This I believe blog

 Don't forget those you love
By:Benny Cortez              
Death, it has/will affect everyone at some point. Whether your pet died, friends, or loved ones. There is a pain you will feel thinking about them and how they had an impact in your life, eventually the the memories will bring joy to your heart when you think about all the good memories. Vivid images will make you feel happy. Sometimes sad, but every moment you were with them you will be grateful for,

Even if you lost someone you had close feelings with, even if you hardly knew them. But you had strong feelings for them, you will continue to have feelings for them. Try as you may, you won't be able to get rid of the feelings or memories. But sometimes people don't want it feel the emotions anymore, so they force the memories away as if they didn't exist. They will still remember them no matter what, but they still choose to force the memories away. If you get the chance, you should go to where they're buried. Talk to them, make amends with them. Bring them things flowers when you visit, even though they might not see them. They will be loved from beyond your point.

I believe people shouldn't try to force the memories away, we should treasure the moments we were with the people before they passed. All you'll be doing is  hurting yourself. Even if memories aren't in your all time, simple things can bring a memory come back. I believe you should keep all the memories and feelings, they will help you persevere through tough times. Some memories can help you get through something you're struck on, if it’s work, school etc. I believe we should e joy every moment that everyone is alive and well. The good and bad moments, sad and happy, pain and joy. Even if you may not agree with everyone, it's best to be glad that you can still talk, see and hear them. No one is sure when they will die, or how it will impact the people around them.

Not long ago my grandfather passed away, I knew him only as a baby. I hardly remember him and how he looks. Pictures my mom has shown me, and stories help give me an idea of how he looked. Even though I might not remember everything about him, I'm grateful it got to meet him. My sisters never met him, I was lucky enough to. No one had seen my grandpa since I was 4, he moved to Mexico because he had other family over there he wanted to be with. Only a few family members knew where he was. No one contacted him. This happened in September or November. He had some flaws, his biggest was he loved to drink. Which was a mistake, before he died he lost his leg.

I've learned to appreciate every moment I have with my family, my cousins, grandparents, parents, sisters, aunts, uncles, etcs. I try my best to be around my family so I can make amends with them about all the mistakes I've made with or around the. In the future I will visit my family anywhere they are.

Everyone should keep the memories about the people who have passed alive, even if you may not have gotten along with them well. You will regret not being nice to them, or spending time with them. If you lost someone you loved, don't forget or push the memories away. They will comfort when you aren't in a good mood, they will continue to help you feel good about yourself and life.

Literature circle book and article blog

My essential question, why do people choose to drink and drive? This ties into the article because the articles gives information on how alcohol has made citizens to harmful things. In the article, it talks about DUI/DWI, and what outcomes can occur. Such as death or even jail time, every year about 12,000 people die from drunk drivers. In my book “ Notes From the Midnight Driver” a student named Alex decided to drink and drive while intoxicated. When Alex crashed, he was caught and sent to a police station. Weeks later, Alex was sent to court he was sentenced to 100 hours of community service. Taking care of an elderly man named Solomon Lewis.

Both authors partially use the same information, because they both help show/talk about the different outcomes from drinking and getting into accidents. They both tell how a police officer will determine whether or not a person is drunk or not. In the article, it states,”If the officer smells a strong odor of alcohol, you exhibit slurred speech or general incoherence you will be asked to exit your vehicle and move to the side of the road where you will undergo field sobriety testing. If you fail to demonstrate the proper motor skills or judgment to safely operate a motor vehicle during these field test…” This quote shows how police officers will pay attention to specific things, such as smell, speech and balance. In the article, it also says,”There is an average of 900,000 arrested each year for DUI/DWI and a full 1/3 of those are repeat offenders. While National averages have dropped by half over the past 35 years there is still an ongoing problem with drinking and driving.” This shows how people who drive drunken, are facing more consequences. The average number is still high, most that are caught have a history of being drunk and driving.

