Insurgent: The Book of the Month

Insurgent 

By: Veronica Roth 

The novel insurgent was a very entertaining book. I started reading this book on October 9th. The reason I started reading this book was because it is the next book in the Divergent series. This series is made up of three books, Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant. Insurgent has exactly Five hundred twenty five pages. The only reason why I was able to finish the book in this short amount of time was that it drew me in and I couldn't put it down as soon as I started reading. This book would most diffidently get 8 out of 10 stars.

This entertaining novel scored an 8 out of 10, in my opinion. To me this, scoring was based on how well the booked entertained me, how the book surprised me with plot twists, how the author used creative and inventive language to make the book fun, entertaining characters, thrilling action, and I could go on and on about what makes a good book a good book, but for now I will keep my focus to these small few.

The things that scored this book such a high score, stated above, should be in every book least once in order for the book to entertain me or even a broader arrange of readers. That is why I rated Insurgent the way I did. Main characters will allow someone to absolutely love a book. Even if that character is the antagonist. A lot of people come together by either loving or hating something together. The main character Tris, the protagonist, if I had to describe her I under 5 words, I would describe her as small but mighty. She has such strong courage to get her through so much. She isn’t very tall or strong but she does have charisma which is more than I can say for other main characters in the novel. Near the middle of the book, the antagonist, whom I absolutely despise, came to the safe house of the refuges, the dauntless, condor, and the divergent. He, Eric, came to the safe house and shot most of the people there, but not with bullets, with a serum, that puts people who are not divergent to sleep. And if you have any clue to what I am talking about then you should probably stop reading this blog and read the first book. So, anyway, where was I, oh yes that’s right the shooting of the serum. So there he, was at the front door, marching in and everyone was either asleep, pretending to be asleep, or walking around so confused as to what was going on that they might have gotten caught or they might have gotten out safely. Now so I don’t give away any details, if I haven’t already, I am going to let you decide to see what happens, or you could just read the book. Now be honest, were u or were u not intrigued at what was happening, that is why I rated this book the way I did. It has occurrences like that all throughout the plot of the novel.

Whaling: A Cruel Fate for These Creatures of Nature

Whaling: A Cruel Fate for These Creatures of Nature

            Japan kills almost 1,000 whales a year in the name of “scientific research” (McCurry).  There were 935 mink whales and about 50 fin whales that were slaughtered for whaling, or as they say, scientific research (McCurry).  The economy is really hurting due to this environmental issue.  There are even laws against killing all whale species for commercial whaling.  Not to mention the animal cruelty in this inhumane process.  Killing whales for all purposes, which still occurs in counties today such as Japan, should be illegal everywhere on the planet Earth because it is hurting the economy, it is against the laws to commercially hunt whales, and it is inhumane to the whales.

            The economy is seriously hurting due to the hunting and killing of the whales.  For example, Japan is spending $30 million a year sending out the harpoon ships to kill the whales. “Japan annually spends $30 million subsidizing whaling” (Zelko).  They annually gain $20 million dollars from whale watching, so if they stopped whaling, they would be gaining about $20 million dollars a year (Zelko).  Some may ask where all the whale meat goes, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, there are plans to ship 2,400 tons of whale meat this year to school programs, for children to eat (Zelko). Some of those children don’t even know they are eating whale meat.  The whaling industry employs fewer than 1,000 people, so if they were to be shut down permanently, not a lot more of the population would be now unemployed (Zelko).

            The law against whaling states that commercial whaling is illegal, but only for scientific research can whales be killed (Galbraith). The ban on whaling was originally supposed to be temporary (Commercial Whaling).  Since this law was passed, Japan thinks they have a loop hole to killing and harvesting these whales.  Some of the countries that use this loop hole are Japan, Iceland, Norway, etc. (Galbraith). There are some parts of the world that whaling is still very much intact into the culture.  “In some parts of the world, whaling remains very much alive, despite a world moratorium on commercial whaling” (Galbraith).  These are the places that use whales as their main source of food. When those places kill the whales, they are doing it as a means of survival, and do it much more humanly than just shooting them with a harpoon from a mounted gun and a whaling ship.

               Speaking of doing things more humanly, the Japanese fleet kills about 1,000 whales a year in the name of scientific research (McCurry).  Bill Campbell told journalists: “You don’t kill 935 whales in a year to conduct scientific research. You don’t even need to kill one whale to conduct scientific research.”(McCurry).  Slaughtering whales for “research” should not be happening. Even though other countries slaughter whales for scientific research, in most situations it literally means slaughter, some of them do actually use scientific investigation. The United States has been anti-whaling for a long time.  Ever since the movie “Free Wily”, people have had a much stronger and harsher opinion towards commercial whaling (Zelko).  On commercial whaling boats, they shoot the whale with a harpoon but not by sheer force with the hand, but with a gun that is mounted on top of the bow, front, of the ship. Once the whale is hit, they open a hatch on the stern, back, of the boat and drag the whale up the hatch to then properly kill the whale, if it hasn’t died of blood loss yet (Galbraith).

               Some critics aren’t as opposed to the idea of slaughtering whales for their meat as some, like people who are directors of whaling fleets.  In Japan, their consumption of whale meat has gone down in recent years so the economy of whaling has gone down (Barns).    Most people don’t like the idea of whaling but some think that the way the Sea Shepard’s use tactics to stop the whaling is wrong (Barns). Those people are the ones who are against violence.  “It is extraordinary that more Australians do not pressure Sea Shepherd to end its rouge acts” (Barns).  Even though that is some of their reasoning to continue with the whaling, people have hunted whales for centuries as a means of survival, in some parts of the world, which was the only reason life was sustainable (Zelko). 

