Weekly Blog for English

  Do You Feel Your School and Teachers Welcome Both Conservative and Liberal Points of View? (warning: very opinionated) No. I think that it's either impossible or rather extremely hard to be welcome to both conservatives and liberals. I've seen both spectrums myself; I live in a small town with mostly conservatives, and it is them and not the school that creates the school culture. My grade and middle school were always striving to be as neutral as possible on things, not trying to be either conservative or liberal with school decisions. However, the students and teachers (who were almost all conservative) would interpret all of the school's actions as conservative. If the principal would mention something liberal, the students would say "oh, they're just saying that. Can't blame them" or something along those lines. At Uni, the majority of students and teachers are openly liberal which is much, much different than my old school. Seeing both conservativ...

     Humanity has always used both artificial and natural materials to create tools and products we see today. Many famous examples are plastic, wood, steel, you name it. Ever since we began making tools we’ve seen the need to search for better and better materials to make them. So when two researchers discovered a material that could conduct electricity (extremely well), many times stronger than steel, flexible (sort of), but also insanely thin, the science community couldn’t believe their eyes. Had we just stumbled on something too good to be true? If so, why hasn’t it been widespread across the industry? Not only will this blog describe the power of graphene, it explains why it is so influential and will change our world for the better.            To start, what even is graphene? Graphene is a material that is the building block of graphite (the stuff gray stuff in your pencils) that is quite literally 2 dimensional, its thickness bei...

  All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a romance novel written by Jenny Han. The main character, Lara Jean, wrote love letters to “all the boys she has loved before”  spanning from her childhood to her (current) junior year. Written as if “he’ll never read it. Because he never will.” (Han 1), the book focuses on Lara Jean as she attempts to recover her life and reputation after her letters get mistakenly sent out to their recipients. When five of Lara Jean's letters were sent out, the story's main plot only focuses on two: Peter Kavinsky and Josh Sanderson. All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a very well-known book, awarded with a sequel to the book and a movie adaptation of the novel. Despite its high praise, I personally did not like All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. While the main premise of the novel is romance, all of the romantic relationships in the book seem toxic.  Josh Sanderson is the “first” love interest introduced in the book. His character fits the stereotype o...

I am currently reading the book “Always and Forever, Lara Jean” by Jenny Han. The book is the third one in the trilogy “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.” I have read all three books before and I’ve watched the movies but each time I read it, the book just gets better and better. The book is about Lara Jean and her boyfriend Peter Kavinsky and how they overcome their problems in their last year in high school. Peter got an early decision in UVA, a college near where Peter and Lara Jean lives. Lara Jean has always wanted to go to UVA so that she could be closer to her family and now so that she can be close to Peter as well. Lara Jean later finds out that she didn’t get into UVA. She is devastated because it’s what she wanted all her life. Lara Jean gets scared that she won’t get in at any other college and she also starts to worry that she and Peter will start losing touch with each other.   Lara Jean gets into another college that is not in the state of Virginia. She and her fri...

  (this blog will contain minor spoilers) The novel Unwind is a book revolving around a terrifying concept. In this future world, parents can choose to “unwind” their child once they turn 13 years old but not after they turn 18. The process of “unwinding” kills the child, and their body parts and organs are given to other people. This book’s ideas cover very controversial issues, mainly abortion, but also society in general. The concept of teenager’s lives being held at their parent’s hands is very frightening, and the author does not shy away from the dark implications that the concept has. While the book has 3 main characters, the story seems to mostly focus on Conner. He is 16 years old and not a good example of a mature and responsible teenager. Although he is quite smart, he gets bad grades, rebels against the school, treats his parents badly, gets in many fights, and more. His parents decide that the best option is to have him unwound. They try to keep this information from C...

“Dear you, / The body you are currently wearing used to be mine.” (O’Malley 1). “The Rook” by Daniel O’Malley is a book surrounding a supernatural secret agency based in London. The main character, Myfanwy (pronounced “Miffany”), has to navigate the agency after waking up with no memory of any events of her life beforehand. The book quickly develops into both a thriller and mystery, as Myfanwy finds someone in the organization is chasing after her wanting to kill her.  I’ve read many books with beautifully written intros that make readers desperately want to keep reading. However, there are only a few books I’ve read where the amazing intros carried through the rest of the book. Additionally, it’s a slight pet peeve when reading a book where the writing seems to slowly fall off after the first chapter. I have to admit, that “The Rook” is one of those books. In this blog, I want to break down what I thought made the first few pages of the book so intriguing.  The book begins wi...