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Research and Writing: Five

Everything Else Before I did anything else, I finished my background sources, which were just weird. Emily Bronte seems to be a very secretive and mysterious person, and there really is like no information on her. There are tons of people guessing what have influenced her writing in Wuthering Heights but no one really knows truly. Therefore, I had to resort to the obvious – her family, her house growing up, etc. I could see how background sources would be very useful to other better-known authors, but for my sneaky author I didn’t learn much. My general introduction was the most frustrating. I continually tried to connect Bronte and her novel to the world she lived in and the world I live in presently... but I struggle so much getting my thoughts down straight on paper. In the end, I’m pretty happy with my general intro but honestly I am just happy to be done with this project. I never want to look at Wuthering Heights again.

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Research and Writing: Four

Intro to Annotations This portion of the project was easier because everything you need to include, you have already applied in an earlier part of the project and therefore it is already fresh in your head. My biggest struggle with the intro to annotations was trying not to be too redundant and repetitive... writing about the exact same things that my criticisms and annotations already stated. The biggest difference between this introduction and the abstracts that we have already written is that it’s more in your opinion and how you used them to show anything you want them to portray. My next biggest problem is waiting to get everything back from Mr. Kreinbring. I feel bad that I dropped off about 20 pages of reading for him to do today, yet I don’t care all that much I just want my feedback returned to me ☺ Spring break is only a few days away and teachers are cramming assignments and other shenanigans, making it hard to focus on lit, but hopefully it’ll all be checked off this time and I’ll have less work to do later. In all, I’m feeling pretty good about this project.

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Research and Writing: Three

Final Abstracts and Annotations After writing my first abstract and getting it okayed by Mr. Kreinbring, the second and the third abstract came a lot easier. It still took quite a while to read and understand the criticisms, but I at least didn’t have the doubt of doing it completely wrong anymore. My second abstract was shorter, yet harder to read than the first one. It used confusing wording that just made me angry and frustrated; some words didn’t even come up in the dictionary. Nonetheless, the third criticism was the longest and most painful to read. There were certain parts in the criticism where I had absolutely no idea what he was trying to say. Regardless, I finally got my abstracts written and in to Mr. Kreinbring where he got raspberry (framboise) juice all over the papers I needed to turn in. I then started my annotations, realizing I spent way too much time overthinking what passage I should even use. The annotations themselves were not that hard to write, it just depends on how good you are at closely reading and analyzing passages. I personally struggled to transition from thematic discussion to literary devices, but also believe it is in Bronte’s writing style to not use a ton of literary devices and more focus on the characters relationships with each other. This process is frustrating, as sometimes I feel like I’m writing the best things ever and making great connections and everything, and then I go back and re-read it and realize I make absolutely no sense. I would primarily say this portion of writing is a lot of guess and check almost... starting little ideas and then figuring out which ideas actually work and going from there.

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Research and Writing: Two The First Abstract After breezing through finding the criticisms, I was hoping the reading and writing abstracts would be just as simple... but surely I was wrong. First off, I kept confusing myself on whether Mr. Kreinbring had said to write the abstracts before the annotations, or the annotations before the abstracts. Unfortunately, I decided annotation first must be right, so now of course I have to scrap what I had written or possibly salvage it. Anyways, writing the abstract wasn’t terrible; it was reading the criticism itself that challenged me. My primary problem was that I didn’t know which criticisms to use; so I decided to read a little bit of each to see which would be the most helpful. This lead to the problem of having to print around 200 pages of criticisms... so I decided to send a flashcard with my dad to work where he could sneakily print hundreds of pages during his midnight shift at the hospital. After picking which criticisms, I had to read my criticism nearly three times just to understand what the heck was trying to be said. Thankfully, reading it so many times made writing the abstract easier because I knew very well the main points of the article. I found it interesting that the topics this criticism discussed were very similar to the themes and ideas I had already begun to think about throughout Wuthering Heights. I also liked that this criticism discussed a wide variety of ideas throughout the novel, whereas one of my other criticisms only focuses on one more closely. In all, it took a lot of time to read, process and then write, but altogether I am very happy with the way my first abstract turned out.

