End of the year Blog Post

Some ways I benefited as a reader from doing blogs posts was that I read more. I knew that every week I had to do a blog post, so that encouraged me to read further and further into my book to come up with a more meaningful post. I also made more connections with my book to others, and did this regularly in all my books. Writing a blog made me practice these skills more than in other previous years. I benefitted from this experience by learning how to really write about a book, and to learn the skills needed. Skills such as making connections, using past experiences, and looking deeper at the characters and plot of a book. Some blog posts would be mainly focused on a character, some on a plot, or quote or an idea in the book. This helped me write better posts, and strengthened me as a writer.
I think writing online is different than writing in a notebook. I now type a lot faster than I write, which allows me to write more online. Oftentimes when I'm writing in a notebook and I don't get to write down all the ideas I have, but online I can. This shows how writing online can be liberating, because it allows people to write as much as they want. I think it is true that people write things they would never say or write in notebook. Even though online is more public than a notebook, people often see it as the opposite. The fact that every 8th grader had a blog allowed us to connect more, and read each other's thought. This allowed us to be connected in a way that's different then previous years because we can see what we are reading, and thinking in books. Books were also recommended and friends could see what they were reading, which encouraged more reading.
I think some people do abuse the writes of technology. Many people find it easier to text someone something, than tell it to there face. Whole friendships can be formed over the internet or text messages, which do not reflect the real person. Second of all, the internet is probably the most public thing in the world. All our messages and posts on Facebook are recorded somewhere, not just erased. Collage officials will check the Facebook pages of people they want to accept to make sure they're the right person. This proves what you post on social-netoworking sites are not safe at all. On the popular app Snapchat, which many of my friends use, it says a message/picture will be deleted. In fact, the picture is not deleted, and by paying money you can find all your old Snapchats.
I don't think I will keep up my blog in the summer and next year. I will be busy with high school and the summer, which will take up my time. I also correctly assume that most of my peers will not resume their blogs, which was a main reason I blogged.(To read other people's post). Even thought I approve of using blogs and acknowledge the helpfulness of them, they were rather tiresome. This factor cannot be avoided, and I can remember several times when my classmates said they didn't blog because they didn't "feel like it."If I was to create another blog, I would probably make it a journal. This idea interests me, and seems like a fun thing to do. I would journal my travels, and not my average day.(So my journal would NOT be; I ate a sandwich today. It was good. Then I went to sleep). Instead it would be more description, and exciting moments of me visiting exotic places. I might not do this however, because of laziness.
All in all, I approve of the nature of blogs. Although sometimes it was tiring, and I complained about doing them, they were a vital part of ELA. It improved my writing and analyzing skills, and connected me with my friends over books.

Blog Post on Animal Farm

My philosophy group and I are currently reading Animal Farm by George Orwell. It tells the story of animals over throwing their cruel human masters, and creating a new life for themselves. They are fair and honest, and proclaim that all animals are equal. But as the book goes on, this question is brought up; are all animals equal?
We humans do not see every animal as equal. Think about it, we kills pigs for food, but keep dogs as beloved pets. We eat hundreds of chickens every day, and we think it a sin to kill other animals. In Animal Farm, all animals have been mistreated. Old Major, a wise pig tells the blood-stained story of farm animals lives. They are worked until they have no strength left, and then they are killed. They are living only to work, and not for pleasure. Although this book was written when animal right laws were pretty much non-existant, this till rings true today. Thousands of animals are killed, for not only food but for clothing and many other human needs. How do we make decisions about life and death?
In Animal Farm, it is clearly marked by intelligence. The pigs, the smartest animals on the farm make the rules and decide what to do. The other animals, portrayed as mostly stupid animals, blindly follow along and rarely show any free will in their decisions. This easily leads the pigs to exploit them, for example tricking them to believe that pigs can only have the apples and milk, and saying that only pigs can sleep in beds. The least intelligent animals, the sheep are brainwashed to agree with all the pigs sayings. They are so dim they have no opinion of anything, and will easily be to rally for a pigs cause. The other animals, not clearly quite so dumb but still unable to formulate what they really want. This leads them too agreeing with the pigs.
If humans use the same method to determine life and death, will we turn out like the pigs? Should someone be allowed to live because they are smarter than another member of their species? Of course I'm not talking about small things such as who can do this math problem, but in ways of manipulating people. Say if you took people from the ancient past, who knew nothing of politics and then told them this is what is true, and others are wrong, is that right? Some people would say yes, others no. You are not physically forcing them to believe in something, but it is not at their own free will. The sheep in Animal Farm are brainwashed animals, they have no will of their own. Political leaders use ignorance of the people to their own advantage every day. By ignoring crucial facts that would harm their campaign, they are blinding voters. Yet, no one would fully vote for them if they knew the truth.
So back to my old question, why should some animals be spared, and not others? Animals like monkeys, chimpanzees, dolphins and others are almost as intelligent as us humans. For this reason, we do not needlessly slaughter as we do to others, such as deer and mice. But some animals like pigs, who are smarter than pigs are killed. Why should this be? This is a deep question, and I won't delve far into this.
So, in Animal Farm I found myself looking at many modern politics today. Manipulating the ignorant public, hiding facts and crucial bits of information that would cause the animals to doubt, and the general idea that intelligence means higher in power. In the real world, these policies are true, and happen everyday. Yet Animal Farm was written in 1946, so was George Orwell's prediction of the future true, and what are the consequences?