 In the book, the officer finds Alex on the side of a lawn. When he makes a big deal out of breaking a gnome, Alex begins to think he had run over a person. When his vision starts to get better, he realizes it was a gnome and laughs non-stop. In the book it says,”The Cop sort of puppet-marched me put to the horrific scene and forced my head down close to the carnage. This head was seriously injured, to be sure. It was upside down, smushed up against a tree stump…’Officer, dirt, did I-is he-is-ummm…’ Yes son. You ruined my brand-new shoes, smashed up your car, and decapitate Mrs. Wilsons French lawn gnome,.” This quote shows how Alex was scared because he was drunk and couldn't see that the “person” he ran over, was actually a garden gnome. When they get to the police station, Alex starts to act out. In. The article it says,”Sarge shouted across the room, "Call me an ambulance!" I couldn't stop myself. "Okay, you're an ambulance!" This quote shows how Alex couldn't control himself even though he was in need for serious medical attention.

Literature circle blog, "Notes From the Midnight Driver"

In my book Notes From the Midnight Driver, the main character named Alex Gregory. Got drunk and chose to drive to his dad's house, who got a divorce with his mom and dated Alex’s third grade teacher. Alex Crashed and a police officer caught him, Alex thought he had run over a person. But, it was really was a gnome. When the officer took him to the police station, a sheriff took Alex to the hospital because he was injured. When Alex woke up the next morning, his mom was next to him. While a Alex and his mom were talking, Alex’s dad came. While Alex’s parents were arguing, he wanted to know what was wrong with him. A nurse came and helped him out, while a doctor told Alex how he sustained alcohol poisoning. In the book it says,”Well there are several valid reasons for that. One, you came to us with a fairly significant case of alcohol poisoning. That's why your mouth and eyes are probably very dry…”  After getting out of the hospital, Alex had to go to court in order to defend his trial. Alex’s uncle was his judge. The case wasn't critical, which ended up receiving 100 hours of community work. Everyone at school was staring at Alex, one student named Bryan Gilson was messing with him. Alex’s best friend Laurie stood up for Alex. But, when the fight was over Laurie went after Alex calling him names. When Alex first went to the retirement home, he was assigned a “patient.” Named Solomon Lewis, Alex didn't like Lewis. After a few visits Alex wrote letters to the judge, complaint and requesting for a new task. Soon Alex received a letter denying his request, after a few days the two soon became almost friends. One day when Alex's mom went on a date, Laurie convinced Alex's mother to let Alex go put extra hours in. Alex advised Laure to not show kindness toward Lewis,but when Alex went to get ice. Lewis had taken advantage of Laurie's kindness. On Christmas, Alex surprises Lewis by playing him a song. Laurie comes back from New York and shares the news of how her mother got pregnant when they were over there. On New Year's Eve Laurie accidentally tells Lewis how Alex is only with him because of the accident.

Alex's feelings change towards almost everything. In the community service, Alex has learned to appreciate the time he has spent with Mr. Lewis. Before, Alex would try not to have any interactions with Lewis, but not he spends more time and helps out Mr. Lewis. Both have become friendlier to one another, Alex is spending more time with Mr. Lewis. With his mom, Alex has been trying to understand why she kicked Alex's dad out. Alex's mom has been on the edge since the accident. Alex is trying to get a better relationship with his father. Who now is trying to get back into Alex's life after he was blocked out. With Laurie, Alex grew feelings towards her. Especially since Mr. Lewis keeps suggesting that they're married and/or dating. When Alex told him they were going to have a sleepover, Mr. Lewis kept saying his mom should be around and watch them. Alex has started writing to the judge thanking her for assigning him Mr. Lewis. The judge said if Alex kept writing to her every few weeks, he won't have to meet with his probation officer.

