1he CuLslders: ulglLal !

ournal
8y: 8eza nadaf
Nadaf, Reza Friday, May 30, 2014 11:08:41 AM GOOD MORNING Pacic Daylight Time 70:56:81:af:e7:99
ulglLal !ournal #1
ln Lhe relay race Lhe Socs had a Lremendous advanLage over Lhe Creasers. Cne challenge ln parucular was
balanclng an egg on a spoon whlle raclng. Lach Leam was glven a spoon and an egg and were expecLed Lo
balance Lhe egg ln Lhe spoon whlle raclng Lhelr opponenL wlLhouL dropplng Lhe egg. 1he Soc Leam, however
were glven Lhe advanLage of havlng a larger spoon whlch made balanclng Lhe egg much easler. ln oLher
challenges slmllar advanLages were glven Lo Lhe Socs, Lhe wheeled chalr race favored Lhe Socs by allowlng
Leam members Lo use Lwo legs raLher Lhan one leg as Lhelr opponenLs were requlred Lo do and slmllarly Lhe
pulllng of Lhelr Leam members on Lhe sleeplng bags where Lhey were allowed Lo use Lwo hands raLher Lhan
one. 1he Socs had Lhe advanLage agaln when Lhey were expecLed Lo seL up fewer Lables Lhan Lhe Creasers
and when Lhelr wrlung asslgnmenLs were presenLed Lo Lhem wlLh fewer obsLacles llke harder and larger
wrlung surface areas and uLenslls LhaL were easler Lo handle. All of Lhese are obvlous advanLages Lo Lhe
Socs and belng on Lhe Soc Leam Lhese advanLages made me feel prlvlleged or favored ln a way LhaL made
me feel more powerful or LhaL l could accompllsh any Lask LhaL was glven.

l Lhlnk LhaL Lhese challenges have LaughL me Lo be more aware of Lhe dlsadvanLages LhaL less prlvlleged
klds of my age musL feel and Lhe obsLacles LhaL Lhey musL face by noL havlng slmllar resources avallable Lo
Lhem. l Lhlnk LhaL ln 1lburon, we are lucky Lo have access Lo resources ln our communlLy LhaL make our
dally llves easler. We have a safe envlronmenL LhaL makes rldlng our blkes Lo school posslble or a llbrary
sLaed wlLh helpful llbrarlans easler Lo access, whlch may glve us an advanLage Lo educauon. SomeLhlng
LhaL l feel should noL be Laken for granLed. l Lhlnk ln real llfe Lhese challenges do occur and may be
overlooked aL umes and LhaL we should conunue Lo have empaLhy for Lhose who do noL have an
advanLage.
Nadaf, Reza Friday, May 30, 2014 11:08:41 AM GOOD MORNING Pacic Daylight Time 70:56:81:af:e7:99
ulglLal !ournal #2
1hroughouL Lhe beglnnlng of Lhe book 1he CuLslders, onyboy, Lhe maln characLer and a Creaser,
sLereoLype Lhe Socs. Pe belleves LhaL all Socs are llke Lhe Socs LhaL beaL up !ohnny, one of hls fellow
frlends and Creasers. Pe also belleves LhaL Creasers are Lhe only ones LhaL have problems. 1he Socs, as
he belleves, have all Lhe money and all of Lhe opporLunlues, and Lherefore Lhey have no problems.
Powever ln chapLer Lwo onyboy meeLs a Soc glrl named Cherry. She Lells hlm, 1hlngs are rough all
over ( PlnLon 33)."
SLereoLyplng people wlll lead Lo unwanLed conlcLs beLween people or groups of people, and
llmlL people's ablllues Lo undersLand each oLher. 1hls ls because people or groups may Lake personal
oense Lo someone else's sLereoLype. l have once sLereoLyped a book, ArLemls lowl, because of lLs
cover, buL when l read lL l found LhaL lL was a very good book. SLereoLyplng may also lnhlblL people's
ablllLy Lo learn Lhe acLual LruLh, wheLher Lhe LruLh ls abouL a person or a Lhlng.
