The Giver

The Giver is a 1993 American children's novel by Lois Lowry. It is set in a society which is at first presented as a utopian society and gradually appears more and more dystopian. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth and thirteenth years of his life. The society has eliminated pain and strife by converting to "Sameness," a plan that has also eradicated emotional depth from their lives. Jonas is selected to inherit the position of Receiver of Memory, the person who stores all the past memories of the time before Sameness, in case they are ever needed to aid in decisions that others lack the experience to make. Jonas learns the truth about his dystopian society and struggles with its weight.The Giver won the 1994 Newbery Medal and has sold more than 10 million copies.^[1] In Australia, Canada, and the United States, it is a part of many middle school reading lists, but it is also on many challenged book lists and appeared on the American Library Association's list of most challenged books of the 1990s.^{[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giver)}

^{This is a book that i read in high school. I decided to put it up because it makes me think about how being able to be your own person and be different from everyone else is so important and that everyone being the same doesn't make life better. They are also came out with a movie for it this year.} 

Bring It ( Dancing Dolls)

This is a clip from the show Bring It about the dance team the Dancing Dolls on lifetime. This routine is a hip hop routine though they do different types of dances. I like there dances because it reminds me of when I used to be a cheerleader and a dancer. When I watch these girls dance it gets me really excited and makes me want to dance with them. It is also good to see how they all get to learn from and help each other to be better at something they love to do and are passionate about. It is also good to see how much their coach cares about them and only wants the best for them as well as how things they learn in dance help them with other things out side of dance. For example having a captain position helps to teach them how to be leaders and make decisions.

Hairspray (2007)

Though there are many different types of movies musicals are my absolute favorite. Hairspray is one of the few that I could watch all day over and over again. It has many important messages such as how segregation was wrong and that we should be able to interact, love,  and socialize with whomever we please. It also teaches girls that you don't have to be the "perfect " girl with the "model size" body and "perfect looks" to get the "popular" guy. Hairspray is a 2007 American musical film based on the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on John Waters's 1988 comedy film of the same name. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the film follows the "pleasantly plump" teenager Tracy Turnblad as she pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation. Hairspray went on to become the sixth highest grossing musical film in US cinema history, behind the film adaptations of Grease,Chicago, and Mamma Mia!,^[5] and stands as one of the most critically and commercially successful musical films of the last decade. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairspray_(2007_film)

A Midsummer Night's Dream

The is a play called A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was a comedy written by William Shakespeare and is believed to have been first performed in 1595-1596. It takes place in Athens, Greece. The main plot of Midsummer is a complex farce that involves two sets of couples (Hermia & Lysander and Helena & Demetrius) whose romantic intrigues are confused and complicated still further by entering the forest where Oberon, the King of the Fairies and his Queen, Titania, preside. Puck (or Robin Goodfellow) is a major character who is full of mischief and tricks. Other visitors to the enchanted forest include Bottom the weaver and his friends Snug, Snout, Quince and Flute who want to rehearse their dire but hilarious rendering of the play Pyramus and Thisbe. The themes illustrated in the play are that Love triumphs in the end and the pleasure of Dreaming the Impossible Dream (http://www.william-shakespeare.info/shakespeare-play-a-midsummer-nights-dream.htm). I used this play because I remembered going to see it at Lincoln Center when I was is middle school and also acting it out in class. 

Spoken Word "Why I Hate School But Love Education"

I like this because he talks about how education goes beyond school. He talks about how we try so hard to please others by going to school and how we rely on exams and assignments to tell us what we "know" but if we took the time to really think about things on our own and form our own opinions, not just repeat what we are taught in school we can be even more educated and have more knowledge.

Man in the Mirror

"Man in the Mirror" is a song made popular by Michael Jackson and written by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett. Jackson's recording was produced by Quincy Jones and co-produced by Jackson. It peaked at number 1 in the United States when released as the 4th single in January 1988 off his 7th solo album, Bad. It is one of Jackson's most critically acclaimed songs and it was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 2 weeks. The song peaked at number 21 in the UK Singles Charts in 1988, but in 2009, following the news of Jackson's death, the song peaked at number 2, having re-entered the chart at 11 the previous week as his top song on the singles chart. It also became the number 1 single in iTunes downloads in the US and the UK,[2] having sold over 1.3 million digital copies in the former alone. wikipedia.org) I pick this song because a lot of people talk about how they want to see change instead of being that change. This song inspires me to want to change myself and hope that others will do the same because change begins with you. Once we change ourselves for the better we can work together to change other problems in the world. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEQAie8ABLE(video)

Sometimes It Is Painful To Open Your Eyes

Though this picture is is not very detailed it says a lot. This picture was interesting to me because it shows how we sometimes do not want to open our eyes to what is going on around us but no matter how hard it is to do so we have to. We do not always want to acknowledge what is being done around us especially when we know that things are wrong or it is something that might hurt us.