Journal #4: The Poverty of Abundance

The internet and its millions of webpages certainly can make it more difficult to research topics. There is so much out there that it can be difficult to distinguish what is truthful and helpful information, and what is not. Sometimes when there is this much information so readily available, it can be overwhelming. However, I am not in full agreement that this can completely get in the way of researching. It is just about knowing which sites are appropriate to use. I have never given up on researching something just because of the number of results that came up. That is not something I will usually pay attention to, unless it is exceptionally challenging to find the information I need.

 I will typically search through the first few results and if it does not seem reliable, I will continue look through the rest of the websites. Wikipedia is one website that I will avoid when doing a research project, because the information given may not be the entire truth and students have always been advised against using Wikipedia. Besides, there are more informative sites out there.


Some may find this confusing, but I think that it is relatively easy to eliminate a good portion of the results right off the bat. This may be due to the extensive training my classmates and I have received about the internet throughout our years of elementary and secondary education. Older adults most likely have more difficulties with this, as they did not learn how to properly research subjects by using the internet when they were in school.

Google's Advanced Search is an excellent tool that I will certainly be using more often in the future. It allows people to search for very specific topics and eliminate many of the results that may come up, that will be irrelevant to what they are looking for. This is because it allows us to search for the exact words that we are looking for and we can also type in any words that we do not want to come up.

Journal #3: The Value of Reading and Libraries

Reading fiction is fantastic escapism from the average, everyday life, as stated by a British author, Neil Gaiman, in the article explaining why our future depends on reading and daydreaming. A good book can take a person away into a more interesting, lively place. It is an enjoyable hobby that can also be a good distraction from all of the troubles in the world. This is one of the many reasons why reading is so important.

Literacy is very important in this age. It is unbelievable that there are so many people still in this country who are unable to read at an adult level, because it is difficult to imagine how they can negate their way through the world. If a person is illiterate, their chances of success greatly diminish. It would be impossible to get a well paying, steady job. Just as Mr. Gaiman also pointed out, illiterate people are more likely to resort to a life of crime to get by. Naturally, this will endanger all of society as well.

Prescribed reading can be a little irritating. Sometimes it is hard to become interested in a book that you were unable to pick out for yourself and nobody wants to spend time reading about something that they are uninterested in. However, I think that it is good that in school we are required to read stories we otherwise would not. It can give us a different perspective and even teach us something new. For example, last year my grade eleven English class read Lord of the Flies. It is probably not a book that I would have picked out for myself. In spite of that, I actually did learn a little about life from the book. It had many interesting themes revolving around civilization and society, which I did enjoy. I am also sure that without prescribed reading in English class, there are some people who would not read at all.

Empathy is the ability to understand how another person feels and to relate to them. I believe that I am a moderately empathetic person. Although I find it difficult to relate with other people's more trivial problems, I am also the kind of person who gets sad and angry when I watch the news. I do not know where we learn to be empathetic from. It may be something we are born with, but it is more likely nurture rather than nature.

Imagination is defined as "the action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses". Being imaginative is an important quality that can help people through everyday life. The ability to come up with new ideas is something required for many jobs as well. It is important to read, write or watch movies every once in awhile, because it is something that requires the imagination. It is good escapism and I think that it is healthy to have distractions that can take you out of your own life every one in awhile.

Freedom, in regards to literacy and education, gives people the right to speak, write about and believe in the subjects of their choosing. There cannot be limitations on what is published or said by the citizens of a country, or else they are not truly free. However, of course, there are some exceptions. For example, outright threatening or hateful comments that take away the rights of other people are usually censored for obvious reasons.

The purpose of community spaces, such as libraries, is that it gives people who may not have very much money a place to go and educate themselves. It is especially important that people are given access to internet and printers, because applying online is a requirement for so many different jobs. If we, as a society, do not provide these necessities to people, I think that it is likely that the crime right would definitely go up. We may be living in the age of information, but plenty citizens still have a difficult time getting their hands on information. Community spaces are still as important as ever, because they provide people with a space to get information and spend their time productively.

I do not recall reading fairy tales as a child. In all honesty, I had difficulties with reading for much of my childhood and it was not until the fifth or sixth grade that I really began reading for pleasure. By that time, I was not too interested in reading fairy tales. I enjoyed to funny books about life, such as the ones Judy Blume would write. I also read many non-fiction books about space and dinosaurs, because those were two topics that interested me a lot. When I was about twelve, I was reading all the time. This was around the time I discovered the importance of reading and how it was such a good escape from the everyday, average life. It would take me somewhere more exciting and there is much value in that.

