Rebuttal For Elijah

The topic of child stars and more specifically, their behavior, has become open for scrutiny in popular media. With young actors and musicians like Miley Cyrus, Justin Beiber, and Selena Gomez acting in shows and singing songs that are marketed towards a younger audience there has been a lot of question as to how they should present themselves. Elijah has formed an opinion that is much different from my own, he said:

Young stars should hold themselves to a higher standard of living because the are supposedly kids role models, i am not saying that they should give up their live but they should try to act a little classy.

 I do not think that these actors and actresses should be expected to act like anything other than what they are- teenagers. I think that the media is to blame for the exploitation of these young individuals, rather than the actors and musicians themselves. The teenage years are the time where adolescents are supposed to be able to make mistakes and learn from them as a part of the journey into adulthood. These young celebrities do not have the same ability to learn from their mistakes and just be kids because they are constantly under the public eye.

These children are not able to have a normal childhood because they have to be fearful of how they will be portrayed in the media. I do not think that putting children in the spotlight in this way is healthy and it has been proven time after time that it does not result in well-adjusted adults. For instance, look at stars like Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, and Lindsey Lohan. They all had to grow up in front of the public eye, throughout their childhood they were criticized for their appearance, actions, and career choices.

It is in the nature of adolescents To rebel and make mistakes and when they are under a magnifying glass like the young stars of today, their negative choices (that are typical for teens to make) become known by the young children who watch their shows and listen to their music. I think it is wrong that we blame these teenagers for the way that they are portrayed in the media because at the end of the day, they are teenagers who are still learning and growing.

Maybe I'm so loud because...

First, I've noticed that Western parents are extremely anxious about their children's self-esteem. They worry about how their children will feel if they fail at something, and they constantly try to reassure their children about how good they are notwithstanding a mediocre performance on a test or at a recital. In other words, Western parents are concerned about their children's psyches. Chinese parents aren't. They assume strength, not fragility, and as a result they behave very differently.

This excerpt closely reminds me of the parenting style that I have been brought up with. My mom had raised me. My mom has raised me to be strong and in some ways, insensitive. In my house if you don’t have a thick skin you will begin to feel extremely insecure and saddened. My mom and I are two people who are very brash and we speak our minds and sometimes we can say hurtful things. People don’t realize that it has a lot to do with the way that she raised me, she raised me in order to not car what others say to me and to make the assumption that others feel the same.

    When I fail at something my mom expects me to bounce right back from it, and I know that it has made me a better and more resilient person in the end. In my family, tough love is a normalcy, and I’m going to do the same with my children. Tough love is an effective way to raise strong children who will be able to handle the realities of the world and to know that people will not always sugar-coat things for you. If children are brought up in an environment where they are given tough love they are better able to respond to the real world.

Chapter 11

Rahni Johnson, Regina Moore
Mr. Sutherland
Period 5 English 10
February 8, 2011

Animal Farm: Chapter 11

One day Moses stumbled upon a young lamb named Lammie who was being terrorized by a group of dogs. The dogs had Lammie surrounded and the situation causing instant silence due to his elderly and stoic presence; they watched as he started to speak and as Lammie ran away in tears.  Moses found this to be the perfect opportunity to get the dogs to help him preach the word of the Sugar Cane Mountain God.

“Okay listen up young ones, I had a dream, like the one Major had way before your time. In this dream the sugar Cane Mountain God came to me, he spoke to me saying he chose me to be his prophet. A prophet needs his followers, he needs right hand men. I am coming to you asking you on behalf on the Sugar Cane Mountain god to follow him, if you want to go to the sugary after life then come join me in converting people. I am your ticket into the glorious after life. So which road shall you choose? Will you go on the road that leads you to a burning everlasting furnace? Or will you choose the road that will take you to the wonderful, bright, always happy eternity?”