I like the book I chose because different parts of comedy. Somewhere along the book there has been a part where it could get a small chuckle out of people. Especially Mr. Lewis who is a very interesting character. Even the storyline is interesting, a young boy who decides to go on a drunken joy ride. Soon after barely leaving his driveway ends up in the back of a police car. The feelings being displayed, for example annoyance. When Laurie volunteers Alex to get extra hour in, even though he had different plans for the night.

Quarter 3 reflection

My Favorite book that I'm currently reading, is The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan. This is my favorite because it is a follow up on the original series of Percy Jackson and the Olympians,  this was the first series Rick Riordan has made. This is my favorite book because it has most of the same characters from the first series, there have been more heroes (half blood as they're described/named in the series) that have been added which play important roles. Each character gets a chance to explain their backgrounds and how they managed to enter the camps. In my book they're two different camps that have different fighting styles and beliefs. One camp is Roman, which is the older belief in which gods were more violent. The second camp is Greek, which is more retro because they were believed to have gone extinct. Both camps don't like one another because of the different ways they live. The main characters who are in my book are Percy Jackson, and Annabeth. There's more  but haven't been introduced  yet. Percy Jackson is the Son of the god of sea (Poseidon in Greek, and Neptune in Roman), since Percy is the Son of the god of sea. He had the ability to use water as a weapon, Percy can also use water to move around when/if he is nearby the sea. Annabeth is the Daughter of Wisdom and Craft (Athena in Greek, Minerva in roman), Annabeth is a natural born leader and has great strategy in combat.

In my opinion, I've made an improvement when it comes to researching links that are credible. Now when I research I know what specific websites I can use to give accurate information, such as .Org, .Gov. The more I learned to find reliable resources, the better I can be when finding information in the future.

One thing I am proud of that I've accomplished this year is learning about the Holocaust and know some of the struggles many people had to go through in order to survive through the dark time. Before I didn't know that many facts about the Holocaust but as we read Night  by Elie Wiesel I began to understand what people (specifically Jewish people) went through when people were taken out of their homes and taken to concentration camps. Most died before they even were put into forced labor, it was a hard time because most were starved and killed each other for even a small portion of food.

In my 40 book challenge, I am currently on my 28th book, this is counting the books we have read in class. But I have read books in other classes, such as Social studies and science. The independent reading books I've read have been mainly fiction books. I've barely started my book, but when I finish the book it will be the 29th book.

The most challenging part of the 3rd quarter is when we had to make our own butterfly and analyse our poem and give explanation on how life was for the original author. To overcome this I paraphrased what the author was describing, such as the mass killing for no reason and the number of bodies and open caskets that were all over the place. Then, I tried my best to perfectly put where I wanted to add the information so it would go with the topic.

Since August my blogs haven't improved in many ways, such as spelling and vocabulary and grammar. My word choices began to improve, if I made a mistake I would go back and correct it. Didn't matter if it was spelling or grammar, I would go back correct the errors and improve them.

T.I.Q.A and C.R.A.A.P, T.I.Q.A format has helped me get better at writing. In a way in which I could get information from a website, book, article, etc and use it correctly to tell my claim and the facts that come with it. C.R.A.A.P has helped me find websites that are reliable when it comes to finding support for an argument that I've chosen.

I've learned that the world has many different problems that not many people try to fix. Such as animal cruelty, whether it's a zoo, owner, or testing. No one has paid attention to find alternative ways to not make animals suffer. Racism and segregation is still happening in different parts of the world. Slavery still exist, people are still forced to work with no pay and bad conditions. Stereotypes have gotten worse, specific immigrant group aren't allowed to enter the United States because of the background of what's happening in their original home/country.

Like I said before, my research skills have improved because now I am able to tell which sources are reliable and which aren't depending on who wrote them. The most source that I believe is the most reliable, are the ones that end with either .Gov, or .Org. These give the bets quality information, in which that can be trusted.

