Designer Baby Persuasive Essay by Mohammed Abed 811

   The article "Designer Baby" by Patricia Smith is about how scientist will soon assemble a perfect baby. They will be able to do this by letting parents select the traits of their babies. They could pick if they want their child to be tall, have a high IQ , being athletic, or musical. They could also alter genes to remove unwanted conditions. I believe that parents should not be able to change or alter their children's genes except for diseases and disorders.

    I believe parents shouldn't be able to change or alter their children's genes except for diseases and disorders. I think parents should be able to cure diseases and disorders in their children is beneficial to parents, the children, and society. However, I believe using genetic engineering to create super children with superior intellects and perfect features is wrong. Another reason why is because what is the purpose on having a kid and not having the child to look like you. The kid wont really be unique because everyone has their own special talents.

    I believe parents shouldn't be able to change or alter their children's genes except for diseases and disorders. I believe this because children are not toys. They are not meant to be designed to specifications most convenient to the owner in this case the parent. If you change the way genes are produced naturally and start choosing what you want to do, then you could start having to much of the same things. Also you may start having problems with people aborting babies more often because they aren't what you want them to be. Their could be bad benefits from changing genes in someone's body and making them susceptible to diseases that they didn't have the immunity from.

   In conclusion, I believe that parents should not be able to change or alter their children's genes except for diseases and disorders. Parent's shouldn't be able to make their baby perfect. Now if you have a baby all you want for it is to be healthy. If you start changing the genes then you start saying you want it to be tall, have a high IQ , being athletic, or musical. What is the point of having a baby if it doesn't come out looking like you or having any of your traits?

  

Romeo and Juliet Essay by Mohammed Abed 811

     The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is about  two lovers in Verona. Their love is forbidden because their families, the Montagues and the Capulets hate eachother. Their love for each other causes both of their deaths. But who is really to blame? Friar Lawrence is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

    Friar Lawrence is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet because he is the one who gave them a secret wedding. He thought by giving them a secret wedding it will cause the families to stop fighting. For instance, in Act 2 Scene 3 lines 98-99 Friar Lawrence states,"For this alliance may so happy prove/ To turn your households' rancor to pure love." That shows that the Friar was only thinking about himself and that all he wanted was to stop the feud.

    Another reason it was the Friars fault is because he gave Juliet the poison in the first place. He knew it was risky and could have a bad result. For example, Friar Lawrence gave the vial to Juliet without telling Romeo. Frair Lawrence had a choice on whether or not to give the vial to Juliet. The Friar basically incouraged her to do it by saying,"If no incostant toy nor womanism fear/ Abate thy valor in the acting it," in Act 4 Scene 1 lines 121-122. That shows that the Friar is saying that if she doesn't do it she  will be shamed. If she does do it she will show how brave she is. 

    The last reason Friar Lawrence is to blame is because he did not get the letter to Romeo which caused both of their deaths. For example, in Act 5 Scene 2 Friar John told Friar Lawrence that he didn't get the letter to Romeo. By not planning it with Romeo he thinks Juliet is dead. When he goes to see Juliet before she wakes up he kills himself. When she wakes up and finds Romeo dead she kills herself. That shows how it is Friar Lawrence's fault. 

    In the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. He married them in secrecy because he wanted the feud to end. He gave Juliet the vial. He also didn't get the letter to Romeo. These are the reasons why it was the Friars fault. At the end he did get what he wanted the feud ended between the Montagues and the Capulets. 

Should a Hated Word Be Banned? Mohammed Abed 811

    In the article " Should a Hated Book Be Banned" by Jodi Rudoren talks about how the word nazi should be banned in Jerusalem. In the article it states the different points of views of different people. In this essay you will be hearing the point of view of Rabbi Dov Lipman. 

     Rabbi Dov Lipman states that "Freedom of speech is important. But in my opinion, every country has to establish certain value-based limits." He thinks everyone should have freedom of speech. He also thinks there should be limits to saying certain words.

   I agree with Rabbi Dov Lipman and think that there should be limits. For example, in the text it says "Should be put in jail" for comparing former Iranian president to Hitler. I don't think comparing people to Nazis should get you in jail. He was going to drop a nuclear bomb on Isreal. 

   In the article "Should a Hated Word be Banned" some people want the word bazi to be banned and some people don't. They don't want it to be banned because it would ruin the freedom of speech in that country. 

Sonnet by Mohammed Abed 811

Shall I compare thee to a new pair of sneakers?