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Research and Writing: One The OU Library Finding the criticisms I thought would be the easiest part of this process, but it actually served a few challenges. For starters, finding a place to park at Oakland University is seemingly impossible. Then, after trekking from our very distant parking spot to Kresge Library the fire alarms went off. Luckily, we ran into Ryan and Melanie who were also very frustrated with the fire alarm ordeal as we were forced to wait outside the library for about a half hour. Once we were finally allowed inside the library, the rest was easy; we got guest passes from the front desk so we were able to access the computer database search and then had no problems finding the criticisms themselves. I found and saved nearly ten different criticisms, all ranging in different content, author and length, which I decided I would sort through at home to decide which ones would work the best for me. What I struggled to find, and still am struggling with, is the background sources. For whatever reason, I cannot find anything on why Emily Bronte decided to write Wuthering Heights besides the few bibliographies that make only guesses themselves. I had to return to the library once more, just to take a picture, but other than that I have no complaints so far towards this process.

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Reading the Work: Five As if I didn’t already dislike Heathcliff enough, I then discovered that even after Catherine and Linton’s wedding he refused to let Catherine go home. Although I liked all the gushy romance of Heathcliff, the love between a parent and a child is something I could actually relate to right now. Emily Bronte almost shattered my heart multiple times as no one was able to find and release Catherine from the depths of Wuthering Heights, allowing her to see her dad on his death bed. When Catherine storms into Thrushcross Grange, I am relieved for her and her dad’s sake and my heart breaks over and over again as she says her final goodbyes to her dad, weeping over his dead body. This scene gave me liberation, but at the same time brought back all of the fury towards Heathcliff who caused this drama. Relieved that Edgar no longer has to suffer, I’m also upset that Catherine is left to Heathcliff and all of his vulgarity. At Wuthering Heights, Catherine sums up all of my feelings towards Heathcliff stating that, “Mr. Heathcliff YOU have NOBODY to love you; and, however miserable you make us, we shall still have the revenge of thinking that your cruelty arises from your greater misery. You ARE miserable, are you not? Lonely, like the devil, and envious like him? NOBODY loves you - NOBODY will cry for you when you die! I wouldn't be you!” Although I dislike Heathcliff, I keep putting myself in this situation of feeling bad for him. Honestly, I still don’t know how I feel about Heathcliff. Heathcliff goes to extreme measures to make sure him and Catherine (the first) will once again see each other, which, although it is extremely crazy to dig up someone’s grave, shows a softer more sympathetic side to Heathcliff. He is so desperate in love that you almost can’t blame him for his exotic ideas. I always find myself caught off guard whenever Mr. Lockwood comes back into the story, as I feel he does not belong. I get so caught up in Nelly’s storytelling that I forget to whom she is even telling the story. Honestly, I could care less about Mr. Lockwood; he seems so unimportant to the entirety of the story. At this point I feel the novel is really slowing down and with Linton dead and Nelly not at Wuthering Heights; I cannot picture any more possible scenarios that would require the novel to continue on. Only Catherine, Heathcliff and Hareton remain alive from the two original families, yet somehow Joseph and Nelly have survived it all, I still don’t understand. I was really hoping that Mr. Lockwood would steal away with Catherine, to put an end to all of this weird family incest, but unfortunately that did not happen. Anyways, I again feel bad Catherine and Hareton. With Hareton, the poor kid is trying so hard to learn how to read, but everyone is so negative and he is so easily discouraged. With Catherine, I do not believe she strives to be rude towards Hareton, but Heathcliff has left her with nothing else to do. I am extremely happy when they decide to get along, and Catherine promises to teach him how to read. However, that happiness is quickly turned into repugnance and confusion as Catherine and Hareton strike up a love affair. If dating your cousins is all right to do in the 19th century then so be it, but I find it repulsive. In the end, I feel bad for Heathcliff again!!! I keep beating myself up over having to pick a side of whether I like him or not, and it keeps falling back to me pitying him. He grows strange towards the end of the novel and it is evident that his death is near. While technically I feel as if I should hate Heathcliff and should want him to die for everything he has put people through, I truly only want him to do so that he will be reunited with Catherine. To me it seems that in a novel about romance, death was the most important factor. Death plagued seemingly everyone, but while death is portrayed as a negative thing it only relieved these people of their sufferings. Attached is the video of PBS’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights, and while the entire movie is good the scenes of death really push it to the next level. Catherine dies around 43:00, Edgar dies around 55:00, and Heathcliff finally dies around 1:09:00.

