For my capstone project I worked with a foster care organization trying to figure out what the needs of the children in the system were. By setting up a gofundme page and receiving many generous donations, I was able to purchase many of the items we came up with together. All together I was able to purchase twenty bags and fill each with a water bottle, a blanket, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a notebook and pens/pencils, as well as an unique item for each child. With the money I had left from the donations I was able to give school supplies for the kids who are traveling around a lot. Throughout the capstone process, a few little lives were made a little easier.

"Historical Events for January 1839 - HistoryOrb.com." HistoryOrb.com. HistoryOrb.com, n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2015.

"Martinique: Fort-De-France, St Pierre; Castries Earthquake, 1839." Find the Data, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.

Word Unscramble: 1839 society addition

Unscramble the words below

RNEDWA AJSONCK  CAT

DINNIA PSIDRENET

MOVREAL TATEYR

Committed is the word I would use to describe Orson Scott Card. He has been writing for so many years and never fails to please a crowd. He used this job to support his family, so he put all he had into producing something great. He started writing plays and musical comedies in the 1960s. Although those were good and many people enjoyed them, he is best known for his science fiction books, Ender’s Shadow and Ender’s Game. He includes all the components that a quality story should have. There is emotion, action and suspense. Just enough to keep readers engaged.

Orson Scott Card’s, Ender’s Game is a science fiction book where a crew of children is trained to fight against very intelligent space ants, also known as “buggers.” There is one child in particular, Ender, that shows great potential in being able to defeat the space ants. The instructors of the Battle School push Ender beyond his limit by changing the rules on him to see how he reacts to the changes. This is where the action is the most intense. Ender has to face the challenges to the best of his ability and continuously exceeds the school’s expectations.  Throughout the book you go on Ender’s emotional journey as he is put in difficult situations that he overcomes time and time again. Ender’s Game is an emotionally thrilling book. You get in touch with the character’s mindsets allowing you to develop “relationships” with them. The characters’ vulnerability allows you to understand why they react to things the way they do.

On top of the challenges, Ender has his emotional baggage that he brought with him from home. His brother would always threaten him. If it weren’t for his sister, Valentine, he doesn’t know where he would be. One of his biggest fears is becoming like this brother, Peter. As he is challenged with more and more tasks, he notices that he is slowly starting to react the same way his brother would. The thought sickens him, but he can’t help it.

Card does an excellent job allowing the reader to know his characters. However, if he had expanded on the action scenes, the book would have been more attention grabbing. During the scenes that he spent a substantial amount of time with description, the book was hard to put down. If he had stayed consistent with that, the book as a whole would have been even more enjoyable. Even so, he is able to play it off by including the reasoning. The book spends more time explaining why the characters do what they do, rather than expanding on the actual actions that occur.

Throughout the book you see the drastic change in Ender from the beginning of the story to the end. There is a big difference but you can still see the person Ender always was. It’s an interesting way of writing because you are able to see the character develop, but you also see how they always think back on their former selves. Through Ender’s challenges, his inner destroyer starts becoming revealed. Ender always had this darkness inside of him, but never let it show until he was put into danger. That danger helped reveal how much Ender really was like his brother, but by then it was too late. Everyone had high expectations for Ender and he couldn’t change his ways now, the world needed him.

Card throws multiple twists and turns at the readers in order to keep them engaged. As the book starts coming to an end, so many things are revealed that help the reader completely understand why events occurred the way they did.  The book allows people to compare Ender’s end relationship to each character to what they were like at the beginning, and to see how each one has changed for better and for worse. Some changed drastically and some didn’t have enough time to change, but developed quickly. Ender was able to discover who was really on his side and had been for the whole journey.

If you are into intense graphic descriptions that make you cringe in fear, this wouldn’t be the book I recommend for you. This deals more with the emotional change throughout the actions that the characters go through. You are aware of everything that Ender goes through and you go through it with him, but you don’t feel what he feels until he refers to it through thoughts later in the book. There are other books following the Ender’s Game, so there are ways to discover what happens after this book ends. If you enjoy emotional thrillers then Ender’s Game would be a great choice to pick up.

