Final blog post- blog reflection

          Using my blog over the year has been a great tool for me, as it has helped me analyze and think about the books I read, as well as help me appreciate the genius concepts, morals, and themes that the authors put into their stories. By writing on my blog, I found out that I didn't pay attention to detail enough when reading, as I often times failed to see subtle themes. Reflecting on my book forced me to go back in and look for these things, and I think it has helped me pay attention to detail more when I read. Personally, I think that writing online is much, much better than writing in a notebook- if you can limit online distractions. I feel that writing in a notebook can be a bit more restraining, since it's a bit more physically tiring to write everything you think, and because when writing on a notebook you have to worry about erasing and keeping the work neat. On a computer on the other hand, I can write as much I want, and then keep the best. The internet also offers a wide variety of ressources for writing, but also many distractions just clicks away. In the end, I think that online writing can be more liberating because there are very little restraints.
          It may be just me and the people I see online, but I think that many people's online personas are very much like their real ones. I think that's it's a bit of a myth that people are fake online, and I think that social media is actually a good place for people to show who they really are, and not a fake version of themselves. Of course, there are some who share certain things to make people think they are a ceratin type of person, but the majority of the people I see online are often true to themselves. On the other hand, I completely agree that many people type things that they wouldn't dare say to people's faces. This can be beneficial in some cases if people are afraid of a person's reaction in face to face but really need to get it off their chest, but often times the things said are harmful, and no things that people would say directly to others. This is one negative effect I think social media has: it makes us feel safe, as if a screen can protect us, but in reality social media can be just as dangerous as the real world, and our actions online often have consequences.
          In conclusion, I definitely enjoyed my first experience of having a blog, and I think it really helped develop my writing skills, as well as my reading ones. I think blogs are a great way to change the way we think about books, and also a great way to express out thoughts and opinions, and I am grateful for the experience.

Non-fiction critical analysis "The crisis in Venezuela"

          The non-fiction article "The Crisis in Venezuela" by Patricia Smith, in Upfront magazine issue #147, talks about Venezuela's economic crisis and the impact it's having on the country. The main idea of the text is that the economic situation in Venezuela is forcing the country's people into poverty and destroying the country. The examples of living conditions for the Venezuelan people used by the author helped me see just how serious the issue is. For example, the author describes the lack of goods and the how difficult it is to obtain even some of the most basic things. Smith says, "Diapers are in such short supply that some shoppers carry their babies' birth certificates in case stores demand them before letting them buy." Smith specifically talked about the lack of materials in hospitals by quoting a pediatrician who said, "I've seen people die on the operating table because we didn't have the basic tools for surgeries." Hospitals are some of the most important facilities in a country, and the economic situation doesn't even allow them to have tools for important procedures. Finally, the violence, and specifically the killing of a young boy, helped me understand how serious the situation is, and how outraged Venezuelans are. The author writes, "In February, police allegedly shot and killed a 14-year old boy during a demonstration in San Cristóbal," showing that the situation is turning bloody and that worse things could be to come.

          The author wants me to feel alarmed about the situation in Venezuela by, first using the examples from the previous paragraph, but also by using vocabulary that is supposed to make us feel scared about the economic crisis and what could be to come. When the author talks about prices of goods and the inflation in the country, she uses the words "skyrocketing", and "soared". These two specific words are there to give us a view of just how much the prices of goods, and the rate of the country's inflation, are risining. When Smith talks about discontent and riots in the country, she says that "anti-government protests [are] erupting across the country." This word brings to mind things such as bombs to show just how furious the people are, and how violent the situation is becoming. Finally, Smith says, "...the nation's democratic institutions are crumbling," using this vocabulary word to really explain how the the country is falling apart.

          After reading and reflecting on this article, I know much more about the dire situation in Venezuela. I think that changes in the regime and the way the country runs have to be made for the country to return to prosperity. I also think that, if something is not quickly done to put Venezuela back on its feet, it could possibly never be the way it was before. I'd like to learn more about Venezuela's dependency on crude oil, and why oil prices have dropped so drastically recently. My opinion on Venezuela's situation has been greatly changed, as I had no idea just how serious the situation was, and I now know that it is imperative that Venezuela does something to get back to its old self, and quickly.