Life is beautiful blog

Life is beautiful is similar to night because Awhito is the Father of Joshua and is married to Dora, as they get onto a train about to be deported. They stick together, along with their Uncle. In the transportation and work scenes, Awhito does his best to hide the bad situations. When the nazis star telling people to "take a shower" and kill them, Awhito hides Joshua from the nazis. As in Night the prisoner help Eli and his father lie about their ages so they would die. The situations are different because in the movie the Father tries to make a bad situation not so bad, but in Night, everything is bad there's nothing good about it. Both the movie and Night are similar, because both of the fathers try to keep both sons safe, Elies Father helps keep Elie safe and gives him some of his own food. Another situation that is similar is when both families are forced to separate from each other. Also when they were being transported and put in the same train as each other. Awhito helps keep his son safe and hidden, he even gives him food and enlightens the mood. The situations are different because in the movie the Father tries to make a bad situation not so bad, but in Night, everything is bad there's nothing good about it. Both the movie and Night are similar, because both of the fathers try to keep both sons safe, Elies Father helps keep Elie safe and gives him some of his own food. Another situation that is similar is when both families are forced to separate from each other


By making the concentration camp seem like a game.  But in Night, the mood is constantly sad because all around them; there's death. One similarity of mood is sadness, the Awhito and Joshua are sad because they cannot see their Wife/Mom anymore. In Night Elie and his Father are separated from his Mother and sisters

Awhito really loves his Wife Dora before they were married, he would always want to talk to her and make her look at him. In the beginning they met when she feel on top of him when she feel from a farm. The second time was when Awhito spilled eggs on a man (who originally was suppose to marry Dora), he was riding on a bicycle trying to get away but fell on her, The last time before they married was when Dora was getting married to the man, but she rides away on a horse with Awhito, this is a little similar to Night. When Elie was put in a different unit than his dad, when they would met each other when they're in roll call.


In the movie humor is shown because everywhere Awhitu goes, he keeps bumping into Dora. In the beginning the car's brakes were cut, they weren't able to stop so they were yelling for people to get out of their way but no one listened to them. When Awhitu was in the farm Dora had fallen on top of him, the second time was when Awhitu was being chased by the man and he fell onto Dora. Finally, when Dora was going to marry the man and Awhitu took off with Dora on a horse. The most humorous moments was when Awhitu was pretending the war was all a game, to hide the different thing going around him and Joshua.

Beauty is shown when Awhitu kept on running into Dora and try to impress her. Then got married to Dora and had a Son. When the Jews were being transported to the camps, Dora told the German to let her travel with her Husband and Son even though she was Catholic.Another time beauty was shown, was throughout most of the movie when Awhitu made the whole war a game for his Son so he won't get scared. He did his best and tried to see his Wife, but in the end. Awhitu sacrificed himself to save his Son, and get to see his Wife.

Night by Elie Wiesel blog post

In the book, Night by Elie Wiesel. The book shows many ways about how Eliezer has changed in many different ways throughout the book. Eliezer has changed in many different ways from the beginning of the book, to the very end. The one thing he changed the most by, was his faith towards god. In the beginning Elie was very pious, Elie would always read from the Bible. Eliezer wanted his own mentor to help him learn more about Jewish religion. The man Eliezer found was named Moshe the Beadle, Moche would always help test Elie’s ability to explain why he prayed. In the book on page 2, it says,”Why do you pray? A strange question. Why did I live? Why did I breathe?” This quote shows that the way Moshe will try to teach him would make Eliezer think a lot about why he would do what he would do. It also states, “ ‘I don't know why,’ i said, even more disturbed and ill at ease.’I don't know why.’...’And why do you pray, Moshe?’ I asked him. ‘I pray to god within me that he will give me the strength to ask him the right questions.’ “ This quote on page 2 and 3, shows that Eliezer didn't know how to answer the question, Eli wasn't able to think about why he prayed. When Elie asked Moshe the Beadle, Moshe automatically knew why he prayed. Moshe told Eli he was waiting for god to give him the strength to ask good question to ask god.