Ender's Game

Orson Scott Card

A Tom Doherty Associates Book

Copyright 1991

324 pages

Science Fiction

Artist's Statement

Throughout the book Ender becomes darker. He “discovered his inner destroyer.” The sun setting shows how Ender went from an innocent little boy, to someone who’s nasty thoughts took action. The rain in the background turns into a thunderstorm also to represent how his character let his self defense methods get the best of him.

If you just look around you will see an ad, on the computer, on your phone, on the radio, you name it, there’s an ad there. As a young woman living in this world where not very many people are satisfied with how they look or what they have, it’s hard to stray away from bias. Whether it’s subconscious or not, just by looking at an ad I have a bias toward it, either positive or negative, but once I see the details I’m not so intrigued anymore. The pressure as the mannequins stare down at you while you walk by the store, the confident feeling you get when you see the huge red sale signs as you peer at the shirt you’ve wanted for months now, and the thought of having a bag filled with new things is just enough to make a person go into a store. Finding out the truth is the downfall.

I took two IATs one showed that I had a slight bias toward European American children as opposed to African American children, while the other showed that I had little to no preference between old and young people. I didn’t know that I had a bias toward European American people, because I am around both races all the time. The race test showed that I have a bias, but I am not entirely certain what kind of bias it was referring to.

The race test showed my bias toward European American children, by seeing how quickly I was able to press a key when the positive words were associated with European American kids as opposed to African American kids. This made me realize how many biases I associate with certains people, not just race. When you walk down the street, you see so many people, and no two look the same. Without realizing it you associate one person with a certain group and another person with another group. I personally try to stay away from men that make vulgar comments, or anyone that is loud on the subway. I associate those people with negativity and being rowdy.

My mom always tells me to either sit near the driver, or near a woman who has a child or children with her when I am by myself on the subway.She and I both assume that someone who has children is less likely to bother me or anyone on the train. If I am near the driver, if anything happens, the man or woman would see it. I feel safer when the subway is quieter, like later in the afternoon when not very many high school students are on it making tons of noise. I also feel less comfortable when I am the only white person on the train, because I don’t like any attention to be on me, or to stand out at all.

I also have a bias toward clothes, and associate what people wear to what I think their personalities are. If somebody is dressed with a similar style to me, I assume that person and I would probably get along, whereas someone who dresses in clothes that present themselves in a way I wouldn’t quite feel comfortable, I would think that they had a personality that I would not get along with. When I see someone in a business suit or dress clothes I tend to feel safer around them. I don’t know why, I just do. That is just one of the many biases that I have in associating people with a certain group, without getting to know them, based solely on outward appearance.

Like I stated before, the age IAT showed that I have little to no bias when it comes to young or old. The test was the same as the race test, I had to type a certain letter for positive words and either older or younger people, then they changed the associations around on me. I did the same or slightly different when they changed it around. I wasn’t surprised by these results, because I feel comfortable around all ages. I have more bias based on looks rather than age. The test also asked questions about how old I felt, what age I wanted to be and what age people think I look. I think that my responses to those questions helped determine that I didn’t really have a bias, because for some responses I stated a younger age, and other responses I stated an older age, so the answers showed that I didn’t associate being old or being young with negative words.

I have biases toward trendy clothes, but I won’t overpay for them. I am easily drawn to try on outfits, or shoes, or anything else that catches my eye, but I don’t dive into getting whatever it is until I know the details. A big part of advertising is propaganda, and making the viewer believe they are getting a better deal than they actually are. Again, I have a bias toward the way something looks or how I look. I like to project an image of who I am. It might be comfy sweatpants one day, and a dress and heels another, but I want the way I look to represent me.

We can’t escape bias no matter where we get it from. It may be from our parents, or from an ad we see walking to school. It isn’t something that is good or bad, sometimes, it just is. Bias is something that is natural. Without even thinking about it your brain associates one thing with another. Its not until you analyze your own bias that you realize how hard it is to escape it.

