Final Poem Response

The poem “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” by Maya Angelou examines that everyone is afraid of something. It’s either in childhood or for the rest of their lives. Some people can’t get over their fears, but some people just toss those fears away. Most people don’t grow out of their fears and some people think its ok to tease them about it. With bravery up your sleeve you can conquer those fears. The poem shows a progression from more imaginary childhood fears to more serious grown-up issues, and the speaker is brave against all fears.

                Everyone at least had one childhood fear when they were little. As well, everyone has a more serious fear when they grow older. An example in the poem that hints more childlike fears are the stanzas. In the beginning of the poem it starts off with more childhood fears. I noticed that the stanzas are simple, straight to the point and only 3 stanzas. This hints more childhood fear because it’s not so in-depth. This poem also hints on vague concepts.  When you’re young, you don’t remember memories as much as when you’re older. Most fears when you’re younger include ghosts and dragons. But, when you get older you have a fear that matches a memory you had. When you’re younger, you fear stuff that isn’t real. Imaginary characters in books can make you scared of them. Those are types of fears you grow out of because you figure out they aren’t real. Grown-up fears can be slightly different.

                Grown-up fears and childhood fears are very different from each other. Grownup fears are more special to you and you know why you’re scared of them. The fears are more specific to the speaker. In the poem it mentions a fear that she had when she was probably in her teenage years. “Don’t show me frogs and snakes/and listen for my scream” it’s more vivid than just saying snakes are scary/ they’re gross and slimy. It has a connection to the speaker. Mature fears are more about the people who peer pressure you into your fears instead of the actual concept that startles you. Fears can take over you in the wrong way sometimes and you have to control it.

                Bravery is a symbol of courage.  In line 10 of the poem it states, “I’ve got a magic charm/that I keep up my sleeve.”  This kind of is a part of the poem that shows hope and tells all the people who try to put you down, that they are wasting your time. The author, Maya Angelou wants everyone to know whatever you throw at her, she won’t be frightened. She wants everyone to be like her and ignore the people that don’t like you. Another example is on line 5 it describes that she is standing up for herself; she won’t let people bring her down. She’s showing people a taste of “their own medicine.”

                The main message in this poem “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” is that everyone is afraid of something. The speaker in this poem is a very brave person and wants you to know that you shouldn’t listen to any negativity that people give you. A lot of people around the world are afraid of standing up fir themselves. If you have a friend or a close one like that, next time you should help them out.

POEM

The sound of her name,

Makes me sick to my stomach.

All the memories,

Smashed into little tiny pieces.

Everyday eroding even more.

I see her in the halls.

The eye of a stranger,

When they so happen to meet.

I sometimes wish for her,

But then I realize that,

 What she did to me,

Is not worth coming back.

The girl sitting in the corner

The grey walls 

The glass frame

The friendship bracelet 

That counted the memories.

Oh gee

People don't understand

When someone broke your heart 

That you loved.

You thought they were better than that

Well o well i was wrong.

In Savior by Mollie Shanahan, was about a couple that hasn’t seen each other for 15 years. Hayden and Lily were in love when they were 15 years old. They had to split up because Hayden was off to LA perusing his dream. They met, again in traffic. Lily didn’t even recognize Hayden.  They met up and went on tour together. But, Hayden had a girlfriend at that time. Lily felt weird to go with him on the tour instead of Carline, Hayden’s girlfriend.  On the trip Lily had a lot of peer pressure. The only thing that made her stay on the tour bus was Hayden.

On the whole tour, Lily felt guilt, every single day. She was getting these letters from an anonymous person. They said really mean thing like “he’s not going to take you back after what you did to him.” It like a taunt. If I got those mean letter from an anonymous person than I would be pretty freaked out. I would feel like if I didn’t do what the letter told me to do, they would know. Peer pressure is huge in a lot of teens. Most of people don’t tell anyone about it, and that’s a problem. Peer pressure could end someone’s life.  

Since the first day when Hayden left for LA, they promised each other that they would write letters to one another. They wrote letters for about a month and then both of them didn’t get a letter back. They thought that they forgot about each other. I think that would be very depressing. You agree and PROMISED that you would write.  If that happened to me I think I wouldn’t really want to see that person ever again. That’s was what lily thought too.

Every day and every second someone gets excluded or peer pressured to do something. With a help from parents, neighbors, teacher and guardians we can solve this problem. 

"Your Brain on Melville."

A recent article in Upfront titled, “Your Brain on Melville,” stated that, literary fiction helps improve “social perception.” In a study, by the New School for Social Research in New York, participants read the literary fiction, pop fiction and nonfiction or nothing. According to the results, “those who read literary fiction did better at decoding facial expressions.”  Literature requires the reader to use his/her imagination, which makes the reader better at reading cues. Outside of literary fiction, this skill is helpful in reading a person’s expression.

