Independence
By: Anna
Dennis
I woke up to a
loud whirring noise and bright lights shining through my windows. I looked over
at my clock and saw 4:12 am.
I groaned and
dragged myself out of bed. I tried to peer out the window but the light that
from the backyard was too bright. I tip toed down the stairs and out the
backyard. I slowly opened my door and saw a large silver circular spaceship! Suddenly
a platform came down from the spaceship and mist surrounded it.
Two dark green fat
creatures came down. They only had one eye and two antennas sticking up from
their head.
“Hello
earthling! We come in pieces!”
“You
mean peace?”
“Right!
I’m Sophie and this is Pierre.”
“I’m
Anna. Can I help you?” I asked feeling confused. What were they doing here?
“Were
collecting information for our planet called Nacirema. What is America like?”
asked Sophie.
“Um…
Sure. That is a pretty broad question but America really values independence.
If they need to they will fight to gain it.”
The
aliens just stared at me blankly.
“I’ll
be back.”
I
ran to my room scrambling and sliding through the door. I pulled three books
off of the bookshelf after scanning it quickly.
“Read
this.” I told them as I handed them Eragon.
They thumbed
through the book in less then a second.
“Interesting!”
said Sophie.
“Did
you read it?” I asked.
“We
have a photo graphic memory and we can use all of our brains, as opposed to
humans who only use part, which helps us process things in a couple of
milliseconds.” Explained Pierre.
“Anyways…
Eragon is trying to help the kingdom defeat the evil king. The king has all the
power so he can do anything he wants without any consequences. The people want
independence from him.”
“I
think we are beginning to understand.” Said the aliens.
“Okay
next is a book called The Giver by Lowis Lowry.” The aliens skimmed it again as
I began to explain. “In The Giver, Jonas leaves because he wants independence.
The government is controlling him and inflicting pain on him. He wants to be
able to make his own decisions.”
“Ahhhh…
We see now!” said Sophie.
“And
this is one of my favorite book: Mockingjay. It is part of the series Hunger
Games.
Katniss starts a
rebellion because the Capitol was controlling and killing innocent people from
all of the districts. She wants the people to be able to live out their lives
as they want and not have a predestined future. America is like this. They like
to be in control and separate. They need to be able to make their own choices
or they will band together like they did in the Hunger Games to get justice.”
“We
completely understand now!” said Pierre. “Thank you!”
“Now
I can understand why America is so different from other countries!” said
Sophie.
“Bye!”
they shouted.
“Bye.”
I murmured as I watched the spaceship fly off into space. I watched it until it
was just a little speck that looked no bigger then the stars.
Looking
around and pinching myself I thought, “Did that really just happen?” I then
proceeded to faint.
Mars Wants Knowledge
By: Carolina Cannon
I just came home from watching Mars Needs Moms at a friend’s
house. It was late and I was tired.
That’s why I thought I was hallucinating when the space ship
appeared. Down came three Martians colored green wearing baggy pants and “The
Hungry Games” t-shirts.
“Hello earthling,” they said.
"I'm Binky, he's Dinky, and she's Pinky," the first Martian
said gesturing down the line.
“Right,” I said slightly amused after looking at their t-shirts. “So can I go home
now or are you going to abduct me?”
"No!" one said appalled. "That is a common misconception of us! We come for knowledge, not humans!"
“Well, what do you want to
know?" I asked.
"What's
your idea about America?" Pinky inquired.
“I
think it is a great country, but it is a little backwards with its
different and sometimes illogical ideas. Ummm, here let me explain.
I'll use three books to help everyone understand." I said.
"First,
we need proper American cuisine...can we get some hamburgers and fries?" Before I could say or do anything, they
disappeared and came back just as fast with loads of McDonalds merchandise.
"Okay, now
that you're ready. The first novel I will use to explain this is The
Giver by: Lois Lowry,” I started.
“America
tends to provide everything for the people. If you need it, the
government will provide it. That could be good, but the people rely too
heavily on the government for basics like food and insurance.
