Chew On This III

Having finally finished Chew On This, I will never eat at a McDonald's again. As I approached the end of the book, I learned about the horrid practices theough which chicken and beef are slaughtered and processed. Chickens were shackled, electrified, had their throats slit, and then were boiled. Sometimes, a chiken managed to survive the other steps of the procedure and wa boiled alive! Cattle were processed by mainly hand, and I frowned at all the accidents workers suffer, mostly cuts. Also, I learned about the fact that people urinate and defecate right next to meat that people would soon be eating!

The next chapter was about obesity and how one person managed to cure himself of it. This chapter was the story of a boy named Sam Fabrikant. Sam weighed 300 pounds and was only sixteen years old. He decided to take a risk and cure himself by undergoing a gastric bypass surgery. In this surgery, surgeons reduce the size of a person's stomach, from the size of a deflated football to the same size of a golf ball. The book talks about Sam's experiences and about other things that fast food can do to your body.

The last chapter was a grand finale. It was about all the things that were happening now and what we could do to keep ourselves healthy. I was suprised to learn that fast-food chains were so desperate to make money that they would open Burger Kings, McDonald's, and KFCs in war-torn Baghdad, Iraq! Schlosser also talked about one Alice Waters. She was a restaurant owner who turned a nearby rundown school into a beautiful building, where a there was a garden where kids could grow their own food, learn to cook it, then eat it. I admire Alice Waters for her vision of a world where food isn't just a meal that is soon forgotten and is usually made with corporately produced vegetables. She thinks that meals should be atime where everyone gets together and eats fresh, wholesome food. Overall, I loved this book and am thinking about reading his other book, Fast Food Nation. Chew On This is a book to be reckoned with. Its shocking detail has the ability to start a much needed revolution. Everyone needs to read this book.

Chew On This II

I am still learning many disgusting things on my journey through the fast-food world. I have just read through a section concerning French fries and I learned that these fries actually travel hundreds of miles, frozen, to restaurants where they get refried and then sold at twenty times what it cost to make the French fries! Schlosser also discussed the fact that artificial beef flavoring is used to make fries taste better. Then, he talked about all the chemicals that we put in our food to make it taste and look better. I was flabbergasted at the number of different chemicals that go into "artificial strawberry flavor." Cinnamyl isobutyrate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, 4-methylacetophenone, I couldn't pronouce one quarter of them!

Food coloring was another topic. I know everyone has seen crazy yoghurt that is strawberry flavoured, but is blue instead of the normal pink. I came within inches of vomiting when I found that the pink and red coloring of many of my yoghurts and candies was also called carmine, or carminic acid, and is made from the cochineal insect (Dactylopius coccus costa). Imagine! A bug in your food!

However, one thing I was glad to find was the story of a Jain man, meaning he couldn't eat meat, sued McDonald's for using beef flavoring in its fries. This case caused a newspaper article, which later led to riots in India, including one where angered protesters smeared cow poop on a statue of Ronald McDonald. I loved the fact that the man won the case and McDonald's had to donate $10 million to vegetarian and Hindu groups. Finally, McDonald's gives us money!

Chew On This by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson

Chew On This is written very well. It continuously attacks McDonald's and other fast food restaurant chains for their practices. I think this book is a triumph for finally telling the public what's goes into their food. The book starts out retelling the humble history of the world-famous hamburger. Then the book discusses how McDonald's got its start. This is where the book starts to get interesting. It talks about how companies advertise and feed off kids. I was disgusted to find that companies are actually using brain research to sell their products to kids!

Another topic Schlosser talks about is the way fast food chains hire teenagers to run the restaurants. I was appalled too see that some teens in fast food work an average of thirty hours a week, and get paid minimum wage (only $5.15 an hour in 2006)! Even managers, who earn only $25,000 a year, work sixty to seventy hours a week.

The way McDonald's treats its workers is ghastly. There is the story of Sadi Lambert, who worked from eight in the morning until half past three the next morning when she was only sixteen! Her manager decided to give her a thank- you gift for working nineteen hours straight. The gift was but a bag of candy. I found these practices to be absolutely moronic. I think that all people should read Chew On This and find out what the real price is of the hamburger you're about to eat.

