Most people eat either eggs or breakfast cereal.  Surprisingly 30% of people don't even eat breakfast. Most people eat dessert one or two days a week.  For exercise most people do organized sports.  Most people eat out 6-10 times a month.  Most people are not drinking enough water, and they are only drinking 2-3 glasses a day.

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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Discussion question 3

What qualities does Charlie have that make him the hero of this story? What do those qualities say about Roald Dahl’s opinions of children? 

Charlie is what Roald Dahl thinks of as a 'perfect child', and all of the other children are used as examples of what Roald Dahl thinks flawed children are.  In the book, Charlie is a loving, unselfish young boy living in poverty with his large family.  "Here Mother, have a bit.  We'll share it.  I want everybody to taste it" (29).  He seems to always do what is right, and that trait has earned him much respect throughout his family.  These are the traits that Roald Dahl believes that every good child should have.  However, Charlie does make one selfish act in this book.  This occurs when he finds a dollar on the street and he uses it to by himself a couple of chocolate bars.  The one selfish act that Charlie commits just happens to be the most pivotal point in the book, for one of those chocolate bars just happened to have a golden ticket inside.  The other children are examples of what Roald Dahl thinks that some children are like in society.  He was very harsh about this, and he used some very extreme examples.  In the end, all of the other children were forced to leave the tour due to their selfish acts.  They all had their major flaws that made them different from the 'perfect child'.  Roald Dahl made this very clear in his book.  He was trying to send a message to all of the boys and girls and forcing them to make comparisons to the 5 characters.  On the back of the book, it says, "...and Charlie Bucket, our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind..."  (back).  Notice the word, our, in that sentence.  Roald Dahl is trying to say how Charlie is the savior of the book.  He is trying to get the readers to understand that there are many selfish and spoiled children in the world and that Charlie is the 'last hope'.  By saying the word, our, he is forcing the audience to 'root' for Charlie so they can realize how flawed the other children are.  Although the other children did make mistakes that nearly cost them their lives, it is hard to resist when you are in such a magical place.  The children where just in the moment and where to young to realize what they were doing was a mistake.  In the end, Charlie Bucket was the last one remaining, and the hero of the book got the biggest reward of his life, Wonka's Factory.     

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Discussion question 2

Discuss what Oompa Loompas represent in today's society.

Oompa Loompas represent the hardworking middle class.  Oopma Loompas, formaly from Loompaland, are the workers inside of Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory.  "They are wonderful workers.  They all speak english now.  They love dancing and music.  They are always making up songs"  (71).  Whenever an Oompa Loompa is encountered in the story, there always seems to be a fun and heartwarming vibe.  Not once so far has an Oompa Loompa been described as being miserable.  This sort of working environment is similar to the environment at Google.  In English class, we watched a video about how Google gives their employees a fun work environment with plenty of fun activites that they can participate in outside of the office.  Similar to the Oompa Loompas in Wonka's factory, the Google employees seem to always have a smile on their face.  However, working at Google can be a very tough job, and the employees are not afraid to admit it.  The job is not right for everyone, for Google handpicks their employees based on their unique talents.  At Wonka's factory, the Oompa Loompas are used for various testings, some which can be incredibly fatal.  "I've tried it twenty times on twenty oompa loompas, and every one of them finished up as a blueberry" (98).  Also, living their entire lives in a factory, as magical as it is, probably doesn't appeal to the Oompa Loompas.  However way you look at it, there is no perfect job.  Every job has it's minor, or even major, setbacks.  Although Oompa Loompas can be viewed as tiny workers living the dream, they still have to get up every morning and do what middle class citizens do every day: work.

Connect Charlie to Michael Drysch

The book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, is one that just about everyone can enjoy.  A heartwarming tale, this book has many themes and characters that many people can appreciate or even relate to.  The main character, Charlie Bucket, receives the opportunity of a lifetime to go and visit, "the largest and most famous chocolate factory in the world!" (7).  He goes from a young boy living in poverty, to a celebrity as millions of people would die to be in the position he is in.  This theme of, "going from nothing to something" is a theme that really interests me.  I think it is really cool to learn about the paths that some people have taken to get to the point that they are at.  You can learn alot from them in both a positive and negative way.  The man that I decided to use as an example for this theme is Michael Drysch.  Michael was just a computer technician from the state of Illinois.  Then, similar to Charlie, along came this once in a lifetime opportunity to sink a halfcourt shot for $75,000 during a Heat vs. Pistons game in Miami.  He was one of 30,000 contestants that entered to take part in the halftime show.  Similar to Charlie, the odds were not in his favor.  In the end, however, the odds didn't matter, for Mike received this opportunity and ran with it.  He appeared in the halftime show on January 25, 2013, and guess what?  He drained the halfcourt shot.  It was no bank or lucky bounce off the rim either, it was a pure swoosh.  Instantly, the video of him making the shot went viral.  He appeared in several commercials and even on the hit TV show, Good Morning America.  He went from a normal, middle-class american citizen to a celebrity by receiving an opportunity that will define him for the rest of his life, kind of like Charlie.