Journal 6 by Kyle Ciballi

Part 1
         Let me start with saying that I feel very accomplished from reading both of these books it feels good to get back to reading. My biggest takeaway from The house on mango street is that no matter who you are and where you come from that is what makes you who you are. You cant change your background. It made me think about how my hometown has had an influence on the way I am today. Sure there had been the rough times which includes family issues, some GPA deficiencies, and childhood troubles but that made me look back and say I can do better and improve, just as Esperanza takes the paper and all of her books.

        What I had took away from the novel A Long Way Gone is that war can change everything. It dehumanized young boys into soldiers doped up on drugs and killing for their whole childhood. These kids were brainwashed with nasty habits that had destroyed their own morals. They honestly got to a point where there were no morals left and the only answer was rehabilitation. I never thought that Ishmael would ever go through something like this, especially at age 12. Another thing I want to mention is Ishmael had demonstrated major survival skills and tactics. He had a great will to move on and persevere in this point of his life.

Part 2
        I thought the film we watched our last class period was different and very interesting. I thought that Rafe Esquith had a very unique way of teaching trying to connect the students with Shakespeare. I thought it was crazy how much the students retained of the information that he had taught. But I also thought that he was trying to exploit the kids home life problems. By saying on the film about who has drug problems and basically making the kids say it for his film. I understand he does a great thing for the kids growing up in a rough neiborhood. I just didn't like how he would exploit some of the childrens backround in the making.