Top 21 Before 21

I have read the following novels from Chapters' list of the top 21 books to read before a person turns 21:

• The Hunger Games
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Twilight

I choose to read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. The book is told through the first person point of view of a fifteen year old Floridian boy, who goes by the name of Jacob Portman, He was very close to his grandfather as a child. Grandpa Abe is very fascinating to Jacob. He shares many adventurous tales and unusual, vintage photographs with the young boy. He speaks about his time spent living in a home for "peculiar" children, who all possess a strange ability of some sort. However, as the years go on, Jacob stops believing these stories and the family suspects that Grandpa Abe is losing his mind in his later years, as some of the elderly do.

The initial incident that truly begins the story is when Jacob witnessed the gruesome death of his childhood hero, Grandpa Abe. Confusing last words were shared with the fifteen year old and by the time he was sixteen, he was determined to find out the mystery behind them. Upon the discovery of an old letter addressed to his grandfather from a Miss Peregrine, Jacob convinces his father to take him to explore a small Welsh island and he successfully finds Miss Peregrine's old home for children. It is completely abandoned, but within a few more days of exploring, he accidentally ends up in 1940. The house is reverted back to its perfect state and children happily live together in the home. Jacob soon learns about his grandfather's past and about the other peculiar children, who he becomes friends with. He also discovers that they are living the same day again and again. September third 1940 repeats every single day. The children and their headmistress, Miss Peregrine, are aware of the time loop and so it does not affect them. However, the townspeople live the same day over again without any remembrance of yesterday.

Jacob has been granted with the same gift as his grandfather- to see the monsters that are trying to hunt down the peculiar children. He is forced to make the decision about whether he should stay with the peculiar children or return to his home with his father. With some convincing by Emma Bloom, a girl with an ability to create fire out of thin air and who has a very big crush on him, he decides to stay and help fight against the monsters with his friends.

I enjoyed Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and in fact, I finished it within two days. I am planning to start reading the sequel soon as well. It was entertaining and an interesting read. There was always something happening, so it did not once get boring. Most of it was heavily based on magic and supernatural elements. This is something that I usually do not like very much, but in this story, it was overall well done.

This book was included on the Top 21 Before 21 list, because it an easy, good read and it has everything that any young adult story must have: Adventure, mystery and romance. The vintage photographs were a nice touch. It is just one of those little added things that make the story more interesting. I would definitely recommend it to someone of my own age. An older adult may enjoy this book as well, as long as that person enjoys adventure and fantasy books.

The story reminded me a lot of the Percy Jackson series. That series is not on the Top 21 Before 21 list and I do not know if they continue to be popular, but when I was about thirteen, it was quite a popular series. The protagonists are both teenage boys with similar personalities. They are both ordinary and unpopular, until they find out a secret about themselves and go on an dangerous adventure with their friends. The main female character happens to be a teenage girl, who is both feisty and clever, and eventually ends up with the protagonist in each book. However, this happens much sooner in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Aside from Percy Jackson, I am not reminded of any other books when I read this one. It is not very similar to the few other books I read that are on the Top 21 Before 21 list. However, as previously mentioned, it does have the same basic themes that all young adult books seem to have.

Journal #2: S. R. Ranganathan and the Five Laws of Library Science

S. R. Ranganathan lived through the years 1892 to 1972. He was a mathematics teacher from India and soon he also became a librarian. After he spent sometime traveling, he realized that libraries and books were not very accessible to the poorer citizens of his country. This was something that did not seem fair to him, because everyone had the right to knowledge. In an attempt to change this, he developed several library legislation's, including the Five Laws of Library Science. The laws included the following:

1. Books are for use.
2. Every reader his (or her) book.
3. Every book its reader.
4. Save the time of the reader.
5. The library is a growing organism.

These laws are fundamental to a working library system, because they all focus on the importance of the reader's ability to comfortably and easily use their local library, without feeling restricted or unable to find the resources that one may need. For example, the books were once chained to the walls of a library to prevent theft. Although it is important to be cautious of stolen books, this made it more difficult for people to actually use and enjoy the books. Ranganathan believed that books being used was more important than books being preserved for longer periods of time, because a library will quickly lose its purpose if it is not being used.

Although today we have more access to knowledge than those living in Ranganathan's time would have, these basic rules of library science still make perfect sense today in this new world of technology and information. The fourth rule is probably one of the most significant today, because everybody always wants to save time and get things done quickly. However, in my opinion, all of the laws are equally as important.