The Three Gorges Dam

William Shakespeare once said, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” This dam, I will admit, is unhealthy for the earth. But so is the human population, we ruin great things, but most of us can accept that we have to make sacrifices to have good results in the long run. And if people are having to move further up a mountain to avoid drowning because the Three Gorges Dam makes the water the rise along with cleaning up the air, then so be it. This dam gives off the same amount of (clean) energy as 18 power plants, it helps flood control, and even gives the unemployed jobs. In my opinion, I think that these things override the minimal damage that this dam causes to other important factors. Good and bad are just words, they do define things, but they shouldn’t. There are always consequences for doing something, no matter what it is. There are consequences for building this dam, but I think what would happen without it is much worse. In my opinion, building this dam was the right thing to do.

One of the main reasons this dam was built was to prevent flooding. Imagine what it must be like to be the only survivor out of your entire family after a flood; to find out that you will never hear your mother’s laugh again or see the creases on your father’s face, the ones he got from smiling, because he was so happy with the life he had. This dam can save many, many lives, innocent or not, these people do not deserve to die. Along with saving lives, this dam will be saving money. Now that the government won’t have to reconstruct these places that are getting annihilated by a foolish flood. Constant floods also cause lots of stress on the people, which can give you a bigger chance of depression, and will cause the liver to produce more blood sugar that will give you a kick of energy. Having that constant energy puts you at risk for type 2 diabetes. Floods cause lots of unnecessary problems, but this dam is fixing them. This is just one of the many reasons that building this dam was the right thing to do.

Another reason this dam was a good idea, is how it will prevent any more air pollution; even making the air less polluted. Things such as air and what we put into it must be taken seriously, it’s part of our entire existence, we wouldn’t exist without it. Human beings can go up to three weeks without food, three days without water, but the best of us can’t even go three minutes without oxygen. All the burning of coal for energy is polluting our breathing air, and in time could be ruining our lives.Things other than humans will die, life as we know it could end. The Three Gorges Dam produces enough energy to power all of China, and it’s all clean. The amount of bad things polluting our air could cause health issues such as emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, headaches, chest pains, lung cancer, heart disease, damage to the livers, kidneys, brain, and the nervous system etc. Our air was once clean, healthy even, and we can get it back to that place. It will, obviously, take time, but this dam is a start. It creates a better environment for the children to grow up in, a healthier atmosphere, with healthier plants, healthier animals, and healthier people. I believe this to be the most important reason that the Three Gorges Dam is good.

And my last reason for thinking that the Three Gorges Dam was a good idea is that it will give job opportunities. Poverty is a big problem in this tough economy, and this dam can help people. Men and women will be able to put food on the table for their families, put a roof over their own head at the very least, and help get their lives together, and that’s something that really matters. Lots of people will be off the streets and not living on park benches now that they have more opportunities to get jobs too. It will help our economy grow, because now it’s not at a very good place. It’s a very hard place to start out in, but this dam will help with that because it gives jobs to the unemployed, who need the jobs most. There are certain things that people need to have to live, oxygen, water, and food. Now they can afford the basic necessities of life. The Three Gorges Dam is doing great things for China, it’s the right choice.

Although, I’m not from China and can’t experience the Three Gorges Dam for myself, I do think it was the right decision to build it. This dam prevent floods, cleans our polluted air, and gives jobs to the unemployed. With all the evidence I found, I do believe that that building this dam was the right choice.

Donald Trump Would Make a Terrible President

America has worked so hard to get to where we stand today, and we still have lots of problems with our society. The only reasons that this country is even a little bit fair is because we have had a leader that believes in what is right. Aberham Lincoln is a great example; helping us with illegalizing slavery. But if we elect Donald Trump as our next president then we will be taking steps backwards because he is sexist, racist, and frankly just plain old rude; all the qualities we need not have in someone who will be in charge of our country. Therefore, Donald Trump would make a terrible president.

The definition of sexist is discrimination against one based on their sex. Donald Trump has proven that he, very much, is sexist. He has made comments towards Hilary Clinton about her having to take an emergency bathroom break during one of the democratic debates in 2008. He claimed that he knew where she went and that it was disgusting. He also, has seemed to make uncivil comments on the looks of multiple reporters or other candidates, all of whom were women, using words such as 'fat pigs', 'dogs', and 'disgusting animals'. In 2006 Trump also said that women are basically nothing more than aesthetically-pleasing objects for men and that they should not be bought nonnegotiable items in case of divorce. And lastly, Donald Trump actually stood up with a face of fury, pointed a finger at one of the lawyers and yelled, "You're disgusting, you're disgusting," at her, all because she asked to take a break to breastfeed her small daughter. Donald Trump has proven himself to be very sexist, and that is just one reason why he would make a terrible president.

