1st Semester is Coming to an End!

Well, we thought we were done with our blogs after the Independent Reading Unit ended, but guess not. We're back to blog some more. Today, I was asked to talk about my experiences in English II with Mr. Dunn and talk about what I liked and what I disliked.

First, I'll start with what I liked about this semesters course of English. One of the things that I liked the most was how we were pushed to think more creatively and expand our thinking. I liked how we didn't do many essays, but instead we did other hands on activities to get us thinking more about it then having to state the facts and write an essay. I really liked our education project and how we got the chance to create our own presentation with a group about educational theories. It helped me learn and we each got to do part of the projects, making it more or a hands on activity rather than a boring essay. I really enjoyed the projects that we did during the semester and it helped me learn a lot more instead of being bored in English, like I usually am.

Now, onto what I didn't like as much. I liked mostly everything, except for the blogs. I feel as if they weren't necessary to talk about our book. I would have liked it better if we could have just gotten into a group with our classmates that were reading the same book as me. No one ever looked at each other's blogs to try to learn more from it. It was kind of like we were doing this to benefit ourselves and no one else. We could have wrote journals instead of doing this, since we ended up printing out the blogs anyways. Blogging is supposed to be done all online instead of us printing them and then turning them in. Other than the blogs, I didn't have anything else that I disliked. This semester was fun and I really enjoyed it!

Last Post!

I have continued my reading and now I am to educate you all about the major themes or outcomes in this book. First, I am to talk about the themes and the arguments Eric Schlosser makes in Fast Food Nation. Then, I am to look for videos, discussion questions, articles, and more that go along with my book.

One of the major themes that Schlosser makes is how unhealthy fast food is and what it has done to the people and our economy. There are many health issues concerning the meat and the food of all restaurants. "Hundreds of millions of people buy fast food everyday without giving it much thought, unaward of the subtle and not so subtle ramifications of their purchases. They rarely consider where this food came from, how it was made, what it is doing to their commountiy around them...As the old saying goes: You are what you eat." Another theme is to not eat McDonald's food and stay away from most other fast foods. All fast food is made about the same, meaning all of it is unhealthy. "The McDonald's Corporation has become a powerful symbol of America's service economy, which is now responsible for 90 percent of the country's new jobs...  McDonald's is the nation's largest purchaser of beef, pork, and potatoes -- and the second largest purchaser of chicken...A survey of American schoolchildren found that 96 percent could identify Ronald McDonald. The only fictional character with a higher degree of recognition was Santa Claus. The impact of McDonald's on the way we live today is hard to overstate. The Golden Arches are now more widely recognized than the Christian cross."


Some of my articles, videos and discussion questions that I found are:

http://www.cgc.maricopa.edu/academic-affairs/faculty-development/seeyourworld/common-books/Pages/ff-discusison-questions.aspx
These are discussion questions about the book and the main topics of the book. The question make you think and require you to look back in the book to find some of the answers to questions.

http://www.mindfully.org/Food/Fast-Food-Nation.htm
This is an article about Fast Food Nation. There is also a review of the book included and has a lot of extra information that Schlosser did not mention. It is very interesting because it takes a different perspective than the book does itself.

http://centerfortotalhealth.org/2011/fast-food-nation-author-eric-schlosser-talks-about-connections-between-food-and-health/
Here, author Eric Schlosser talks about fast food and health of people and makes connections between the two. There is also a video of him talking and him explaining it further.

Blog 4

This week, we have been asked to respond to a classmates question which has already been responded too. I have four different ones I am to respond to.


For my first one, I will answer Brad's question that Malik has responded to.


