ELA Reflection+Summer Bookshelf

Reflection:

Dear Class and Ms. Galang,

I learned a lot this year in ELA. I learned to write more insightful and thoughtful poetry in our poetry unit, especially when we learned all of the literary devices. This really helped me include new devices in poetry now that I knew the meaning of these devices and how to best use them. I feel that I was able to improve my poetry and make it more complex and have a deeper meaning. I enjoyed the poetry unit because it really expanded my horizon on the different styles of poetry out there such as haikus and free verse.

I also learned a lot from the Romeo and Juliet unit, especially when we had to annotate Juliet’s soliloquy. I noticed while annotating it that Juliet had another facet that I did not notice the first time I read the soliloquy. Looking carefully at the wording and what topics she talked about, I was able to see another side of her and realize there was still some part of her that was overwhelmed by everything happening to her. I was able to sharpen my skills of analyzing characters and really understand their motives and who they are, why they are that way. 

In high school, I hope to sharpen my skills of analyzing the text even further and pick up on little things authors put in as symbolism that readers often miss. For example, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the weather is a symbol of what is going on in the story. I hope to become better at noticing connections and symbolisms like this. I also hope to be able to read and understand more complex novels that are of higher level. I want to expand my vocabulary further and really understand what the text is saying. I also would like to add this complexity to my writing when I write my stories. I also hope to use my knowledge of analyzing characters that already exist to making my own characters, and making them as complex and human as the characters in stories such as Romeo and Juliet. I also would like to come up with creative plots and interesting themes for my stories when I write. Overall, I really enjoyed ELA this year and learned a lot. I also believe I grew both as a reader and writer, and hope to continue to grow in the future. 

My 2015 Summer Bookshelf:

Series/Books to finish: 

• Silence By Becca Fitzpatrick (Hush, Hush series)
• The Interestings By Meg Wolitzer

Summer Reading:

• Jurassic Park By Michael Crichton
• The Girl with Pearl Earrings By Tracy Chevallier
• Prep By Curtis Sittenfeld

Reading List (Other):

• White Oleander By Janet Fitch
• The School of Night By Louis Bayard
• Bittersweet By Colleen McCullough
• Scarpetta By Patricia Cornwell

Romeo and Juliet Project

Letter from Juliet's POV:

Dear Family,

I wish I could have apologized to you all in person for keeping this secret. But I have fallen in love with Romeo of the Montagues. I hope you understand why I pretended I was dead and ran away with Romeo instead of marrying Paris like you wanted me to. But I could never marry someone I don’t truly love. Maybe you were right and Paris would have made me happy. Maybe if I married Paris I wouldn’t have to be doing this. It’s too late to turn back now, I made my decision the day I married Romeo and became his wife. I am forever bound to him now, even in death. I wanted you to be proud to have raised me, I wanted you to be happy. But the day I met Romeo, at the party where I fell in love with him, I realized I could never be that girl who makes her family proud. 

I drank a potion Friar Lawrence made for me that stopped my heart without killing me. He was the one who married me to Romeo. Please don’t blame him for my disappearance. He only meant to do good. He wanted the Capulets and Montagues to cease their fighting. Maybe he realized when Romeo killed Tybalt that it would never work. Romeo being banished was out of everyone’s control, and it is the main reason why I am not here in front of you, telling you this. Maybe I would have told you in person had Romeo not killed Tybalt. Maybe you would have been enraged by my foolish actions. Maybe you would have accepted it. Who knows what could have been, for what is done is done.

I am writing this in my chamber, I just told Nurse and Lady that I needed rest, that I would be ready tomorrow. I am sorry to have deceived you all, I wish there was another way. 

I don’t know what will happen to me. I don’t know if this potion will work, or if it will kill me instead. I write in hopes that you find me gone from the vault and only this letter in my place. To be honest, I am afraid of what will happen to me. But I long to be with the one I love. I hope you will understand, even though I know you most likely will not.  

