America

=**America**= Week 1-

**Discussion Leader**- Dan Chiriani So far this is only one main character and he is the narrator. His name is John Stewart. In the beginning of the book he takes about Americans early history as a nation. He talks about democracy in ancient times and says it in a funny way. This is interesting because in history we are learning about the same things as I am reading in the book. So it is funny when he makes jokes about early American history. I am drawn to him because he takes issues and says them in a funny way. But at times he is kind of controversial. In one paragraph he talks about how society is bad as this could offend some people.

**Questions and Quotes**- Jake Linden
 * 1) How does this book compare to the previous book we read by Stephen Colbert? Is it similar style or does it seem to be different?
 * 2) The setup of this book seems to be the same in this textbook chapter format, but this is also completely different because it has a different author and different opinions on everything from what we read in the previous book.
 * 3) Do you like the type of humor that Jon uses or do you think any of it is not funny.
 * 4) I find myself laughing a lot and that most of what he says is funny.
 * 5) Do you feel like you are actually learning history by reading the first chapter, which has articles mostly, based on historical events, or do you feel you learn more in history class.
 * 6) This first chapter has had stuff written about everything from Christopher Columbus to the Magna Carta. I feel these brief paragraphs teach us a lot and that they should be used I our school curriculum.
 * 7) Do you agree with Jon Stewarts view on democracy?
 * 8) Our group is mixed. I am a democrat, Dan is a republican, and Joey is an independent.
 * 9) Are you enjoying the book so far?
 * 10) The book so far has been pretty good and pretty funny so far.


 * Summarizer** - Joe Carlo

This week Jake, Dan and I discussed the book America, by Jon Stuart. It is a hysterical book that gives a very comical approach on political issues. Jake read us his quotes and Dan and I discussed his questions. We spent the rest of the period discussing the very one-sided issues that the author talks about and laughing at his comments on the issues.

Week 2
 * Questions + Quotes -** Joe Carlo

Questions 1. Do you agree with the authors takes on political campaigns? 2. Do you think that Bush should have won the 2000 election over Al Gore? 3. Do you agree with the author’s remarks of other newscasters?

4. Are you enjoying the book so far.

Quotes

1. Vote Humphrey in ’68 because in four years Nixon’s guys will get caught breaking into the Watergate hotel to sabotage their opponents.

2. Chester Arthur, the policies we want. The muttonchops we need.

3. Vote Nixon in ’80. Just kidding.

4.Democratic party, 1828-….


 * Summarizer**- Dan Chiriani

This week was very fun and we accomplished a lot. This week we had no food but no other group did either. This gave us a lot of time to write answers to the questions Joey asked us. The first thing we discussed was how we were all liking this book. We all love the book. It reminds us of the other book we read, “I am America.” After this we started this answer Joey’s questions. We talked a lot about the couple of chapters we read. They are all about how our country was stared. Eventually Joey read all his quotes. Overall this was a good week.

After reading two fifths of the book America, I feel that it is written in a very easy to read way. The words he uses are usually simple enough to understand, and are written in a casual way. I feel this book is written for people in high school (grades 9-12) or older not because of the complex vocabulary they use, but because of the type of humor he uses in the book. To fully understand the things he is trying to say you need a basic knowledge of the topics he rights about such as history or politics. If a younger person were to read this book they may not understand everything which would take away from this interesting and comical book.
 * Discussion Leader-** Jake Linden

Week 3

1.Do you agree with the author’s opinion on the government? Yes most of his arguments are true. He says them in a way that makes the government sound bad but sometimes good. 2. Do you think pictures are a helpful way in explaining many of the author’s points. I think the pictures add a humors way to explain many of the author’s points. 3. Do you think it is weird that Jon Stewart talks about Stephen Colbert? No because they are friends. In Stephen’s book he talks about Jon. 4. Do you agree with the author’s idea that every campaign ad is the same. Yes because they all include an American flag, a happy family and pictures of our country. 4. How do you like this book so far? It is good but not as good as Stephen’s book. It talks a lot more about America and how it came to be. This week was very successful and we accomplished a lot. Once again we had no food, but I don't think that people bring in food anymore. This let us have more time to focus on the book and discussing the section that we read. Surprisingly we had plenty of time to discuss everything even though we also did a vocab and Catcher quiz. Once we finished discussing the part of the book we read about and going over the questions we spent the rest of the time looking back through the section we read and showing each other our favorite parts. After we all laughed a few times and had fun going over the book the period ended and sadly we all put our stuff away and went outside the the school to enjoy the long weekend.
 * Quotes** - Dan Chiriani
 * 1) “Do you like Babies?”
 * 2) Quarters- Players must drink every time Congress appropriates an additional quarter-billion dollars
 * 3) “The size and makeup of the Constitution had been decided, t was time to lawmake!”
 * 4) “It all starts with the U.S. district courts, the first stop whenever someone decides to make a federal case.”
 * 5) “Oral arguments before the Supreme Court is limited to ½ hr per side.”
 * Questions** -Dan Chiriani
 * Summarizer-** Jake Linden

