Paris Bombing Blog

On November 13^th 2015 a bomb went off outside one of France’s most beautiful soccer stadiums. The Stade De France known as the home of the French National Soccer Team and the French Rugby Team. A match was being held between Germany and France, two powerhouses of world football when at 9:20 EST an explosion was heard outside of the stadium, then 10 minutes later the next, and finally at 9:53 PM the last bomb would detonate. But these incidents were obviously no “accident”. They were conducted by the radical Islamic group ISIS and three of their many suicide bombers. According to http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34818994 “Shootings and bomb blasts left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded, with more than 100 in a critical condition.” The French and people all around the world had to deal with the topic of loss. Not only did the French lose some of their people, they also lost some of their passion, businesses were shut down, events were cancelled, and professional athletes were given time off such as Olivier Giroud who plays for Arsenal whom was given a week off to recover from the traumatic event as it happened right outside the stadium he was playing in. Loss is something that can only be healed through acceptance and time. Once you come to accept the fact who you’ve lost or what you lost you can begin to gain again. It was not until the 26^th of July 2016 that France’s president François Hollande declared war on ISIS. His statement read “Our country is at war. We are at war externally, in Syria and Iraq, and internally, against radicalization, against individual jihadists. [We are] eradicating the criminal networks, and we will continue. I also owe you the truth – this war will be long. What it’s aimed at is our democracy. Our democracy is the target and it will be our strength, because our unity is our strength. It’s with perseverance that we will succeed. In that way we will be able to win the war against fanaticism and pain, and we will win this war.” http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/07/27/27-jul-16-world-view-frances-francois-hollande-declares-war-isis-terror-attack-kills-priest/ But after 8 months was it really worth declaring war on ISIS?

Guest of the Nation Poem

They came as prisoners

They were strange lads

Our superior wouldn’t like how much we laughed

They met the old lady

And she liked them too

It’s hard to believe some of the things that we do

We lied to their faces

Then took them outside

After the first shot I almost cried

They came as prisoners

We shot them dead

But in the end they were still our friends

My poem is meant to describe the events that occurred in Guest of the Nation. Belcher and Hawkins were meant to be prisoners of war held captive by Noble and Bonaparte but they all eventually grew to become very good “chums”. Belcher always aided the old woman in the house even though Hawkins resented her and the two of them along with Noble and Bonaparte played cards together quite often. When intel was given to the guards that four of their men had been shot by the enemy they had no choice but to eliminate Belcher and Hawkins in retaliation. Bonaparte was never the same again. A major topic in Guest of the Nation is brotherhood which I portrayed in my poem. The beginning of my poem describes a happy relationship between the parties at hand but at line 6 my poem hits a turning point, it starts to become dark and miserable as the plot did in the actual story. It is also an accurate reflection of Hawkins and Belcher’s feelings, the two were kept in the dark and made to believe Noble and Bonaparte were their chums with Hawkins even claiming “They aren’t the kind to shoot a pal!” unfortunately things took a turn for the worst and Bonaparte and Noble met their untimely demise. A pathetic ending for such a promising beginning. Was it right of Noble and Bonaparte to kill Hawkins and Belcher or should they have found a way out to maintain their brotherhood?

Venezuela Rising

Venezuela Rising

Venezuela Rising depicted the country of Venezuela as a country divided. On one side you had the government and on the other side you had its people. According to Juan Requesens “ The government insists that this is a fight between the rich and the poor, between the Chavistas and the opposition, but this is a fight for the people of Venezuela.”(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwQcVx9-bpw) The government constantly fought with its people instead of helping it bringing about violence, inflation, and lack of goods. Violence was spread throughout the country as the National Guard bombarded its people with tear gas, beat them, and even shot some of the protesters. Granted some of the protesters did react violently by throwing rocks or trying to engage in combat with the protester but nonetheless the head of Venezuela Maduro’s biggest rival; Henrique Capriles claimed “Last year, approximately 25,000 Venezuelans were murdered.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwQcVx9-bpw) The amount of deaths affected the people of Venezuela greatly and led to a case of collective loss which is when mass people experience pain or sorrow from the death of one or the death of many. The people of Venezuela feared death so much that some did not want to go out in the streets out of fear of getting killed. A large number of people wanted to voice their dissatisfaction through protest but were also scared of the backlash that might occur because of it. In short Venezuela was a country in chaos and destined for ruin after their old head of government died and was replaced by Maduro with one woman to go as far as saying “Let all of the world know that we live in a dictatorship under Nicolas Maduro.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwQcVx9-bpw) But Venezuela is also one of the world’s leading oil producers being oil is the country’s main source of income. But would their production of oil be enough to maintain their economy?

