Candy Bombers- Make Up Blog From Week of: 2/3/14

Pages: 1-100 (end)
Prompt: Give an in depth summary of the whole story.

    Candy Bombers, was a really interesting book! It's a Biography, which is a genre that I'm not particularly interested in, but this book seemed to be different! I loved the story, and the topic really interested me! The book is about a man named Gail Halvorsen, who was a U.S. Air force Lieutenant. It was after World War II was over, and the city of Berlin in Germany, was in ruins. Most of the people in Germany no longer had homes, a job, clothing or food. The allied powers, (Great Britain, U.S., France, and the Soviet Union) defeated Germany and then divided into four occupation zones that they controlled in a certain part of Germany. The soviets took the north-eastern part of the country, which included Berlin. Even though the other allied powers had their own zones, they still wanted a part in Berlin. So, the allied powers split up control over the city. Though, Russia eventually wanted Britain, the U.S., and France out of Berlin. Soon, the Russians decided to drive those countries out, by blockading Berlin. This cut off land and water travel, and the Russians wanted to stop all food shipments to Berlin form the other allied countries. Though the allied countries found a loop hole; they delivered the food shipments, by plane! Gail Halvorsen, was just one of the many pilots to fly the planes that delivered the food. He loved the satisfaction of delivering the food for the starving people in Berlin, but he really wanted to discover, and see the city, as just a tourist. So, he left on an earlier flight that was delivering food, and he got off the plane to see Berlin!

     As he was walking towards a car that would take him to see the city, he stopped and saw almost 30 children standing behind a wire fence. He approached them, and said hello, and they greeted him back. They asked him about his job with the planes, and about the food that the planes carried, but he could tell that they cared more than just about the food. He saw the hunger in their eyes, and realized that he had two pieces of gum in his pocket. He pulled them out, split them in half, and offered them to the children. They gratefully took it, and those who didn't get a piece asked for the wrapper to smell. Gail knew they most likely didn't get candy often, and then had a great idea! What if, instead of dropping food from the planes for the starving people of Berlin, drop candy out of the planes! He told the children about his plans, and they were excited, and asked how they'd know which plane would be his that had the candy, and he said when he flew above the children with the candy, he would wiggle the wings of the plane. So, the next day he filled up three small parachutes with chocolate and gum, and dropped it down to the children. He didn't tell his boss, because he was afraid his boss wouldn't be on board with it, but it turns out, he was! People began to get excited about the new candy being dropped from the sky and many people made candy donations, and donations to make parachutes to deliver the candy in! This idea that started with two pieces of gum, was really starting to take off!

     People were beginning to really get excited about the candy, and were also very grateful for it! They wrote Thank You cards to Gail, and drawings of what it looked like when they were receiving the parachutes of candy! Some people even wrote him letters saying they hadn't received any candy, so Gail would end up mailing it to them! He was just an extremely kind man with a big heart. Though, as he got older, he was reassigned to another job through the air force, and Captain Eugene Williams took over Operation Little Vittles (what the operation of the delivering of the candy was called.) Though people still continued to write to Gail expressing their gratitude for all he had done for them. He made appearances at different places, and was even a part of the opening and closing ceremonies at the Olympics in 2002. In 1970, Gail went back to Berlin, to reconnect with some of the children that he had delivered candy to, back in 1948. He met one girl named Mercedes Simon who had mailed Gail that she lived on a farm, and when the planes to deliver candy flew over the farm, her chickens would run around crazily, and were so scared they refused to lay eggs, yet she never received any candy. So, Gail wrote her back and mailed her the candy. When he had come back to Berlin in 1970,
he met her once again, with her husband and two children. It was an amazing  experience for Gail, and Mercedes had even kept the letter Gail had written her. Throughout all of his experiences, Gail was so pleased, and proud of himself for all that he'd accomplished, and all of the lives he'd changed.

Poetry Reflection- 3/7/14

Julia Swicionis

March 7, 2014

Poetry Reflection

Poetry can be a vital, real part of everyone’s life. What place or importance does poetry have in my own life?

I believe that poetry has a large importance in my life, but I really haven’t begun to realize until now. When I was younger and would get a poetry assignment in school, I would just write about whatever, and wouldn’t pay much attention to what I was writing. Though, now I realize that poetry can be much more than just writing down some rhyming words on paper. It’s an art form that you can clearly express your thoughts and feelings through. When I write poetry, (when not for an assignment in class) I really try to dig deep, and write from my heart about  my feelings and ideas, and some of the things I write about, help myself to even realize who I really am. Poetry is a simple way to express my feelings, and really helps me get out those hard to explain thoughts. It has helped me find myself in so many ways, and that’s why I feel that is truly has played an important part in my life.

Does poetry belong to everyone? How do I know?

Yes, I do believe that poetry belongs to everyone. Anyone can write a poem, and truly, all a poem is, is a form of writing that helps to express your feelings, thoughts, and ideas. So, can’t anyone write about their thoughts, feelings, and ideas? Anyone and Everyone has Freedom of Speech (as mentioned as part of the First Amendment in the Constitution) and poetry, is just speaking your thoughts through writing, so why wouldn’t it not belong to people? Also, because poetry is made up of your thoughts and feelings, couldn’t you prove and tell that it belongs to you just by that? When people are writing about their thoughts and feelings, those are their thoughts and feelings; their ideas, and they are just being written down. Your thoughts belong to you, and poetry is just writing your thoughts, so you can obviously tell that it actually does belong to people.

