perks of being a wallflower

Many adolescents when they enter a new school feel like and outcast. This is the story line of the book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower written by Stephen Chbosky. The story is written in letter form, by a boy named Charlie who has just entered high-school. Charlie feels as if he is an outcast because of the fact that he was molested as a child by his late aunt. With the help of Charlie’s new found friendships, he begins to overcome his depression and insecurities.

When Charlie hangs out with his new friends Sam and Patrick, he can act like himself. For instance in the book it states, “Normally I am very shy, but [Patrick] seemed like the kind of guy you could just walk up to at a football game even though you were three years younger and not popular.” What this makes me think is that Charlie feels that he doesn’t have to be scared or timid around his friends, in fact from that moment on in the book, you can see a change in Charlie. This change brings out a happier Charlie, who attends parties, try’s drugs for the first time, and even almost has sex. Without Sam and Patrick, Charlie would still be depressed and constantly punishing himself for what his aunt did to him. Further, after the death of his friend Michael, Charlie realizes how it would be nice to have friends again even more than a girlfriend. Without friends Charlie is lonely and he admits that when he says, “I don't know how much longer I can keep going without a friend. I used to be able to do it very easily, but that was before I knew what having a friend was like.” Charlie without friends is like the world without music because everyone relates to music as Charlie relates to his friends.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower which was beautifully written by Stephen Chbosky tells the story of Charlie, who feels like an outcast in the world ever since he was molested by his aunt as a child. With the help of his new found friends, Charlie feels more in touch with society and himself.

Martin Espada Essay

Discrimination and stereotypes prevent many people from receiving opportunities for advancement. We see evidence of this type of discrimination towards different cultures in three different poems written by Martin Espada: “The New Bathroom Policy at English High school”, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”, and “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz California, May 3, 1877”. Many people make racist remarks about other cultures out of sheer ignorance.

For instance, in the “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson” the narrator explains how he feels when his name is mispronounced. The people states how when the author’s name is mispronounced, he gets very angry and fantasizes about doing things that are against the law. Some of these things include, hijacking a bus full of people and intimating them with a toy pistol. I think the reason why Martin Espada wrote the poem this way was to show that you should not make assumptions about people’s race, color, or creed. When he starts the poem, “Whenever my name is pronounced,” he states the premise that he takes it personally when people mispronounce his name. In the poem, Espada says he would like to hijack a bus load of Republicans and make them chant anti- American slogans in Spanish. It is perceived that Republicans are the anti- immigration party and by forcing them to speak against their country in a foreign tongue, he wants them to feel as uncomfortable as he felt.

Another example of Martin Espada teaching his readers about discrimination towards cultures is in his poem, “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School”. The principal, while in one of the bathroom stalls, over hears some students speaking Spanish. He cannot understand anything they are saying except he could understand when they mentioned his name  This makes him believe that the students were talking about him and this intimates him because he cannot understand what they are saying. He then abuses his power as the principal to “ban Spanish from the bathrooms” because he now realizes how uncomfortable it is when you don’t understand what people are saying. Further, this act takes away the basic right of freedom of speech for the students.

 

Lastly, the poem “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877,” describes how two Hispanic people were lynched while forty Gringos (Spanish slang, term meaning white people), stood there and cheered. The thought of people pulling on the rope until their necks snapped and did not do anything to improve the situation make me realize how inconsiderate and selfish people are. Espada also indicates the lack of human sorrow for the “floating corpses” that are before “a high – collar boy smirking, some peering from the shade of the bowler hats, but all crowding into the photograph.” What this statement shows is that, forty people would rather fight to be in the photograph with 2 lynched people rather than show them any human decency. We don’t even know the reason why the two Mexicanos were lynched in the first place or whether they had any legal trial. In any case, the forty Gringo Vigilantes should have extended some type of human concern and empathy toward these men.

            Martin Espada writes three very compelling poems about how people discriminate against one another because of their race and culture. Espada shows his readers how disrespectful and judgmental people can truly be. In these poems, Espada highlights an example of abuse of power, turning the tables on individuals to make them aware of being uncomfortable and a lack of basic human decency towards others. He uses these scenarios to show how discrimination and stereotypes prevent people from receiving opportunities for advancement.