8uL sLereoLyplng may noL always be bad lL can even help people. lf Lhere ls a person ln an alley
wlLh a knlfe lL ls unllkely LhaL Lhey wanL Lo help you, so you probably shouldn'L Lake Lhe ume Lo geL Lo
know Lhem. ln some slLuauons sLereoLyplng may be helpful, buL ln mosL slLuauons sLereoLyplng may
prevenL people from knowlng Lhe acLual LruLh abouL someone or someLhlng. Lveryone sLereoLypes, lL
ls parL of human naLure, buL you should Lake Lhe ume Lo nd ouL Lhe acLual LruLh by lnvesugaung,
dolng Lhls wlll greaLly lmprove your llfe.
Nadaf, Reza Friday, May 30, 2014 11:08:41 AM GOOD MORNING Pacic Daylight Time 70:56:81:af:e7:99
ulglLal !ournal #3
ln chapLer 4 of Lhe CuLslders !ohnny and onyboy are auacked by
Socs, ln Lhe end !ohnny sLabs one of Lhe Socs because Lhey were
drownlng onyboy. !ohnny and onyboy Lhen go Lo uallas, one of
Lhelr frlends, for help. uallas glves Lhem a gun and y dollars, and
sends Lhem o Lo an abandoned church.
lf !ohnny and onyboy were Lo come Lo me for advlce l would
have Lold Lhem Lo Lurn Lhemselves ln, lmmedlaLely. 1hls ls because
whaL !ohnny dld was an acL of self-defense, Lhe Socs auacked rsL.
1he pollce would mosL llkely noL senLence !ohnny rlghL away, Lhey
would glve hlm a Lrlal. Pe dld whaL he LhoughL was necessary Lo save
onyboy's llfe. Pe would mosL llkely noL be glven Lhe deaLh penalLy
for whaL he dld. lL would be beuer Lo Lurn Lhemselves ln and face Lhe
consequences Lhan Lo llve Lhelr llfe runnlng and hldlng from whaL
Lhey dld. 1o conclude, abscondlng Lo Lhe abandoned church was a
foollsh ldea and !ohnny and onyboy should have Lurned Lhemselves
ln.
Nadaf, Reza Friday, May 30, 2014 11:08:41 AM GOOD MORNING Pacic Daylight Time 70:56:81:af:e7:99
ulglLal !ournal #4

onyboy reclLes Lhe poem noLhlng Cold Can SLay, durlng Lhe h
chapLer of Lhe CuLslders when onyboy and !ohnny are hldlng from
Lhe pollce aer !ohnny kllled Lhe Soc, 8ob. 8oberL lrosL, Lhe auLhor
of Lhe poem, meanL LhaL noLhlng good you have wlll sLay forever,
evenLually LhaL good Lhlng you have wlll leave you. onyboy losL hls
gold", or hls chlldhood lnnocence, when he was lnvolved ln Lhe
kllllng of Lhe Soc, 8ob. Pe losL hls chlldhood lnnocence because
people no longer caLegorlzed hlm as a chlld, buL as a crlmlnal. 1hls
poem relaLes Lo one of Lhe ma[or Lhemes ln Lhe CuLslders, Lhe
[ourney from youLh Lo adulLhood", because !ohnny and onyboy losL
Lhelr youLh and sLarLed Lhelr [ourney down Lhe paLh of adulLhood
when Lhey commlued LhaL horrlc crlme. noLhlng Cold Can SLay ls a
sad poem because lL ls abouL Lhlngs belng losL, how Lden sank Lo grlef
and how dawn goes down Lo day. Cverall Lhe poem noLhlng Cold Can
SLay posluvely lnuenced 1he CuLslders.