The fresh smell when it comes out the box,

Playing basketball and then hitting them buzzer-beaters, 

Wearing my blue elite socks, 

People staring at my kicks,

Asking where I got them from,

Everyone saying that they are so sick,  

I tell them first give me a piece of bubble gum,

But the sneakers will soon get old,

Everyone will soon forget about them,

Then someone else will be bold, 

Come into school with their new gem, 

Every time you walk in with new kicks people see, 

You shouldn't go on a sneaker shopping spree.

Martin Espada Essay by Mohammed Abed

     Martin Espada is the Latino poet of the poems " Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877; Revolutionary Spanish Lesson, and  The New Bathroom Policy at English High School." In these poems Martin Espada uses his poems to show the world how people with power abuses it. Espada shows the abuse of power in many different ways. In one of the poem he describes how he would abuse his power if he gets it. 

    The poem "Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877" shows the abuse of power. Espada shows the abuse of power by stating "when forty gringo vigilantes/ cheered the rope/ that snapped two Mexicanos/ into the grimacing sleep of broken necks," shows how whites had the power in that time period. They abused it by doing bad things. In this case they abused their power by lynching Mexicanos and getting away with it. 

    Martin Espada shows how he would abuse power in the poem "Revolutionary Spanish Lesson." Espada states    "Whenever my name/ is mispronounced/I want to buy a toy pistol ... hijack a busload/ of Republican tourists/ from Wisconsin/... for the bilingual SWAT team/...begging me/to be reasonable." This shows that Espada will use his power poorly. Espada wants people to feel how he feels when his name is mispronounced. He wants them to feel the pain everyone has when their name is misprounced. 

    Martin Espada uses the principal of a high school as the power figure in his poem "The Bathroom Policy at English High School."In this poem the principal hears two boys talking Spanish so he bans Spanish. Espada states, "The boys chatter Spanish/in the bathroom/... The only word he recognizes/ is his own name/ and this constipates him/...bans Spanish/ in the bathrooms/Now he can relax." This shows that he doesn't even know what the boys said, he did it because he was mad that they said his name. Espada shows the abuse of power by using the principal and how he didn't want people to speak a language he didn't understand so he banned it. 

     Martin Espada uses his poems to show different messages that happens in the world. Espada shows the different ways power can be abused. In the poems " Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877; Revolutionary Spanish Lesson, and  The New Bathroom Policy at English High School," power was abused by people. Espada abused the power he had in the poem. The gringos abused the power they had. The principal also abusedthe  power he had. Espada uses power as a theme in these three poems.

Craft a story that uses all of the following words: eagle, yellow, bridge, secret by Mohammed Abed 811 Extra Credit

Once upon a time, there was this eagle.He told a secret story to the people they trusted. The story contains two main things. The story contains a yellow bridge and an eagle. The eagle tells a secret to the yellow bridge. 

The eagle is trying to get to California. He arrives in California  there and is now looking for a place to live. He searches the trees but there was no place for him to stay. He passes through this yellow bridge and asked the bridge, "Can I live hear?" 

The yellow bridge responds "Yes." They later start to become good friends and the eagle decides to tell the yellow bridge a secret. This is the secret he told the yellow bridge, " I use to be a criminal and the cops are looking for me." The yellow bridge acts like nothing changed but he told the other birds what the eagle told him. 

A week later the cops come looking for the eagle and the eagle knew that the yellow bridge betrayed him.  The lesson of the story is that some secrets should be told to other people to make places safer. Some secrets should not be told to anyone if they trusted you. In this case this secret was told by the yellow bridge for the good of the community. 

That was then, this is now by Mohammed Abed 811

     In the book  the two main characters  Byron and Mark are  brothers. Things are changing Byron is growing up. Mark is the one who lives the life of the party. Byron is now finding new things about Mark. They both hustle pool at a friends bar. Mark's parents died in an argument with each other when they were both drunk and ended up shooting each other. 

     Mark and Bryon have to make money to help support the family while their mom is in the hospital getting surgery. Bryon gets a job at the local supermarket while Mark starts bringing in lots of cash. Bryon doesn't ask where it's from. Towards the end of the book, Bryon discovers that Mark has been getting his money by selling drugs to hippies. Bryon is horrified since a 13 year old kid they know, named M&M, went missing and became crazy because of someone selling him drugs. 

     That shows you will never fully be able to know someone. In this story they didn't really notice what was really happening between them. When Byron finds out Mark e decides to call the police and has Mark arrested. When Byron confronted Mark, Mark said that he would stop but it was too late. Mark gets sent to an reformatory school.