In the article that I chose for my final piece I used the quote “A statistic from First Family Aid says “about 30 percent of teenagers” are victim of harassment and bullying in high school” I chose this quote to use because it was a good, quick quote that had statistics in it. I used the statistics in the quote to further the understanding of the reader by incorporating it to our present day school life. The use of the short quote allowed the reader to comprehend the reading while not compromising unneeded length.

Throughout my blog I used many different syntax and diction techniques to emphasize the meaning of the article. I used advanced diction when I said “In the society we thrive in today, bullying is a very common occurrence” This quote uses higher elevated diction then the rest of the article to emphasize the point. For the Syntax I used polysyndeton “Bullying can lead to depression and anxiety and suicide and antisocialism.” This helped the reader understand all of the conflicts that result from bullying and showed how many there are.

In my article I inserted a video produced by a good that showed the life of a victim. I decided to do this because I believed it would help the reader understand what it is like to be bullied. This piece allows the reader to comprehend the feelings and reflect upon the article. 

Bullying

In the society we thrive in today, bullying is a very common occurrence. Bullying can lead to depression and anxiety and suicide and anti socialism. Bullying must come to a stop!

There are a variety of bullying techniques that are present today such as;

·         Physical: causing harm to one another by force

·         Emotional: targeting someone’s feelings to inhibit depression

·         Cyber: using the internet to harass another

·         Verbal: Using words to destroy another’s self esteem

Each of these bullying techniques leads to serious health issues and trauma that they may carry their entire life.  A statistic from First Family Aid says “about 30 percent of teenagers” are victim of harassment and bullying in high school. This painstakingly high statistic means that 3/10 kids in high school are bullied.  To put that into context my school has roughly 3500 students, which means roughly 1100 students are victim of this horror. Which also means about 2400 of us are standing by watching this happen.

The only way to stop this brutal mess is by standing up for them. If you see someone being bullied stop the bully or get an adult. I know you have all been lectured on this countless times in elementary school. But it is never said enough!

Together we can stop this epidemic. 

The book Allegaint is AMAZING! 

I finished the book this week and it is truly breath taking. The entire books is produced nin such a fasion that it makes you want to keep reading. I loved the entire book and in my opinion it is the best out of the trilogy. If you have not begun the trilogy then start it RIGHT NOW! Veronica Roth does such a good job in describing the charcaters and creates a format that transports you into the book.

I love how in the book she gives two diffrent perspectives to read upon; Tris and Tobias. When she does this it creates a special connection between the author and charcters. This allows you to connect and learn about and from the charcter.

Veronica Roth is a very talented writer who has written many good books including the Divergent trilogy.  She grew up in Barrington, IL, which is a southern suburb in Chicago.  She was born on August 19, 1988. She began college at Carleton College in Minnesota but then after about a year there she was transferred over to Northwestern University which is located in Chicago. She graduated with a degree in creative writing.

She has anxiety and goes to classes for it, and this anxiety may have helped her discover why to write “Divergent”. While she was transferring colleges she was driving on the highway which causes her to become stressed, in the moment she was stressed the song “The Open Door” came on and her brain was blasted with ideas. She thought about the lyrics and how they described bravery, this brought up the idea of “Beatrice “and how she was so brave. From there the story just flowed out of her.

Today I am blogging about concussions. I decided to do this after having a very severe one during my football season this year. I got illegally blindsided resulting in an immediate concussion. This changed my life because I was taken out of football for 3 weeks, I have trouble concentrating, and my grades have lowered.

 I was extremely lucky though; I continued to play that game and continued to get hit. Usually when you continue to play you get something known as second impact syndrome. This is when you continue to play and you get a concussion on top of a concussion. This can lead to severe permanent brain issues and even death. Concussions statistics are rising every year as players get bigger and stronger. 

The only way we can begin to stop the dangerous rise of impacts, is by coaching. The coaches need to begin coaching the fundamentals of football and learn the symptoms of concussions: 

• dizziness 
• clumsiness
• confusion
• headache
• sensitivity to light and sound

If you notice any of these symptoms it is important to report it to a coach or trainer. I read a blog on the effects of concussions and read about how to prevent them and how the national drug association is trying to limit them as much as possible. CLICK HERE TO READ IT

I have been frantically trying to finish the book "Allegiant" by  Veronica Roth so I could write a review on it but I decided to wait and publish that final review sometime in the future. This month I have been on a very strict diet trying to shed a few pounds, so I would like to talk about a very serious issue in America....OBESITY! Obesity is excessive weight to the point where you may be risking yours or others lives. . Obesity usually starts in childhood when you have bad health habits with eating and exercise.  America is one of the most obese country's in the world. I have attached the hyperlink to a blog on American obesity below.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/17/obesity-rate-levels-off/2895759/

The best way to keep from becoming overweight and staying healthy is by learning and following good eating/ exercise habits at a young age. Get up and go for a walk in the morning or go for a jog. Instead of eating that bowl of ice-cream eat a bowl of fruit with some whipped cream! The smallest things help.  Need motivation? Find a good playlist of songs or watch the show "The Biggest Looser". I believe together we can help beat obesity in America!

This column describes how Legos are literally "building blocks" for kids brains and imagination. They help a kid learn many life skills and help deliver some peace to parents.

Hyperlink to article: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/krista-ramsey/2014/02/15/krista-locking-into-the-magic-of-legos/5521245/

I believe that the line "In the end, that's the magic of these polymer bricks whose funny name is a Danish contraction for "play well." With Legos, kids build sturdy little creations – which, in turn, build sturdy kids. ?" This quote helps deliver the standing statement the author is trying to portray in her writing. When the author wrote this it helped sum up the entire column by providing a good finishing sentence that left the reader pondering. The author uses a lot of commas within the piece I have chosen, I believe this helps break up the sentence to keep it from giving the illusion of a run-on. Also the author uses a questioning statement at the very end, thus helping me infer that she is stating her opinion but also creating a question to let the reader create their own thought. The author also incorporates larger words such as "contraction" and " creation" which are larger then the other words, although they are not very big they are larger then the average in that passage. This was a perfect example of a finishing sentence.

Ramsey's writing format  usually focuses on what is going on in the society around us or about certain studies that may help our lives. When she is writing she usually focuses on the facts about what everyone knows then delivers what she has discovered, like when she said " in the era of violent video games and highly orchestrated "enrichment" activities, a humble pile of Lego bricks is still among the most captivating and creative sorts of child's play." We all know that video games aren't the best for growing minds and that Legos are a better substitute, but then she goes deeper and explains why Legos are better. When she goes deeper into the explanation you start to follow the facts and create an understanding on why (a certain subject) is better. "And out of all those wonderful things that adults want kids to master but never let them learn on their own – process, trial-and-error, deduction, elimination – chaos will turn to order. Meanwhile, a work ethic is built in: If you want to play with the toy, you have to make it first." She also incorporates passages like a over into her writing that tell you where you are or we're going wrong.

If I were able to ask Krista Ramsey 3 questions they would be:
1: why do you write about what is going on in the society around us?
2: would you consider yourself closely related to a reporter? 
3: where do you get your ideas to write about, news? Other authors? Online studies?