PLN 3

In the book "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck, Kino finds a pearl that gives him great power and the chance to help his family. Some options he obtains are giving his son an education, Buying new clothes for his family, and buying a gun as a symbol of power. Kino wants his son Coyotito to receive an education: “Kino looked at his neighbors fiercely. My son will go to school, he said and the neighbors were hushed. Juana caught her breath sharply. Her eyes were bright as she watched him, and she looked quickly down at Coyotito in her arms to see whether this might be possible.” This quote shows how, as a result of obtaining the pearl Kino has many more options. His son Coyotito will receive an education and better his life overall. Kino wants to buy new clothes so that his family's lives could be more normal. “ In the pearl he saw how they were dressed – Juana in a shawl stiff with newness and a new skirt, and from under the long skirt Kino could see that she wore shoes. It was in the pearl – the picture glowing there. He himself was dressed in new white clothes, and he carried a new hat- not of straw but of fine black felt – and he too wore shoes- not sandals but shoes that laced.” Gaining the money from selling the pearl would definitely improve the poor and dirty predicament they are in. Not having shoes greatly affects Kino's and Juana's life because Juana needs to go out and farm so she can make the corn cakes that they eat and Kino is a pearl diver and hunter so shoes would make him faster when trying to kill an animal. Kino wants to buy a rifle so he can hunt and so he can have power: “And Kino saw Kino in the pearl, Kino holding a Winchester carbine. It was the rifle that broke down the barriers. For it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more. A man in the rear murmured, “A rifle. He will have a rifle.” I like how Kino wants a rifle because it gives him the power to refuse people demands. Many of the townspeople take advantage of him and that is partially why he doesn't live in the city. When making business deals with people he can have the upperhand because the buyer won't haggle and ask for more than what he is paying for. A rifle would also increase the amount of protection the family has. When a scorpion comes in and is trying to sting little Coyotito rather than having Juana chant black magic Kino can shoot it. Gaining the pearl and the power that comes with it would make Kino's family thrive more because Coyotito will be educated, they will have new clothes and be treated better , and Kino will be able to make better deals and protect his family with his rifle.

PLN 2

In the book "Father Fiction" by Donald Miller his father is a character that was once good but turned into a bad person because he left his son, his son had to look for a male role model, and it left his son wondering about certain things. I think that fathers do this because they are intimidated by the kid and will have to fight for attention. This would explain why they go off and find other women and leave their old families behind. Don in the book continuously is finding new role models and watching them fail one by one. Finally he just resorts to religion and spirituality so God could be his father. Don didnt know certain things when it came to being social and relating to other people. When he got older he moved in with a family and learned a lot about Dads and what they are supposed to teach their sons. Fathers that leave their old families are bad people to me because that does some damage on the members of the family that can never be repaired.

PLN 1

In the book "Father Fiction" by Donald Miller, he describes the feelings and problems he went through because he didn't have a father. This relates to me because I only see my Dad once every 4 months. some things in the book I don't really understand because it gets so spiritual. It makes the book a little less my style because I don't believe in God. I got to wondering why he relied so much on a supernatural being rather than figuring things out and moving on. On the positive side it made me think about who I should pick as a male role model and how it will affect me in the future. That decision will help reduce the amount of mistakes a make. The book continues with what relationships and things like that will be without a father. I am more of a figure things out as they come and by myself so I will have to wait to see if I relate to any of that stuff. Overall I enjoy the book and what it makes me think about.

PLN 26

Today more than 100 Denver high school students marched to the Capital to protest the Arizona immigration law. Many people are upset with this new law and wanted to join the march. One student wanted to play baseball in Arizona but with this new law he is afraid he would be asked if he was illegal. This matters because that was his dream and now he has to think of a new one.

PLN 24

There is a new law in Arizona that lets police officers pull suspicious looking people aside and ask for there immigration papers. This is very wrong because if there is a racist cop they will just go up to the illegal looking people and ask for their papers. This matters because it lets cops discriminate. Many people are protesting this and i agree with them. This relates to what i was learning in history, civil rights.

PLN 25

In the article " Denver schools ban employee travel to Arizona over immigration law" by Heather McWilliams it says that Denver public school employees will not be allowed to go to Arizona on work related things using the schools funds. Many other schools are doing the same thing in protest to the new Arizona law. This matters because many people disagree with cops just pulling random people aside just because they look like they are illegal immigrants. I really disagree with what the new immigration law. This could end up turning into the next civil rights movement.

PLN 21

In the article "Fossil Skeletons may be Human" it talks about how some skeletons of what scientists believe were the immediate ancestors of humans would be in South Africa. A young male and an adult woman were found. They have longer arms than us but the facial structure is very similar. The estimated brain size of the skeletons are a lot less than a humans though. This matters because this is a big discovery of our past. The skeletons were from about 2 million years ago.