Discussion Board Two: Blog Reading Journal for Station Eleve

 If I were to create a perfect community I would name it Little Grove. It would be a small little community where there is a mayor running the town with others always helping. There would be a centerpiece of the town where all celebrations would be held and everyone would come together and enjoy themselves. There would be a small high school where everyone knew each other and there would never be arguments because everyone was friendly and kind. There would be a restaurant that everyone would go to to eat and have fun. There would also be a community of cats that everyone would feed and take care of while letting them roam around carefree. The town would make the shape of a circle that builds around this centerpiece as said before, where neighborhoods, stores, the school, etc, all surrounded this one thing. A garden. But not a simple flower garden, a garden with a grand gazebo where festivities and celebrations take place while also used for simple gatherings of the town's people. There would be little to no problems which would take place in this society. Although each town has its upsides and downsides, our community would eliminate any violence whatsoever. No fighting, no guns or weapons, and no tolerance for any aggressive behavior. This will keep peace within the community and allow for families and friends to live happily ever after. 

• Reader's Journal: continue reading sections 3 AND 4 (chapters 13-26) in Station Eleven and pull two more quotes for discussion in your reader's journal

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The first quote that made me stop and think was a quote from chapter 15. “No one ever thinks they’re awful, even people who really actually are. It’s some sort of survival mechanism.” “I think this is happening because it was supposed to happen,” Elizabeth speaks very softly. “I’d prefer not to think that I’m following a script,” Miranda says (Mandel 106). This quote really makes me think about all those people in my life who I have seen as such bad people but still never changed. It makes me wonder if they really were that clueless or if they just didn't care enough to notice or do anything. It makes me mad because there are people who simply chose this lifestyle and it is sad. 

Another quote I found was from chapter 23. “We have traveled so far together,” the conductor said. There are certain qualities of light that blur the years”(Mandel 137). This quote caught my eye because it really spoke to me and made me think about those close to me and how I have shared so many memories with so many people but at the same time have forgotten many important memories. It makes me sad knowing I have forgotten things about my past but it also makes me very happy when I do magically remember something from my past.

• Discussion Questions: 

We learn that Arthur was born on a small island named Delano Island. When he went to college he found his passion for acting and that is also where he met Clark Thompson, his best friend. We also learn about his romantic life and how he met Miranda. He met Miranda when he was younger but thought she was too young but when she was 24 he called her again. They were married for three years but didn’t make it through due to problems with their careers and personal feelings and divorced a few months after their third wedding anniversary. Kirsten and the rest of the group find a stowaway in one of their caravans. It was a young girl whose name was Eleanor and they decided they didn’t want to leave her at St.Deborah by the Water because of the circumstances. After that, Kirsten imagines that Alexandra might be able to live her life without killing anyone but then something goes wrong. After Kirsten had a conversation about seeing airplanes with Dieter he went scouting with Sayid but never returned. They search with the help from the Symphony and the conductor but He only tells them that they should meet Kirsten at the next destination which is the “separation protocol”. In their search for the two, they follow the route the symphony would have taken but don’t find any sign of them. During their search, they came across Finn who shared that he also lived in St.Deborah. Throughout this journey of surviving and looking for the two Kirsten first lived maybe Alexandra could live without the thought of killing but after the journey they have gone on I wonder what she thinks now and if that were Alexandra?

On this board, I would like you share a little about your research essay that you turned in last week:

• I chose this topic because for so many years women have been looked down upon and men have hogged the spotlight. But recently the women's soccer team proved that they too deserve equal pay to men. But why now? Why did it take people so many years to finally agree and actually put forth actions to help the women's team finally achieve their rights? This was the main reason I decided to look into the gender pay gap and research why it wasn’t shrinking. I wanted to discover what reasoning society had for these setbacks and discriminatory behaviors and how we could overcome them.

• One important fact I learned was that the gender gap has barely shrunk for over 2 decades, which you can see from the graph and data image above. This was painful to look at because you could visually see how little of an impact women have had in the fight for equal pay and how looking toward the future it still won’t be much different. I hope people look at this data and realize how big of a problem this is not only for women but for society as a whole and how if women simply had equal pay to men then society would be so much more positively affected in the long run.