Oh, Woof, I hope teacher is nice. I hope she likes to play with blocks and legos! I hope she is like mommy and likes to read to me, or like daddy and likes to play with my trucks! Oh, Woof, I want to bring you with me, but mommy says she doesn’t want me to lose you in school. You’re my best friend Woof.

I hope teacher giggles when I tell her the joke I learned. I wish I didn’t have to leave this fort, that I could just stay here instead of school. You get to stay on my bed all day, it’s not fair! Oh, Woof, I’m scared. I hope teacher tells the kids to be kind. I hope the kids like to play doctor. Mommy said that we play outside with the big kids. I hope they are kind too.

Have you ever been to kindergarten? Did you like it? Was teacher nice? Did you get a prize for being good? Or a sticker on your homework? Woof, why aren’t you talking? Hello? Can’t you hear me? Mommy said I will make new friends there, but there are going to be girls at school! I don’t like girls. They like dolls and pink! Ewww…! I really wish I could bring you with me! Mommy can’t stay with me either! I don’t want to leave my bed, or my fort, or you, or my house. It’s not fair! I don’t want to go to school, Woof! Mommy wants me to go, but I don’t want to! I don’t want the kids to be mean. I hope they laugh at my jokes too! I don’t want to talk to them, Woof! I just want to talk to you! Daddy said it would be good for me. What does that mean? He said that I will learn to read. I don’t want to, then Mommy won’t read to me anymore.

Mommy thinks I should wear my Superman shirt! I think teacher will like that! Stacy told me school is fun, but she’s a sister! She says there are toys and paper and crayons there! Is she right Woof? Or is she just being a mean sister? Answer me! Wait, magic word… PLEASE answer me! You helped me sleep when I was three, why wont you help me now that I’m five? Can’t you talk?

Maybe I should make new friends, my best friend isn’t… can’t talk to me. If I bring you to school the kids might think I’m a baby. I hear Mommy’s alarm, I have to go soon. Bye Woof! You are good best friend, but I have to make new friends, ones that will talk to me. Bye again!

Does an individuals accent or regional speech affect how they are perceived? Around the world different accents and dialects have developed through the years. Right along with the dialect and accent development came the perception development. In the movie American Tongues, many people from different places in the United States speak about how they view other people and how other people view them, based on accents. The individuals, in the movie, who are interviewed also mention how accents or dialect affected certain decisions that they made. Language gives people a sense of individuality, but assumptions can affect perceptions.

At the beginning of the movie, the narrator is speaking about how people hearing the accents from remote mountain areas or islands of the East Coast region, view them. He also put a label on the people viewing the speech of certain places in the United States, when he said, “... may sound old fashioned to outsiders.” By saying the word, “may,” it shows that he is aware that assumptions are being made, but he does not have proof to back up what he is saying. The listener, to the video, is given the opportunity to hear some examples of the speech, but he never identifies what makes it be perceived as “old fashioned.” When he says “old fashioned,” he showing how the viewers are perceiving those with his accent. He uses that example to show one of the many categories people with different accents get placed in. The word ‘outsiders,’ is used to give the individuals that are labelling him, a label. He, too, is perceiving individuals.

Near the middle of the movie, a woman is speaking about why she left her boyfriend. She does not like how his speech reverted to his childhood speech, when they visited his hometown so she said, “...someone with those little accents was not going to crawl around inside of me, I was not going to have little southern babies who talk like that…” By saying, “who talked like that,” she proves that the language is what bothered her, not that they were southern. It seems as though she perceives this accent as sounding less educated than others. She wanted her children to speak like her, she didn’t want them to be different or individual. She assumed that if she married this guy, her children would have southern accents, which wouldn’t necessarily be true. It seemed that she had tied how he spoke, to her perception of him, which has now changed. She didn’t want her husband to be an individual and speak how he was comfortable, because she didn’t like it, and seemed to attach meaning to the way he spoke. It appears that she was not just focussed on how she felt about him, but how is southern accent would affect her and their future generations. She perceived him as a hillbilly, because he wasn’t speaking in a voice that she was accustomed or attracted to.