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Reading the Work: Four Don’t get me wrong, I really like the novel, I’m just getting very agitated with the never-ending plot. I was so consumed by Heathcliff and Catherine’s romance that I don’t see the rest of the novel being up to par. In the next section of the novel, Linton is introduced. I ultimately feel bad that he has to live under the same roof as Heathcliff, who has taken a dive in cruelty after losing Catherine; but after all, it is his own son. Without Catherine’s love to fuel Heathcliff, I lose interest in him and rather grow fond of Edgar who is just trying to salvage what parts of his life haven’t already been destroyed. As for Catherine (the first) I still don’t like her. You would think that after she passed away I would just forget about her, but she has made Edgar’s life miserable and I can’t stand to think of what she did to him. As for Catherine (the second) I grew angry that she fell for Heathcliff’s tricks so easily. What is with her and her mother that make them so floozy? Also, what makes marriages so easy to obtain in this time period? Heathcliff states that he wants Catherine to marry his son and next thing you know they’re married. I actually don’t mind Linton and Catherine’s relationship because they both seem genuinely happy. The only thing that continues to bother me with this novel is the incest! First two stepsiblings fall in love, now cousins are in love. Are there no other families around this area that could break up this weird family affair? Also, I do believe that Heathcliff is trying to carry out his Catherine romance through his own son, but as long as no one is getting hurt I don’t really mind. Even Edgar is not opposed to Linton and Catherine’s romance, as long as he comes to visit her at the Grange. I truly adore Edgar at this point, as he cares more about his daughter’s happiness than his vengeance with Heathcliff. Heathcliff, on the other hand, does not capture my heart with the engagement of Catherine and Linton and rather makes me grow to hate him. Edgar’s health is deteriorating and Catherine is locked away in Wuthering Heights, unable to go see her dying father. Who is cruel enough to keep a child away from their dying parent? For the longest time I couldn’t make up my mind to whether or not I really liked Heathcliff or not, but with this my hatred grew stronger than ever. I decided that Heathcliff is just angry that he never got to wed his beloved Catherine, and wants to get revenge on Edgar. This time he really took it too far. A last minute thought of this section of the novel is about Hareton Earnshaw. While he doesn’t seem to have a huge role in the novel I cannot help but think about his use of language. While the rest of the characters speak pretty good English, Hareton only speaks Yorkshire and is also illiterate. From reading The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett, I have learned that Yorkshire is more of a symbol of ignorance, as it is mainly only the servants that speak it. My main concern with this is why did Heathcliff find the need to keep Hareton so ignorant? Also along the lines of the Yorkshire language, I continue to be surprised at how little of it there is in this novel. In The Secret Garden, Yorkshire was a huge theme throughout the book, and altogether gave the book the characterization of moorlands during this time period. With every character introduced to the book at this time, how they all relate together finally makes a lot more sense. Referring back to the “Catherine Earnshaw” ... “Catherine Heathcliff” ... “Catherine Linton”, whether those all refer to one Catherine or both I’m still not sure. Catherine (the first) was born an Earnshaw, married into being a Linton, but the question still is does Catherine Heathcliff refer to the second whom just married Linton Heathcliff, or is this simply Heathcliff himself dreaming of making the late Catherine his own. I included a family tree I found, which although confused the heck out of me, doesn’t look all that confusing.

