Famous Last Words

"Famous Last Words" is about a girl, Willa, who is new to town. She moved from Connecticut to Hollywood, California. Willa is an average girl, don't let the part where she lives deceive you. The reason for her living there is her mother getting remarried to a rich, successful, directer. She doesn't like the decision, but she can't do anything about it.
The book starts out with Jonathan (Willa's new stepfather), Joanna (Willa's mother), and Willa, driving to Jonathan's house. Since Jonathan is rich, Willa thinks about how his house might look, and about the discomfort she'll have by the huge change. She used to live in an apartment, now she's living in a mansion.
Once they get there, Jonathan explains more about their magnificent household. Willa thinks to herself, "He calls it home, just a house, it's a mansion." Soon enough she finds herself calling her new home just a house, not a mansion. She is guided to her room to get settled it, her version of settling in is connecting to her deceased father. She puts a ring on, lights some candles, and sits silently with her eyes closed, hoping that she'll get a response. Unfortunately, no response, there never was anyway. Soon enough she get's called down for dinner, with that Jonathan begins discussing current events from a newspaper resting on by him. "A killer is on the lose, only killing young upcoming actresses." He reads. It doesn't take long for Joanna to begin worrying about Willa's wellbeing. Jonathan makes a joke about there being absolutely no need to worry, "As long as she isn't in acting,"
Willa is a curious, simple, and loving girl. She's curious about the killings and curious about other things. She is a very simple, calm, girl since she didn't even want to move to Hollywood nor be in a mansion. Last but not least, she is loving. She tries reaching out to her father all the time, she still loves him and ever since he died she has been doing the ritual thing she did in her new home to every house she has moved into. Even though there are no results, she continues to try.
This book is really interesting and cool, I can't wait to read more.

Nike Article & Poem Assessment

The article's argument was about Nike sweatshops in Asia and Indonesia that are treating their workers poorly. The workers are being underpaid, and mentally and physically abused. The article states that a factory in Indonesia is abusing their employees by kicking, slapping, throwing shoes, and forcing them to stand in the sun for mistakes they have made. I think this issue is unacceptable for a company as big as Nike. People put their money into the merchandise they purchase by Nike, trusting the articles of clothing are being made by workers who aren't being forced, and abused. Everything the owners of the sweatshop do is not needed, these workers slave away so the company can get profit when they don't even pay the people who actually make the products enough to live. The Nike employees in the Indonesia sweatshop receive $1.25 a day. This is obviously not enough for living expenses, which means no homes, food, or clothing for them. This could cause something horrible, such as their children falling into the cycle of poverty. With no money for the workers, their children won't have an education, thus working a dead end job. I already knew about how sweatshops treat their workers, but I didn't know such a huge successful company participated in these acts. This was the first thing that surprised me, the second thing was that they make the workers stand in the sun for their mistakes. I believe that the employees have a higher risk of dying if they stand in the sun from many different diseases or sicknesses. The worse part about this is that, if they do get sick, they won't get any health benefits/health care to treat them or help them. 

Sweatshop workers are underfed, as well as underpaid, and overworked. The person says she eats bread and cabbage, which is cheap. She claims that the clock tells her to slave away and keep working, as well as her boss. It had a deeper meaning and is put in a beautiful way for such an ugly subject. Rather than the article which is just informing the reader about the awful events that happen within a sweatshop bluntly. It puts the reader of the poem more in the shoes of the sweatshop employee. Just imagining yourself in a position as horrid as that is hard, but emotionally difficult. For me, it made me feel as if these people are being looked over and not cared for, as much as they should considering they make clothing etc,  for hours on end until their fingers bleed and don't even get to eat properly. The poem is saying how it is a cycle, working in a sweatshop, going home (some days or if they have a home), eating just enough to survive and have energy for work tomorrow, repeat.