Farewell,

Juliet

Reflection on Romeo and Juliet Performance:

My character, Juliet, was a very conflicted character. She had experienced her first love and the feelings of love made her in a way, addicted to the feeling. She wanted to feel this way forever, be with Romeo forever. However, she also had a duty to her family and parents to be the perfect daughter and to bring honor and pride to the family. These two strong emotions, of love and the natural desire to please parents conflicted with each other. She also had this other facet of her personality that was realistic to an average modern teenage girl: Wanting to be mature and an adult, but still lacking the qualities of an adult such as foreseeing the consequences of actions. She showed us this in Act 4 Scene 3, where she talks to herself about all the things that could go wrong. I wanted to convey how she had these conflicted emotions but also these worries that really showed she was still a child. 

I believe the performance went well. I believe I was able to really project my voice so the audience could hear me and I also made sure to really put the emotion into my voice, show the audience this intensity of this scene. I wish I could have spoken more slowly, taken the time to pause and slow down, for the sake of the character and the audience, because people have normal pauses when they talk and the audience may have trouble hearing me if I’m talking fast.

I learned about how deep this story was, that it was more than a stereotype in a movie and really understand why each character did what they did. To the reader, at first glance, it may seem idiotic to have all of this drama over a romance over the course of about three days. However, when you really look at it, you see it was human nature and its flaws that really led to this tragedy. If you were a character in this play, it wouldn’t be so easy to figure out a solution because you wouldn’t know what others are thinking. I learned that to this stereotype of star-crossed lovers, there is actually a deeper meaning. I can apply these skills of improved analyzation to high school English by focusing on the characters and why they are the way they are, why they think the way they do. I can also use it when writing stories of my own, leaving hidden bits of information to the reader that is really trying to find it, creating characters that are human and relatable. Overall, I learned a lot and enjoyed this unit. 

Poetry Packet

The Lost Girl

She is running 

through these Endless meadows

a blue ribbon in Her hair

that seems to fly as She runs

Her laughter echoing as

I run after Her

following Her silhouette

My blue ribbon dangling 

as it tries to fly 

like it once did

My eyes meet Hers that are

filled with so much

Wonder

Naiveté

Her heart

Unscarred

Unafraid

it’s hard to believe 

that I was once like Her

when My eyes are

Lifeless

Hopeless

My heart with

scars that know fear

My breathing is fast

and I know My legs

won’t hold much longer

but I run after Her

reaching for Her

to catch Her

but I Can’t 

I know

I Can’t 

the Light 

Disappears

when I touch it

Fingertips staining it 

the color of shadows

the Girl still runs away

still laughing

to Her it’s just a 

Game of chase

She runs and I try to catch Her

to Her it doesn’t matter

if I Lose

We can play again

but it’s not that simple

if only if it could be

that simple

I look into Her eyes 

and know that those eyes

Can’t see My tears

Her heart

knows nothing

and is content 

with not knowing

why was I ever content 

with not knowing?

My boiling anger

gives Me a boost

and I run faster

heart beating like a drum

hand outstretched

I have Her now—

and then I hesitate

if I am angry then

why do I chase Her at all?

why do I want to return again?

and in that moment

My hand slips and I miss

fingers hooking onto something

it is Her ribbon

that rested in the hair

that mirrors mine

I stop running and grasp it 

desperately 

even though I know

that nothing will go back to the way it was

if I don’t catch Her

even though I know

I can never catch Her

because Time Can’t be Reversed

She will always Win

and I will always

Lose

I watch as She gets farther 

and farther away from Me

as darkness surrounds Me

again

but the ribbon is glowing weakly

a dim light in the dark

reminding me of why 

I chase Her

so I start running again

after the Girl who runs ahead of Me

Her ribbon in My hand

the Girl who is laughing

the Girl who I had lost

the Girl I once was

Reflection: I wrote this poem based on a character of mine, a girl who wants to be ignorant again because there are things she wishes she didn’t know, but hates herself for not knowing these things when she was younger at the same time. I made the girl the narrator is chasing and the blue ribbon symbols of this theme. I used the character as the speaker, stanzas in order to show the reader which thoughts went with what, and line breaks to create rhythm.

