Reading Log Number 4

Title: Meet Facebook's Mr Nice

Text Type: Short Story

Author: Nick Bilton

Meet Facebook's Mr Nice is about a guy named Arturo Bejar and his job at Facebook. Arturo's job is to create a safe environment within Facebook by teaching users to be nice and respect others. Even though the internet can be a bad place Arturo still thinks he can make Facebook a safe friendly environment especially for us teens.

This short story is relevant to teenagers as the internet is a very big part of our lives. We all have Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat and we all see hate everyday and do nothing about it.  92 percent had witnessed someone get bullied and 65 percent people aged 18-29 have been have been harassed online. Mr Bejar created these Facebook tools because a lot of people get cyber bullied and some people are inconsiderate and don’t care about others feelings. With the Facebook tools it gets users interacting by reporting thing’s that they personally find offensive or hurts them or also others around them.

Something we can learn from this short story is that we should think before we post anything with our friends or anything in general. By asking your friends about posting photos from a good night out you’re being considerate about your friends opinions and feelings. Which means you wouldn’t need to use Mr Bejar’s tools.

In conclusion we should be more thoughtful about what we post on Facebook and any social platform in general because it could either create a good or bad reaction to you and others on the internet. I recommend this short story to all teenagers it's a big eye opener as the internet is a huge part of our lives.

Reading Log Number 6

Title: Shutter Island
Text: Movie
Author/Director: Martin Scrosese

Shutter Island directed by Martin Scrosese is about this US Marshall named Teddy Daniels who is assigned to investigate a disappearance of a patient called Rachel who has gone missing from shutter islands mental institution. Teddy wanted a assignment on the island for personal reasons, he's also still traumatised from what he saw when his army unit went to one of the Nazi concentration camps in World War 2 but also with the recent death of his wife who died in a fire. The head of the hospital gives Teddy a warm welcome but patients not so much. Teddy and his partner Chuck try to figure out who is the 67th patient at the institution. During the movie Teddy has flashbacks of his children haunting him and this ghost version of his wife telling him not to go into the lighthouse that is on the island which leads him to the lighthouse. He makes it to the top of the lighthouse and he sees the head of the hospital Dr John Crawley and all the mysteries of shutter island is answered.

A character that I found interesting was the main character Teddy Daniels. I found him interesting because he kept his delusion going for a very long time. At the start of the movie I honestly thought that he was just a US Marshall who was going to solve the mystery of Rachel's disappearance but he was really a demented killer called Andrew Laeddis who was actually a patient at the shutter island institution who was suggested to act out his delusion by his psychiatrist. Andrew had killed his wife because she had killed their 3 kids because she had mental issues of her own. What else that had surprised me was that the missing patient Rachel Solando was just a anagram of Andrews wife Dolores Chanal.

Something that was shown in the movie was denial. Teddy would have dreams and flashbacks of his wife. She'd keep telling him that Rachel is on the island and that her killer Andrew Laeddis is too. Near the end of the movie when Teddy is confronted by Dr John Crawley everything gets unfolded they were helping Andrew realise that he killed his wife because she killed their 3 kids and instead of helping her with her mental issues he killed her. Andrew breaks down because he realises that hes really Andrew Laeddis not Teddy Daniels. He killed his wife instead of getting her help and that he is the 67th patient of shutter islands institution. The denial in the movie made me feel sorry for Andrew because he had to make up a delusion to cover up the fact he had killed his wife because she had mental issues. The denial Andrew had to hold throughout the movie wasn't good for him as he kept thinking it was his fault his children died.

In conclusion the movie is very confusing and it takes a while to adjust and comprehend what is really happening and why it happened but it is a very good movie to watch and I recommend it if you like mysteries that really make you think. This movie convinced me to participate in the mental health awareness week which is next week for school and I can't wait.

Reading Log Number 5

Title : The Fault In Our Stars
Text : Novel
Author : John Green
Finished : 11/08/17

The Fault in our stars written by John Green is about a 16 year old girl called Hazel Grace Lancaster who is a cancer patient. In her mothers best interest Hazel reluctantly attends a cancer patients support group where she meets this boy called Augustus Waters who is their to support a mutual friend Isaac. After the meeting Augustus introduces himself properly to Hazel and invites her to hang at his house. They talk about their experiences with cancer, Hazel tells Gus that her thyroid cancer has spread to her lungs. Gus tells Hazel that he had osteosarcoma but is now free from cancer since he got his leg amputated. They recommend books for each other to read, Hazel recommends the book "An Imperial Affliction " which is short story about a girl called Anna who coincidentally has the same cancer as her. Hazel is concerned about Anna's mother, she figures that if Anna's mother can survive her daughters death then her own parents will be alright after Hazel dies. Gus sends a letter to the author of the book talking about how Hazel would like to know what happened to Anna's mother. The author Van Houton said he can't answer her questions over a letter but they should stop by if they're ever in Amsterdam. Hazel parents and doctors think that Hazel isn't strong enough to travel but Dr Maria a physician who has followed Hazel through her journey tells her parents that they should let Hazel go live life. So Her mum, Hazel and Gus go to Amsterdam. They arrive at Van Houton's apartment and get greatly disappointed as they were greeted by a drunk Van Houton. They then make love for the first and only time. Augustus tells Hazel that while he was waiting for her he had a scan and the results showed that he has cancer again and its spread everywhere in his body this is where Hazel realises that Augustus is now the grenade. Hazel would refer herself as a grenade now that Gus's cancer has come back he's become the grenade and he doesn't have much time to live, so they then have a prefuneral for Gus. Hazel says a beautiful speech about how she loves Gus and so does Isaac their friend. Gus dies 8 days later, Hazel is broken because Augustus was the person she felt who related to her the most.

Something that was shown throughout the whole novel was 'love'. It's shown majorly with Augustus and Hazel. Even though Hazel denied feelings for a bit because she saw herself as a grenade and felt that if she had a relationship with Augustus when she died she would hurt him and she didn't want that to happen. Hazel still took the chance and it lead to the most heartwarming but short relationship ever. Augustus used his wish from the cancer association because he cared for Hazel and wanted her to live her life to the potential she could. Even though Hazel's favourite author disappointed her Augustus still made their time in Amsterdam worth while because he loved and cared her.

The character I can relate to the most is Augustus Waters because he has the same cancer as my brother. In other words in the story Augustus was my brother Chris. My brother like Gus had his leg amputated and is soon to be cancer free. Some of Augustus characteristics are determination, drive and originality. As young as my brother is I find him inspiring because he's like Gus. Chris like Gus is determined and has the drive to not let one leg stop him from having a normal childhood. Chris is exactly the same as he was with two legs, he may be bald but he's still the same. He still likes playing outside with our sisters, he still likes playing on the tramp and in the sandpit, he's also determined to ride his bike again.

In conclusion even though the ending was tragic and made me sad, it was a beautiful book to read and it taught me to be more nicer and more grateful that I can live life normally and healthy. I recommend this book for people around my age because it shows a perspective of a cancer patient which is more challenging then our normal routine. I mean I wouldn't want to carry around a oxygen tank 24/7 because then I'd look weird and with society these days there are people who just mock you based on your look.