Now You See It... by Vivian Vande Velde

So far, Now You See It... by Vivian Vande Velde has been an enticing read and is impossible to put down. Vande Velde's descriptive vocabulary and casual tone tell the story of a fifteen-year-old girl very well. Her use of sly humor and snappy dialogue give the story a whole new level of reality, making the fanastical story seem like realistic fiction. In this story, Wendy, the girl, finds a set of sunglasses that match her prescription exactly. However, when she wears them, she sees things that aren't there. For instance, the most popular girl in school is transformed into a "hundred-year-old crone" and a boy has been turned into a pointy-eared elf in her glasses. She later discovers a kingdom where elves rule and eventually exits it. However, she ends up in the 1950s, around the time her grandmother was her age. The book is full of twists and turns so it is always impossible to tell what will happen next. The anticipation is impossible! I must finish the book!

Crispin: The Cross of Lead (Theme)

This book has turned out to be a fascinating read. I have always been fond of adventure books, and this is now high on the list of my favorites. The fast-paced plot and well developed characters give the book a sense of realism and entice you to read more. The themes of this story are about friendship, courage and perserverance. Friendship comes into play very early in the book, where Crispin consults his priest, Father Quinnel, for advice on what to do after he finds out that his life in danger. Later on, after Crispin runs away from his village, he befriends (although unwillingly) Bear, who returns his friendship by protecting and entertaining Crispin. Because of this treatment, Crispin begins to see Bear as his father. Second, courage is something that Crispin learns about in many parts of the story. Firstly, he flees from the only place he ever knew and into the unknown without much fear. Another major occurence of Crispin's courage is when Crispin goes to the building where Bear was being held in order to save him, even when there was a possibility of losing his own life. Finally, perserverance is a major theme of the book. Crispin decides to keep going instead of dying early on in the book, as he wants to earn his liberties as Father Quinnel instructed him. Later, when he joins Bear, Crispin feels like abandoning Bear, for he believes that Bear was a madman. However Crispin feels he was bound by the sacred vow he made and keeps on trooping. After warming up to him, Crispin always tries his hardest in order to save Bear after he gets captured. He knows the risks, and has a few difficulties along the way, but Crispin never gives up.

Crispin: The Cross of Lead (Plot)

The saga of Crispin starts out when Crispin's mother, Asta, passes away. Out of fear, he runs away. Crispin later overhears two people trying to find him and figures out that he has been convicted of a crime he did not commit. Frightened out of his wits, Crispin goes to the village priest, Father Quinnel for advice on what to do. In addition to telling Crispin to run away as far as he could, Father Quinnel tells him many secrets about his mother. The next day, Crispin goes on his way, only to find that Father Quinnel had been murdered. He goes through a forest and eventually finds a desolate village, no doubt destroyed by the Black Death. There, in the church, he finds a gigantic man called Bear. Bear makes Crispin swear to be his servant and teaches him how to play the recorder in order to help Bear gain money. Later, the troupe reaches a village where they entertain the villagers and the priest. Through this they get some money. Some time later, they reach Great Wexly, where the story gets juicy. They get a room and Crispin does some snooping around the city, against Bear's orders. He is attacked by his enemies. After a happy reunion with Bear, the two go back to their room. Later, after being found in a Resistance meeting, Bear is captured and taken prisoner. Out of love and fear, Crispin bravely goes to where Bear is being held and frees Bear after finding out he (Crispin) is a nobleman. He frees Bear only after swearing that e would never stake a claim on the lord's throne.

The plot is extremely absorbing. It is fast-paced and fills you with impatience to read the next chapter. This is probably because of the writers wonderful writing style and the vivid descriptions of life in Medieval England.

Crispin: The Cross of Lead (Character)

Crispin is an interesting character. He is a thirteen-year-old boy who ends up joining a gigantic man called Bear. He thinks he has made countless sins. He is unaware, at first, at the world outside the small village he lives in. He is very curious, which is how he got into a giant mess, in which he is considered a wolf's head (anyone can kill him when they see him) for a crime he didn't commit. In this mess, he meets Bear, a man who makes Crispin swear to be his servant. Crispin is very timid, so he readily accepts. He is also slow to trust someone, as he thinks about running away from the "madman", Bear. Crispin is also very weak, therefore he does whatever Bear tells him to do. He got in to this mess because his mother died. Crispin later turns out to be noble blood because his mother and his lord had secretly begotten him. Crispin is also extremely religious. He is a Christian and continuously prays to his saint, Saint Giles.