 

The unfairness of the Gaokao test in China

           How would you feel if you had to wake up at 6:20 in the morning for school and leave at 10:50 at night because you were studying for this one test that decides your future? For Chinese students, this is their life. For them, everything is riding on one test, the Gaokao. This problem is also complicated by whether you live in a large city or in a rural area. Further, social class injustice can affect the ability for students to preform while preparing for this test. Preparing for the Gaokao test is very stressful for most Chinese students.

            The Gaokao test is similar to the SAT and ACT college entrance exams that are given here in the United States. However, the over emphasis on studying for the Gaokao has led to an increase in the suicide rate. Also, there are specific high schools, known as “cram schools,” which do nothing other than to prepare students for the Gaokao entrance examination. It is common for students to begin school at 6:20 in the morning and to end their day at 10:50 at night. In order to keep up with the high demand of test prep, some students are connected to IV drips in order to stay awake.

            As China is still evolving as a modern nation, there is much inequality between educational opportunities between cities and those in rural areas. Because schools in rural areas do not receive adequate funding from the government, they do not have adequate resources, such as computers, internet access and state of the art laboratories. These schools are poorly rated and do not offer proper programming to prepare students for the Gaokao. Further, they are fewer well- trained teachers on their staffs of these schools. These situations put many rural students at a disadvantage compared to their more affluent city peers.

            Even though China has come a long way from its communist past, there are still basically two classes of Chinese society, the very rich and the working poor. Rich families can hire private tutors and pay for test prep courses to give their child a better advantage for preparing for the Gaokao. It is also not uncommon for rich families to bribe their child’s way into prestigious Chinese universities. If all else fails, wealthy parents still have the opportunity to send their students abroad to study at foreign universities. These are advantages that most students from poorer families do not have.

            For the Chinese student the problem is not so much how much is riding on a single test, but rather what has his or her life been like up to this point to prepare him or her for the Gaokao. The school he or she attended was either a well-equipped city school or a school in a rural area that had poorly trained teachers and inadequate resources. It also depends on which social class he or she was born, since rich families can better prepare their students or offer them an opportunity to study abroad. So yes, it is very unfair for a Chinese student to have his or her future decided on by one test- a test that will decide whether he or she has a comfortable life in Chinese society or whether, he or she will be a migrant worker with a dismal future.

Sonnet

Shall I compare thee to a warm spring day?

The birds are chirping and the flowers bloom

On a nice spring day I buy a sundae      

In the park I see lots of brides and grooms.

 

Daisy’s and roses fill the air with love,

The bees are buzzing and mosquitos bite.

The fluffy clouds rise and shine above

As I walk in the park kids play with kites.

 

I wear sunglasses and my sunscreen

The sun beams into my gleaming, bright eyes

In the distance I see kids being mean

I see many colors on butterflies.

 

Winter has just ended and here is spring

Sadly I must end here, I heard the bell ring.

 

 

Speak

In the book Speak written by Laurie Halse Anderson, the protagonist, Melinda Sordino, starts off the book saying how everyone hates her, because she called the police at an end of the summer party. But what her peers didn’t know at the time was that she was raped, by a guy named Andy Evans. Because of the fact that she was raped, and hasn’t admitted it to anyone, Melinda suffers from severe depression. In art class Melinda has the task of creating a tree for her yearlong project. I believe that Mel’s tree symbolizes her growth.

For instance in the beginning of the book, Melinda’s tree symbolizes depression and her struggle with herself. But as months pass, Melinda starts to become stronger and happier. For example, her father arranges for a person to come cut the dead branches off the tree outside her house. When a little kid approaches her father, to ask why he’s cutting down the tree he replies, “He’s not chopping it down. He’s saving it. Those branches were long dead from disease. All plants are like that. By cutting off the damage, you make it possible for the tree to grow again. You watch- by the end of summer, this tree will be the strongest on the block.” I think that her father is referring to Melinda, when he says this tree will be the strongest on the block because he knows this depression will pass. On Melinda’s last day of school, she hands in her very detailed tree. The growth of her tree, symbolizes how she has grown as a person. She realizes that, yes she was raped, and she was too drunk and young to understand what it all meant but she’s not going to let it kill her. Melinda knows that she has to keep growing just like her tree. When Melinda finally admits she was raped, her tree begins to grow.

Laurie Halse Anderson writes a very captivating story about a freshman in High school named Melinda Sordino. Melinda suffers from depression, because she was raped that summer at a party. When Melinda admits to her peers that she was raped, she becomes happier and stronger. This being because, a terrible burden was lifted off her shoulders.