Week 4

This week was very successful and did a lot of work. For the fourth week in a row again we had no food, but I think that people are done bringing in food. . This let us have more time to focus on the book and discussing the section that we read. We had plenty of time to discuss this section of the book that we have read so for, and with that extra time we discussed what we thought would happen next in the last section which we will read next week. This week we did not have a catcher quiz nor did we do vocab, but we still had to read catcher for this meeting. Once we finished discussing the part that we read we looked through the book to point out the most comical parts to each other. It was a pretty successful week.
 * Summarizer-** Jake Linden

There are not may themes in this book but if I had to pick one it would be to never trust our government. This book basically tells the read how bad our government is and how people are corrupt. The author does this in a humorous way. An image in the book is a better America and images that represent presidents. He uses these images to help his point out the bad in America.
 * Discussion Leader**- Dan Chiriani

1) Do you think that the author’s representation of the news of the future will happen? No probably not because a head cannot be interchangeable  2) Do you think that Washington DC of the future will ever happen? Probably when the Chinese take over America and destroy the capitol it might happen. 3) Do you think that the author’s pages dedicated for countries are racist? No, it is a representation of what actually happens in those countries.  4) Is thins book offensive to you? No it is all in good fun and is for entertainment purposes only. 5) Do you agree with the author’s ideas on the news? To a certain degree yes it is funny the things that the author finds wrong with the news.
 * Questions and Quotes** - Joe Carlo

1) “ We look forward to an endless future of taking it.” 2) “World watches Dick Van Pattan Christmas Special instead.” 3) Realizing they’ve been fooled Americans shake their radios furiously to punish the little man inside the radio.” 4) “Please tread on me!” 5) “Radio: With Great Frequency Comes Great Responsibility”

Week- 5 This week we discussed our book. It was the last book club for this book. For the fifth week in a row, we had no food. But Mr. Gotliffe shared some type of jerky that smelt like dog food. The jerky actually tasted very good. That was the highlight of this period, sadly. For half the period we finished our Catcher in the Rye assignment. We had little time to do our work. This week we did not have to do the catcher quiz or vocab. Once our meeting got started, Joey asked his questions.The first thing we discussed was how we were all liked this book. It reminds us of the other book we read, “I am America.” We all liked it but not as much as the first book we read. It was an easy read and fun. After the questions Joey said his quotes. By then the time we were done the period was over. Overall this was a good week and a good book club.
 * Summarizer-** Dan Chiriani

Quotes: Questions:
 * Questions and Quotes-** Jake Linden
 * 1) Like Lennie in of Mice and Men, these retarded man-children did not know their own strength.
 * 2) Over the Past 25 years Yugoslavia has split into more and more ethnic enclaves. Today, each resident lives in the Independent republic of himself.
 * 3) The madness. (Hallucinogenic fever caused by getting off the plane.)
 * 4) Making arrangements for wiring money that will convince authorities that girls death was accidental.
 * 5) Cab ride back to airport where you reconcile who you believe you were as a person, and with what you did no the trip.
 * 1) Overall, was this a good or bad book explain?
 * 2) I feel as though this was a good book which was also funny. It also teaches you some things about government you may have never known before.
 * 3) Would you recommend to this book to anyone? If so what type of person would you recommend it to.
 * 4) I would recommend this book for someone to read in their free time. For a book that you discuss thoroughly in class it is would be more worthwhile to use it discussing a serious novel. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys comedy and has some knowledge on world politics and democracy.
 * 5) Do you find the jokes about the Middle East insulting or uncalled for?
 * 6) There are twice as many jokes about our own government and ways of life that it seems okay. Some of the best jokes in the book were about Israel and the Middle East.
 * 7) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After reading this book do you want to read another book by Jon Stewart in the future?
 * 8) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yes I believe that he did this book well and I would happily answer read another book by him in the future. It was definitely worth the time to read!
 * 9) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Do you think that his comparison of John Kerry and George Bush was accurate to what happened in the elections in real life.
 * 10) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When he compared both people he showed that Kerry had more academic stuff going for him but he said that Bush had the advantage in most categories. He predicted very well.