Independent Reading Blog Post

The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Southern Gothic

Summary - The Road is about an unnamed father and son duo in a post-apocalyptic world. People have turned savage and are out to find food any way they can, but the boy and father strive to find safety as they head towards the sea. Their goal was simple: to find other people who were like them and not savage. Throughout their journey towards the sea they encounter many difficulties and problems, including the father's ever present illness looming over them.

Reflection - I thought this book was really amazing. I have always been a fan of books that are set in the not too distant future and that have elements of fear as well as compassion. I would definitely recommend 'The Road' for anybody who likes books that have a lot of different layers to them and that are a bit scary but that also have a lot of family aspects to them.

http://mareigh.glogster.com/The-Road-/

Blog Post # 3

Reflection - The racism that was described was simply disturbing. When I was reading the article I was wondering if this incident took place several decades ago; but it was so much more recent than I had first thought. It's unbelievable how some people can treat others so terribly just because of the color of their skin, and that law officials could be so biased that they would charge only the black kids so harshly for seemingly harmless crimes. What really made me mad was that the white kids had beaten up a black student at a party, and were not charged for anything at all, but when the black students beat up the white student they were charged outrageously. 22 years in prison for a schoolyard fight seems like a ridiculous punishment to me. When I read that a white man threatened some black students with a gun, and in defense, the students wrestled the gun away from him, I was shocked and appalled to realize that the students were charged for gun theft, and the man didn't even have a mark on his record. This whole story makes me sick because it is so unfair what is going on in certain towns. I couldn't imagine such a segregated school, although some aspects of our school sometimes seem segregated like in the lunch rooms when there are some tables with only white students or some tables with only black students.

Further Research Into The Case - The six black students were held with bail set at a ridiculously high amount of $90,000 to roughly $140,000. The students could have been faced with up to 100 years in prison if they were charged with second-degree attempted murder or conspiracy to murder, but instead they were charged with aggravated second-degree battery and charged with 22 years in prison.