    He then walks away, not even a minute has gone by before the dogs take one glance at each other and start to run over to Moses and say, “Yes we want to join you, just tell us what we need to do in order to get to that wonderful place.” He turns slowly with a smile on his face and breaks down to the dogs what he wants them to do. in order to get the followers that will get him into the promise land for animals. They began to walk back to the farm’s barn house to get their rest for the following day where they would put their plan into action.
    They awoke the next day, prepared for what they knew lay ahead of them. They immediately started to preach the word of the Sugar Cane Gods to all the animals that were in earshot of their voices. The news spread like wild fire. They had something to believe in. When
the young animals heard Moses speak they immediately go over to him in respect of him because he is an elder. They gathered around Moses and his minions: the pack of dogs. No one needed to know what he was about to say because he had been saying it for so long. As soon as he started talking about how their lives could be they became hooked on every word that came out of his mouth. even without the intimidation from the that stood behind him and by his side. He had been talking for about ten minutes when the Napoleon and his minions: the pigs and the  humans came out of the house walking on their two legs towards them. Once they got the Moses, his minions and the other animals surrounding him,  they started to trash talk what Moses had to say. It started with Napoleon, “Do not believe him, what he says is all lies, he is old and is losing his mind.”  And after Napoleon said that, the trouble began to happen. Napoleons minions began to back him up which made the dogs react because they were ganging up on the prophet, so they began to bark and before a person could blink Moses sliced the neck of Napoleon and a by standing human.
    Everyone stood by in shock, not knowing what to make of what they just saw. And that is when Moses began to speak again, “This young ones, is an example of what shall happen to you if you do not choose to walk on the path of sugar, but instead choose to walk on the path to destruction.  Instead of me doing this to you, you will feel the wrath of the Sugar God and that will not be a pretty sight.” When he was done speaking all the animals were not even focusing on the dead bodies anymore because they wanted to know what they had to do in order to get to this magical place in the afterlife. By this time all the pigs led by the humans had gone into the house with fear circulating through the blood in their bodies. When Moses knew he had the full attention of the animals and he knew the pigs and the humans were in the house, he told the new followers that only believers could get into Sugar Cane Mountain, and because the pigs and the humans were not believers, something had to be done about them. With the help of the young minded animals they devised a plan to kill off the pigs and the humans, except for one who said he believed and wanted to go to the land of paradise. Moses gathered the dogs is a small secluded area of the farm and advised them of his plan to kill off the animals, it took the dogs almost no convincing to do so, Moses was their prophet and they truly believed that his word was that of the Sugar Cane Mountain Gods. The dogs were ordered to organize in the middle of the night and attack the humans and pigs as they slept but their plan did not go as smoothly as they had thought it would, because the pig who was supposedly a believer overheard what the dogs and Moses were speaking about. He informed the other pigs and humans, they prepared for war. As darkness swept the sky, the pigs and humans went to sleep inside the house feeling prepared and knowing that they would have the upper hand on the fight.
    Justin which was Napoleons right hand man was instinctively put in charge because napoleon was killed. The fight was over before it really started,  Before the crack of dawn the humans and the pigs crept out of the house with their at their sides ready for battle. They made it to the barn when out of nowhere one of the dogs saw them and came charging at them with his hairs sticking up, his ears pointed and his sharp teeth out. He looked as if he was about to have dinner when one of the pigs stuck up the gun and shot the dog in his shoulder and watched as he fell at his feet. The gun shot woke up the whole barn and the only animals to do anything were the dogs and Moses. When the Mr Pilkington and Justin spotted Moses coming towards them they both simultaneously yelled out, “FIRE!” and at that key everyone fired at Moses. When all the gun smoke cleared up they saw Moses laying on the ground with multiple gun wounds spread throughout his body. At the sight of this all the animals came out cheering and thanking the pigs and the humans. Justin stood over Moses and said, “This is a glorious day we shall remember, this is the day when the great Moses the prophet was killed.”

In Hell

    When Moses awoke he felt his body get hot, he started to sweat and as he looked around all he saw was fire, smoke and death. He did not know where he was until he looked up to the “sky” and he saw Sugar Cane Mountain. But that was all he could do was see it, he would never be able to touch it because he was in hell.