Brad asked, "Have you ever worked so hard to get or to do something and it failed to happen?"
Malik responded, "To answer that question, i can say yes i have. Recently in fact. There was this math test that was coming up and it was worth a lot of points. I really want ed to do good on it so i started studying two nights before (its kinda hard to study for a math test alone). The day before the test I even stayed after school to practice some problems with my teacher. we practiced for about an hour and was feeling pretty confident about the test afterward. That night i practiced the same problems just to make sure i didn't forget how to do them. When test time came the next day I was feeling pretty confident and prepared. That was until I got the test handed to me. I looked at the problems and was almost immediately confused. I wasn't even able to finish the test before class ended. Ina couple of days we got are test back to see our grades. when i got mine back, i saw in red letters "35/70". I was so sad to see that grade. It was the first math test i have ever failed."


My response, "Malik is right. There have been many times that we have felt so confident about something, and it ended up bad. Last year in biology, I never got an A on my tests. Even when I felt super good about the test, it still came back and I got a C or lower. It was always upsetting because I had always been feeling good about it and it came back a bad grade. This year, it hasn't happened as much but it will still happen every once in a while." 




For the second answer, I am responding to Jay Lynn's response with Jason asking the question. 


Jason asked, "Do you enjoy high school?"
Jay responded, "I do enjoy high school for the most part. I believe this is one of the better high schools, because we are allowed to have some say in what we want to learn about and that makes it a much more enjoyable experience. Friends also help make the high school years that much better because the friends you make here help shape who you become and how the time her goes. But on the other side sometimes stress can get to you and it can come from anywhere such as over zealous parent, school work, peers, teachers, and even the sometimes overwhelming idea of the future." 



My response, "I agree with Jason about high school. It can be fun at times, but also very stressful at the same time. I know for me, friends have helped me with so much. Sometimes, there can be a lot of drama between people in high school. I do enjoy high school, besides the drama and homework. We have a lot of freedom at Carbondale High School and for the most part, pick what we want to do class wise. Most other schools don't offer this many classes and we are lucky to go to a school that does. High school has been a time where I have figured out who my real friends were and where I have started planning what I want to do with my life."




For the third, I am answering the question asked by Malik, responded to by Brad.


Malik asked, "have you ever done hat could drastically change your life and the lives if many others?" 

Brad said, "I have done something, that could have drastically changed my life, and my families.  It may sound stupid, but one thing that I do a lot, is ride my bike without my helmet.  This may not sound like a big deal, but if for some reason I was riding, and were to fall, and hit my head, I could be in serious trouble.  I could possibly even have brain damage, if the fall was serious enough.  If this were to Happening to me it would definitely effect me and my family. I guess in a way, I'm being kind of selfish."

My response, "I think everyone has done something that could change their life, whether they have realized it or not. Almost every kid has rode their bike without a helmet at least once in their lifetime. Regardless, most of them don't ever get hurt and nothing ever happens to them, but if there would have had something happen then their family would have been very upset."  

To answer the last question, I will answer Emily's response from Mykel's question.


Mykel asked, "What kind of affect does fast food have on your everyday life?"
Emily responded, "There are so many ways that fast food plays into your everyday life.  Whether it is sitting at home watching T.V or driving through town going by all of the restaurants.  There have been many times that I have wanted to stop by and grab a bit to eat at one of the fast food places since their food and drinks are so cheep.  I try and stop myself by realizing how bad it is for you.  It is also very convenient  if you are in a hurry and are needing some food just to pull into one of the many restaurants along the side of the road. So yes fast food does effect me everyday, and I know that it effects many other people in the same ways it effects me."


My reponse, "Fast food plays a role every day in your life. No matter if you eat there or not, you're usually still near one when driving by or see a commercial for it on television. In my life, fast food plays a decent role. After school, if I have time to kill, I will usually go by there and get something to eat or drink. Fast food restaurants are almost everywhere you look and not hard to stop in and get something real fast while you're on the go. Even though its very unhealthy, a lot of people still eat there everyday."

This week, in our blogs, we have been asked to find 3 of the most interesting quotes that we have read. Along with finding our quotes, we are supposed to respond to them by connecting them to ourselves or with the book. I find some interesting quotes from what I have read over the past few weeks...

