Coraline book club blog post

Anna Sikorski                                                                                                                        808
                                                              Coraline

In modern society kids might feel like they are neglected or not loved by their parents. The book Coraline by Neil Gaiman is a book about a young girl named Coraline who doesn’t really feel much loved by her parents. Coraline’s parents decide to move into an old house that includes other tenants. Coraline’s tenants include Mr. Bobo a retired circus performer living above Coraline  and Miss April Spink and Miss Miriam Forcible, a pair of retired actresses who live below Coraline.             On a rainy day Coraline is bored because her parents are busy with work relates things so she decided to explore the house. Once Coraline reaches the living room she discovers a tiny door in the wall, she goes to see what’s behind it but realizes it’s locked so she gets frustrated. She soon asks her mother to open the door because she has all the keys of the house but once the door is unlocked Coraline and her mother are stuck with just a brick wall behind the door. Coraline’s mom seems to be very busy and doesn’t seem to care much about what she does, an example from the book states, “I don’t really mind you do”, said Coraline’s mother “as long as you don’t make a mess”. Another line from the book that shows you Coraline’s parents don’t really have time for her is, “Coraline’s father was home. Both of her parents worked, doing things on computers, which meant that they were home a lot of the time. Each of them had their own study.” One night Coraline wakes up and something leads her to the door again, she goes to check it out and it’s already open. She looks in to find a strange path and she crawls through it. She gets to the other side but it looks exactly like her house so she gets confused, but she then smells something delicious in the kitchen. She walks in to what seems to be her mother but with button eyes! Coraline asks who she is and the woman states that she is Coraline’s “other mother”. Coraline has now realized she is in another world of her own, but everything is better now. In this other world Coraline is noticed more, gets good food that is cooked, and she seems to like everything a lot better in the other world. Coraline soon says she should leave but her “other mother” and “other father” insists on her staying, so she does.  Once Coraline falls asleep she wakes back up in her old house and she finds it a little strange. Coraline keeps returning and returning until one night her “other mother” talks about removing her eyes and replacing them with buttons.          Coraline now starts to realize everything gets strange with her “other mother” and she meets a group of ghost kids who tell her how they were in her place and their “other mother” took their body’s. Coraline tries to escape and a lot goes on because her “other mother” doesn’t want her to leave at all. A black cat soon helps Coraline escape and once she is back home she regrets ever hating her parents, she is now happy for everything that she has.           All in all kids don’t respect their parents enough nowadays, some kids might feel neglected or sad because their parents are too busy with work but really your parents are doing all of this to benefit you. They work for your food, clothes, toys, and other things you might want or need. Sometimes kids don’t realize how important their parents are until they are gone, and that’s what happened to Coraline, she realized she loved her parents once it was hard to go back to the real world.  

The Gaokao

Anna Sikorski                                                                                                                        808
                The gaokao is an unfair test that millions of Chinese students take every June over several days. “The test is the only thing that matters for admission to Chinese universities”, Brook Larmer stated in the article, “China’s Cram Schools”. The gaokao offers the promise of a life that is beyond working in fields and factories, which means students study and practice for hours in class. I don’t think it’s fair that the students of China take just 1 test that matters for admission to Chinese universities.
                There are so many reasons on why the gaokao is unfair for Chinese students, one reason stated in the article is, “it’s a lot of pressure said Cao. My mother constantly reminds me that I have to study hard, because my father is out working construction far from home to pay my school fees”. It seems very tough because Cao’s father is working far from home to help him pay his school fees so if he does poorly on the gaokao then it will be very heartbreaking for his dad, who has worked very hard to pay school fees.                              Another reason why the gaokao is unfair is, “Its critics say it stifles creativity and puts excessive pressure on students. Teenage suicide rates tend to rise as the gaokao nears”. I think it’s just sad that students so young have killed themselves as the gaokao has neared. They are put through so much just studying and preparing for it and at some point they reach a breaking point when they can’t take it.
                A last reason why the gaokao is unfair is, “Many wealthy families are simply opting out of the system, placing their children in private international schools in china or sending them abroad for an education”. It’s just sad for the people who aren’t too wealthy, they have no choice but to take the gaokao and try their very best using all the knowledge they’ve learned in school. The article also stated that, “Rural students are at severe disadvantages. Villages like Yuejin, where Yang is from, have poor schools and few well trained teachers. Wealthy urban families can hire private tutors, pay for test prep courses or bribe their way into the best city schools. To me it seems like if your wealthy you will mosty likely score higher than the poor, which is most definitely unfair because the poor might not be able to have good teachers and practice for the gaokao.
                    All in all the gaokao is extremely unfair to the Chinese students, they are put under so much pressure, they practice a lot for it and it even causes suicide. It is probably the worst for the poor because they don’t get well trained teachers, while the wealthy get to hire tutors and even bribe schools! I think the gaokao shouldn’t be necessary to get into Chinese universities, why should one big test count on their future? I say the Chinese need to find other strategies for getting into Chinese universities because the gaokao is just a hassle for Chinese students.