No matter what is said or done, someone can find some kind of offense in it. The people of the twenty-first century are so ridiculously oversensitive and touchy over everything. If Donald Trump is elected president he could easily start a racial war. With the things he says and the assumptions he makes, no matter how much he claims that he is not a racist person, people will go mental. A lot of people already have grudges against him, and him being president and saying all these racist things would just give them even more of a reason to riot. We'll be right back where we were in the 50's and 60's, but people nowadays are a lot more ruthless. Secondly, he wants to build a wall between the United States and Mexico and force Mexico to pay for it, no matter what it takes. We're the land of the free so why are we all of a sudden deciding that we need more restrictions than some countries that are monarchies? And lastly, Donald Trump is making the Muslims in our country feel unsafe. It's one thing for someone to personally feel unsafe because of things happening in their personal life, but for a whole population of people to feel in danger of being forced out of their home because they believe in a different god is a complete different story. Yes, some Muslims are bad people but there's lots of bad Americans, and Canadians etc. We don't blame England for Jack the Ripper and force all British people out of the U.S., so why does Donald Trump feel the need to do that to the Muslims? Donald Trump is extremely racist, and that's another reason that he would make a terrible president. 

When someone is born with a disability we cannot blame them because it's not their fault. What we can blame them for is how they act, that's a personal choice. But, Donald Trump mimicked, mocked, and made fun of a guy named Serge Kovaleski. Serge Kovaleski is reporter who has arthrogyposis, which is a disability that limits movement in the hand joints. He has also said, during an interview in 1997, that if he ever ran for president he would run as a Republican because according to him, Republicans are stupid and will believe whatever he has to say. And now, in 2016, Donald Trump is running as a Republican candidate. Lastly, Donald Trump said that the immigrants Mexico is 'sending' over are not their best people, that they are rapists and drug addicts. Yes, it's true that some bad people may come over but just because they are from Mexico does not automatically make them a criminal. Anytime something comes out of the mouth of Donald Trump it's almost always rude and offensive. Therefore, he would make a terrible president.

Most of the world already has issues with the United States, but if Donald Trump is elected President they would have a sexist, racist, and rude reason to actually hate us. His name is Donald Trump.  