The Hunger Game's Archetypes

The Hunger Games is no stereotypical book because it does not possess the abundance of archetypes most off us readers have grown accustomed to. There is no damsel in distress, no temptress, no Young Man from the Provinces, and etc. But of the few archetypes it does possess they are used to progress the story excellently. The Unhealable Wound comes at the end of the story after Peeta and Katniss win the games and the reader believes them to be on their way home and fully recovered however, during a post-games interview it is revealed to Katniss and the reader that the damage to Peeta’s leg had been so great that the doctors had to replace it with a prosthetic. This prosthetic for Peeta and Katniss meant they could never escape what they had experienced during those games because for every time and every moment they looked at Peeta’s prosthetic leg they would be reminded of the horrors they faced in the arena. Haymitch is also a good example of an archetype present in The Hunger Games because he served as The Mentor for Peeta and Katniss. Haymitch was the only winner in all of the previous Hunger Games to hail from District 12 and therefore he was the only option Peeta and Katniss had to be their teacher. Although they were not thrilled at first Haymitch seemed to grow on him by the end of the story as they listened to his advice and obeyed his commands. The Forest in The Hunger Games served as a place of safe haven for Katniss in her home of District 12 but then once she had entered the games it became a place of mystery and fear as she was unsure what was lurking around the corner ready to deal to her her very own demise. However, using her previous knowledge of the forest she was able to overcome said forest and win the games.

The Hunger Games Hero's Journey

The journey of Katniss in The Hunger Games is an interesting one. She lives her normal life in District 12 which consisted of hunting and selling her kill on the black market until her younger sister Prim got selected to participate and she decided to take her spot. Which is quite ironic because it was to be Katniss’s last time being able to be a part of the draft for The Hunger Games and she wasn’t even the one picked. Her partner in the games Peeta was selected and she met her mentor Haymitch, they all then embarked to the Capitol which was where The Hunger Games were to take place. They all then arrived at the Capitol and Katniss and Peeta’s abilities were tested by the game makers with which they both received high ratings. They were both later flung into the games with the other 22 contestants. The two were able to defeat the last remaining tribute aside from themselves and were then faced with either trying to kill each other or committing suicide together via poisonous berries. The pair decided to go through with the latter and as they popped the berries in their mouths a voice told them to stop, they spit the berries out, and they were crowned joint winners of The Games. The two were pulled into a hovercraft and then separated with Katniss being put to sleep. When she awoke she was told she would be reunited with Peeta at the closing ceremony and that the Capitol was furious about her showing them up. The two were later reunited and during an interview Katniss discovered that during the games Peeta lost his leg and had it replaced with a prosthetic one. The two took the train back to District 12 where their new lives and winnings awaited them along with an uncertainty for what the future held. 

The Hunger Games Themes

The Hunger Games is a book written by Suzanne Collins and it is basically a sci-fi book about what would’ve happened if we lost the Revolutionary War. A major theme of The Hunger Games is sacrifice. When the main character Katniss’s sister Prim was selected to be a tribute for the 74^th annual Hunger Games Katniss immediately volunteered to take her place knowing that if she did participate in the games death was certain for her. During the games Peeta also sacrificed himself to save Katniss when the other competitors in the games were seeking to kill her. In the process they ended up severely wounding him for trying to protect her instead of inflicting any harm upon Katniss. Peeta was super bold for doing that I was never putting my life on the line for a girl that I’m not 100% sure was digging my vibe. Another theme of The Hunger Games is survival, they literally took 24 teenagers away from their homes, trapped them in an unidentified location, gave them weapons, then said the only way for any of them to get out was to kill the other 23. Katniss already had to fight for survival in District 12 where living conditions were poor, food was scarce, and she was the primary source of income and food for her family as she illegal hunted in the woods outside of District 12 to provide for her family. But talk about taking survival to the next level. Being in The Hunger Games is literally survival of the fitness, the strong survive the weak perish. But not only did Katniss survive Peeta did as well, at the end of the novel they decide that they could not kill one another and attempted to commit suicide in front of the entire world by eating poisonous berries they were stopped however by the game makes because they needed to have a winner.