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi (Edward Irving Wortis) is about a thirteen-year old boy who must flee his village in order to free himself from the wrath of the powerful steward, John Aycliffe. The story takes place in medieval England, in the year 1377. This is after the Black Death which Crispin is told took his father. Crispin at first, does not know his name. He also does not know much about the world outside his village, Stromford. Near his village, there is a church, Saint Giles by-the-River where the villagers go to pray. Later the setting changes as he must go on the run to avoid being killed. The setting now in the middle of nowhere, where Crispin must survive in fear of his persuers.

So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins Chapters 8-11

After finally finishing So Far from the Bamboo Grove, I am left spellbound by the author's well described emotions. She also expertly showed the terrors of war.

As the book progresses, the characters evolve and grow up. After Yoko's mother comes back from a trip, she faintly talks and then dies. This incident shows how Yoko and Ko have grown because both of the sisters quickly accept that there mother is no more. They go to a crematory and have their mother's ashes put in a mess kit. The sisters remain strong and still go to school while they feed themselves. This independance shows how strong-minded they have become.

In addition, more of Yoko's character is revealed. The way she shows genuine concern for her school's janitor shows that Yoko is caring and loving, just like mother. She actually tries to help him with his stuttering problem while others mock him for it.

Some more character is shown when Yoko wins the essay contest. Instead of writing about her trouble in Korea, she choses to talk about her school. This might be because it is too painful for her to relive her Korean life or she wants to shield others from the terror of war. This shows that although she can outlast ordeals, it is tough for her to relive them. This is true for many people, especially war veterans, who lived through violent wars, but go into tears when they have to talk about the confusion of war.

Overall, So Far from the Bamboo Grove is a wonderful book. No other book that I have read has so expertly captured the sadness of war through the eyes of an individual.

So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Chapters 4-7

After a few more chapters of this book, I must say that the event that left the largest imppression on me was when the factory where Hideyo, Yoko's brother works at, was overtaken by Communist Korean soldiers. This is because the author explained in great detail how the Koreans killed Hideyo's friends and what the town looked like after the raid. You also can really feel the emotions that Hideyo is experiencing.

After escaping the factory, Hideyo goes to his house, where he shows his cleverness by taking any food he found and matches, a savings book, and toiletries, as well as extra clothing. Hideyo has clearly thought about what he would need on his journey to catch up with his mother and sisters.

Meanwhile, the others are in a train staition in Seoul where they are stuck in horrible conditions like having to eat garbage. Later, the Kawashimas go to Pusan, where they are in a warehouse and must deal with more garbage food, cramped conditions, dirty places, and lastly, the possibility of rape by drunken Korean men who are celebrating their independance. They help each other survive by looking out for each other and by making themselves look like boys.

After getting to Japan, Mrs. Kawashima stops in Kyoto because she wants her children to continue their education, even in a war torn country. This shows that she is concerned about their education which could help others avoid war. It also shows that she might be Confucianist because her belief in the importance of education is a Confucianist ideal.

Mrs. Kawashima values education, love for the family, kindness, and friendship. The girls show these values when Yoko shares her food and her water with a pregnant woman on a hospital train, showing friendship and kindness. Ko shows her mother's values by bringing roasted corn when her family is hungry. This shows kindness and love for the family.

So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins Chapters 1-3

In So Far from the Bamboo Grove, the author's Japanese family must flee World War II North Korea after hearing that the Russians have landed. The book is about this journey to Seoul in South Korea. After reading about this family's first few weeks on the road, I felt sad about the Family's many setbacks, having to get off a train because of a bombing, having to almost getting bombed themselves. I also realised what war might have felt like.
The Kawashima family gets on a hospital train and they try to help the patients. For instance, they help a pregnant woman give birth. They also give their food and water to her. They also try to make the patients feel better. This reveals that the Kawashima family is very compassionate.
Later on, the Kawashimas have to face some Communist Korean soldiers and are almost turned in. However, an airplane drops a bomb on them, killing the soldiers and saving them. This is ironic because the Kawashimas were always practicing bomb drills back home so that they wouldn't get killed. However, the same fearful bombs helped them greatly.
The author refers to her sister as "Honorable Sister." Sometimes, the author exchanges less than honorable words between each other. They have a relation ship where they dislike each other smetimes, but always love each other. Her older seems bossy to the author. This probably because she is trying to care for her younger sister and is bossing her around to keep her safe.
The Kawashima family faces a life-or-death situation by going to Seoul. This helps them deal with hardships because they have been living in a world of hardship. The way the Kawashimas act seems the way that many others would act as. On the train, they look after the other patients and feel sorry for them, and give them their food. Others would probably act this way because you would feel sorry to see a wounded/sick person and try to be compassionate and help them.