Fireflies

On the summer night

When the moon is full

and the stars shine bright

When all is silent

and the time is right

Look out the window

to see a pretty sight

The glowing of the fireflies,

changing dark to light

They’ll put on a show

dancing while in flight

Quickstep, Foxtrot, Waltz, 

bringing watchers pure delight

Should you venture out

They’ll dance around you with all their might

So you might stay, for awhile more

They’ll dance ‘till twilight

When they must leave

They’ll say their goodbyes and then take flight

Without a trace, gone by sunrise

But they’ll be back, on a summer night

When the time is right

Reflection: This poem was inspired by the fireflies I saw out my window at night when I went to Atlanta a couple years ago. I had never seen so many fireflies in one place and it was beautiful. I structured my poem more than my other one, which was a nice change, since I usually don’t make my poems rhyme at all. I used rhymes to make it seem light-hearted and to capture the child-like wonder of seeing fireflies. I used a bit of repetition to tie my poem together and I also used end-stopped lines.

The Old Dog

The room is cold and bare and full of dread

A wooden casket, old and worn with years

It’s only company an old dog red

Who loyally remains without any fears

Awaiting patiently his master’s call

His muzzle spotted white like snow with age

His body frail, his eyes can’t see at all

Yet still he’s vigilant despite his age

His master’s kin have left him years ago

His master’s lover found another instead

His master’s allies learned of letting go

His master’s only company when dead

An old dog, eyes all sad, one can discern

Perhaps he knows his master won’t return

Reflection: I wrote this poem based on the painting The Shepherd’s Chief Mourner painted by Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873). In the painting, a wooden casket is in the room. However, there is nobody to mourn for the shepherd except for his loyal dog. In the painting, the dog appears to have a sorrowful expression on his face, as if it knows its master will never return. I wanted my sonnet to convey that which is why I wrote the last line in the way I did. I used imagery to describe the dog, the casket and the room. I also used similes to describe things like the dog’s white muzzle. I followed the traditional format of a Shakespearean Sonnet, which was a challenge since I had trouble figuring out when a word was stressed or not when it was only one syllable long. It was also a challenge because I usually write in free verse and this way of restricting the poem was challenging. 

Reading Response:

Annabel Lee: By Edgar Allan Poe Response

When I was in third grade, my mom got me a book set of compilations of poems by famous poets such as Robert Frost and Edgar Allan Poe. This was the first time I encountered Edgar Allan Poe and his poem “Annabel Lee”. The book was made for young children and each poem had illustrations and sometimes an explanation on the background or summary of the poem. I remember that I was very afraid of the illustrations in the book for Edgar Allan Poe, and I hid the book (It was a slim book.) between the other books which had more pleasant drawings, such as illustrations of nature on Robert Frost’s. Since I was so afraid and disturbed by the illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe’s poems(it had ghosts, serial killers with twisted smiles, a skeleton ringing a bell), I never really read the poems closely. I remember that a couple had illustrations that were not as disturbing, such as Annabel Lee which had drawings of a couple by the sea, and then just the woman by the sea in another. However, the poem was far too advanced and far too long for me to be determined enough to read the poem. I’m sure if I hadn’t been as lazy or as distracted by the other creepy illustrations, I would have been able to somewhat read it. I went back to the book in eighth grade when we were told to find a heart poem, and I remembered those books, which I hadn’t touched in ages. Then I read Annabel Lee, finally overcoming my fear of those illustrations. And in that moment, I realized that this poem was more than just about a woman and a man being separated(I hadn’t cared to read the footnote that explained what a sepulcher was. Little did I know that it referred to a tomb.) It was much more deeper than that, more eerie, and more tragic than what I initially thought.

