The book I’m currently reading is about a girl navigating her senior year and tryin g to find out the real meaning of feminism. In “The Feminist Agenda”, Jemima Kincaid is known at school as the hardcore feminist. Always arguing for her point and doing what she feels is right, she sees herself as the role feminist as well. However, her narrow mindset of how a feminist should be inadvertently leads to herself being sexist.

Jemima’s best friend, Jiyoon, is a Korean American. They are joined at the hip. But one day, after Jemima finished criticizing other girls clothes, Jiyoon points out that what Jemima just did was to degrade women and shame them for their clothing choice.This made me realize, that sometimes when we are so dedicated to something, we make these ideals that we expect it to be like. In Jemimas case, she was so focused on what a feminist should be like, she inadvertently insulted and tried to fit other women into her ideals. Just like in our society, women are encouraged to be themselves and be free but there is always an underlying stereotype that we have to be Just like in our society, women are encouraged to be themselves and be free but there is always an underlying stereotype that we have to be feminine and perfect.

Knowing this, it has shifted my values a little. Whenever I feel like judging someone, I stop myself. I do this because it is not my place to and that everyone has their own preferences and that’s fine. Just like Jemima, I also have to learn to try not to fit my own standards into someone else.

In “Hope and Other Punch Lines”, the entire plot line is entered around 9/11 and how it affected everyone. It focuses on the main character, Abbi, who is known as “Baby Hope”; the baby from the photo of 9/11 who instilled hope into everyone’s hearts. The characters in this novel are divided into three categories, Picture people, Hope Fans, and The Mourners.

The first category, Picture People, consists of those who are in the Baby Hope picture. Even though public attention is fixated on Abbi, the other characters in the photo are still affected. These people are the ones who were called and interviewed every 9/11 anniversary and have to go through the horror all over again. Something they have in common with some of the Hope Fans is the 9/11 cough, where their lungs get cancer/diseased and they eventually die.

The Hope Fans are pretty straightforward. They are the people who recognise Abbi as Baby Hope and come up to her, sobbing and glorifying her as a national treasure. The second they recognise her, most of them have an epiphany and everything just clicks. This category also overlaps with the next one, The Mourners.

The Mourners are those who were either one of the people who survived the 9/11 terrorist attack, or those who had a loved one perish during it. These people, like the others, will never forget. Their lives, in some way, revolve around 9/11; which is understandable because they are fundamentally changed. A lot of their current issues (PTSD, addiction, bad choices) are influenced by 9/11.

All of these categories are alike in some way. All of them will never forget; they will always remember and therefor will always be affected. Most of these characters in the categories also have health problems linked to 9/11. Cancer, lung disease, and in Abbi’s case, a tumor. Every group is based on how the author classified the characters in her novel. I think these categories really show how everyone was affected by the attack.

I remember the day I realized I belong no where. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a happy person. I have a loving family, thriving social life, great education and am blessed by the opportunities I have. But I don’t belong anywhere. You see, I’m Wasian; a blend of Chinese and American. I have Asian eyes and eyebrows, but I also have an American nose and lips. My hair is a significant shade lighter than my Chinese friends, and I often get asked where I get it dyed (spoiler, I don’t). I get told I am so so lucky to have access to the best of both worlds. For example, Chinese new year hongbao (money envelopes), Thanksgiving turkey and of course the different cultures and languages. But do I really have access to everything?

The first time I ever felt I was on the outside was when I was nine. It was a sweltering hot Floridian summer. My sister and I were at the dog parade with my stoic Yeye (grandpa) and chatty Nainai (grandma). As usual, Nainai was dragging me and my sister to everyone who was willing to listen to her gush about her exotic Chinese granddaughters. The other party introduced their own grandchild, except they didn’t introduce their grandchild as “Max, my American grandson”. It was just “My grandson, Max”. I remember thinking, “Why didn’t his Nainai introduce him as American?” and that question hung in my mind continuously. Later when we got home, I asked “Nainai, why am I only Chinese? Aren’t I American too?” She said, and I remember this vividly, “Oh honey, of course you are, but you’re only half! You’ll always be my little Chinese doll.” Nainai didn’t mean it with spite, she meant it as a compliment. But to me, those words meant that I wasn’t American. “Ok, that’s fine because I’m still Chinese.” I thought and so that Chinese New Year, I went to my mothers hometown, Beijing, and celebrated the New Year with my family. It was wonderfully vibrant and rambunctious. But for some reason, my older cousin kept trying to speak to me in broken english; so did some of my other family. Annoyed, I sat on my Laoye’s (grandpa) lap and asked him, “Laoye, why do they keep trying to speak to me in English? I can speak Chinese too because I’m also Chinese!” He chuckled and said, “They speak english to you because you are a foreigner, don’t take it to heart.” Foreigner? But I thought I was Chinese? And then it dawned on me, even though I am Chinese and American, I am only half. I will never be fully American, nor will I ever be fully Chinese. I will always be floating somewhere on the wide expanse of half.

I used to struggle with it, but now that I have grown and matured more I’m OK with it because it’s true. I am only half. But I think that’s something beautiful because I get a whole new viewpoint of the world and I can find my own place to belong. Even if I don’t, then so be it. I’m perfectly content with being half. Of being mixed.

I love the idea of biracial. I actually don’t use the word biracial. I tend to use mixed. Biracial to me accentuates the word race, and, you know, I don’t really care for it.

Mat Johnson

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog! My name is Marguerite Smith, a sophomore from Michigan. This blog is an english assignment but if I enjoy it, I will definitely continue with it! A little background information on me, I am a HUGE foodie. In case you don’t know what a foodie is, it’s a person who absolutely loves food; all different kinds of it. I was born in Shanghai, China and have lived in Germany, Luxembourg and now Michigan. Because I moved around so much, I have been blessed to have tasted so many different cuisines and experience an array of different cultures. Thanks to this, I like to believe that I have a diverse palate.

During my time in Michigan, I have gone to many restaurants with my parents; especially for brunch. My top recommendation would be Downtown Hazel & Ravine. The moment you enter this restaurant you are greeted not only by the happy hostess, but with bright colours and that wonderful kitchen scent. The entire restaurant is vibrant with many artworks and plants decorating the walls. This contributes to the trendy, casual vibe that just oozes out of the interior design. Of course, their menu is nothing short of delicious as well, with three different choices of traditional American style, the current food trend and a few foreign recipes as well. However, during the menu does periodically change with the seasons. For example, the last time I went, there was a Seafood menu that featured oysters and lobster; delicious! You really can’t go wrong with this restaurant and I hope you find the chance to check it out, in the meantime, bon appetite!

Charles M. Schulz

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.