Winter Time

Throughout my book, The Glass Castle, the Walls family continues to live in all these places in the west like California and Nevada and Utah. For me, life has been the opposite. I grew up In Georgia and Minnesota and so the east coast is more familiar to me. The thing that I think about sometimes when reading is that they love living in the desert and in the hottest places in the country. They love the sand and hot climate so have never experienced the snow and cold of Minnesota this time of year. I think of back when I lived in Georgia without the cold winters and kind of always hoped I would be able to experience it one day but the Walls havent and dont seem like they want to either. The kids have fun exploring the desert and finding scorpions and snakes. In Minnesota the snow right now kids live a completely different way and decide to explore the snow piles and make forts out of the white fluffy powder. I think if I were one of the kids in Jeanette's family, I would be begging them to move to the cold weather. I would hate moving to desert after desert but they seem to like it just as much as I like the snow. I find it funny how kids with very similar back rounds can find adventure, happiness, and joy in the most different things.

Outside Reading 4

As soon as Mr. Walls loses his job, or rather quits his job to look for gold and more money, the whole family starts to return to their old lifestyle of hunger and madness. There is no food in the house for weeks at a time and so Jeanette and Brian have found ways to get food that many would consider as wrong. They go to play at friends houses and steal food while there or get food from other kids' lunches at school during recess. Brian got caught stealing a jar of pickles from the neighbors and had to eat it as punishment since it was spoiled. The family is starting to fall apart again and no one will do anything to change that or help out. The family also gets into a big fight when Jeanette tells her mom she is hungry cause she broke one of the unwritten rules of their family. It is to never complain and to believe that their family is actually living a big adventure. Thw Walls family tried to keep this long optimistin life and finally it is starting to break down and become more realistic. After Jeanette says that, her mom and dad get into a big fight and try to fight over who is to blame. When a family just breaks under pressure, you never know what is to come of it. If they will break up or if they will be able to pull through and find a way around their problems. I am curious to see what happens next with the Walls family in The Glass Castle.

Christmas is coming!

In December many people all around the world celebrate some of the most important holidays for their religion. For the Walls, they know that Christmas is a time of present giving and celebrating too. It is different for them though because they dont always have enough money to get their kids the things they want. Jeanne, Lori, and Brian had been to school long enough to know about Santa and presents so theire parents had to explain the situation to them. The Walls know it is silly to believe in Santa and flying reindeer. They also understand that life in the desert means that their is not enough money for the family to pay for food, let alone luxury presents. For Christmas, their dad decided he needed to do something special so he took each of his daughters and son out into the desert at night and asked them each which star looked the best to them. Lori and Brian both got a star for Christmas and Jeanne decided that the planet Venus was the best, so her present was the brightest star of them all. I sit and think sometimes if I would have accpeted a star as a Christmas present when I was younger. The answer is probably not because I had already been accustomed to the spoiled lifestyle of barbies and puppy dogs. The Walls can see more importance in the little things that everyone else takes for granted.

The Glass Castle 3

Reading The Glass Castle this week, I started thinking more about what it means to live in poverty. The Walls family almost takes it as a learning experience and choose to live that way rather than having to do it. They teach their kids the importance of life and survival skills and it doesnt seem as though they really need a home or civilization to live. When they need food, they kill for it just like animals in the wild would. When they need water they drink out of streams and riviers. Their lifestyle is the exact same as just another animal in the wild who doesnt have a home either. But unlike other people and families tha are homeless, the Walls dont seem to care as much. They find their way around all obstacles and challenges and tell their kids the truth no matter what. Their family as a whole is stronger because of it and is able to face anything that comes in their way.

Research Paper

For my research paper, I decided to do the subjest of cheating related to education. I thought it was ironic because in heakth class the other day, i had my notes out during class and my teacher turned onto the subject of cheating. We are in our mental health unit right now so the subjects of ADD and ADHD came up in class. I thought it was interesting how as im hearing about my teacher speak I can also look through my notes and annotations from class to compare. I never realized though that cheating could be related to self-esteem and mental health issues. So listening to Mr. Nilsen speak, I decided to take some notes on the issue and it has helped my paper greatly. Its just another reminder to me how all my classes can relate to eachother in different ways. Everything relates to other things when we least expect it.

Outside Reading 3

This week in The Glass Castle, Jeanette and her family have been traveling all around the US to escape the people who want her dad. As her sister, Lori, and her were talking, they started to think about all the places the had lived. They counted until they lost track at 11 different cities. In my life, I have traveled and lived in many different places but none of it compares to how much they move. When thinking about how their lives would be different, i realized that it is pretty much impossible to have any friends but themsleves growing up. Because of this, Lori, Jeanette and Brian all get along pretty well and dont fight often. I also think about how my brother, Chris, and I relate to eachother. In the beginning we lived in the same house in the same place for a really long time. We fought and didnt get along that well until the first time we moved to Minnesota. Through the move we became close because there was no one else for us to turn to, having left our friends behind at our old home far away. In The Glass Castle, and jeanettes life overall, my guess is that her and her brothers and sisters got along better than a family living in a city of many people. It seems that through the troubles the Walls family face, there are also some positive sides to growing up how they are.