How does the life and experiences of a poet affect the poem he or she creates?

I believe that the life and experiences of a poet, definitely affects the poem he or she creates. You can see that this is true if you look at Edgar Allen Poe. Edgar Allen Poe had an extremely rough life, as he lost many of his family members and loved ones throughout his life, and had many crazy experiences to add to his already crazy life/lifestyle. His poems are a bit crazy, and can be extremely gloomy, scary and sad, which is because of the horrible experiences he had growing up. All of the sad and horrible things he experienced, also kind of caused him to go mad, which was why some of his poems were a little “confusing.” If Poe were to have had and amazing childhood, with two amazing parents when he was growing up, and a wonderful wife when he grew up, maybe his poems would be more light hearted, and happy, but because he had a rough childhood, his poems were more melancholy and macabre. Like I’ve said, poems are just feelings and thoughts written out, so Poe’s feelings and thoughts about his life, and his experiences, caused him to write a certain way. So, from this you can clearly see that the life and experiences of a poet, truly can affect the type of poems they create.

My Life, My Story; In a Nutshell- Where I'm From Poem

Bluefish: Week of 3/3/14

Pages: 100-150
Prompt: Make a collage that describes your book (in a nutshell) or includes images related to the story. Explain why you chose those images.

     I believe that this collage I have created really can describe my book, and truly does have meaning; it's like a visual interpretation of my whole book so far. So, I'm going to explain some of the reasons for these pictures that I have included.

The Bluefish cover and word- 
I added the Bluefish cover and word to just include an example of what the book I'm reading actually looks like. I also added it as a word representation. In the story, Travis (the main character) had been considered a bluefish, which basically is another term for someone who isn't very intelligent. Though, as the book goes on, you begin to see that Travis really isn't a Bluefish after all.

The word list-
I added the word list because in the story, Travis (the main character) doesn't really know how to read. So, his English teacher decides to teach him, by having him circle words in the book he is "reading" that he doesn't know, and then his teacher will make a list, and Travis will try to memorize and learn the words on the list. Though some of the words on the list might seem quite simple, they aren't very simple for Travis.

Small, Beat Down, House-
I added the small, beat down house because once Travis' parents died, his grandpa had to take care of him, and he didn't have enough money to pay the rent at the current house Travis and himself were living in, so they had to move into a smaller, run down, old house that they could afford. Though, Travis didn't like his new home at all.

The girl whispering, sssshhhh!-
I added the girl whispering sssshhhhh, because I feel this picture represents someone saying sssshhhh, about a secret; saying that they don't want anyone to know their thoughts or their life, keeping things on the down low. I added this because Travis has a huge secret, and though it was hard to detect that something was going wrong at first, people are starting to notice that something's going on with Travis.

The boy sitting crouched down-
I added this image to symbolize the loneliness and sadness that Travis feels. Travis lost both of his parents at a very young age, and he was stuck living with his Grandpa. He never particularly like his Grandfather, and couldn't trust him because of his problems with alcohol and smoking. Travis has no one to really comfort him when he missed his parents or had a rough day at school, because his Grandfather was the only one there, and his Grandfather hardly took care of Travis, so it was like he was not even there. Travis felt upset and alone all of time.

The word pile-
I added this image because Travis hardly speaks, and it's because he's very quiet, and reserved, but mostly because he's nervous something embarrassing or wrong will come out, and he doesn't want to risk the humiliation. All of the words represent everything Travis wishes that he could say, and that he is thinking.

The boy at the desk-
I added this image because the boy in the picture looks frustrated because he is having a hard time in school. Travis is the same. Because Travis doesn't exactly apply himself, he has a very difficult time in school. He doesn't process information as fast and easily as other children, making learning very hard for him, and causing him to get frustrated during school.

Burning out cigarette-
I added this image because Travis' grandfather smokes, and because it's burning out, it represents the want that Travis has for his grandfather to quit smoking. Travis is always coming home from school, or waking up to a smokey house because of his grandfather's cigarettes, and he wished his grandfather cared less about smoking, and more about his health, and the happiness and well being of Travis.

Dog-
I added this image because Travis once had a dog named Rosco, who seemed to be Travis' only friend after his parents passed away; the only "person" he had. Though one day Rosco went "missing" which Travis later found out was not true. Travis' grandfather had actually run over Rosco, and this information only made Travis' relationship with his grandfather grow even farther apart. Travis was upset that his grandfather had killed basically his best and only friend, and would do anything to get the dog back.

Dictionary Definition of Stupid-
I added this image because for such a long time, Travis, and many of the people that he encountered on a day to day basis, considered Travis stupid. Travis always was putting himself down, and every time something bad would happen, Travis would remind himself of how "stupid" he was. Though, people eventually began to see and realize that Travis really wasn't stupid, and eventually, Travis realized that too!