American Icons

The Beatles.
This icon to me represents the progress of music, because they inspired so many other bands to create music.
Some people who inspired the Beatles are Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard. They were also heavily inspired by blues music and early rock and roll.
The Beatles are important to me because they inspired me to learn to play guitar and also opened me up to all kinds of music.
The Beatles have inspired a ton of musicians and even changed music all together with their unique ways of recording and playing.
The Beatles are important to American culture because inspired so many American musicians and were very involved in the 60's culture.


Paul McCartney.
This Icon is important to me because he in my opinion is a great all around musician because he not only plays rock and roll he also composes music for films and he inspires me to learn more instruments than just guitar.
Paul McCartney inspired adding symphonies into rock music and that has been present a lot in modern music.


Elvis Presley.
Elvis Presley to me represents the start of rock music and the inspiration for a lot of rock bands since his time.
He is important to American culture because he was the first rock musician to make it big in America.
He has inspired many early rock band including The Beatles and even inspired rock music itself.

Summer Reading

Part 1: This School year I am most excited for reading new and interesting books that I probably wouldn't read on my own.

Part 2: For the summer reading assignment I read three books: Hunger Games, Darwin's Black Box, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Harry Potter was recommended to me by my older sister Mary Kate, The Hunger Games was recommended to me by my cousin Jessica who has a degree in English, and Darwin's Black Box was recommended to me by my Dad who has a degree in Biology.


First I'm going to talk about The Hunger Games. I really enjoyed this book, it had a great story and I really enjoy the style of dystopian novels. I particularly like how things that are shocking to us in todays society come acrooss as normal in the society that the book takes place in. I asked Jessica why she recommended The Hunger Games and she replied "this one is currently my favorite book.It's the best book I've read in a long time." I asked her why she valued this book and how it impacted her life and she answered. "I’ve always been interested in books that explore the idea of dystopian societies and how these societies compare to our own. I think the society or country that’s portrayed in The Hunger Games can be seen as The U.S. sometime far in the future. Books like The Hunger Games, Brave New World or 1984 can be seen as the author’s way of commenting on society and the path they feel like our country or humanity as a whole is following and where it will lead. I think it will be interesting to read this book 50 or 100 years from now and see if anything that is described in the book has become reality. I think every book we read impacts our life in some way. You take some lesson or idea from it and apply it to your own way of thinking or your own life. This made me think about how far the government (even a democratic one like ours) would go to control the people if a revolution took place. Many governments have used murder and intimidation to keep the status quo saying it’s for “the good of the people”, so what is portrayed in The Hunger Games, is very realistic. The only thing The Hunger Games adds is the idea of this control being broadcast on television for all to see. This made me consider the idea of Reality TV in a whole new way. Most people appear on Reality TV voluntarily, to achieve some sort of fame or fortune. But, it made me wonder how far we are from something like The Hunger Games. Would someone actually take part in a game where it was survival of the fittest if it meant they would be elevated monetarily and status wise in society? I know that the competitors in The Hunger Games aren’t all taking part by choice, but they are supposed to be rewarded for “winning” the game." I read 1984 last year and I agree with her opinion on dystopian novels and how they give an interesting perspective of the future and some problems with our society and how they may come back and harm us.


Now I'm going to talk about Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone. I saw the movie before I read this book so it was really interestin to see how the book differs from the movie. The book contained a lot more detail and showed more in depth how the characters grew over time.I asked my sister why she valued Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and how it impacted her life and she replied, "I personally value this book because it establishes the battle between good and evil and reflect on how the main character and his friends grow up dealing with these struggles and what they gain from their triumphs and failures. I was inspired by these books and tried to apply the same strength that the characters showed in the face of more and more challenging decisions." I think she makes a really good point about how this book displays the balance of good and evil and that it can help someone grow as a person.


Lastly I'm going to talk about Darwin's Black Box by Michael j. Behe. I personally didn't like this book very much because it was very repeatative, but I did think it was interesting and I learned a lot about evolution and intelligent design. I asked my dad why he recommended this book and he said, "I recommended this book because it presented a very interesting analysis of intelligent design and some potential flaws in Darwinian evolutionary theory." I then asked him why he valued this book and how it impacted his life and he aswered, "As a scientist, I am extremely interested in how the biochemical mechanisms that support life came about. As a Christian, sometimes my beliefs are in conflict with what science proposes as fact. This book described a way in which both my scientific interests and my beliefs could co-exist. The book greatly effected me, and caused me to investigate further the scientific literature that supports the biochemical basis of evolution, and the literature, both scientific and religious, that supports intelligent design and creationism. So it fulfilled a key role of any good book, in that it urged me to read and learn more."