Blog 14-Revision of Blog 8-Finally Free

Up on the mountain I should have known.As the pig's raspy voice whispered, "You'll only find me back at the beach. They'll do you in." His frightening words had the wrong effect on me. I wanted to leave. When I woke up the trees blurred and sticks and creepers surrounded me. All I was thinking about was going up to the mountain and seeing if there really was a beast. After my talk with the pig head anything seemed possible. And as long as I didn't have to go back down to the rest of the boys then I would be happy. But when I got up to the mountain I changed my mind. Once I saw the man at the top of the hill I knew I had to go back to the group. 

 

I stood up next to the dead man trying to figure out the way back. It was then that I heard someone shout an inaudible chant. I stumbled down the side of the mountain. I made my way through the clearing and into a suffocatingly dense forest of trees and tendrils. As the storm grew louder and rain started to trickle, I thought about the man with the parachute.  How had they thought it was a beast. There savage instinct had taken over. Just like the devil inside of that pig head. I vowed to never become savage and to never give in to the fear that had taken over the rest of the boys. I would be strong and steadfast. If it meant I had to leave the group I would. I would leave for nature. 

As I made my way down the hill the chant got louder and louder. I felt frightened but I couldn't stop. Not after seeing that there really was no beast all along.  I had to save the rest of the boys from this fear. But I had to tell Ralph. I had come to notice Jack always corrected Ralph if he said that the beast was not real. He always made sure all the hunters and all the other littluns knew about the beast. That they knew the beast was dangerous and that the only one that will protect them is Jack. Suddenly the chant became clear. Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! I fell out of the forest and crawled towards a circle of boys. 

"The thing on the mountain. It's a dead man." I cried. My voice was tremulous. The faces started to blur. The paint on their faces becoming one with the island. A tornado of colors slowly swarming in towards me. Then I felt a sharp pain. Then millions of pains around my body. As the hunters came closer and closer. Then suddenly I was gone. As if I fainted again. But this time, forever. 

I look back on that night and I am thankful . I watched the corruption happening, Jack becoming leader.  Ralph becoming savage. That was the end of civilization on the island and the way I see it, I have left to another life. Life with nature.

Blog 13-Revision of Blog 10-The Savages

When we woke up the morning after the hunters came to our shelter Piggy was a mess. He was complaining about not being able to see anything. We decided that we have to do something to get back his glasses. Ralph wanted us to go to Jack's hide out at Castle Rock and get the glasses . We had to look decent, clothed, showered, combed hair and cleaned faces. We had to be the stronger ones. And Jack needed to know when we came that we didn't want to fight. We want to get back what is rightfully ours in a peaceful way. We started making our way by the cliffs to Castle Rock. Once we got there we stared up, looking at what seemed like miles of rocky wall. “Who goes there?” shouted Roger in a firm voice. Ralph shouted back,
“What do you mean, you can see it's only us.” Then Ralph blew the conch. Savages with spears appeared out of the rocks. Then a rock came out of nowhere and almost hit us. We looked up. Roger sat at the top of the castle. His hand next to a lever. “I'm calling an assembly. About Piggy's glasses and the fire. Wheres Jack?” Ralph said. Just then Jack appeared out of the forest. His face was disguised in black and green paint. Hiding his emotions.
“Go back to your end of the island! This is my tribe now!” yelled Jack.
“But you stole Piggy's specs. And we want them back. There ours. If you had asked we would've let you share our fire. But then you stole, like a thief.”
“A what? What did you call me? Say it again!” Jack's cheeks burned red and his teeth grinded sharply. 
“Thief! Thief!” Ralph cried. The jack got very angry. The Ralph and Jack fought. Ralph was hurt. A spear in his stomach.  Their fight ended. Ralph was reminded that he did not come to fight. He came to get Piggy's specs. Then Jack yelled, 

“Get them. Tie them up!” We looked at each other, feeling very confused. Then two savages had their arms on us. We were being dragged behind Jack. Then they tied us together. We tried to move but we couldn't. We sat together, struggling to be free when it happened. We couldn't see that well because there was a line of  hunters in front of us. But then something from above, a huge boulder hit Piggy and he fell to the ground. His brains oozing all over the rocks. Then his body fell off the thin plank connecting the castle to the island. Then Jack looked us in the eyes and said "You two are part of the troop now." We tried to protest but it was no use. We looked around at the green island in front of us. The black rocks piled behind us. And jacks small body becoming faint in the distance. Now we were part of this group. Jacks tribe. The savages. 

Blog 12- Jury Duty

For every case there is a group of people called a jury. The jury has to watch the trial. They have to carefully consider evidence and then deliberate with the other jurors. In a criminal trial when the jury has to come up with the verdict and it has to be a unanimous vote. Meaning they all agree that the defendant is either guilty or not guilty.

The jurors are selected randomly but there are a few qualifications in order to be a juror. You must be at least eighteen years old. You must know how to read and write. You must be a citizen of the state and resident of the county or city that you are serving as a juror in. You also cannot have ever been convicted for any crime.

On the day of the trial, everyone who was sent a notice that they must serve as a juror has to attend the court. Before the trial starts there is a jury selection. The defense and the prosecution asks the jurors questions. This question and answer process is called “voir dire.” The prosecution and defense can choose who will be on the jury depending on the answers given.

A lot of times the original people called for jury duty can be excused. If you know someone involved in the trial or the judge you can be excused. You can be excused if you have a job that you can’t get out of or a family that’s needs you to take care of. Another reason a lot of people are excused from jury duty is because they are bias. If someone has made up their mind about the case before they hear both sides and see the evidence then they can be excused because they might be bias.

When you are on a jury you are required to have no bias. This means thatyou cannot judge people and you have to be fair. You also cannot talk about the trial you are serving on. You can’t read any newspaper articles about the case. You can’t watch any television that relates to or talks about your case. All of this could influence you to believe a certain side. You must be influenced just by the case and evidence presented to you in court. Once the trial is over your main job just gets started. You will look back at notes taken during the trial and you with have jury deliberations. When you deliberate with the other jurors you will all talk and come up with one vote. The jury has to come up with a unanimous vote so it may take awhile to come out with a verdict. Even if just one juror disagrees with the rest, the deliberation will go on and the other jurors will have to try and convince that one person of their side.

Having U.S. citizen serve jury duty has helped courts have a non bias verdict. There are many other places across the world that have jury duty and hopefully many more will soon.