"Twenty-five years ago, only a handful of American companies directed their marketing at children... Many working parents, feeling guilty about spending less time with their kids, started spending more money on them" (Schlosser 42). This is relevant to me because I have seen many parents do this to their children. They ask the kids if they want to go to McDonald's and of course, they'll say yes. That way, the children are happy and the parents feel good because they have made their kids happy. This happens everyday and has happened to me, too.

"The taste of a fast food fry is largely determined by the cooking oil. For decades, McDonald's cooked its french fries in a mixture of about 7 percent cottonseed oil and 93 percent beef tallow" (Schlosser 120). Everyone thinks that McDonald's has a secret recipe that they cook their fries in, but really all restaurants use almost the same thing. It just depends on how much of each they use to get their taste. The fries are really unhealthy, but people still keep going back for more and more.

"Tyson supplies its growers with one-day-old chicks. Between the day they are born and the day they are killed, the birds spend their entire lives on the grower's property. But they belong to Tyson. The company supplies the feed, veterinary services, and technical support...It hires the trucks that drop off the baby chicks and return seven weeks later to pick up full-grown chickens ready for slaughter. At the processing plant, Tyson employees count and weigh the birds. A grower's income is determined by a formula basted upon that count, that weight, and the amount of feed used" (Schlosser 141). Tyson gets it very easy. They supply the chicks, don't have to worry about taking care of them, then get paid. When the company gets the chicks back, they are already full grown so they can kill them and then sell them. Even though the growers get some money, it is nothing compared to what Tyson gets for doing no work. I think the company should have to raise them because then they would be working for their money, instead of having other people do the work for them.


Lastly, we were asked to look at a classmates blog and respond to one of their level 3 questions. I chose Calli's blog to respond to. She asked: How would you deal with the pain of losing a family member?


If I lost a family member, I would be very upset and probably be in a stage of not knowing what to do anymore. Eventually, I would start to accept the fact and move on. It isn't easy losing a loved one, but sometime, you just have to let go and go on with your life. It would be tough, but we have to realize they're in a better place. To deal with the pain, I'd think about all of the good times we had together and then start to move on because there is nothing I could do anymore to make them be with us still. 

Week 2

Over the past week, I have learned more about the history of fast food, and how is has evolved ever since the first fast food restaurant was started. There is a lot about how McDonald's and Disney World worked so close together to promote more business for both of the corporations. The book continues to talk about the way the McDonald's advertises to make more money and who they target the most. Next, I will be reading about how the food is made, especially at McDonald's and how unhealthy the food people eat everyday is for you.

Mr. Dunn wants us to come up with five level 2 questions. Here are some that I have come up with throughout the book:
1. Why did the fast food companys mostly target little kids for advertising?
2. How has the development of fast food changed the American way of eating?
3. Why is Disney talked about so much in Fast Food Nation?
4. How is Disney and McDonald's so largely related?
5. How has advertising so largely impacted McDonald's?

I was also asked to created two level 3 questions about my book.
1. What is your opinion of fast food and how does it impact your life?
2. How do you think fast food is made?

Fast Food Nation

Hi! My name is Morgan Geissler. I'm taking an English II course taught by Mr. Dunn. Currently, I am a sophomore at Carbondale Community High School. In this class, we chose between four books: Outliers, Friday Night Lights, Fast Food Nation, and Columbine. I chose the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. During this project, we have to create a blog and write about our book as we read.

In Fast Food Nation, Schlosser has went behind the walls of fast food. He talks about how unhealthy the food is and how the food is actually made. So far, this book has gave a lot of background on the invention of fast food and how the nation was before fast food was around. Americans have become very unhealthy after McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc. started to have drive thrus and lots of food for low prices. There has been lots of history of fast food and I haven't gotten into the the process of food production and the way of life in the so called restaurants. 

I haven't gotten very far into the book, therefore I haven't seen a claim the the book makes. If I had to make a guess on a claim in this book, I would say that one of the main ideas is about how many Americans eat fast food and how unhealthy the food that people are eating everyday. I think that is one of the claims because so far, that is mostly what he has talked about, but I have yet to get into details of the fast food world.