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Reading the Work: Three Although I pity Heathcliff, for he is only acting on his love for Catherine, his actions become overpowering and his true colors are shown. I see Heathcliff as the kid who was always bullied, always told he wasn’t good enough... and now he is finally snapping on everyone who ever told him he wasn’t good enough. His actions are cruel now towards Isabella and everyone else at Wuthering Heights, even Nelly. But is that Heathcliff’s fault at all? I would be a little on edge too if my older stepbrother was planning on killing me and the girl I loved was off with another man yet still leading me on. I also feel bad for Isabella; she has always played a sort of docile role that seems to get herself in the middle of all these bad situations. Along with Heathcliff treating Isabella cruelly, you can tell he has completely lost his sanity towards Catherine when he hold Nelly prisoner until she promises to deliver a letter to Catherine and let him know when Mr. Linton is off the property. As Heathcliff waited outside of Catherine’s estate, I knew trouble would be coming in the future as I expected another duel between Heathcliff and Edgar. What I didn’t expect was the passion, the loving, the heartbreak... and a baby? I was totally caught off guard as I, somehow, missed the whole idea that Catherine had been pregnant with Edgar’s baby. Anyways, the scene between Heathcliff and Catherine... kind of took my breath away. I’m not usually a sucker for all those romantic things but Emily Bronte really impressed me with the construction of this passage. “’Oh, Cathy! Oh, my life! how can I bear it?’ was the first sentence he uttered, in a tone that did not seek to disguise his despair.” (155) How can your heart not break at those words, knowing how much Heathcliff loves Catherine? Heathcliff almost yells at Catherine, for keeping them apart, for being cruel and being with Edgar. I want Heathcliff to yell, it’s the least he can do for all of the suffering he has been through, watching her be with Edgar, watching her carry his child. They refuse to break their love again...and then, Edgar walks into the scene! Into the romance and passion. At this point, the scene is beginning to become too much for me. I, like Catherine, feel like just keeling over and dying because all of this drama seems never ending. Catherine gave birth to Catherine (because I didn’t have enough problems with names already) and then died. With Catherine (the first) dead, I can’t possible think of anything else that could happen in the book, and I am very relieved that this love triangle between Edgar, Catherine and Heathcliff is finally over. No one from Wuthering Heights shows up to the funeral, although Heathcliff sneaks a lock of his hair into what she is buried in – but that kind of behavior doesn’t surprise me from Heathcliff. After Catherine’s death, this novel really begins to exhaust me. Isabella moved away from cruel Heathcliff and had a son named Linton, Catherine (the second) grows up to be beautiful, and Hareton remains living with Heathcliff uneducated. Yet, the only thing I can think of is how Nelly Dean and Joseph have both lived through three generations of Earnshaws and Linton’s, yet everyone else seems to be dying all around them? As for Catherine, I like her a lot more than I liked her mother. She has yet to cause any major problems. Nonetheless, when she does get herself into trouble for the first time it revolves around both Wuthering Heights and Heathcliff. I, of course, want Catherine to remain out of reach from the cruelty of Heathcliff, but have learned to not expect a lack of drama from Emily Bronte. In a TV adaptation of Wuthering Heights the scene between Heathcliff and Catherine is portrayed before her death. You have to skip forward to about 1:03:00, but I really like how they did it. I imagined in the book a little more emotion towards the beginning of the scene from Heathcliff, but I can’t complain.

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Reading the Work: Two

At this point in the novel, the biggest drama is between Edgar Linton and Heathcliff over their love for Catherine. Although Edgar is more proper and brings out the best in Catherine’s behavior, I still hope that somehow she will end up with Heathcliff. As Catherine slaps Nelly, my favorite character so far, I become disturbed and begin to see how bratty she truly is. This makes me feel bad for both Heathcliff and Edgar as I feel they’re both just being betrayed by this “bonny” girl. It actually made me really upset when Edgar, leaving after Catherine’s poor behavior, came back deciding he still loved her. Already angry with Catherine, I seriously cannot but my fury with her into words as she tells Nelly she’s going to marry Edgar and poor Heathcliff is sitting right around the corner listening! Nelly makes continues the story with a “pity Catherine” attitude, but truly it is all of her fault that Heathcliff runs away from her. I really don’t like Catherine for breaking Heathcliff’s heart and leading Edgar on when she knows she loves Heathcliff.

With Heathcliff gone everything seems normal for once in this novel, but of course that doesn’t last. Heathcliff returns and Daisy instantly falls back in love. If this part of the novel doesn’t compare to The Great Gatsby, then I don’t know what does. Heathcliff is a representation of Jay Gatsby, clearly. Who, being poor and in the military, leaves knowing he loves Daisy. In return, however, both Gatsby and Heathcliff somehow have magnificent riches and a still strong love for their women. The thing is, both Daisy and Catherine are married: Daisy to Tom and Catherine to Edgar. Relentless, the love affair continues. The similarities between the novels actually quite bother me as I feel the rest of the novel is predictable, but I stood incorrect. I in no way saw the marriage of Heathcliff and Isabella Linton coming, but I kind of like it. I feel bad for Isabella who is simply being used to make Catherine jealous, but I feel Heathcliff deserves this kind of revenge for everything Catherine has put him through.

