Unwind- Exploring The Blurb

Exploring The Blurb
In the not-too-distant future, teens Connor, Risa, and Lev are on the run for their lives. Following the Second Civil War, between pro-choice and pro-life forces, the United States now allows parents to unwind their unwanted and difficult kids between the ages of thirteen and eighteen: Their bodies are surgically taken apart and all the organs and tissue are used in other people. According to the law, the kids aren't considered dead, they're "living in a divided state." But Connor, Risa, and Lev, and thousands of other teens slated for "unwinding" don't see it that way. They choose instead to "kick AWOL," or run away. Unwind follows these three across the country as they travel together, split up, and meet again when their destinies cross in a Harvest Camp where they are slated to be unwound.


What do you already know about pro-life and pro-choice groups? What do these terms mean? Is it an issue you have thought about?

It is an ongoing debate on whether or not it is right to for pregnancy termination. People who are pro-life believe it isn't right to abort a child or meddle with a person's reproduction system regardless of the purpose, condition, or viability of the child. On the other hand, pro-choice believe everyone has the right to make decisions for themselves concerning their reproductive system as long as they don't interfere with choices that don't involve them. I have thought about this issue before, and I personally believe you shouldn't end someone's life because of your mistake but rather take responsibility for it.

What do you know about organ donation?  

Organ donation is a way for people to give permission to transfer their organ on to someone else who requires it.

Teenagers to be unwound are sent to Harvest Camps. Can you make a connection between the language used to describe this place, and other places people have been sent historically?  

The name of the camp relates to harvesting organs from unwound teenagers.

What religious connotation does the word 'harvest' evoke? Reaping what you sow- if you believe and follow what the bible says, once you die you'll have eternal life.
The term "living in a divided state" here is really a euphemism for what? Their soul being separated from their bodies and wandering somewhere else.
Can you think of other, common euphemisms? Why do people use euphemisms?
Instead of saying "someone died" people use "he passed away. Another example is when someone wants a person to leave them alone instead of saying "go away" they use a euphemism for it and say "I want to be alone"

What is the definition of legal?  

A rule that has been approved by law.

What about ethical?

Things that are considered to be morally right.

Do you believe that because something is legal, it is also ethical, or morally right?
No, because things can be decided by people with bad intentions or fools that have a high position whether or not it should be legal, ethical or morally right.

Can things that are ethically sound ever be illegal? Provide examples.
Yes there many examples of ethical things that are illegal, though sometimes it depends on your situation, for example, it is illegal to over speed or runs a traffic light despite being in an emergency.

Can you think of examples in history to support your ideas? Provide examples.
The German Death Camp that they used during the WW2.

Physical Education-Relfection

What I learnt in P.E?

One of the things I learnt for P.E is how to hold a discus properly. 

What is the proper technique you learnt and how do you do it?

I thought the way to hold a discus is to wrap all your fingers around for grip but turns out you only need to place it in your hand and let gravity do its work, your momentum keeps the discus in place by swinging your hands back and forth.

Did I improve?

I'd like to say that I improved by a tiny bit now that I know how to do it properly, it made me feel more comfortable on how to handle a discus however I'm still not 100% confident.

What else do I want to improve on?

Something else I want to work on is my javelin skills, I still don't know how to properly throw it to land on the ground standing up.

What can I do to further improve on that event? 

Keep practising my throws until I do it properly.

https://gfycat.com/gifs/search/javelin

History of the Slave Trade Triangle.

(Click on lines and pins for information)

What is the Slave Trade Triangle?
It is where countries (from the Americas, Africa and Europe) trade raw materials like cotton, tobacco, and sugar in exchange for slaves from Africa. Slaves are often sold by African chiefs for weapons and auction to the highest bidder. They travel compact in a ship across Europe and America stack on top each other just to fit everyone in one trip.

Where did the Slave Trade Triangle occur?
It occurred mainly in the Americas, Africa, and Europe.

When did it happen?
It happened in the 1400s to the 1500s before there were many laws.

Why did it happen?
It's a way for slaves to pay for their debt and buyers to make more money due to the production of work increasing and slaves only getting paid by food, water and shelter.

Unwind-Examining The Cover

Must Do Questions:

How do you think this story will be written?
I think this will be written in a way most teenagers would understand but at the same time contain words that would require to search the meaning up for.

Why do you think this story as is entitled as it is?
Unwinding is to undo, maybe this story is titled this way to show how parents decide to undo what they've conceived and decide to end their child's life by separating each, limbs, organs, bones in their bodies. 

Where do you think the story will take place?
I think the story takes place in the United States of America, from watching a lot of dystopian movies most are set in the U.S.A.

What time period do you think this story is set in?
I see this taking place in the future maybe 1000 years from now, due to the technology we might have then and maybe the population getting too big for the earth to handle. 

Dystopia

Dystopia Literature

Name 3 synonyms of Dystopia.

1. Chaos
2. Misery
3. Apocalyptic

What is the antonym of Dystopia?
Utopia

Which dystopian novels have you read?
Lockwood & Co
The Giver

Which dystopian movies have you watched?
5th wave
The Giver
Zombie land
World war Z
Train To Busan
Bird Box
Jurrasic Park
10 Clover Field Lane

How many others can you name?
Hunger Games
Divergent

Human Rights

 What you find interesting? 
I found it interesting how long it took for it to be spread across the world and is still a thing that every country is working on.

What you already know?
I know that the set of human rights rules was decided upon by the United Nations.

What you would like to learn next?
I don't know.

Critical Literacy- Reflection

What do you think Critical Literacy is?
Critical Literacy is thinking outside the box and deeply analyzing the text that involves asking questions like what is the author's purpose is, whose views are you not seing, what social reality does this portray and who benefits from the text.

What did you learn during Critical Literacy?
There so much more than just reading and enjoying a book. There might be hidden messages or information that hasn't been written directly.

What did you find challenging during Critical Literacy?
Finding information about an article to see if it's fake or real and also going deeper and reading sentences word by word to see if there's anything wrong or if it gives any clues

How will use Critical Literacy skills in real life?
There are many ways you can use Critical Literacy in real life. For example, reading news website, not all websites give the correct information so you have to look for the date, references if it has any bias or agenda and if the author knows a lot about it. Same goes with Advertisement and Songs to see if there's any subliminal messages.

What are you looking forward to English this year?
I'm looking forward to improving my writing and having a better vocabulary I can use for everyday life.