The Last Book in the Universe Book Review

The Last Book in the Universe, by Rodman Philbrick, is about a teenage boy called Spaz who suffers from epilepsy. Spaz was a foundling, meaning he was picked up off the street and taken in as an infant. When Spaz was around four his foster parents, Charlie and Kay, had their own child, a baby girl named Bean. Bean, being their biological daughter, was cherished more than Spaz so when Spaz had one of his episodes around Bean he became a safety hazard for her and Spaz was resented by Charlie. It got to the point that Charlie banned Spaz from their family unit and he was forced to go to a latch in the Urb. Spaz survived as one of the Bangers, one of the more feared gangs, run by Billy Bizmo. One day, on Billy's orders Spaz was sent to rip off an old gummy called Ryter. When he arrived at Ryter's cube, due to the help of a child that he bribed with a choxbar, Ryter was sitting in his cube with everything ready to be taken, just waiting for Spaz. Spaz took just about everything, except for a book that Ryter was hiding from him, but Spaz didn't care. The next evening when Spaz got back to his cube, waiting for him in the shadows was a runner with a message from Bean. Bean was dying from leukemia and her last wish was to see him again. Immediately, Spaz went to Billy to ask for permission and safe travels to his old family unit, but Billy denied him that. All Spaz wanted to do was see Bean before she died, so without permission Spaz and Ryter, who had insisted that he come to know how it all ends, left at dawn the next morning through the pipes. They were followed through by the small boy Spaz had given a choxbar too, Little Face. The three companions made it out of the pipes and into the next latch, they were taken by a group called the Monkey Boys, but Ryter talked their way out by persuading the second in command tek to take control over the latch instead of leaving it to the brain dead leader, Mongo the Magnificent, who had been probing for a year straight. They caught a ride with a few teks' in a takvee to the next line of pipes. Once they made it through the second line of pipes, the latch that they saw is on fire, smoke everywhere and all the people in complete chaos looking for edibles. They find a beautiful proov girl in a silvery dress standing on top of a rundown takvee, the same girl that so kindly gave Spaz edibles a few days prior, she was yelling at the mob to get away but they didn't budge. Ryter heroically ran in the opposite direction of the mob shouting about edibles to get them away from Lanaya, the proov girl, and it worked. Swiftly Spaz, Little Face, and Lanaya got into the takvee and took off as soon as Ryter, barely, made it back. Lanaya had agreed to bring them the rest of the way to the family unit for so kindly saving her life. The rest of the ride went smoothly until they ran into Lotti Getts, the leader of the Vandals. Lotti said that the only way she would let them through peacefully was if they would find the latch runner that was bringing in illegal mindprobes into her part of the latch, they agreed and began looking. They started by talking to some very high ranked people in the latch, none of which knew anything about it. Lanaya suggested they go to Vida Bleek, a fellow mobster, as a last resort, so they did and they discovered that there was no latch runner at all, Lotti was just using them to distract Bleek while her army attacked his. While all of Lotti's men were in battle they made a quick getaway in the takvee to Spaz's old family unit. They piled into the Spaz's old cube, even Lanaya, and Spaz bubbles with excitement as he sees Bean again. Spaz only gets to spend a little over a day with Bean before she goes into a coma, and all of their hope is lost, that is until Lanaya says that Eden might have a cure for Bean. Spaz, Ryter, Little Face, and Lanaya sneak an unconscious Bean into Lanaya's castle, as she is the next inline for the throne of Eden. Lanaya sits down with her parents and convinces them to help Bean, and they, even with the no normals in Eden rule, cave. Bean is put into a hospital and the doctors' decide to modify her genes and give her a few perfect ones to rule out the disease and help her immune system. Even with the major risks, It all went smoothly and Bean awakes good as new. Spaz, Ryter, and Bean over stay their welcome to the point that the council finds out about them being in Eden, Lanaya fights for them but in the end they are forced to go back to the Urb, Bean to her family unit, and Little Face secretly gets to stay in the castle with Lanaya's parents, as the council does not know he's there. Once Spaz and Ryter get back to their latch they find that things are worse than ever, complete chaos, and one of them is going to get it. They disobeyed Billy and the mob is crazed, so Billy orders that they take Ryter. For once in Spaz's life he doesn't fear Billy Bizmo, so he asks why, why, Ryter and not him? And Billy comes clean and tells Spaz that he is Spaz's father. Spaz is Billy Bizmo's son, but he doesn't care and he wants nothing to do with Billy. With Ryter gone, Spaz decides to write, the book Ryter was working on previously was destroyed by the mob, so Spaz takes it upon himself to write the last book in the universe.


One of the main themes in this book is that everyone has a story. The first example of this theme is when Ryter insists that Spaz has a story, "Everybody has a story"(19). The second example is when Ryter tells Spaz that he'll decide if Spaz's story is worth telling. "What you're really saying is, that you don't have a story worth telling," he says. "Let me be the judge of that"(33). And the third and last example of this theme is when Spaz decides that Ryter was right about him having a story and decides to tell it. "Yes, I'm thinking, yes I'm writing, yes, yes, yes"(223). Those are three examples on why I think the themes is that everyone has a story.


This book appears to take place somewhere in the United States that was greatly affected by an earthquake referred to as "The Big Shake". This post-disaster version of the United States is called the Urb.  The Urb is made up of different latches and the family unit. In each latch there is major destruction, and they're scattered with thieves, war, gangs that you need to be in to survive, and mindprobes. Mindprobes are needles that you stick in your brain, that put you in a temporary virtual reality that is so much better than life in the Urb. Overall, the Urb is not a very kid friendly environment, and after Spaz was banned from the family unit that's where he, a kid, had to go and survive. Before Spaz left on his adventure to see Bean the latch was run in an unauthorized dictatorship and it's very hard to feel safe and at home somewhere like that unless you're probing witch Spaz cannot because of his epilepsy. Everything was just collapsing on it's own. "In some of the latches the leaders have stopped leading. Anarchy regions. Mobs run wild, burning, and looting"(202-203). When Spaz returned from Eden the Urb was even worse then when he left, and It didn't seem to phase him. Ryter was happy to be home but Spaz wanted to forget. "What if I want to forget everything?"(210). Spaz once lived in a suitable cube in a family unit, he understood that the Urb was a terribly dangerous place, I think that he pushed his opinion on the place to the side because he understood that he must survive whether he liked it there or not. He wanted to forget about Eden so he wouldn't have to think about how much better the proov's have it, because the relationship he had with the Urb was simple. He knew his place and that wishing life was better was not an option, the Urb was his home now and as violent as the whole situation might be he was greatful.  


