Article 1 Response: "Is Google Making Us Stupid??"

          Reading this article was extremely hard for me to do. It was boring and I have no interest in learning about my brain changing. As I was reading, I had to stop and take mental breaks because I was literally getting a headache from reading it. I'm so thankful Mr. Hall came in to talk to us in the middle of me reading this article because if he hadn't I probably would've given up on it and not finished it. 
          The main topic of this article is how our brains are changing as the web becomes more popular. The internet is very convenient and makes research a lot easier. I think we are basically getting lazier. The article gives some quotes from outsiders about reading as they get older and use the internet more and I think those quotes were spot on. “I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print,” says Bruce Friedman. I agree completely and can relate to this quote. Friedman blogs daily and he can no longer even read an article. I would agree that the web is limiting our 
attention span as we get older.

          This is how I felt while reading this article.

Reading Response 4: Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

          Rogerson’s dad had beat him hard, just for being a few minutes late. It was only a day or two later when Rogerson hit Caitlin for the first time. This came as a shock to her. Anytime Caitlin was late or did something that made Rogerson mad, he would hit her. The beatings became more frequent and Caitlin began pushing everyone out of her life. Her mother had turned to decorating the house to occupy her time, so it wasn't hard for Caitlin to lie to her mother. 

“Lying to my parents had become easy. I just answered their minimal questions at the dinner table, and used cheerleading as an excuse when I was really going to meet Rogerson.” -Caitlin

This quote from Caitlin describes her situation perfectly. With her mother being so caught up in decorating their house and her dad busy with work, cheerleading was the perfect excuse to go see Rogerson. Caitlin was allowing Rogerson to take up more and more of her time.

As Caitlin begins losing sleep because of Rogerson, she begins sleeping in class instead. Rogerson appears to know everything. When Caitlin asked him how he knew so much, he simply replied, “I watch a lot of Jeopardy." He helps her with her homework to keep her from failing and Caitlin begins worrying more and more about what she says to Rogerson. One day he asked her how her day was. “I wanted to tell him how horrible my day was, how I had to work with Mike Evans for a project and how upset Rina was when I said I couldn’t hangout, but I just couldn’t. I was too afraid I’d say the wrong thing and set him off, so I answered with the simple “It was okay.”’ This quote shows Caitlin's thought process behind talking to Rogerson. She's terrified to talk to him, even just about simple things like how her day was. The beatings continue...

Reading response 3: Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

        Rogerson never had to say one word to Caitlin before she trusted him enough to climb into his car and leave the party with him. Rogerson is the type of person everyone feels drawn to. He was dark, with deep compelling eyes. He was intriguing and mysterious; he was everything Caitlin wanted in a boy. Even before leaving with him, Caitlin knew he was trouble.

        Continuing their first meeting, Caitlin made out with Rogerson in his car by her driveway. I have a feeling this is the start of an amazing relationship. Rogerson is very exciting and is very kind to Caitlin. She finds him easy to talk to and a great listener. 

“I took his wildness from him and tried to fold it into myself, filling up the empty spaces all those second place finishes left behind.” 

        As their relationship continued, Caitlin began to slip out of reality. She let her grades plummet and slowly began to stop trying at cheerleading practice. Then she saw it. Caitlin saw something she hadn't even thought of. Caitlin met his parents, but it was a little differently than she thought it would be. Rogerson's dad hit him; he wasn't just joking around with him, either. This was real. Rogerson's dad abused him and he had never said anything to Caitlin about it before...

I want to know if he's hiding anything else from her... I guess we will find out.