Jessica’s Blog!

As soon as the banned books project was introduced, I knew it was going to be a fun project. As i scrolled down the list of banned books, several books interested me and caught my attention. Eventually I decided to go with Phillip Pullman’s The Golden Compass, the first of the His Dark Materials trilogy. I have read this book before, and I was immediately drawn to the mysterious alternate universe and the slight science fiction/fantasy genre. 

However, I did not choose this book merely because I had read it before and thought it would be easier to do a book that I had already read, although that is part of the reason. The other part is the curiosity of reading it from a banned perspective. While I was reading it before, I had never thought about how it might offend some people or cause it to be banned. I came across some controversies before about The Golden Compass that had to do with religious matters, but I never thought anything of the religious value of the book. In fact, I completely missed the religious part of it. It will be very interesting to see what I can find about the controversies, and maybe this time spot some religious factors or other things that might have caused this book to be banned.

This week’s topic was a great surprise for me. I was expecting something that required some thinking and evaluating. It was kind of a relief to write about something fun for once. As much as I would love to elaborate on how cute penguins are, the question asks specifically what is the first thing that comes to mind. As soon as I glanced at the page, the word “penguin” jumped out. The first thing I thought of was of an avatar with a fat generic looking cartoon penguin on it. Accompanying it was the phrase “I may look safe, but as soon as I get you alone, I will eat you.” Immediately I thought this was insanely cute, due to the fact that the penguin’s facial expression made me feel as if it were trying to be serious, but it failed and just looked cute instead. I forgot where I have seen this picture, maybe it was a facebook bumper sticker, maybe a gmail avatar, but it stuck in my head for years, jumping out whenever I see the word “penguin”.

So it’s halfway into the semester already! I can’t believe it; it seems like just a few days ago I was worrying about forgetting my locker combination or making it to class without getting lost. Now it is only a few weeks before winter break! So many days have passed, so many things have come and gone. 

So far, fall has been living up to my expectations. I am finding high school to be much more enjoyable than middle school, what with the longer lunches and locker breaks. I have made many new friends, and my clubs that I have been attending are very fun. The early release days and school events are also a bonus. However, high school has burdened me with a much higher workload, and it will take some time to get accustomed to this. 

I have yet to experience the fall holidays of this year, including Thanksgiving and Halloween, but I am looking forward to those because my family always goes somewhere fun. I am anticipating many more schoolwide events and get togethers with friends. Hopefully because I am in high school now, my parents will give me more freedom over which kinds of friends I make.

When i first came across this prompt, it surprised me a little when I found out that I never really thought about the color of love. I knew that society often associates the colors red, pink, and white with love, but i never really knew why. Upon further evaluation, I came to the conclusion that red is indeed the color of love. Red to me is a very deep, rich color. It can be used to describe many things, from angry blood to the cheerful carnival balloons a child is desperately clutching. Red is also a primary color, one of the building blocks to other colors. Is not love a basic need, one that everyone longs for and builds upon? Red can represent an entire range of emotions, depending on which shade or intensity it is. A dark, dull red is the tragic ending to a movie. A bright red is the merry face of a child who has played for hours in the snow. Add orange to the red, and it becomes a heartwarming fire. Add purple, and it turns into a blooming spring flower. Red can change personalities very easily, as can love. It represents the complexities and all the different kinds of love there are.