Nadaf, Reza Friday, May 30, 2014 11:08:41 AM GOOD MORNING Pacic Daylight Time 70:56:81:af:e7:99
ulglLal !ournal #3
WhaL does lL mean Lo be a hero?" 1hls quesuon ls one of Lhe
maln Lhemes from Lhe CuLslders. l belleve LhaL a hero ls a person
LhaL wlll help oLher people no mauer whaL Lhe consequence mlghL
be. ln chapLer slx !ohnny and onyboy saved klds from a burnlng
church. 8oLh boys were dellghLed LhaL Lhey saved Lhe chlldren lnslde
Lhe burnlng church because Lhey Lhlnk of Lhelr herolc acL as
redempuon from Lhelr prevlous llfe of crlme. 8uL Lhe happlness was
shorL llved, !ohnny would have dled lnslde Lhe burnlng church lf
ually had noL saved hlm. l belleve LhaL ually would have helped any
of hls frlends ouL of Lhe burnlng church. l belleve Lhls because he
sLands by hls frlends ln ghLs, so why shouldn'L he help hls frlends ln
Lhls slLuauon. 8uL l do noL belleve LhaL he would help any one oLher
Lhan hls frlends ln Lhls slLuauon. 1hls ls because he has never helped
anyone oLher Lhan hls frlends ln Lhe whole book. ln concluslon l
belleve LhaL !ohnny's and onyboy's acL was an acL of Lrue herolsm.
Nadaf, Reza Friday, May 30, 2014 11:08:41 AM GOOD MORNING Pacic Daylight Time 70:56:81:af:e7:99
ulglLal !ournal #6
ln chapLer nlne of Lhe CuLslders Lhe Creasers and Lhe Socs arranged a ghL Lo
deLermlne weaLher Lhe Socs wlll sLay ouL of Lhe Creasers LerrlLory or noL. Aer Lhe ghL, ln
whlch Lhe Creasers won, badly conLused and "##$%&' onyboy and unln[ured uallas go Lo Lhe
hosplLal Lo Lell !ohnny Lhe greaL" news. 1he docLor Lold onyboy and uallas LhaL !ohnny
was dylng and LhaL Lhey cannoL see hlm. Cnly aer a deaLh LhreaL from uallas dld Lhe docLor
relucLanLly oer ()*%(+,$- Lo open Lhe door Lo leL Lhem ln Lo see !ohnny. Aer Lelllng
!ohnny how Lhey had beaL Lhe Socs ln Lhe ghL, !ohnny replled, useless.ghung's no good
(PlnLon 148)" !ohnny Lhen Lold onyboy Lo sLay golden.
l belleve LhaL !ohnny meanL LhaL onyboy should sLay lnnocenL and noL be a *(./$%*%0
ln any more bad crlmes or behavlor. Aer uallas Lold !ohnny how Lhe Creasers had beaL Lhe
Socs ln a ghL !ohnny replled LhaL ghung ls useless, LhaL lL wonL solve any problems lL wlll
[usL 1("21- haLe lnslde boLh groups. 1hls haLe ls whaL l belleve !ohnny wanLs onyboy Lo sLay
away from, because onyboy needs Lo reallze LhaL Lhlngs are rough all over (PlnLon 33)" l
Lhlnk LhaL onyboy wlll, ln Lhe end, be able Lo follow !ohnny's advlce. 1hls ls because he wlll
nouce someume LhaL Lhlngs are rough all over (PlnLon 33)" and undersLand and Lry and x,
Lhe conlcL beLween Lhe Socs and Lhe Creasers. onyboy also has many frlends and famlly Lo
help hlm undersLand and follow !ohnny's advlce. AlLhough all of onyboy's frlends and
famlly wlll help hlm undersLand and follow !ohnny's advlce Lhe mosL promlnenL of helpers
and fosLerers ln onyboy's llfe ls Sodapop. onyboy wlll mosL llkely follow Sodapop's advlce
abouL !ohnnys commenL because Lhey *(&*("3 abouL many Lhlngs and are very frlendly
Loward each oLher. ln concluslon l belleve LhaL !ohnny's commenL wlll help posluvely aecL
onyboy's llfe. Nadaf, Reza Friday, May 30, 2014 11:08:41 AM GOOD MORNING Pacic Daylight Time 70:56:81:af:e7:99