I would not recommend this book to other 7th graders, because overall it is just a challenging book to get through. The beginning of the book bored me to a point where I had to force myself to actually finish it. Once I got through the dull and tedious beginning, the middle was a bit more adequate with more action and thought-provoking writing. The end of it had a massive plot twist and then nothing. Nothing to nurse me back to health from the astonishing truth of why Billy didn't want Spaz to leave the latch. Although, that part got to me a little bit the rest of the book left me unfazed and didn't leave all my emotions flooding through me all at once like, in my opinion, a good book should one way or another. For these reasons, I would not recommend this book to other 7th graders.

Heir Apparent Book Review

Heir Apparent, by Vivian Vande Velde, is a futuristic story about a fourteen year-old girl named Giannine Bellisario who gets stuck in a simulated video game. Giannine got a gift card to Rasmussem Enterprises from her distant father for her birthday. When she arrives at the game center she picks the game Heir Apparent, due to the attractiveness level of the characters in the preview. Giannine awakes in the simulation as Janine de St. Jehan a poor farm girl, and is instantly filled with all the memories and other things she needs to know for her character. When Sir Demming, one of the king's advisers, visits her house, she learns that King Cynric has died and he wanted Janine, his daughter, to take the position of the new king. Janine was brought  back to the castle and was immediately dis-liked by Queen Andreana and her three sons; Wulfgar, Abas, and Kenric. As Janine was getting acquainted with her new family there is a small storm, only seen by Janine, which is follwed by a round man in a white lab coat descending from the clouds. The man, who ends up being Mr. Rassmussem, tells Janine that some people from S.P.C.C. (Society to Prevent Cruelty to Children) had broken in and damaged some of the gaming equipment ironically putting her in danger. Mr. Ramussem also tells her that she has to finish the game so they can safely get her out before her brain overloads, that Kenric and Sister Mary Ursala don't work well together, and she shouldn't forget the ring next time. Janine eventually dies from being stabbed by one of the guards, and then goes on to die five more times before coming to her last life. Over these five lives Janine learns that the ring Mr. Rassmussem mentioned can give you the power to control whoever you give it to and that she can get it by making up poetry for Bruce, a set of armor. She also learns how to talk to the guards, the wizards, and the barbarians to get them on her side, how to save the kingdom's riches from Rawdon, a stealing counselor, and over all how to finish the game. In Janine's last life she obtained magic boots that can take her anywhere in seven in paces, from a wizard, so she can get to a dragon that she must steal a crown from, which was originally cheated off the barbarians by Janine's father, and given to the dragon as a treaty. Janine must return the crown to make peace with the barbarians. After she gets the crown and makes it back to the castle Janine realizes that the dragon followed her there. She turns the dragon to gold, a perk of owning that crown and why the barbarians wanted it back so badly. Just when everything was settling down Janine got word that the peasants from the east are going to storm the castle. Everyone begins preparing for battle, but when they go to close the draw bridge it won't close because of all the ghosts that followed them back from retrieving the gold, are standing on it. Janine uses them to her advantage though, after convincing them to fight for the castle they go all out and defeat the peasants. After the fight, on Kenric's word, Janine gives the ring to Queen Andreana and commands her to name her as the king and have her sons respect her. Giannine wakes up in Rassmussem Enterprises just in time for her brain to still be safe. She rests after she finally gets out and waits patiently for her dad who had finally come to her aid. 

After reading this book and then going back through it I have come to the conclusion that one of the main themes in this book is that things you learn from your past experiences can help you in the future. The first example of this theme is when Janine reasons with the guards and helps with the money cut back to prove she is on their side because they had killed her in the past. "The two guards told how counselor Rawdon who was giving them their pay, had shorted them" (127). and "I will look into that, I promised" (127). The second example is when Janine found out about Rawdon stealing the gold she made sure to catch him before he takes it all. "You've seen my mercy with the boy accused of poaching. I will spare your life, too, if you show us where you've hidden the treasury" (227). And the third and last example is when Janine promises to get the crown back for the barbarians because she knows that they have caused lots over trouble over the crown in the past. "Grimbold said he would send word to his people that I was working on reclaiming the crown." (236). This is why I think the theme of this book is that things you learn from your past experiences can help you in the future.