At the end of the movie a man is speaking about stereotypes, and how most people view certain types of people. In this instance, he was referring specifically to social class perceptions. He categorized groups of people when he said, “If you're a member of one of these stigmatized groups then the way you talk will also be stigmatized.” By saying “groups,” that immediately shows that although people are individuals, they get categorized. If an individual gets put into a group, then people will perceive him or her differently than if he or she were by themselves, or part of a different social or economic group. Using the word “will,” shows a sense of certainty; he knows that people will be stigmatized or perceived a certain way. By saying “then,” he is making a point that if you identify with one of the groups, it will cause you to be perceived a certain way no matter how you talk.

At Science Leadership Academy, students view accents as a good thing. They like that people are different or unlike everyone else. There are many quotes that I could use to show how people at SLA feel, but a few words that many students here have in common when they think about accents, are “pretty,” or “beautiful.” The people at SLA are open to differences, therefore when they meet people with accents different than theirs, they don’t assume that those people are less educated or will act a certain way. The word “pretty,” shows that the listeners have heard what the individual with an accent sounds like, rather than assuming that all people from that region sound the same. It also shows that the perceptions of people can be positive as well. When they say, “beautiful,” they show that they are being accepting and welcoming to each student with an accent, which helps those with different dialects to feel comfortable in an environment where everyone else has the same way of speaking.

Language gives people a sense of individuality, but assumptions can affect perceptions. These interviews show that perceptions of human beings can individualize or categorize citizens of the United States. Something as simple as an accent or dialect can identify or define a person. Even the social or economic group an individual belongs to, may cause people to perceive that individual in a certain way. This shows that people's perceptions of accents can take away individuality, by pressuring people to conform to a specific style of speaking. Another way assumptions can affect perceptions, is by people positively have an assumption. When one makes an assumption about someone, whether good or bad, others will perceive the individual a certain way until they can get to know the person.

Works cited:

N/A. "Documentary: “AMERICAN TONGUES” by Andrew Crowley." Web log post.Ravenouslanguage. Wordpress.com, 06 Dec. 2010. Web. 02 Nov. 2013.

Se llama Michelle Torrelli. Le gusta jugar fútbol y caminar en el parque. Su colores favoritos son azul y rosa. Esta casa está en Argentina. Esta es moderna y vibrante. Está cerca de una parque, unas escuelas, un gimnasio, un estadio de fútbol, un supermercado y un transporte pública. La casa tiene la cocina, los cuartos, el comedor, la sala, los baños, el jardín y el garaje.

La cocina:

La cocina es muy grande y moderna. Tiene dos sillas, una estufa, un fregadora, un refrigerador, un horno y unos ventanas. La cocina tiene una isla y un lavaplatos también.

Los cuartos:

Los cuartos tienen unas camas, unas ventanas, unas guardarropa y unos espejos. Los cuartos de chicos son muy grande. Tiene una silla, una mesa, una computadora, una cama y una alfombra. Los cuartos de chicas son uno sofá, unas sillas, una mesa, una cama, unas ventanas y un tele y un pórtico.

El comedor:

El comedor tiene la mesa grande, unas sillas, una alfombra, un tele, unas ventanas grande, una escaleras.

La sala:

La sala es muy enorme. Tiene unos sofás, unas sillas, una alfombra, un tele, unas sillas del brazo, unas ventanas grande. Tiene muy grande ventanas.

Los baños:

Todos baños son mediana y azul. Tiene una ducha, una lavamanos, un retrete, un espejo y una alfombra. ¡Tienen todo!

El jardín:

El Jardín es muy enorme y bonita. Tiene muchos flores, unos árboles y hierba. Tiene unas escaleras también. Hay una piscina y un Jacuzzi. Es muy moderna y divertida.

El garaje:

El garaje es muy grande y vibrante. Tiene dos carros y dos bicicletas.

El sótano:

El sótano tiene lavadora y secador y una barra también.