At first glance, Annabel Lee may sound like a simple story of a man’s sadness over his lover, Annabel Lee and him becoming separated. However, if you look at Edgar Allan Poe’s word choice very carefully, it can be discerned that there is more to the story. Edgar Allan Poe uses sophisticated vocabulary such as “sepulcher” and “seraphs” which I did not know the meaning of the first time I read the poem. Sepulcher refers to a small room or monument that is usually made of stone, in which a deceased person is laid or buried. This makes the lines “So that her high-born kinsmen came/And bore her away from me/To shut her up in a sepulcher,/In this Kingdom by the sea” make a lot more sense and shows us the true meaning of the poem. Not only was the narrator separated from his lover, Annabel Lee had died. He blames the “seraphs” for doing this, which are angelic beings, or in other words, angels. This creates irony because angels are portrayed to be good and not often the causers of death. Yet, the narrator blames them which led me to believe that the narrator had gone insane. What is even more interesting is that Edgar Allan Poe mentions demons in this line: “Nor the demons down under the sea”. This means he acknowledges that there are demons nearby in this “Kingdom by the sea”, yet he still blames the angels for separating him from his Annabel Lee. Edgar Allan Poe also uses personification in these lines referring to the killers of Annabel Lee: “That the wind came out of the cloud by night,/Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee”. What is interesting is that he personified the wind to make it kill Annabel Lee, which further emphasizes the narrator blaming things for killing her to the point he seems insane.

       Edgar Allan Poe also talks about love, “…a love that was more than love—/I and my Annabel Lee;/With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven/Coveted her and me.” It seems he is referring to a perfect love, so perfect that even the angels of heaven are jealous of their love. Once again, this is irony because angels are not the first person you think of when you think of people who would kill someone out of jealousy. He is angry with the angels for killing Annabel Lee and separating them. Yet, in the fifth stanza, the narrator says “And neither the angels in the heaven above,/Nor the demons down under the sea,/Can ever dissever my soul from the soul/Of the beautiful Annabel Lee”. This seems as if he is trying to make it seem like the angels’ actions were futile and they still had the love the narrator talks about in the beginning. Even though Annabel Lee is dead, he still loves her, so much that it seems he kills himself in the very end. The last lines in the last stanza reads: “And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side/Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,/In the sepulcher there by the sea,/In her tomb by the sounding sea.” Since he is lying down in a sepulcher by Annabel Lee, it can only mean that he has died as well. He most likely killed himself because of the fact that he cannot live without her, because of the love that was more than love. In this sense, this type of love is similar to that of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet because both are about love and both lead to one partner’s death that causes the other to kill themselves. 

Coming back to this poem was interesting because I understood more about the poem than I did back in third grade. “Annabel Lee” is not just a story of two lovers but of the love they shared and how far one will go in the name of love. The poem shows that love is a powerful force, and it can even make you go insane if you let it. The tragedy of this poem is that the narrator’s love for Annabel Lee drove him to kill himself, so he could be with her. It is almost as if the one he loved most caused his death in the end. That also makes this poem eerie because in the entire poem, the narrator is almost saying that his entire life is Annabel Lee, and if she is dead, then he must die as well. Now I realize that although Annabel Lee had the least frightening drawings in the book out of all of the poems, it is actually one of the eeriest and more tragic of them all.

The Death Cure By James Dashner Reading Response: Who has power? How is this power shown?

    The mystery that covers the organization WICKED makes it seem even more formidable than it already is. The book The Death Cure by James Dashner takes place in an apocalyptic world where a disease called the Flare is infecting millions of people. WICKED is an organization that claims to be working for the greater good of the people by attempting to find the cure for the Flare, often taking extreme measures. While Thomas, the protagonist, may doubt their true intentions, there is no doubt that WICKED is a formidable figure because of their advanced technology, their methods of manipulating the public and the mystery that surrounds them.
    WICKED has a way of getting what they want from the people. They know exactly what each person would want and use that to their advantage to get what they want. For example, Thomas’ mother wishes for her son’s safety, not from the Flare but from the rest of the people. This is because he is one of the few who are immune to the disease and are hated for that. “[Immunes are] hated for their immunity to the terrible virus…People do terrible things to them” (Dashner 44). For this reason, WICKED knows that Thomas’ mother would want her son to be safe from the anger of the rest of the people.