I would definatly recommend this book to other seventh graders. Heir Apparent is an action packed story filled with a little mystery, and the beginning of a tiny romance which has you thinking. This book puts you in a state of mind that leaves you wondering what you would do if you were in Gianninne's position, if you would make it out or not. The ending of this book is very vague and does not tell much about what happens after she gets out of the game and goes back to her normal, which I think is an amazing way to end a book like this, to leave it to the reader to decide what happens next. Vivian Vande Velde is a very talented writer and she did a very good job writing Heir Apparent. I think other seventh graders would defiantly enjoy this book.

Practice Book Review: The Veldt

The Veldt, by Ray Bradbury, is a short story about Mr. and Mrs. Hadley who live in a house with their two children, Wendy and Peter, and have grown to depend completely on the technology and artificial intelligence that their house possesses.

They have things like air closets that suck you up and bring you to your sleeping room, a shoe lacer, voice clocks, shoe shiners, a body scrubber, massagers, and even a virtual realty nursery. The children have an addiction to the technology in the house, especially to the nursery. It all started when Lydia Hadley, the wife, noticed something different about the nursery. When George Hadley, the husband, went to check it out he noticed the children had set it to the African veldt, but it didn't seem like the normal nursery, the hot African air and the blood thirsty lions roaming felt almost... real. Familiar screams echoed throughout the veldt and Mrs. Hadley couldn't put her finger on it but it scared her to tears. Mr. Hadley attempted to change it to Aladdin and his lamp, something less gruesome, but the nursery didn't change, it stayed on the African veldt. Coming to the conclusion that Peter had tampered with it, George Hadley asked his kids, when they arrived home from the plastic carnival, why they had the nursery set to the African veldt but it was quickly denied by Peter and then changed by Wendy. Feeling confused and frustrated at the nursery George and Lydia called David McClean, a local psychologist, and he gave them the gist of it, something was off, it didn't feel good he said. While observing the room they found objects of George and Lydia's, bloody and ragged, and, boy, should they have taken that as a red flag. Deciding it would be best for the family, Mr. and Mrs. Hadley decided to unplug and go to Iowa on a well needed vacation. The children definitely did not agree, they cried and screamed and wished death upon their parents for doing such a treacherous thing to them. But Lydia, feeling sympathetic, convinced George to let the children have just one more minute in the nursery before they left for the airport. The parents went upstairs to dress, leaving the children in the nursery, only a few moments in and they heard the children screaming for them. They rushed down the stairs and straight into the nursery, but it was empty. The door behind them slammed shut leaving them locked in Africa with the lions. They pleaded for Wendy and Peter to let them out as the lions crowed around, a lion on all three sides, but Wendy and Peter were upset, upset that they were going to have to unplug, upset that they would be deprived of the nursery for who knows how long, upset that their father wouldn't let them go to New York, upset that their father was slowly taking machines away from them, holding a grudge is a fatal flaw, a fatal flaw that Wendy and Peter both possessed. The lions moved closer to Mr. and Mrs. Hadley, they screamed, and realized why those screams they heard before were so familiar. 

I think that one of the main themes in this story is that spoiling your children can have more consequences than you would presume. Mr. McClean, the psychologist sensed that the kids were spoiled, spoiled more than your average spoiled child. "I sensed that you were spoiling your children more than most." (22). Mr. Hadley even said that Peter threw tantrums when he didn't get his own way, it was just leading up to something bigger than a tantrum. "When I punished him a few months ago by locking the nursery for even a few hours--the tantrum he threw!" (12). The third example of this theme is the parents realize that spoiling their children didn't do much good for anyone. "We've given the children everything they ever wanted. Is this our reward--secrecy, disobedience?" (18). The children were spoiled in a way that everything was handed to them, no matter what, and when it suddenly stopped and they were going to have to do things for themselves that was a big problem. These examples show that spoiling your children in this way won't necessarily result in anything good.

I would definitely recommend this story to other seventh graders. The technology that's talked about and used in this story is strictly amazing, things that were not even invented when this book was written but are now, things that one could only imagine using, and everything in between. This story is very well written, and has some major plot twits, and is filled with small mysteries that leave you thinking all throughout the story. Although, it is a bit gruesome, and not everyone is attracted to stories like that so if you don't like reading anything gruesome let alone the thought of it then I would have caution. But as for the others, it's a very interesting story, in my opinion, and is defiantly worth your time.