Anti-War Poster

My poster was the Lady Liberty holding a sword and shield. The sword had the words "be prepared" depicted on it. This shows that the U.S. is ready to fight and won't back down. The enemy better be prepared. If I was to change this war poster to an anti-war poster, I would first change the sword to a torch, just like The Statue of Liberty usually has. On the side of the torch, I would write "be peaceful". Then I would change the shield it is holding which has a U.S. seal on it. Instead of the seal, I would make it into a peace sign. Then on top of the poster where it says "USA BONDS" I would make it say "USA PEACE". The colors would be changed from dark colors like brown and dark gold to lighter colors like light green and yellow. There would be a lot of birds and clouds instead of dark smears of paint in the background. The whole poster would be much happier and instead of convincing people to buy war bonds, it would express world peace. On the very bottom of the poster, there is a block of stone that has the words "Weapons for Liberty" engraved into it. On my poster, it would say "Weapons for World Peace" instead.

Johnny Got His Gun

Military drafts have been a part of America ever since the very beginning. Without drafts,America wouldn't have won all of the wars that we have already. Military drafts have helped a lot with the progression of America, but they are also evil in a way. They have also torn families apart and ruined lives. Military drafts pretty much force people into going to war for their country, even if they never signed up for the military, they are thrown into the war. Many men who have been put into the war through the draft have been killed during battle. This ruins families because the men's wives have to find someone new. The last of United States of America Military draft was for the war in Vietnam. This was a very harsh war, and most citizens back in the states we against the war. There were many protests and rallies against having troops in Vietnam. When the war was finished, the soldiers who came back alive were hated. Not a lot of people liked them because they were in the war. This was not their fault. They were being hated for something they didn't choose to partake it, but rather were forced into. War has a huge effect on the human brain. It changes the way you think. If you were to see one of your friends get blown to pieces, you would never be the same. Half of the people in the war who were drafted come back with post dramatic stress disorder. The people with it will never be the same as when they left to go to war. They should stop Military Drafts and never have them again. They help the United States win wars, but it takes lives that didn't want to risk their life in the first place. It isn't the best idea ever, that is for sure.

Hatchet Part 3 Chapter 10-13

         In this part of the book, Brian is frustrated with himself because he can't make a fire. He strikes the side of the cave in anger and sparks fly. Surprised with his luck, Brian gathers some tinder and starts a fire. He spends the next couple of hours finding wood and tinder to keep the fire going. Brian decides he needs to find eggs or something to cook over the fire. He watches a bird from his shelter and proceeds to climb the tree it keeps flying to. He finds eggs in a nest and gently takes them.
        An important quote from this text would be "Brian was amazed at his luck to come across this abundant fire source." This is crucial because Brian was so used to having everything at his hands whenever he wanted in New York. Now here in the bush, he is so happy just to find something simple as a fire source.
       I can relate to text like this because in some video games I play, you start with nothing and have to build yourself up, just like Brian in the woods. He was thrown into a situation where has can't make a bad move otherwise his life is on the line.
       

Hatchet Part 2 Chapter 6-10

             In this part of the book, Brian realizes that he is very hungry and thirsty. He drinks a lot of water from the lake and finds some unfamiliar red berries he eats until he isn't hungry. Brian finds a small overhang under a bluff. He then gathers sticks and weaves them in and out and makes a wall for the overhang with a door.
             I can relate to this part of the book because I really like survival shows and movies. They really interest me and I think it looks challenging but fun. I don't think it would be fun if my life was on the line though.
            "Brian was not the same anymore, he would never let death in again. He has been too close to it several times and it was time that he started to show death who is boss." This quote is important because it shows how Brian is a new person and ready for anything after the plane crash. If he can survive that he can survive anything the wild throws at him.