"No
one works for himself or herself anymore. The people doing the honest work
get the worst of it. They are getting taxed while other people aren't
working at all. The common people
are shielded from pain.
"The
next book is The Outsiders by: S. E. Hinton.
In
the Outsiders, there are many stereotypes. It touches on a lot of teen
issues, but it seemed to be making a comment about Society. There is always going to be someone
that doesn't fit under a label. We are too quick to judge, and then
someone is misinterpreted. Sometimes, the labels are accurate, but most of the
time, they are obstructions to actually knowing someone.”
“Can
we get more hamburgers?” asked Binky.
“The
last book is And Then There Were None by: Agatha Christie.
That
book focuses on crimes that are committed, but people cannot get prosecuted or
don’t. In America, there are
people (mostly celebrities) that commit crimes and get away with it. A crime like drunk driving is judged differently
for a celebrity and a civilian.”
“I
guess America does have some weird ideas that constitutes as ‘backwards,” remarked
Dinky.
They
climbed aboard their space ship and took off. They probably left with many questions about America. I only had one.
“What
just happened?”
Skinny is beautiful and Black people love chicken
By Rachel Williams
I was lying in my backyard
one day counting the stars. It was a quite peaceful night and everyone in the
house was asleep.
THEN, A LARGE OBJECT CAME CRASHING INTO MY YARD AND TWO BIGHEADED
MARTIANS WELCOMED THEMSELVES.
“I
am Buzz and this is Cheez. We have traveled here to learn about life in the
great land of America,” said the two Martians.
Aaaahhhhh yes, America, land of the free and home of the brave,
We
have lots of food that’s about it.
We
have a lot of money too.
We
live in a world where everyone and everything is stereotyped. America very
closed-minded.
This is Americas only image of beauty.
It is close-minded because if you don’t fit this perfect image of
tall, skinny, and long hair then you aren’t considered “beautiful”.
Girls
and women try and alter their looks to fit this image of “beauty”.
The
Martians asked for some Cheetos Cheese Puffs,
So
I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bag. I walked back into the backyard to
find no Cheez or Buzz. They returned with two bucket of chicken and a jug of Kool-Aid.
“We just took a trip to Atlanta and brought back some chicken. It
looked really delicious in this picture” Cheez and
Buzz said
“Do you and your family eat this type?” Cheez asked.
America is very stereotypical and that’s what portrayed in the media.
Not
ALL Black people eat chicken,
some
Asians CAN drive,
and
Irishmen aren’t ALWAYS drunk.
Just
to name a few stereotypes.
America
portrays these stereotypes in movies, commercials, magazines, television shows,
books, and artwork.
American
movies like Norbit show many
stereotypes against ethnic groups. It stereotypes Black men and women as loud,
rude, aggressive, and eat unhealthy food.
Another
popular movie with many stereotypes is White
Chicks. It stereotypes blonde White women as rich and shallow. It
stereotypes male athletes as rich and flashy.
There
are many stereotypes in America that are portrayed through media.
Chezz
and Buzz climbed into their hovercraft and closed the door. I watched as they
took off into the sky and within seconds were out of sight. I looked up into
the sky and saw the sun was beginning to rise. The birds were chirping and I
heard my alarm clock go off inside the house
DANG,
IT’S TIME FOR SCHOOL.
They landed in my yard last night. I was scared out of mind. “Greetings earthling” they said but I didn’t reply because I was too scared. “You look like you’ve seen a….” they began to look in a dictionary. “A ghost” one of the green things said. I was a little startled at first until I realized they were harmless.
For example, there’s this thing called slavery. It started a long time ago where whites owned property along with African Americans, but they made the African Americans work for them. They were deprived of an education, food; clothing and some were even separated from their families to do manual labor. These human beings were sold like they were property and even beaten. Sometimes, to death, and for no reason at all. Eventually, our government passed laws to abolish slavery. Sounds like a good idea right? Well in many ways African Americans were looked at as inferior (meaning less than or lower in rank) to whites; and to this day they still are. However, in the past, they couldn’t get certain jobs because of the color of their skin. They couldn’t eat in certain places or get the same type of education as a white person.