    “WICKED says they can protect Thomas, and Thomas can help them
    work to find a cure. They say he’s smart—one of the smartest who have
    been tested” (Dashner 44).

WICKED wants Thomas because he is immune and he can help them find the cure to the Flare. In order to get Thomas from his mother, they offer her exactly what she wants: Thomas’ safety. They also seem as if they are providing hope for Thomas’ mother, who is not immune to the Flare, by saying that Thomas can help them find a cure, as if implying that if she gives up Thomas to WICKED, his mother ensures that at least some people are saved from death by the Flare. WICKED also seems to try and flatter Thomas’ mother by saying that he is one of the smartest they have tested, and at the same time is providing additional hope that Thomas can help them find a cure. It is unknown if his mother is really fooled by this, but it is clear that WICKED has used all of the possible tactics in order to convince his mother.
    WICKED also uses advanced technology as well as manipulation in order to help achieve what they want. A main piece of technology that WICKED uses is a piece of technology inserted into the brain of all of their test subjects, including Thomas’. The piece of technology not only lets them track their brain activity to find out about their cure, it also allows them to erase memories(the Swipe), track the test subjects and even control them if necessary. For example, Thomas is controlled by WICKED in attempt to stop Thomas and his friends form getting help from a man who ran away from WICKED who can potentially disable the piece of technology in their brains:

    “Thomas fought desperately against it…But something foreign had
    taken over his body. ‘Thomas, they’ve got you!’ Brenda yelled.
    ‘Fight it!’…Again the words were forced from Thomas’s mouth.
    ‘I can’t…let you…do this!’…It was like his brain had been programmed
    with that one sentence and he couldn’t say anything else” (Dashner 129).

The amount of control WICKED has over Thomas’ body even when WICKED is nowhere near Thomas shows just how powerful they can be as well as how advanced their technology is.
    Throughout the story, WICKED is surrounded by mysteries and it is never quite clear what their true motive actually is. Although their motive seems to be finding the cure to the Flare, each member of WICKED has very different opinions on how they should do things. For example, Janson, or the Rat Man as Thomas calls him, believes that they should sacrifice people in order to find the cure and even tried to “donate” Thomas’ brain to science because he believed if they did, they would find the cure. He was even willing to repeat the whole trials again with new test subjects to find it. However, Chancellor Paige, the leader of WICKED, had already predicted that the trials would fail. She came up with an alternate solution if the plan was to fail, and in the end was required to put that plan into action. Her plan was to take all the Immunes far away from civilization and have the Immunes start anew. In this way, she made a way for at least a portion of the human race to survive, instead of killing them all in what seemed like a hopeless experiment. However, we only learn about Chancellor Paige’s plan until the epilogue at the end of the book, and we know little about Chancellor Paige throughout the whole story until the end. These mixed signals and confusion create an element of mystery to WICKED, which makes it seem formidable both to the reader and to Thomas.
    Power is not a matter of just physical strength but of how you choose to use that strength. Even if you have the most powerful weapon in the world, you cannot hope to win a battle without knowing how to use it as well as the best way to use it to benefit you the most. Although WICKED has mixed opinions on how they should carry out their cause, each group utilizes the tools they have to best benefit them. They use the public to get the test subjects they need and create advanced technology to help them. However, maybe it is not their brutal power over the public and their weaponry that makes them formidable but the fact that you know very little about WICKED. The next worst thing to being overpowered by your enemy is to not know a thing about your enemy.