After that, Catherine’s world begins to fall apart with what I believe is the most dramatic scene of the novel so far. Edgar walks in on Heathcliff and Catherine in the midst of an argument and of course is appalled. For the first time I saw a truly angry side of Edgar Linton, as he wanted to fight Heathcliff, but once again I don’t believe it is either Edgar’s or Heathcliff’s fault. Catherine is the problem; she simply cannot make up her mind on which man she wants to be with. Emily Bronte really portrays the tension between families throughout this scene as they instigate each other, yet I almost don’t fall for their arguments, they seem weak and careless.

As Catherine falls sick, I seriously just wish she would die already. Edgar does not deserve all that she has put him through. Catherine is disloyal and honestly just crazy. Yet as Edgar finds her in a weakened condition from being sick, he still cares about her! How can he love someone so much, when she loves another man?!

The videos attached to this are from The Great Gatsby, and clearly represent the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff. The first is called “Rich Girls Don’t Marry Poor Boys” which again symbolizes why Catherine originally believed she could not be with Heathcliff, as she saw herself too good for him. The second is called “Reuniting”, which shows a good idea of what might have happened when Catherine saw Heathcliff for the first time after three years.

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Reading the Work: One Very shortly into Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, I realized how grotesque Heathcliff is as he rudely escorted Mr. Lockwood around his estate. More importantly, it is within the first few pages of the novel that I began to see a confusing web of family affairs that revolve around Wuthering Heights. The first sign of this was when Mr. Lockwood saw a plaque outside Wuthering Heights regarding “Earnshaw”, yet, if Heathcliff is the master of the estate, then who is Earnshaw? I realized characterization was probably going to be my weakness to reading this novel, as I was just as confused as Mr. Lockwood was when being introduced to Catherine and Hareton, who both live at Wuthering Heights but are not directly related to Heathcliff. My problem with names and relations only became worse when Mr. Lockwood discovered names scratched into his bed at Wuthering Heights, “Catherine Earnshaw” ... “Catherine Heathcliff” ... “Catherine Linton”. Are all of these Catherine’s referring to just one person or is there multiple? However, it is established that whoever Catherine is, she has a major role throughout Wuthering Height’s history as she haunts Lockwood’s dreams and Heathcliff’s thoughts. Thankfully, Nelly Dean helps clear up the confusion on characterization as she explains the family history to Lockwood. I actually rather enjoy Ellen’s storytelling more than Lockwood’s first hand experiences with the Heights, as she does not leave out much detail or explanation. The only question I raise about Nelly Dean is how she has seemed to outlive multiple generations of Earnshaws? Regardless, it is through Nelly Dean’s stories that I began to understand why Heathcliff seems to have no relation to either Catherine (the second Catherine, I suppose) or Hareton. With Heathcliff as an outsider, I actually begin to feel bad for him, and rather resent Hindley Earnshaw for treating him cruelly. Heathcliff may be different compared to the rest of the family, but if Catherine (the first) and Mr. Earnshaw could grow to love him, then Hindley should have too. As the story continued, I truly grew to despise Hindley for corrupting Heathcliff and tearing him apart from Catherine. Although I like Heathcliff and Catherine together, I cannot stop and think of how weird it is that they love each other as stepsiblings? Is incest a common thing of the late 18th century, or is it considered fine since Heathcliff is technically not related? Anyways, my heart broke for Heathcliff when, trying his best to be good for Catherine, is made fun of for being dirty by both Catherine and Edgar Linton and is thrown in the attic; I couldn’t help but be happy for him as he threw applesauce onto Edgar Linton. Although Heathcliff seems to be portrayed as the antagonist, I rather like him and feel remorse for the poor boy. The first connection I made to Wuthering Heights was to the Addams Family, because although they all live under one roof they seem to have nothing in common besides being weird. Gomez from the Addams Family is a good representation of how I picture Heathcliff: respectable in appearance and mannerisms, but also dark and mysterious. Hindley, on the other hand, I picture being more like Uncle Fester in regards to looks. It is not clear whether he has supposed to be portrayed as handsome or not but my resentment towards his actions give him a negative connotation. Lastly, I imagine Catherine Earnshaw looking like Morticia Addams: beautiful and desirable. As a result of me liking Heathcliff, I imagine my views are distorted to what he would like to see in his family; him (Gomez) married happily to Catherine (Morticia), while Hindley (Uncle Fester) is primarily out of the picture. In all, I’m still trying to work out the characterization and relationship between all of the people, as that seems to be a majority of the novel thus far. I’ve started to create a family tree... but there are still so many unresolved questions that it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Hopefully the continuation of Nelly Dean’s stories will answer most of my questions.

