In The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd’s writing style is eloquent because of her use of diction, tone and mood, and point of view. For example, in chapter six Lily says, “I could feel the questions gathering in him, knew I could not face them”(105). Here, it shows Kidd’s writing style because she eloquently states what Lily is thinking; it is very clear and concise. This quote also shows that point of view is important in her writing style because it gives the reader different ways to get information. You can see what Lily is feeling and seeing exactly so the reader may get incorrect and correct information. Another example is when Lily is in the kitchen with June and Lily writes, “June stared at me. Waiting. Her lips pinched tight along her teeth” (105). Here, Kidd uses eloquent language by describing clearly what June is doing and what she looks like. This quote also shows how Kidd’s use of diction helps with her eloquent writing style because she uses words that can distinctly explain and describe situations. It also shows tone and mood by explaining Lily’s opinion and how she sees June. She clearly explains how mean she looks to Lily and, thus, sets the tone of the story. Overall, Kidd’s eloquent style helps for readers to be able to clearly see what is going on in their heads. They can understand what is going on without having to really search for the meaning in the text.
Month: April 2021
Dusty with a Chance of Grasshoppers (Achieve News Discussion)
During the Dust Bowl, large parts of the US were facing huge amounts of destruction and devastation. The Dust Bowl spanned from eastern Colorado to the southern plains of the US. Normally the plains were covered in beautiful green grass and a bright blue sky that went for miles, but after WWI wheat prices skyrocketed and all that grass was turned to dirt. The plains suffered a major drought and caused all of the dirt and debris to be carried up into dust storms. For most people this storm was awful, but jackrabbits and grasshoppers thrived in it. The Dust bowl drove hoards of jackrabbits into towns and they feasted on the remaining rations. Jackrabbits weren’t necessarily new in these places, but there began to be overwhelming numbers of them. In some parts of Kansas people paid about four cents for every rabbit to be “taken care of.” Some people banged pots and pans to try and get rid of them too. Grasshoppers on the other hand… they may have been even worse. A certain type of fungi that controlled numbers of grasshoppers couldn’t survive the harsh conditions. Grasshoppers were forced to go to the towns. They would eat fence posts, garden tools, clothing, and even the skin and hair of cows. There were so many of them that they crowded the streets and many people ran over them creating a slick walkway. People tried flamethrowers and dynamite, but those barely worked most of the time. Officials used poison which seemed to help a lot more. First, they learned where the grasshoppers were moving so they could spray paint those areas. Next, they mixed the poison with sugar and sawdust to hope they would come and swallow it. Many planes and trucks went around spreading the concoction around migration routes. This method proved to be very effective and killed billions of grasshoppers. Yes, the grasshoppers were gone, but the stench was horrendous! Many people had to leave town just to get away from the smell. But hey… at least the grasshoppers and jackrabbits were gone.
In your opinion, which one is 
worse: the jackrabbits or grasshoppers? Why?
Would you have moved away until the grasshoppers and jackrabbits left, or would you have stayed? Why or why not?
What other ways of getting rid of the grasshoppers could they have tried?
https://portal.achieve3000.com/kb/lesson/?lid=19427&step=11&c=202&sc=1834&oid=0&ot=0&asn=
Secret Life of Bees Vocab
Independent Book Choice (The Raft)
My book that I chose is called The Raft. The Raft is written by S.A. Bodeen who also has written many other books that I like. She has written books like Compund and Fallout that I love, so that is a big reason why I am reading this book! The book is about a girl who is on a plane ride coming home from vacation. The plane crashes in the middle of an ocean, and she is forced to survive on a small raft in the ocean. I love scary and survival type books like these that get your blood pumping! So far it is moving pretty quickly, and it has been keeping my attention for a while. I am super excited to see what happens next!
News Discussion (EC)
In the fall of 2020, we finally got the news that a vaccine will be coming out for COVID-19! Finally, after an entire year of COVID, it will all be over soon. Although it sounds so amazing, vaccinating the whole world has proven to be very difficult. It has been difficult to be able to ship the vaccine all over the world too. Vaccines also cost money, so wealthier countries are getting it way earlier than poorer countries. Towards the beginning of COVID, wealthier countries made sure that once the US came out with the vaccine, they would get it first. Many nations even helped to pay for the materials if they could be first in line fr the first doses. As COVID continued, wealthy countries kept buying more and more doses, and since they didn’t know if they would work the first time they bought more and more. In June 2020, the World Health Organization launched a program call COVAX. This helped to make sure that the vaccine was being evenly distributed and not just given to the wealthier nations. There is also another problem that has come up with the vaccine, supply. Since the vaccine is so popular right now, the supply of it is running very low. This has caused many countries to have to compete to get the vaccine. Many wealthier countries are having trouble making appointments to get the vaccine because supply is so limited. Some wealthy countries have said that they can donate vaccines to developing countries. Some researchers say it could be years to get the whole world vaccinated, so it may be a while till any country can donate anything. The US has been able to give the vaccine to a quarter of the population, while some countries are just getting started. Health experts really want to get as many people as they can be vaccinated before a bunch of new strains of COVID come. If it takes too long, the vaccine may stop being effective after a while. Many experts say that widespread immunizations are the only way that COVID can be stopped.
If you were given the chance to get vaccinated, would you? And why?
Do you have any other ideas of how to distribute the vaccine more fairly? If so what are they?
What is your opinion on wealthier countries getting the vaccine first? Do you think this is good or bad?