Dear Charlie

September 16, 1991


Dear Friend,


Wow you read To Kill a Mockingbird too?! I read it a few years ago and I thought it was awesome. In a project I had to do I made a box like in the book with things Jem and Scout had in it. I also saw the movie which I didn't like as much because it was in black and white. It was a very good movie though and pretty true to the book. I did like the book better though but that's usually the case anyways. We have clubs like earth day at our school too. One club puts on a peace day which I personally think is a waste of time. We have a marathon in between our two high schools and lots of kids just do it to get out of class. I can't believe that kid your sister was hanging out with hit her. I would have killed that kid if I were you. I bet watching your brother on TV is cool. I got to do the same thing because one of my brothers went to the University of Nebraska on a football scholarship. I hope to go somewhere in the big 12 that is my favorite conference.

Sincerely
Jake








December 26, 1991

Dear Friend,


That is very nice that you visit your Aunt Helen's grave. She sounds like my aunt because I got to stay up late and stuff when I was at my cousin's house. We got to stay up late and eat ice cream my aunt also used to let us rent movies to watch. I feel sorry for your aunt Helen and how she was molested. No one deserves that and it's awful how her dad didn't even believe her. You should not feel that her death was your fault. You can't choose when you were born and December 24 is a great birthday. You get to see all your family for your birthday and Christmas. It is such a loving time too it's my favorite holiday.


Sincerely
Jake









January 1, 1991

Dear Friend,


You need to stop being peer pressured into taking drugs. It may feel cool and you might see weired stuff but in the long run it is not good for you. You were found asleep in the snow. You could have died. In the letter you wrote you just rambled about nothing. You started talking about trees being dragons. When you take drugs like that you don't get anything out of it. You need to stand up for yourself and say no at least once in a while.
Sincerely
Jake

Little Brother Questions

1. How does Marcus’s comment that he’s “one of the most surveilled people in the world” set the tone for the novel? Is the statement true? Compare the school Marcus describes in the opening chapters to your own in terms of surveillance, discipline, and student-administrator relationships.

1. Marcus's statement is true after he comes back from the DHS prison he is told they will be watching his every move. He also finds out that he has a tracking device in his laptop. Like Marcus's school we too have cameras, unlike his school we do not have cameras in classrooms. Discipline and relationships with teachers is almost exactly the same between our two schools we like and dislike teachers.

2. In what year or decade do you think Little Brother takes place? Cite passages from the novel to support your answer. Do you think the story could happen today? Why or why not?


2. Little Brothers seem to take place only a few years into the future because they still have almost the exact same kind of technology we have now. Another clue that this take place only 5 to 10 years in the future is Marcus remembers 9/11 and is only 17. This story has thing that could and that couldn't happen but for the most part it seems realistic. We have bases where we take prisoners and we have a sort of fast pass for buses.


6.Describe Marcus’s capture and imprisonment. What happens to Darryl? What conclusions does Marcus reach about his government and his community as a result of his imprisonment?


6. Marcus is captured by the DHS after an explosion go off while he is playing Harajuku Fun Madness with his friends Darryl and Van. He is taken by them to a prison and asked for his passwords to his computer phone and other accessories. Marcus later finds out Darryl is in another island from a person who escaped from it. He thinks poorly of his government and that they are not really to find terrorist. He now wants to to get back at the DHS for imprisoning him and his friends.


7. What does Marcus’s refusal to give passwords to and answer questions from government interrogators reveal about his character? How are passwords a recurring motif in the novel?


7. By refusing to the demands it show he really cares about his personal things. He does not feel other people he does not even know should looking into his life. This part of the novel also shows that he is stubborn. He does not give the DHS his passwords and it takes them a few times to get them. In the novel passwords are used by everyone. They need password just to decrypt codes from emails.


9. List some of the technologies Marcus explains in the novel. How much of this information did you already know? How are the explanations in the novel similar to, or different from, your previous encounters with this information? Do you view the Internet differently after learning this information?


9. Technologies Marcus uses are his Xbox with the installation of paranoid software. I have heard of this because my brother has a similar program on his Xbox I set up for him. Another technology is decryption codes I have not heard a lot about this but I now know this is something probably used by a few people. This book did make me view the Internet differently because there were different this I did not know you could do on computers and phones.

Role Play

My name is Jake Taylor I'm a 6'3'' 220 lbs 18 year old at Jefferson High School in Bloomington MN. I am the captain of the football team and play QB. I've been getting scholarship offers from schools such as USC, NU, and FSU. I would like to get full ride but it looks like I'll get 75%. I've been playing football ever since I can remember. I like hanging out with friends and walking onto a field of screaming fans on a Friday night.

I think it's alright for teachers to view what students are doing as long as they are in school. I understand they do this to make sure kids are staying on track. Administrators should not be allowed to look at kids facebooks or other networks because cops do that already. If something is hat bad they will be caught sooner or later by the cops or their parents. Kids have a right to some privacy. If their going on social networks they can only do this from home which id not apart of the school therefor they have no right to look.

Some sites should be blocked such as video games and movie sites because don't need to be looking at movies or playing video games. If kids are able to go on these sites they will be tempted to play video games any time they go on the computer.

Administrators should not be able to look at another students social network site. The sites are somewhat private and not meant for teachers to look at.

tools for police

In the article I read a 16 year old student had posted pictures of himself online surrounded by guns on MySpace.com. MySpace usually a way for teens to talk to friends is now becoming evidence for police in court cases for terrorist threats and drugs. Police have saved lives like when they found 5 boys that were planning a school shooting. Civil libertarians are saying there is too much security. They also say having this kind of security is like shouting your personal information out in a pubic square. I think the police are doing the right thing by looking at pages because if people don't have anything to hide they should not worry. When civil libertarians say we don't know posting on these sites is like shouting in public I think it stupid if we cared that much we could start a petition or protest the police looking at peoples sites.

school tech

1) I think cheating is taking any type of work if it be a famous writer or a friend and placing your name on the paper. If you take another persons paper your not actually expressing your own feeling and thoughts. If you do any copy and pasting the paper is not yours. You can look at other papers to get ideas or references but you need to write about a topic with your own words.

2) Teachers have almost always had to be entertainers because if they don't students will become board and disrupt class and or not listen. In any kind of teaching if it be in school or sports making things fun gets the attention of people and they listen more and work harder if they are having more fun.

3) Yes he should feel guilty because your reading a summery of the book written by someone who actually read the book. You need to actually read the book to fully understand it. Authors did not write a three hundred page book to be read in twenty minutes.

4) Some students can record a teachers lectures and put on a mp3 player to be used on test. Kids can also send text messages back and forth in a matter of seconds. English or some sort of news class. Will use computers in almost every class because they write many papers. Uses of digital recording and audio sounds or voice overs.