Picture Book Author's Note Draft 1

    In 2011, $11.7 billion worth of property was lost due to fires alone. People lose their homes everyday around the world for many reasons: fires, foreclosure, unemployment and death to name a few. A home is an important part of someone’s life; we develop an attachment to our homes over time. When you lose your home it can affect you greatly, even if it’s just a building. However, maybe the hardest part of losing your home is finding a new one.
    Fortunately, I have never faced these hardships and neither has any of my friends. However, I know of friends who were forced to move because of their parents’ job-sometimes even to a new country. They were forced to move away from their friends and family as well as their home. They also had to learn how to adapt to the new environment, whether it was learning to speak a new language or making new friends.
    Moving to a different home is also difficult. It takes time to adjust to the home and get used to living in it. Maybe you’ll never be able to completely call it your home. But I believe that your home is where your friends and family are. If you can find those things, then you can call it your home. It’s not really the physical aspects of the home we get really attached to. It’s the people and little details you see throughout your day that makes your home yours. Maybe you have that one neighbor that’s always sitting outside when the weather is nice. Or maybe you have a friend that lives next door that you talk to over the fence of your backyard. Whatever it is, if you can find those things and realize what they mean to you, you have truly found your home.
    This story was inspired by all those people who have lost their homes and are struggling to find a place to call home.

Independent Book Synthesis Page: How does money figure in this text? The Elegance of the Hedgehog- By Muriel Barbery

The Elegance of the Hedgehog By Muriel Barbery

How does money figure in this text?

 Money is one of the main themes in the book, and it changes the way people think about certain topics such as what is most important to them. The book is narrated by two people: a girl, Paloma, from a rich family and a concierge, Renee, who works in the girl's building. Although Paloma herself does not share the beliefs of her parents, she describes her parents' values and beliefs throughout the story. Renee shares her beliefs and values through her narration.

The rich hate acknowledging the conflicts and problems in the world.

Supporting quotes:

• "Those Africans have the goldfish bowl right there in front of them, all day long—they can't escape through storytelling. But my parents and Colombe are convinced they're swimming in the ocean just because they live in their four thousand square feet with their piles of furniture and paintings." (Pg 27)
• "With no more apartment and no more daughter, maybe they'll give some thought to all those dead Africans, don't you suppose?" (Pg 27)
• "In our world, that's the way you live your grown-up life: you must constantly rebuild your identity as an adult, the way it's been put together it is wobbly, ephemeral, and fragile, it cloaks despair and, when you're alone in front of the mirror, it tells you the lies you need to believe." (Pg 92)
• "You pay such a price when you lead a false life! When the mask is taken away, when there's a crisis—and there's always a crisis at some point among mortals—the truth is terrible!" (Pg 92)

The rich pretend to be better than the poor because they dislike sharing a category with them and are often pretentious and try to act like they are not "filthy" as a result.
Supporting quotes:

• "...Manuela has been polishing the toilets with a Q-tip, and though they may be gilded with gold leaf, they are just as filthy and reeking as any toilets on the planet, because if there is one thing the rich do share with the poor, however unwillingly, it is their nauseating intestines..." (Pg 31)
• "...at that price, I would have preferred a year's subscription to McDonald's. At least it's in bad taste without being pretentious." (Pg 94)

• "Maybe I am completely mistaken; but French cuisine seems old and pretentious to me..."     (Pg 94)

  The poor appreciate the beauty in everything and are more thankful.
Supporting quotes:

• "Am I not referring to the sort of beauty that is the exclusive preserve of Art." (Pg 165)
• ""Those who feel inspired, as I do, by the greatness of small things will pursue them to the very heart of the inessential where, cloaked in everyday attire, this greatness will emerge from within a certain ordering of ordinary things..." (Pg 165)
• "I suddenly felt my spirit expand, for I was capable of grasping the utter beauty of the trees." (Pg 170)

• "Only the splendors of Art can explain why the awareness of my unworthiness has suddenly been eclipsed by an esthetic blackout..."It's so beautiful."" (Pg 200)

