Melanie Baugh > Recent Status Updates

There hasn't been anywhere in the book that I don't like the writing style, but it does change a bit with the memories, texts, and letters. The author could have influenced to write the letters from Jun due to his own experiences as a Philipino American.

I often disagree with Tito Maning. What could have influenced Tito Maning to act and think the way he does due to his view on politics and his job working as a Police Chief. So far he is the only character that sides with the government, out of all of the ones introduced.

Adversity impacts the way others see someone because people might have more compassion and empathy towards that person. Adversity impacts the way we see ourselves because it allows a hidden strength or talent to be discovered. In the book, Mia found her passion in journalism through an investigative piece "about child trafficking in Metro Manila" (Ribay 125), even though she knows it's a dangerous job.

I learned that the author was born in the Philippines and grew up in the Midwest, where he got a master's degree in Literature and Language. After finding out that the author writes and reads about people who are similar to him, it's better to understand why Ribay wrote this book. Ribay shows his connection with the character by writing, "I feel like I belong in a way I never do back in the States" (Ribay 68).

I find it crazy and depressing how the police are setting up reasons to kill someone who was suspicious and how the officers get a certain amount of money due to the "Senator de Lima; the system in which police officers earn certain amounts of money for killing specific types of suspects" (Ribay 42) in which created an economy of murder.

It's interesting how the two seniors are best friends and hang out often, but they don't discuss their true feelings and troubles. It made me connect to the main character and make me feel a bit sad when they said they felt like they had to live to expectations, and get into a good college.

The author primarily used rhetorical appeals to strengthen their argument. Logos was used to talk about how many people had tried to help in an emergency. It was "an estimated 60 percent of the employees tried to help in some way - either by directing guests to safety or fighting the fire" (Ripley 175). It strengthened the author's argument by supporting evidence from studies.

One of the author's claims is that people need a system that tells them what to do in case of an emergancy, instead of watching the news about rare disasters and worrying about the wrong things. "TV makes us worry about the wrong things. Your brain is better at filtering out media hype when it is reading. Words have less emotional salience than images" (Ripley 64).