1.  I feel that one of the characters that has been shaped the most by the events of her life is Sofia.  There are many chapters that solely focus on Sofia, such as, The Kiss and A Regular Revolution.  These chapters zone in on decisions that she has made throughout her life.  I think that she has moved forward a little because of her decisions.  In A Regular Revolution she has little care for the consequences.  Even if she knowingly does something wrong she does not fear the consequences that are to come.  She was very nonchalant when her mother was reprimanding her for possessing marijuana.  She was actually happy that she was going to be sent to the Dominican Republic.  Even while she was living in the Dominican Republic she was still care free.  She would hang out with her boyfriend without a chaperone and did not worry if she was bringing shame to the family name. When her sisters told their aunts and uncles, Sofia felt betrayed.  I feel that she has moved forward from this because she now acknowledges that there are consequences.  She still makes brash decisions, like running away and marrying Otto, but she knows there is a price to pay for doing so.

2.  One of the positives from this story was Yolanda's conflict with her father over the speech that she wrote.  In the moment it was certainly a negative because they were not able to express how they were feeling and why they did what they did.  In the moment it was hard for Carlos to explain why he was so infuriated with Yolanda's speech.  I do not agree completely with the way that he solved the problem, but part of his solution was good.  When he was capable of explaining the motive behind what he had done, I feel that was enough to make up for their differences.  I do not think that it was necessary or right for him to get her a new typewriter.  I do not believe that is good parenting.  Just because a parent made their child feel bad, does not mean that they have to buy a material item to make it up to their offspring.  It does not send the right message to their kids.  I feel that this conflict was a positive because it showed the blind love between a child and their parent.  Although initially it was negative, in the long run it turned out to be a positive.

3.  I could not disagree more with what the article talked about.  There is a certain reality that the author has to come to terms with and that is that there is always going to be racism and hatred in our world.  He was saying that sports tend to fuel this racism and thought process.  However, he could not be more wrong than what he is already.  Sports do not tear us a part.  Sports, and sporting events are what bring us together as a nation.  In sports it does not matter what race or color you are, all that matters is your God given athletic ability.  Are there some stereotypes that are involved with different sports? Sure there are, but they are not only in sports they are everywhere.  I pretty firmly believe that there is not going to be a day in which there is no racism or hatred.  Besides, sports are something that can bring us through a tough time in our lives, even times of war.  Like during World War II fans would turn towards their sports team for hope and inspiration. Even though there may be some racism strewn through sports, I do not think that it is the biggest issue we haveto deal with