As time went on, Eliezer became less and less faithful. Elie felt as if god has been wrongdoing him, as time went on he kept think why out of all the races. God chose for Jews, a specific race to be nearly be exterminated. When it's almost been a year since the arrival at the several camps. Eliezer is questioning god. On page 63, it says,”What are you god? I thought angrily, compared to this afflicted crowd, proclaiming to You their faith, their anger, their revolt?  What does your greatness mean, decomposition, and this decay? Why do You still trouble their sick minds, their crippled bodies.?”  This quote explains when people were praying at the end of the year. Eliezer was thinking negatively towards god, thinking how god doesn't help those who are ill or physically disabled. Elie is saying that god doesn't help those who are suffering in some way, mentally and physically.

Another way Eliezer has changed, is by the way he stays quiet when someone is being abused or hit. On page 105 and 106, when his dad was begging for water. It says,”My son, some water...I'm burning…my stomach…’Quiet over there!’ Yelled an officer. Eliezer went on my father, ‘some water…’ The officer came up to him and shouted at him to be quiet. But my father did not hear him. He went on calling me. The officer dealt him a violent blow on the head with his truncheon. I did not move. I was afraid. My body was afraid of alps receiving a blow.” This quote shows how Eli was afraid of speaking or reacting in anyway, because he felt as if he would be hit too. So while Elie’s dad was stuck, he didn't say anything.

Butterfly project

"We got used to standing in line from seven o'clock in the morning, to twelve noon, and again at seven o'clock in the evening. We stood in a line queue with a plate in our hand, into which they ladled a little warmed-up water with a salty or a coffe flavor. Or else thy gave us a few potatoes. We got used to sleeping without a bed, to saluting every uniform, not to walk on sidewalks and then again to walk on the sidewalks. We got used to undeserved slaps, blows, and executions. We got accustomed to seeing people die in their own excrement, to seeing piled-up coffins full of corpse, to seeing the sick amid dirt and filth and to seeing helpless doctors. We got accustomed to it that from time to time,  one thousand unhappy souls would come here and that, from time to time, another thousands unhappy souls would go away..."

I've commented on jacks, Antwon's, Alexis, Eduardo, Erik

Berlin memorial

I learned that there were many rules to take away all the rights that Jewish people had, the Nazis goal was to make all Jewish people's life as miserable as they possibly could. Jewish doctors weren't allowed to treat people who were sick, all transportation for Jews were taken away. They weren't even allowed to ride a bike because they had forbidden them to, everyone would've been either late or had lost their jobs. Throughout the whole day, only an hour was given for buying food, if people were working there wasn't a way to buy food unless you asked someone to do it for you. If people were caught on the streets, they were either beaten or thrown in prison. All radios that Jews had owned were taken away, so Jewish people wouldn't have been able to keep up with what was happening in the world.Before the rules started everyone had to go to the town hall to write down if you were Jewish or any other culture, Nazis tricked people into telling if they were Jewish or not. All these ruled were set by Nazis to make sure that Jewish people had very little rights.

The monument was most likely built to signify how the world was before, and how depressing everyone had been when they were ordered to live a life without many rights. It also payed a tribute to those who were strong enough to survive or get past the way they had been through.

I noticed that through the years, each law had gotten worse. In the beginning, education was taken away, but as time passed everything was taken away to guarantee that their lives would be miserable. Radios had been taken away so there wouldn't be a way to learn about things that were happening, home phones and public phones weren't available to Jews. So there wasn't a way to speak to other people, public transportation had been taken away. They either had to walk even if it was 15 miles away, or they wouldn't go to work and got fired. Bicycles were allowed for them either, they couldn't go swimming.

No public transportation would've been the most troubling restriction, if there weren't any transportation available. A lot of bad things might happen, people might die because they wouldn't travel to the hospital fast enough, if someone were to give birth. They probably wouldn't make it on time, so the baby might've been born in their home or on a street or sidewalk.