 

The Scarlet Letter

     In  the book The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the protagonist, Hester Prynne commits adultery. Because of this, she is sentenced to wear a scarlet letter A on her chest. The scarlet letter represents adultery, but as the story unfolds, various people believe that it represents able. I believe that one of the major symbols of The Scarlet Letter is the actual scarlet letter.

            For instance, in the beginning of the book, the scarlet letter is meant to symbolize shame and for everyone to look down upon Hester Prynne. But as time passes many people start to believe that the “A” that she is wearing symbolizes able. For example in the beginning of the book, Hawthorne describes the letter in detail. The book states that the scarlet letter “ she bore on her breast, in the curiously embroidered letter, a specimen of her delicate and imaginative skill, of which the dames of a court might have availed themselves, to add the richer and more spiritual adornment of human ingenuity to their fabrics of silk and gold.” I think Nathaniel Hawthorne chose to describe the scarlet letter and the placement of the letter in such detail, so that we can get a better visual of Hester Prynne and her punishment. At first many people thought that since Hester bore a letter “A” on her chest, that she was committed to Satan. I believe that the most interesting thing about Hester Prynne is that even though many people gossiped about her and were scared of her, she still walked out in public with her daughter Pearl. She even still took care of the needy. Hester Prynne is a true protagonist, because she doesn’t let what others say about her affect her well-being.

            Nathaniel Hawthorne writes a very compelling story about a women named Hester Prynne, who commits adultery and is sentenced to wear a scarlet letter. Hester Prynne inspires readers to not care about what people say about them. She also inspires people to only do what they feel is right. In the beginning of the story the scarlet letter symbolized adultery, but by the end its meaning changed to able.

banned books

                                                                                                                          

Dear Ms. Berner,                                      

            Yes, teen fiction can be explicit at times, but it gives guidance to children, when they are going through certain situations. Young adult books over the years, have been banned for its use of sex, drugs, violence, and anti- religious themes. But, we think that by reading teen fiction, it could help children avoid certain issues in the future. We believe that the idea of banning books is ridiculous, because by reading young adult books, it makes teenagers feel like they are not alone.

            For instance in the article, “ Yes, teen fiction can be dark- but it shows teenagers they aren’t alone,” written by Maureen Johnson talks about the idea about how young adult books are created as a guide to teens to show them how certain choices will then affect you for the rest of their lives. For example its states, “there is sometimes no message more critical than: you are not alone. This has happened before.” What Johnson is trying to say is that, it’s easier for kids to relate to a book, because it makes children feel like they have a guide to growing up. This is because, most children feel like it’s much easier to read a book about something there going through, compared to asking an adult and explaining the situation to them about it. In in my opinion books change kids’ lives, and if we don’t get to read certain books those lives will be in danger.

            Another article titled “A teenage guide to stress”, written by Nicola Morgan discuss how reading for pleasure can help take your mind off things you’re worried about. For instance she states, “People who read books for pleasure report that it relaxes them and allows them to switch off their worries.” I believe that the author is trying to say that by reading any book you want for pleasure it will keep your mind off of things. For instance by banning books that kids enjoy, teenagers will be more stressed out about life, because they don’t have a book they enjoy to take their mind off their worries. Also the article points out that if you read every day for pleasure, you will end up getting higher test scores. So if you read for pleasure you will end up benefiting in many different categories of your life.

            However, some may argue that by banning books we are saving our youth from sex, drugs, violence, and mortality. But in reality, we end up sheltering our youth from what really goes on. For instance, recently an article has been published in Vanity Fair discussing how the book The Fault in Our Stars, written by John Green has been banned in some schools. The reason why it was banned was because, some parents felt like children our age should not be reading books about mortality. In the article Green comments on the debate by saying, “I guess I am both happy and sad. I am happy because apparently young people in Riverside, California will never witness or experience mortality since they won’t be reading my book, which is great for them. But I am also sad because I was really hoping I would be able to introduce the idea that human beings die to the children of Riversdale, California and thereby crush their dreams of immortality.” I agree with the parents of Riversdale, California because I feel that children our age should not be worrying about mortality. In reality without these young adult books, teenagers would be very lost and confused on what to do in certain situations

            Teen fiction can be dark, but these texts provide guidance to children, when they need it in certain situations. Without Young Adult books, teenagers would end up being stressed, and they would also feel alone on the problems they are facing. This is because Teen books act as a guide to children so that they will know how to handle these situations as they come up.

Sincerely,

Sarah Pisano 808