Point of View

In the novel, the Bean Trees it is told in the perspective of the main character, Taylor. With Taylor telling the story we only see her opinion coming out. We miss the other characters perspectives and opinions which can limit how the reader comprehends the story.  When Taylor is handed a strangers baby at the gas station the reader can only see how confused and terrified Taylor is. We don't know if the lady giving her the baby is sad, scared, or even happy about putting her baby in a strangers possession.

Switching the point of view of the book can completely change it. If it changes from a happy character to a sad character the book now becomes sad. If the lady who gave Taylor the mysterious baby was the one telling the story we would have been able to see why she gave it away and what she was feeling when she did so.

 Author's Note: This is my prediction piece for the book "Bean Trees"

I believe that when Missy finds the child in her car at the gas station she will keep it. I believe this because she will become emotionally attached to the child as if it was her own. I believe She will start a new life in a new town with the child.

DNA

 Author's Note: This is my essay I wrote for science class on DNA.

Could something as small as a piece of hair put you behind bars? Yes, even a tiny hair at a crime scene could if not put you behind bars, it could send you to court as a suspect.  After many years of researching DNA scientists have proved that every single person can be identified by just their DNA. DNA is like your bar-code, whatever traces you leave can come back to you.  (Harris)

Every single person has their own unique DNA pattern. No one on the Earth has the same DNA as you, unless you are an identical twin. DNA, also known as Deoxyribonucleic acid is like your body's computer. Your DNA is found in your cells, specifically in your nucleus. It is arranged in spirals called a Double Helix. Each strand of DNA is filled with millions of bases. There are four main bases; cytosine, guanine, adenine, and thymine. Since DNA strands are very long the base pairs can be arranged in millions of different ways. The order of which your DNA is in, makes you, you! Each strand of DNA determines a different trait you have such as hair color, eye color or how tall you are.  (What is DNA?)

Whether you have a piece of DNA or a finger print, you may be able to figure the person it belongs to.  They have DNA databases where there is people's DNA stored from other investigations so that they are able to find and locate the person who committed a certain crime (Harris).  One small piece of DNA can prove someone's guilt or innocence. (Smolenyak) Even when they think no one will ever find out about the crime they committed, a small piece of DNA can be found and turn them guilty.  (Lieberman)

Your DNA makes up who you are and all your traits. No one’s DNA is exactly like yours. There is no one on this earth that is an exact match with someone else.

Bibliography

Harris, William. "How DNA Evidence Works." How it works. 23 may 2012 <http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/genetic/dna-evidence.htm>.

Lieberman, Kate Brinton and Kim-An. "DNA Finger Printing." May 1994. Protist Biology. 16 April 2012 <http://protist.biology.washington.edu/fingerprint/dnaintro.html>.

Smolenyak, Megan. "Five things you didn't know about DNA." 30 January 2012. Book Page. 25 April 2012 <http://www.bookpage.com/the-book-case/2012/01/30/five-things-you-didnt-know-about-your-dna/>.

"What is DNA?" 24 April 2012. Genetics Home Research. 26 April 2012 <http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/basics/dna>.

Sweat Shops

Author's Note: I wrote this piece expressing my thoughts toward the use and of sweatshops. After learning about them in social studies I have thought a lot about it and how I believe they are wrong. I also believe that it does no good just to spread the news. one person can change it.

Can you imagine a life where your daily salary is hardly enough to pay for one meal?  Not an easy day either; a 16 hour, break free day. I don't think anyone can imagine it until they have actually lived through it. But why are people treated like this? For the people in countries like Indonesia, this is their reality. Many people don't have a choice; they need whatever job they can get just to stay alive.  Large companies such as, Nike, Wal-Mart, Disney World, Abercrombie, and Apple use sweatshops so  they can force hard labor on people for extremely low wages.   In a way it is like slavery -- unfair and wrong. 

America is supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. Treating people poorly in sweatshops is going against that.  Just because they live in a different country, speak a different language , or have less money than we do, does not give us the right to boss them around.  People say we are helping them by giving them jobs. Yes, we are providing jobs for them but we are also putting them in danger with the working conditions. Also, they are not able to live off of the wages they earn. Most don't have enough money to send their children to school. How is their country ever going to have a good economy if their children aren't even educated?

You could say it isn't our fault their country is poor ; and it entirely is not. I believe we play a contributing factor though. Is it so hard to pay these hard working people minimum wage? Currently they are making less in one day then an average American makes in an hour. We should be paying them what they deserve.

Put your self in their shoes and take a look at the situation from a different point of view. We should be putting sweat shops in the past and moving toward a considerate way to still give these people jobs. A way were they can live off their wages, send their children to school, and most importantly live in a safe and healthy place to raise their families.