  The poor do not run and hide from the difficult things in life such as death, but acknowledge them.
Supporting quotes:

• ""You know...everything comes at its appointed time."" (Pg 105)
• "There were no poignant regrets, because he had found peace this way; he had placed his trust in what we had said to each other without any need for words, while we watched, together, the bright screen where a story was being told. And I accepted it." (Pg 75, 76)
• "...I have finally concluded, maybe that's what life is about: there's a lot of despair, but also the odd moment of beauty, where time is no longer the same." (Pg 325)

Banning Books Argument Essay

   There is no such thing as a perfect world, so why should we hide these imperfections from kids? Perfect by Ellen Hopkins portrays some of the imperfections in life such as drug addiction, which is why adults such as parents have challenged both the book and the author many times. Although it is understandable that some parents may disapprove of their child reading this book because of the controversial issues portrayed in the book, that does not justify banning the book entirely. This book should not be banned from school libraries because it shows that the world has many issues people should be aware of such as suicide, drug addiction and anorexia.
   
    Ellen Hopkins and her work have been challenged and banned multiple times. Ellen Hopkins herself has even been banned from a school festival at Creekwood Middle School because of content in her works such as “...crystal-meth addiction, teen prostitution, suicide and incest.” (Bildner 1). These topics are viewed to be unsuitable to teens and many think teens should be shielded from these issues. Even Hopkins’ critics “...apparently saw little value in young people reading about such edgy and unpleasant topics.” The issues Hopkins writes about is controversial because the topics are not only disturbing by itself, but Hopkins portrays them vividly and bluntly. She portrays these issues such as self-harm and drug addiction without holding back, which is a turnoff to many. For example, in Perfect there is a character, Sean, who gets so addicted to drugs and gets so jealous of his ex-girlfriend that he went insane. The disturbing aspect of this part of the book was his thoughts because he starts talking to “The Guy Behind My Eyes”. “‘No way. Don’t be ridiculous.’ [Guy Behind My Eyes]: You never know. Deputy Rossiter: Who in the hell are you talking to back there? ‘No one. Sorry. Just processing.’ GBME: Maybe Aunt Mo is a lezbo too. Maybe she’d like them. ‘Aunt Mo is so not a lezbo.’ GBME: You never know. Deputy Rossiter: Did you know crazy people talk to themselves? ‘I am not crazy.’ GBME: You never know” (Hopkins 514). The disturbing content in this book means that this book is not meant for everyone. However, this in no way justifies banning the book for everyone.
   
    Banning this book and any book is wrong because everyone has different limits and these books can also make us more aware of certain topics. Everyone’s limits are different which means that something one person can handle another person cannot. Just because one group of people can’t handle something doesn’t justify banning it all together because there are people out there who are okay with content like this. Everyone should know their limit and nobody is forcing them to read these books. Teens are also more responsible than kids in elementary school and should be allowed some say in what they read. If teens feel that they are able to read about these issues without it doing any harm, then they should be allowed to. These books can also teach us about these issues. The world isn’t perfect and it will most certainly never be. However, we can make the world better by acknowledging these issues and figuring out ways to solve the problem. It is impossible to solve a problem without knowing about it. For example, Perfect contains issues such as anorexia, homophobia, and drug addiction. This book not only raises awareness about these issues but also may motivate teens to figure out solutions and help people they know who are dealing with issues like these. By banning books like this, we are “...diminishing a young person’s ability to go off into the world and interface with people from all walks of life” (qtd. in Bruni 2). By letting books containing this type of material to stay in school libraries, we are raising awareness of these issues and teaching teens that these issues really exist. Reading this book helps to inform teens of such issues and be openminded to certain topics such as GLBTQ.
   
