Trafficking post #3

What is happening in your book? How do you think it will pan out?

• The book I am reading is called Trafficked. It is about a young girl who leaves her country in search of new found freedom and happiness in America. When she first decides she wants to leave, she goes and talks to a social worker to get paper work done. After she gets this done, she is set and ready to go. The book starts out with Hannah waiting in line at the airport check in counter for passports and papers. She was very nervous because she had to play the part of a normal girl just looking to go somewhere else in her life. The social worker gave her a new name and identity of which she had to act out. She passed through successfully and was sent on her way to America. When she landed she looked for a while for someone holding a sign for her. She found a man who was seemingly normal. When the two finally got back to her host-house, she met his wife and two children, a boy and a girl. The mother of the family was rude to her from the start for an unknown reason to Hannah. Eventually, as the story progresses little by little, Hannah is put into a hard place. The mother of the family is asking to see her papers. She wants to make sure her papers and folder are legitimate. Hannah is scared to death because she does not want them to find out that she lied to get access into the country. The mother never does stop being mean to Hannah, she only serves her minimal food and barely lets her be in the house. This is as far as I have gotten in the story. From here on, I believe that the story will really pick up. I think that Hannah is starting to get the idea that something is not right with this family. Hannah will be shipped off somewhere unbeknownst to her and the trafficking will begin. I think that Hannah will be stuck for while where she is at, but eventually will try to break free. I am hoping for a happy ending for Hannah, because no one deserves to be treated that way. 

Trafficked post #2

How do you relate to the text?

• This book tells the story of a young, teenage girl who seeks to leave her country to come to America for freedom and hopes of a better life. Unfortunately, this girl is placed in the wrong home.When she leaves her country, she is told that she will have nothing but positive experiences. This is not the case. She is placed in a family that plans to place her into human trafficking. She will be used and seen only as a sexual object, instead of as a human being with thoughts and feelings. She is lied to and manipulated. Hannah looked forward to having a new life. Teenage girls are often taken advantage of. Because they are right in the middle of being a child and being an adult, they are easily mislead and confused about many aspects of life. It is very easy for someone older to take advantage of a young girl because they look up to people who have been there done that. If, by mistake, like Hannah did, a teen girl looks up to the wrong person mistakenly, negative things will happen. Hannah believed and trusted her social worker, and her host family to help her on her journey to creating a better life. I relate to Hannah because I, myself, am a teenage girl. I know what it is like to feel lost and to look to someone else for help and protection. I also know what it is like to be mislead and manipulated by people you trusted whole-heartedly. Although I have never quite been in the same situation as Hannah is in, the general ideas are still the same. Hannah and myself have been vulnerable in tough situations that no one else wants to go through. I know what it feels like to what to be free and just want to live a happy life doing what you love. Like Hannah, everyone in the world hits speed bumps sometimes on the journey. I do not relate because I have never been trafficked, I have never left my country and gone to a different one, and I have learned never to trust strangers. 

Trafficked post #1

3. When are you surprised or confused? What does not fit? If something or someone does not

make sense, write about it.

• In the book I am reading, a young girl leaves her country to go to America to experience the freedom it has to offer. She leaves, knowing she will be staying with a host family while she tries to pay back the debt she owes for her trips. When I began to read this book, I was expecting it to be intense right away, this is not the case. The book begins with Hannah getting ready to embark on a journey for a better life in the United States. The story starts off slow because for a good 20 or so pages, she arrives at the US and goes home with the father of the host family. I am surprised to find out that the dad of the family is just a normal looking guy. Most time when you think of human trafficking, you think of grungy, creepy people. He seemed like an upstanding man from a middle class family. Later on, when Hannah arrives at the home, she meets the mom and the two children. The two children are weary of her at first, but then the young girl warms up and won't stop talking to Hannah. The mother seems unusually tough on Hannah. She treats her almost as a slave without feelings. As the story continues, Hannah begins to feel bad about her decision. She senses something is not right about the family. When she meets her hostdad's friend, she is only strengthened in this feeling. I am confused as to why they would make Hannah believe that she is going to be treated well in America if they only plan on selling her as a sexual object. Another thing that surprised me was why the mother seemed to be more worried about Hannah if he was acting like he controlled the show. The mother made harsh rules for Hannah, telling her she was not allowed in certain parts of the house to allowed to have a certain amount of food. It almost seems like she is the mastermind beneath the trafficking. I have not gotten far enough in the book to determine much. But what surprised/confused me the most was that the family that Hannah is staying with is so normal. How could a family involved with such an evil thing seem so casual and normal. 

Crouching tiger, hidden dragon

#6

In the movie, Shu Lien says to Jen, "promise me one thing, whatever path you take in life, be true to yourself." This is a very powerful statement. When the movie first starts out, Jen is shown as an innocent young girl who is capable of doing nothing wrong. As the movie continues, this view of her changes when she steals the Green Destiny. This is the very first time we see the evil she is capable of and that she has everyone fooled. We learn that she is actually a follower of Jade Fox, one of the biggest enemy's of Jen's family. As the movie nears it's end, a glimmer of hope appears in Jen as she realizes she belongs on the good side after many encounters with Li Mu Bai. When the movie ends, Li Mu Bai is dying because of the poison given byJade Fox. Jen realizes she needs to help and redeem herself so she goes out and tries to find an antidote but is too late. This scene is one of the most powerful in the whole story because it displays a change of character mentally, physically, and emotionally. When Shu Lien says this to Jen, she means that she wants her to go through her life doing what she knows is right. She wants her to follow her own heart instead of doing the wishes of others. She should not go through life wishing she could go back and change something because of regret. I do believe that Jen does followe through with this. After she hears this, she goes out and follows her heart. She goes back to find the love of her life and doesn't more evil. Her spirit is pure and rid of all evil Jade Fox influenced her with. She wants to right all the wrongs she has done to herself and to other people.