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There are so many relatable quotes from this piece. It really shows how sometimes society gets so caught up in being successful for having high paying job that it completely consumes us. Relationships often take the biggest hit when we start to let success or material things take over, it is important not what, but who you love.

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This poem is a great example of how deep love can be, and how painful it is to lose the person you love most in the world. The line "My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song" (637), is a true example of how one person can be your everything if you allow yourself to love deeply enough.

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I believe we are all a little guilty of not thanking our parents enough. Even after a long and hard week his father still got up early on Sunday morning to help keep the house warm and taken care of his child's clothes. It is not until later on that the boy realizes how much his father truly did for him, and how much he loved him.

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My heart truly breaks for Lyman. He worked so hard to give Henry something to be happy about but after all he had been through he was just not the same. We are lucky that there are so many organizations and small groups of people out there today who do all they can to help people, friends, and families in similar situations.

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I love that right away readers picture Miss Brill in her fur. It is obvious that this piece of fur is something that she adores, "Dear little thing! It was nice to feel it again" (257).

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I think this really showed how far and how tough of situations family will go through for one another, not that anyone has every doubted that of a grandmother for he grandson.

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I love that there is literature out there that shows how difficult the expectations for not just young girls but all females are, and probably will be for a long time.

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I loves the simplicity of this poem and how deep it is using such simple phrases. "They began beating it with a hose to find out what it really means" (581), really explains how people often over think poetry.

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"Even before I saw his eyes, I knew it was him" (340). This line has fairytale written all over it. I think I could overheard someone could randomly say this in a grocery store and think about all of the true love stories that are out there.

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This poem made me greatly think of gang violence. In Oklahoma we do not see it as a common problem, but it is real, and it is everywhere. The Do Something organization has a page filled with interesting information about gangs.

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I think if my community participated in such a savagely event I would go into hiding, or better yet I'd move. Everyone mentioned in the story is way too calm! I'd much rather compete for a real lottery.

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Being different is nothing to be ashamed of, and is something that should always be embraced, not embarrass us. Here is an article about how leaders are working on diversifying their troops. "Our strengths lie in our differnecnes, not our simiaritys."

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After completing an extensive study that revealed perhaps obvious disparities in the experiences of girls in America, the Girl Scouts are trying to do something about it, by purposefully diversifying their troops as they face declines in membership.

The extensive report, entitled The State of Girls: Unfinished Business, was developed with the Population Reference Bureau in an attempt to figure out what issues are plaguing young women today. They "that poverty rates among black/African American, Hispanic/Latina, and Native American girls ages 5 to 17 are more than twice that of white and Asian American girls." Despite the fact that girls today have a much better chance of graduating from high school than their male counterparts and that teen birthrates have plummeted, these accomplishments certainly look less impressive when race and ethnicity are considered; minority girls have lower graduation rates, are more likely to live in poverty, have higher rates of teen pregnancy, higher rates of obesity and are also more depressed:

Thirty-four percent of high school girls had self-reported symptoms of depression during the past year. This percentage is highest for black/African American girls. Six out of 10 black/African American girls report symptoms of depression.

As , trying to target minority girls would, in the eyes of the Girl Scouts, not only benefit these girls but the strength of the organization as a whole, which had 2.9 million members 10 years ago, compared to 2.2 million today. They've tried to move into communities that have never had a Girl Scout troop, often creating real change while doing so, like in the case of one San Antonio, Texas neighborhood:

...the Girl Scouts partnered with a local university to investigate why girls in south San Antonio didn't exercise. They received federal funding, and they got their answer: lack of outdoor exercise facilities and the threat of unleashed dogs roaming the neighborhoods.

"If a girl wants to take up running to increase her health, she can't run because she's got this wild pack of dogs running after her," Chavez said.

The Girl Scouts launched a campaign to encourage residents to license their dogs and keep them on a leash. Exercise programs were introduced in local schools.

Chávez is Anna Maria Chávez, the chief executive officer of the Girl Scouts. "We can't afford to have separate experiences for girls based on race, ethnicity, and social class," she said in a statement with this new report. "For over one hundred years, Girl Scouts has been there for all girls, and we are now more committed than ever to lifting up any girl that is falling behind. There is a new emerging majority in this country, and Girl Scouts is set to take the lead in ensuring that all girls have equal opportunities." She's put her money where her mouth is: she's been responsible for greatly increasing Hispanic membership in the GSUSA.

Chávez's attempts to diversify the organization fits with GSUSA's other moves to create a more modern Girl Scouts, like introducing new, more that their members can work towards. While there have been complaints from more "traditional" former Girl Scouts who are saddened there's less campcraft-esque Girl Scouting going on, as well as those who worry about minority women "assimilating" into Girl Scout culture and losing what makes them unique (a kind of Girl Scout gentrification, if you will), it's hard to hate on an organization that actively promotes young women without them. Especially when that organization invests time and resources into doing the research to report out stats about the issues facing girls and creates plans to actually do something with that research. It's like activism and academia all in one. Plus with awesome snacks.

Image via Photo by John Moore/Getty.

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The Girl Scouts Want to Fix America's Girls By Focusing on Diversity

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After completing an extensive study that revealed perhaps obvious disparities in the experiences of girls in America, the Girl Scouts are trying to do something about it, by purposefully diversifying their troops as they face declines in membership.

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This story made me think much more deeply than I had in the past about how difficult it was for American Indians during that time. My family still owns an original Indian allotment that my grandfather grew up on. Over the years we have added plumbing and electricity to the house and often restore different parts of the house to keep our heritage alive. My family now owns over a thousand acres that connect to the house, and we have a cattle roundup there four times a year.

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I also read this in a high school English class. Even though I already had some knowledge on the story, it is complicated enough that I had to read over it several times to regain a clear understanding. It's hard to understand her reaction to the loss until you really put yourself into her shoes.

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"Their effects are permanent, and extend far beyond the mere casual impulse. But they do include it…Bountifully, insistently. Everlastingly." (Collier,2). This short story, and more speciffically this line, reminded me of the evil fairy godmother on Shrek 2 who makes a love potion to try and get the princess to fall for her son. It seems in "The Chaser", that if Alan does give Diana the love drug, she will lose who she is as a person, becoming fully consumed in thoughts of him, he will eventually be tired of her, and want her gone. This should make him reconsider giving her the love potion, because she will then not be the person he came to fall in love with.