Hatchet Part 1 Chapter 1-5

            Brian Robeson is on a small plane from New York to visit his dad in the middle of Canada. There is only one pilot and in the middle of the flight, he has a heart attack. Brian is stuck alone thousands of feet in the air. Survival mode turns on in him and he takes control of the plane. He knew how keep it going steady and straight from movies but had no clue how to land or anything of that sort. Eventually the plane runs out of gas and starts to summit into the deep Canadian woods. Brian attempts to land it in a small lake. He barely gets out alive and almost drowns. All he has is a Hatchet his mom gave him and the clothes on his back. He takes shelter in a nearby cave next to the lake. 
          "Brian looks back on when he sat in the dark cave and thought of it as when he learned the most important rule of survival, which was that feeling sorry for yourself didn't work. It wasn't just that it was wrong to do, or that it was considered incorrect. It was more than that—it didn't work." This is an important quote because Brian realizes it is bad to feel sorry for yourself.
         I can connect to this passage because I am very interested in survival. My friends and I used to go out in the woods with only a couple key tools and build shelters and sleep in them for a night. It was a lot of fun and challenging. 
         

Brian's Hunt 75-113

Brain' Hunt Pages 75-113
       Brian decides to go see if the others are alive. He finds the mother mauled on the shoreline. He knows they have three kids. Brian searches far and wide for them, but they are no where to be found. Then he sees someone paddling a canoe towards him. It is one of the cree trappers kids, it is a girl, about his age. She tells him the other children are in Ontario visiting family. Her name is Susan. Susan says she was out berry picking  and when she came back to camp, the bear had chased her to the canoes and she had been out on the canoe staying away from the bear for over 3 days. Susan hadn't slept at all since then, and she proceeds to fall asleep. Brian decides that he will go find and kill the bear. Susan calls a helicopter to pick her up. Then Brian is alone. He walks around the island with a bow and arrows. The bear suddenly attacks him from behind. Brian thinks he is about to die when the dog jumps on its back. It is just enough of a distraction for Brian to grab his knife and kill the bear. The story is finished.

      A good quote from the passage would be when Brian was just about to be killed by the bear, and he gives up. "The last thing he saw was an enormous wall of fur coming over him and he thought, all right, this is how it ends. This is how it all ends." Brian gives up because he thinks the bear is about to kill him. But it shows to never give up. Once he thinks he is just about done, the dog jumps on the bear and Brian gets a chance to kill him.

     I can connect to this part of the story because Brian thinks he is done and there is no coming back. In basketball games before, I sometimes think we are done at halftime and that we will lose. But then we start playing well and they started playing badly. Things can change so easily. Things changed very quickly for Brian and he is lucky they did, otherwise he would have been killed.

Brian's Hunt 50-75 reflection

       I read pages 50-75 of Gary Paulsen's Brain's Hunt. Brian and the dog ride down the river to the Cree- trapper's house on an island in the middle of a lake. Brian thinks the dog might be theirs, so he wants to return it if it is. What he finds there is horrifying. The trappers have been mauled and killed by a bear. He doesn't know how it happened because the trappers were amazing at sensing animals. He realizes it must have been a very strong, quick, agile bear.

       One important quote from this text comes from when Brian discovers David, the father of the family's dead body. "He reached for a corner of the torn sleeping bag and pulled it away and saw the body, a human body doubled up and jammed back in the corner, covered, and it was the father, David, destroyed, face torn, neck torn open, one arm half ripped of the body, stomach torn open..."I think this is an important quote because it shows the true damage of what animals can do to humans if they want to. Some people think humans are truly dominant over every other animal. This is true to a certain extent, because if a human has a gun, it can take down the bear. But in a fight between a bear and a human, no gun, no knife, no weapon, the bear would make mincemeat out of the human.

      I can connect to the text because when I was 10 years old, I went to Canada on a fishing trip with my dad and my cousins and uncles. It was a great trip, but we did have a small scare. Our cabin was on in island in the middle of a lake, just like the book. One afternoon when my cousin and I were playing near the shore, we heard a what sounded like a growl not too far away. Across the lake, probably only 300 yards away was a giant black bear looking at us. I was happy the lake wasn't frozen over, because if it felt like it, the bear could have easily got to us.