               There are some solutions to the whaling problems that are both realistic and non-realistic. Some of the easiest realistic ways are to educate the young people (Barns).  “International education and marketing can help to steer the Japanese consumer away from whale meat” (Barns).  Besides education, there is a more violent way that the Sea Shepherds use. The Sea Sheppard could even continue their way of trying to stop the Japanese, honestly, a lot of people would prefer if they continued in a non- violent way (Barns).  That is the thought of a lot of people, they want something to happen but aren’t willing to use radical methods to stop the slaughter of whales (Barns).

               Whaling should be banned for good, even for scientific research.  The economy would be better off for everyone.  The laws against whaling will not be broken, not even for a technicality. Our environment will be more stable with a higher whale population.  When the whaling population is stable, and no longer threatened, the food chain will be stable. If we cannot have a stable food chain, then what can we have?

Works Cited

Barns, Greg. “Solutions Lost in Spray.” Mercury (Hobart Town): p. 14. Nov 12 2012. SIRS Issue             Researcher. Web 17. Sep. 2013 http://sks.sirs.com

“Commercial Whaling.” Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts            On Files News Services, 13 Nov. 2009. Web. 13 Sept. 2013.      http://.2facts.com/articles/i1400620.

Galbraith, Kate. “New Push To Abolish Whale Hunts.” International Herald Tribune: p.18. Apr               04 2013. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 16 Sep. 2013 http://sks.sirs.com.

McCurry, Justin. “License Revoked? Australia Takes Japan to Court to Stop Whaling Hunts.”   Christian Science Monitor: n.p. Jun 28 2013. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 11 Sep.   2013 http://sks.sirs.com.

Zelko, Frank. “Whale of a Problem.” Los Angeles Times: p. A.13. Jul 23 2013. SIRS Issues     Researcher. Web. 12 Sep. 2013http://sks.sirs.com.

"My Thesis Statement: A Work in Progress"

Whaling is a cruel thing that should be stopped as soon as possible meaning that the international government should stop all countries, including Japan,which still kills about 1,000 whales a year, should from murdering these whales for "scientific research".

Is the Human Population in Danger???

The issues in society today are in bundles of horror stories. Some that I chose are legalization of marijuana, gun control, and drunk driving issue. I chose three links with reliable information about these topics.  For the issue of drunk driving, I found the link  "Take the Technology Route to Cut Drunken Driving Deaths." USA TODAY: A.8. May 31 2013. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 8 Sep. 2013. This site is reliable because it has good information, was well constructed and does a good job of stating the facts that were needed. A site I found for gun control is Healy, Melissa. "Guns, Violence, Revenge: Talking to Victims in an Urban ER." Gazette-Mail: p. B.7. Jul 14 2013. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 8 Sep. 2013 .  This site for gun control was very efficient at stating the main facts. It told me what I wanted to know quickly, in other words it was short and to the point.  For the legalization of marijuana, I found the site Mozingo, Joe, Ari Bloomekatz,and David G.Savage. "Feds Soften Stance on Big Pot Growers." Los Angeles Times: A.1. Aug 30 2013. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 8 Sep. 2013   these issues were important because of their dangers to the entire human population. Marijuana legalization will lead to more people doing drugs, gun control will make people mad and want to use the guns for harsh reasons, and drunk driving is just dangerous to yourself, others and not to mention the damage it does on families and their relationships.

7 Hot Important Topics

7 Hot Topics

1.         War
2.         Poverty
3.     .   The chemical bombing in Syria
4.         Government issues in Egypt
5.         Online bullying
6.         The tornado in Oklahoma
7.        The shooting at Perry Hall High School

Post Number Two

Twenty Five Random Facts About Taylor C.

1.     Whenever I can, I go up to the barn to ride my horse.

2.     My horse`s name is Belle Of the Ball.

3.     I have a younger brother who is in the 7^th grade. I live with my parents

4.     I love Hunter Hayes and his music.

5.     I mostly like country music.

6.     My favorite book is Divergent.

7.     I love the type of weather right before a really bad storm.

8.     I’m not very good with computers.

9.     I plan on being a vet after college and vet school.

10.  I’m in Elkridge Harford Hunt Pony Club with some other people who go to John Carroll.

11.  My favorite color is neon green.

12.  I have black labs, Sadie and Izzie.

13.  My birthday is February 27^th.

14.  I went to Perry Hall middle school.

15.  I hate my middle name. A lot of my barn friends call me Crewsy.

16.  The highest I have ever jumped bareback on my horse is 3 feet 3 inches.

17.  The tallest I have ever jumped with a saddle is 4 ft. out fox hunting.

18.  Fox hunting is my favorite fall and winter sport.

19.  I have no idea what college I want to go to.

20.  I am nervous about getting lost and going into the wrong classroom.

21.  I am not allergic to anything so far.

22.  My first word was hi when I was a baby.

23.  The second time I had a riding lesson I got kicked in the face by a horse.

24.  I have fallen off horses about a million times and I have landed on my head about half that.

25. 
And finally a couple months ago I had to go to the hospital for a concussion, I was leading my horse out of her stall and she bolted so her shoulder and hip slammed me up against the wall. I blacked out for a little bit.

Welcome to my English Blog

Hey I`m Taylor and this is my blog.  This is an assignment for English class and I`m going to try to do this, but I don't think its going to go very well.  So here it goes. Its time to blog. Our class is small, we only have like 9 people. Any ways I`m not sure how long this has to be so I`m not going to make it very long or descriptive. I think that Mrs. Zurkowski seems pretty chill. Well I`m done typing so here it goes.