice for what it’s worth: if you don’t want to get into a war where things go wrong, where the wrong people sometimes get killed, where innocent people sometimes have to die, then stay the hell out of it in the first place” (Luttrell 356). This book really takes the reader into the war and makes them realize how much of a tragedy this story really is. In the end you can’t help but feel sympathy for Marcus and the rest of the team’s family. It truly was a heartbraker.

In conclusion, I had a really good time reading this book. I had seen the movie a couple of years ago but was still intrigued with some of the extras I had not got to enjoy from the movie. the book goes more in depth with the lives of the team and Marcus and should definitely be read before watching the more watered down movie. Another thing to note is that although the reader probably knows of the true story and the outcome of the novel, the book does not drag on and has a lot of interesting content that keeps you engaged even with knowing that the team will die and Marcus will be the Lone Survivor. This book is a really good read and I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a book that will expose the true sacrifices of war and military told through the eyes of an actual soldier who went through all of these great tragedies.

TEDxCL Reflection

Above is a TEDxCL Talk that reviews the benefits of reading and why it is cool! 

What I Knew (And didn't know about my topic when I started out). 
I knew a lot about this project when I started since I had done a twitter campaign covering most of the material already. What I did not know was some of the stuff that I found out about why people did not like to read. I also found some of the statistics that showed why people did not read very interesting and made the project really fun to do.

Why I Selected This Topic 
I chose this topic because I was very interested in some of the benefits I would receive if I did read more. I also chose this topic because I knew that I would have some fun while I was doing the project because it involved things that could directly affect me if I put in the work.

What I learned--Research 
I think that the most rewarding part of the research process was all of the facts that I learned about reading and the amount of information I gained throughout the process. The most frustrating part about the process was the fact that although I did a bunch of research, I still felt a but unprepared when I was presenting in front of people. I would advise not only practicing some of the facts you need to know but also practicing the actual presentation of the facts and information.
I found most of my information on websites. Mostly those that had information about studies that had been conducted with statistical outcomes. I also had some personal experience for some of the points.
My favorite source was myself. I like having some general information that I have acquired in the past and was really happy to be able to infuse some of my personal experiences into the talk.
I learned a lot through this project. Some of the most memorable things were that "1 in every 5 middle school students think 'Reading is not cool'"(smothering). I also learned that "Reading is proven to reduce your chances of getting Alzheimer's Disease" (Leakly) and that " 2/3 of children that can not read proficiently but the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare" (USfocus)
My work ethic was good but could have been better. I did spend a lot of time on this project but did not really take advantage of the class time that Mr. Davidson gave us. I think that if I did take advantage of that class time then I would have have a slightly better project, but overall I think the differences would be very minimal since I spent so much time out of class for this project.

What I learned--Presentations 
I mostly learned that when you are going to give a presentation, you should definitely practice the presentation in front of a mirror or a friend. Knowing the facts is simply not good enough since you have to present them in a way which is entertaining and grabbing the viewers attention.
This was my biggest problem because I feel that I did not rehearse enough vocally. I practiced in my head a lot but that did not completely work.
I think my presentation was okay but the execution could have been better. Also my fidgeting needed to stop. I tried my best for how much I practiced and feel good about my performance.
I really need to work on fidgeting and having a point ready after another when I am speaking so I don't get these blank spaces in my presentation. Also, transitions.

Advice for future Students
REHEARSE REHEARSE REHEARSE
Make sure you practice your Ted Talk out loud either in front of a mirror or a friend. If you don't have anyone to practice with you can also try recording yourself with a camera and watching it over so that you know some of the physical attributes you need to change for the actual performance.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz Book Review

Being a teenager can be really hard sometimes. Especially if your mom is an ex stripper who ran away with another man to Las Vegas leaving your dad to be the only one to raise you. This is life of Vera Dietz who has just suffered the death of her best friend Charlie Kahn. Vera is desperately trying to stay away from anything that makes her similar to her mother, who was impregnated at a very young age, while also trying to stay below everyone's radar in school where she wants to be ignored. Vera loves her father very much but does not always see eye to eye with him. Being very stingy (probably for good reason), he made Vera start working at a pizza store for almost full time hours at a very young age. Without a mother, it was very hard for Ken (Vera's father) to raise her. Work was his way of making sure she grew up correctly. Ken loved Vera very much and his peculiar methods turned out to work because Vera turned out very nicely.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz is such a good book for teenagers because it shows all of the struggles that every teen will go through in their lives. It shows that teens are not alone in their struggle to grow up and amount to their parents standards. In Vera’s case, she does not want to become like her mother who does not communicate with her much aside from a fifty dollar bill that she sends every birthday. These are some struggles that many people can relate to. Vera says “I think of my mom. Is this how it started with her Are there baby steps toward complete loserdom, and if so, how many are there to go?” (King 132). Vera is obviously paranoid about the steps that her mother took to become the way that she is and would like to avoid this destiny at all costs. This relation that readers can experience can solely make the book worthwhile alone.

Another thing that makes this book a great one is the recurring theme of Charlie’s ghost coming back to Vera. It is a great representation of the conscience that every single person has. It is sort of a physical representation of that conscience. Whenever Vera is doing something that she knows she should not be doing, Charlie’s ghost shows up to suffocate her until she realizes that she is doing something wrong. Sometimes, just like any other teen, she does not pay any mind to Charlie (her conscience) and continues to do whatever she was doing wrong. For instance, when Vera is hooking up with a boy who is a lot older than her in his car while she is drunk, Charlie shows up. “They (Charlies) are squeezing him from every angle, but he can’t see them. They are not sucking the air out of his lungs. I open the door and stumble out onto the gravel.” (King 116). Here Charlie knows that this is something that Vera should definitely not be doing. Even Vera knows deep down that she should not be doing this. Charlie is speaking for himself, but also for Vera who is a little too afraid to come to grips with the facts.

The last thing that was really great in this novel is the theme of friendship. Charlie and Vera were best friends and nothing (not even death) could fully set them apart. Charlie only wanted the best for Vera (as seen with his ghosts) and although they did sort of end their friendship just before Charlie passed away, they always remained friends. This kind of book can really show someone who is a real friend and who isn’t. Charlie clearly cared about Vera. Once, when Charlie was starting to build a treehouse in the forest Vera finally realized how much she meant to Charlie. She says “Even though I knew Charlie wanted to do it himself, he called it our project and our tree house. I think it was his way of trying to help me through a hard time.” (King 162). Charlie always wanted Vera to feel good, and everyone needs a friend like that.

In conclusion, this book is great. It is not only very entertaining, but it also can teach some very important life lessons while showing teenagers that they are not alone in the problems that they are facing every day. I would totally recommend this book to any teenager that is looking for something to read. I would also recommend this to an adult, however, I do not think that they will gain as much from the book as a teenager would.