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I decided to choose Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë not only because it was recommended to me by a multitude of teachers and peers, but also because I was captivated by both the romance and the setting of the novel. The setting of the novel intrigued me because it resembled the setting of a book I read over the summer, The Secret Garden. Both books took place during the late 18th to early 19th century on the Yorkshire moors of Northern England. I figured if I was able to like the Cravens and the Sowerbys in The Secret Garden, that hopefully I would have similar results with the moor people in Wuthering Heights. Along with the people living on the moor, I fell in love with the moor itself: its nature and purity. In addition to liking the setting, I chose Wuthering Heights because of its romanticism. Having never read a romantic novel, I figured it would be a good time to try considering the literary merit of this novel.

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Originality

I do no believe that anything is truly original because every large idea is made up of smaller ones. For example, people find tunes, beats, lyrics and ideas from other songs to create their own. Just as, people use materials on earth to create new products. The materials on earth have always been there, its just the way you put them together to create new ideas.

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Staples

"I beheld the wretch - the miserable monster I had created." - Mary Shelley Marry Shelley's quote relates to Staple's essay because as Shelley has created a monster, Staples posses the ability to create a monster in every situation he walks into. Although Shelley's monster remains unknown from just this short quote, Staple's monster is the ability to create fear. One step to close and women go running for safety. One step into the wrong building and security goes calling for back up. Everywhere he goes he is given looks, questioned of being a criminal. His race has created a monster of fear, relentless of his true harmlessness.

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Elementary School

In second grade, there is only a few things important enough to get you really excited. Gym class, recess, and being the line leader. 

Being the line leader meant that you were "head honcho" of your entire class for a whole week! You got to strut your stuff through the hallways and prove your dominance over that single file line. Mrs. Davis-Comfort didn't just take volunteers for line leader, no it was far too cool for that. Your name had to be magically drawn out of that lucky pile of popsicle sticks. Week by week my second grade year had flown by, and I had still yet to be line leader. Spring was approaching and I was afraid my turn would never come.

One weekend, between shifts of new line leaders, I was at my friend's birthday party playing on the monkey bars. We were playing monkey, where you battle your opponent until one falls off. It was my turn to fight the birthday girl. We swung, rung by rung, until we met in the middle. Then we dangled by one hand as we struggled to get each other off. Her grip was slipping and a saw sweet victory in my near future when she got me...right in the tickle zone. We both tumbled to the ground with a thud. Instantly, I burst into tears. My ankle was throbbing.

After a day of ice and rest, my parents decided to take me to the hospital for X-rays. Turns out I had broken my foot. With a little bit of pain medicine and my brand new, bright blue cast, I was ready for school the next day. Only thinking of the positives, I was excited for everyone to sign my cast. I arrived the next day at school, surrounded by "ooh"s and "aah"s as I explained what had happened.

It was that moment when devastation hit. Mrs. Davis-Comfort went to draw the next name for line leader. "JULIA MASTRACCI". After patiently waiting my turn for line leader, I was unable. No way the kids would want to walk behind me at snail speed as I hobbled through the hallway. She had to draw a new name. Just like that my hopes and dreams of being line leader were crushed.

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My third post about gun control in America shows just how far people are going with gun control. People are seriously going nutty over harmless gestures, and worst of all, they were all carried out by kids in elementary school. These people cracking down on gun control need to focus on who is the real problem, not these toddlers. They need to help get people the psychiatric attention they need, and leave the kids alone.

In the wake of the Newtown massacre and the NRA’s call for putting armed guards in America’s schools, some school officials have reacted severely to young kids’ play around the subject of guns. Recent cases have included the suspension of students as young as five years old simply for talking about playing with toy weapons. The offenders’ arsenal has included breakfast pastries, Legos, and Hello Kitty.

“Parents have to be aware that talking about guns or using your fingers to point like a gun is no longer tolerable or prudent,” American Association of School Administrators executive director Don Domenech told USA Today this week. “Everybody has to adjust. Children are being brutalized and murdered in their classrooms. It’s a new world.” But child psychologists have pushed back, explaining that such attitudes fail to consider the developmental stages of young students and their lack of intent to do harm; the American Academy of Pediatrics recently called zero-tolerance suspension policies “drastic.”