    Although these books seem like one gruesome description after another, these books can actually teach readers life lessons. In Perfect, all of the characters narrating the book long to be accepted by parents, friends, or the people around them. Despite all the hardships that these characters go through, the characters had gone through a transformation throughout the book, just like any other book. Each character either learned how to accept themselves and found someone who accepted them, or learned how to deal with the pressure and the hate. These books are not just about drug abuse, alcohol abuse, self-harm, or suicide. These books are about how these characters learned to cope with the conflicts they faced just like any other book that is considered “appropriate” for teens. This book teaches that not everyone is going to like you, and sometimes you can’t be accepted by the one you wanted to be accepted by. However, there will always be someone out there who will accept you for who you are, someone who won’t make you change. It also teaches that in order for you to see how loved you are, you have to love yourself first and accept yourself. If you don’t love yourself, then others won’t be able to love you either. You shouldn’t beat yourself down because one person doesn’t like you and you shouldn’t change for them. Kendra, a main character in the book, became anorexic because she believed nobody would like her unless she stayed skinny. And even though she was skinny, she still saw herself as fat because she failed to recognize how much other people cared about her. Instead, she let the mirror dictate how she needed to look. “But that stinking mirror doesn’t lie. Every time I walk by it shouts out, Hey. Chub. When are you going to lose those fifteen pounds of ugly-ass flab? Do you want to stay size four forever?” She believed that she needed to be skinny in order for everyone to like her. “If I can...make myself as thin as I need to be, the rest of my life will turn right again. Maybe, if I can make Daddy proud enough, he’ll come see me cheer or watch me vie for Miss Teen Nevada. Maybe, if I can make Mom really look at me, she’ll have something to think about besides Patrick...And maybe, when Conner gets out, he’ll decide I’m the one he wants, after all.” It was only when she finally learned to live with herself that she was able to see that things weren’t as bad as she had thought they were. In reality, her dad actually was paying attention to all her pageants. She didn’t have to change in order for people to love her. These types of books are not what many people think they are and these books teach valuable life lessons as well.
   
    It is true that the content in books like these is not for everyone. It is understandable that adults will want to protect their child from content like this. However, it is not fair to take away everyone’s right because a parent thinks it is inappropriate for their child. Maybe it is inappropriate for their child, however that does not necessarily mean that the same goes for the twenty other kids who use the same library. It is okay to prohibit your child from reading certain texts, but it is unfair to ban the book entirely for everyone else as well. We must also keep in mind that although “...parents exist to rear children...” it is unrealistic to believe that they will remain children for the rest of their lives (Gurdon 5). They too must one day become adults and may have to deal with these issues. That is why it is important to teach them or at least make sure they are aware of these issues now so that they will be able to better handle an issue if faced with an issue such as anorexia or alcohol abuse. Instead of banning the book, parents can restrict their child and only their child from reading the certain book. Parents can also teach their child to put down a book if they feel it is too graphic or inappropriate for them instead of reading on, because nobody is forcing them to read the book. These alternate solutions will allow parents to still have some say without restricting those who can handle material like this from reading the book.
   
    Although the issues portrayed in this book are far from pleasant, it is important to be aware of these issues. It is impossible to solve these problems if we choose to ignore them. If a student perceives a book to be too graphic, the student should put the book down. One student’s inability to do this does not represent everyone else’s ability. And although parents have very right to restrict their child from reading a book, they have no right to restrict other children from reading a book. By allowing teens to read the book, they will become more aware of issues such as anorexia and drug abuse as well as learn valuable life lessons. Although a perfect world does not exist, it is still possible to make the world a better place. The first step to solving any problem is to acknowledge it is one. By banning these books we are preventing these problems from being solved; banning books do more harm than good.

Works Cited

Bildner/Austin, Phil. “Texas: If You Can’t Ban Books, Ban Authors.” Time. Sept. 2010: 29. Print.

Bruni, Frank. “The Wilds of Education.” New York TImes. 28 Sep. 2014: SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

Gurdon, C. Meghan. “Darkness too Visible.” Wall Street Journal. 4 June 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

Hopkins, Ellen. Perfect. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2011. Print.