I agree with the findings because literary fiction requires one to think more deeply then pop fiction. In schools, we analyze characters and symbols in literature. We take what’s on the page and find meaning in it. In real life, we learn to read body language. The writer Louise Erdrich, she loved science because “the researchers ‘found a way to prove true the intangible benefits of literary fiction.’” Most people find pop fiction more interesting than literary fiction makes you think more. Thus, pop fiction may seem more entertaining, but it plays off to read literary fiction.

Revised Argument Essay

In the book, "Just Breathe” by Heather Allen is about a teenage 18 year old girl; Ever that just got dumped by her boyfriend. It has been three whole years that they were dating.  She is miserable and seems to miss him even though she doesn’t admit it. She doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t know if she should look at him anymore. This book has many serious topics about problems in the world and how the characters feel in the moment.

            One example is breaking up with someone. Ever, the main character just faced this problem and it isn’t going so well. She just got dumped by her boyfriend, Michael. He is a guy that everyone wants as a boyfriend. In the middle of the book, we find out that he already moved on and found a girl. If I was her, it would feel terrible dating someone for three years and then getting dumped. It makes you think what did I do wrong? They would be millions of things that would be going in my brain for a while. “I was very hard to live with for a while, to say a least.” I could imagine the tempers some people would have in this type of situation. I would want to be alone for a bit, until I got back to normal. Especially, when you have that feeling that “he’s the one.”

            Another example would be struggling for power or being the one on the top.  After the break up, Ever just wanted to get payback and make Michael feel jealous. One reason was that she felt embarrassed that he already moved on. Of course in the book, she thought of the idea and then the very next day she got a date with this boy named Jack. Surprisingly, it went very well. In the middle of the book, he turns out to be friends with Michael. It turns out to be a very hard decision for Ever to make. Jack is always hanging out with Michael that there is no space for Ever. She learns that she has a life and she should use it wisely as she can. She shouldn’t listen to what people think or say about her. Just do what is right for her.  

This book teaches teens to forget about one bump in the road because everyone’s life has a bump in the road. But, you have to forget about those and just live your life.  

Critical Question: if the character in your book has problems, can you see how those problems are about having or not having money, struggling with others for power, or being cheated or helped by society rules?

            In the book, "Just Breathe” by Heather Allen is about a teenage 18 year old girl, that just dumped by her boyfriend. It has been three whole years that they were dating.  She is miserable. She doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t know if she should look at him anymore. This book has many serious topics about problems in the world and how the characters feel in the moment.

            One example is breaking up with someone. Ever, the main character just faced this problem and it isn’t going so well. She just got dumped by her boyfriend, Michael. He is a guy that everyone wants as a boyfriend. If I was her, it would feel terrible dating someone for three years and then getting dumped. It makes you think what did I do wrong? They would be millions of things that would be going in my brain for a while. “I was very hard to live with for a while, to say a least.” I could imagine the tempers some people would have in this type of situation. I would want to be alone for a bit, until I got back to normal. Especially, when you have that feeling that “he’s the one.”

            Another example would be struggling for power or being the one on the top.  After the break up, Ever just wanted to get payback and make Michael feel jealous.  Of course in the book, she thought of the idea and then the very next day she got a date with this boy named Jack. Surprisingly, it went very well. In the middle of the book, he turns out to be friends with Michael. It turns out to be a very hard decision for Ever to make. Jack is always hanging out with Michael that they is no space for Ever. She learns that she has a life and she should use it wisely as she can.   

This book teaches teens to forget about one bump in the road because everyone’s life has a bump in the road. But, you have to forget about those and just live your life.  

                

READING RESPONSE

In the book, “You’re the Closest to Heaven that I’ll Ever Be” shows a girl and a new boy who are outcasts in school. There are a lot of issues in this book that includes suicide, and peer pressure.

            The main character Lily has a special box that she would never trade in for.  It is a box of razors that she cuts herself with.  She meets a boy where she sits down and cuts herself and brings him in for dinner. I feel like she wants to have friends. I feel like she is trying to fix her problem with cutting herself. Hayden, the boy she met is very similar to her. He is very lonely because he moved and he is depressed. On the first day of school, Hayden got bullied and Lily didn’t do anything about it. I think she doesn’t want to be all the way on the bottom of the school friendships. She wants to protect herself first.

            Hayden and Lily have a difficult friendship. They just met so they don’t know pretty much anything about each other. Hayden sang a song to her and it end with a kiss. Hayden also has always wanted to be in a band.  Lily felt bad of what she was doing ignoring him and all, that she said she was going to make that wish come true for him. 

            Lily’s parents are slightly mentioned in this book. Her parents don’t care about her. I think that’s one reason why Lily cuts herself. She doesn’t have parents to support her and guide her through tough times. I bet Lily sometimes wishes she could have a normal family. This is so sad to me. If I have a tough day I know my parents will always be there for me. But for Lily, she doesn’t have family. But I think having a friend like Hayden will make her feel better.

            These issues happen a lot. They are big ones and someone needs to help these innocent teens. They could end there life just like that. But, this age, teens don’t know what to think, what to say and when to take action.