We’ve seen this picture before. In the wake of the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, young students were suspended for such trivial offenses as using their hands as imaginary guns, carrying a toenail clipper, and threatening to launch a wad of paper at a classmate with a rubber band. The policies were an outgrowth of the Safe and Drug-Free School Act of 1994, which denied schools federal aid if they failed to expel students who brought guns to campus. Still in effect at elementary and secondary schools today, the policies have set off a new round of harsh responses. Here are six of them:

Plastic toy gun at a South Carolina kindergarten: After bringing a toy gun made of clear plastic to school in January, six-year-old Naomi McKinney was expelled under her school’s zero-tolerance policy. A district official followed up with a letter to McKinney’s parents warning that she’d be “subject to the criminal charge of trespassing” if she returned. “She cannot even be in my vehicle when I go to pick up my other children,” her mom told a local paper. McKinney’s now in a home-schooling program typically only available to students with specific medical needs.

Breakfast pastry “gun” at a Maryland elementary school: Second-grader Josh Welch made national headlines this week after he was suspended for two days for inadvertently munching a school-provided breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun. “I just kept on biting it and biting it and tore off the top of it, and it kind of looked like a gun,” the seven-year-old Welch told his local Fox affiliate. “But it wasn’t. All I was trying to do was shape it into a mountain.” An assistant principal further accused him of pointing the half-eaten strawberry tart at a classmate, although Welch maintained that he only aimed it toward the ceiling.

Finger gun at a Virginia grade school: After a classmate shot him with an imaginary bow and arrow in February, an eight-year-old second-grader fired back by shaping his hand into a gun. He was suspended for “threatening harm to self or others,” an offense treated on par with bringing a real weapon to school. After a lawyer contested the suspension, the incident was removed from the student’s records. (The bow-and-arrow shooter apparently got in no trouble.) In a similar incident, school officials at White Marsh Elementary in Maryland suspended two first-graders, both six years old, for what one of their parents called a “childish game of cops and robbers” at recess in January.

Paper pistol at a Philadelphia elementary school: In January, the grandfather of fifth-grader Melody Valentin gave her a piece of paper he’d crudely folded into the shape of a handgun. Valentin reportedly brought it to school by accident and ditched it in a trash can, at which point a classmate ratted her out to school officials. She was searched and an administrator scolded her in front of her class, bringing her to tears. Valentin told Fox 29 that her classmates started calling her a “murderer” after the incident.

Lego gun at a Massachusetts elementary school: At an after-school daycare program in January, five-year-old Joe Cruz built Legos into the shape of a gun, which he pointed at other students. In response, school officials threatened him with a two-week suspension if he didn’t shape up. A school attorney cited Cruz’s “consistently disrespectful” behavior, including an incident in which he pretended his finger was a gun. In a statement, the school district said it couldn’t afford to “dismiss or overlook” any such incident in the wake of Newtown. An attorney representing Cruz claimed that the district had no documented evidence of prior misbehavior.

Hello Kitty bubble gun at a Pennsylvania kindergarten: Five-year-old Madison Guarna was suspended for 10 days and forced to undergo a psychiatric evaluation in January after making a “terroristic threat,” telling a classmate that she would shoot her with a toy Hello Kitty gun that fires soap bubbles (not to be confused with the Hello Kitty AR-15), which she had not brought to school. Guarna’s suspension was later reduced to two days.

ABC News

[juliamastracci-blog]

My second post about gun control in America shows first hand how gun control is not the answer. Even if it is illegal to obtain guns people are still going to do it. For example, the law doesn't stop people from drunk driving, doing drugs or under aged drinking. If anything, it just makes people want to do it more. Gun control will only put the victims in more risk because they won't be able to protect themselves.

Gun control advocates say they’re doing it on behalf of the victims of school shootings. But not all victims welcome their help. When two students opened fire at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999, their first victim was Evan Todd. He survived being shot, but 12 of his classmates didn’t....

[juliamastracci-blog]

My political issue is gun control in America. The democrats are constantly pushing for new gun laws with all of the recent outbreaks of shootings. But in reality, guns are not the issue. The issue is the people holding the guns. Schools need to further teach human values, and more importantly get those who are emotionally stressed the attention they need. What is America going to do? Ban utensils because of the soaring obesity rate? Ban driving to stop people from drunk driving? Get rid of erasers from pencils so people can't make mistakes? The only solution to the violence in America is drilling morals into these people so that they think twice before pulling back on the trigger.