Being Mean By Gary Soto Analysis

This dilemma is seen throughout the entire novel, First, Do No Harm by Lisa Belkin. Its presence is felt in Taylor, Landon, and Patrick’s stories. In Taylor and Landon’s, their parents are being pulled in two different directions and everyone is telling them they should do different things for their babies. Taylor’s parents held on for a very long time but decided that Taylor would not be happy living the life she was handed. One doctor said how he felt on the matter on page 201 based on Taylor’s situation, “We can’t save them all, and we shouldn’t always try.” Taylor’s parents chose Quality and to let nature decide and take her off her ventilator. Landon’s parents chose Quantity and the life-saving procedure but after years of doctors poking

Gary Soto the writer of the poem Behind Grandma's House stats off the poem by saying "at ten I wanted fame." This gives the reader comprehension that the poem is a flashback to when the speaker was a young boy. The title Behind Grandma's House gives the reader knowledge about the poem's setting before reading it, also that Grandma may be in the poem. Soto writes the poem is in free verse form in first person. All through the poem, Soto writes about a young child coming of age, by doing pointless and asinine things. Like Soto writes, "At ten I wanted fame... I kicked fences. I shooed pigeons. And frightened ants with a stream of spit." Soto knows that as an adolescent you do senseless things without thinking but its just to seemed cool at the

Can you imagine not being able to choose whether or not you want to be a part of a life filled with violence? Some people are just sucked into it because of choices other people make. For instance, Geoffrey Canada’s mom moved him & his three brothers into to the south Bronx where the journey of violence then began. In the memoir Fist Stick Knife Gun the narrator Geoffrey Canada goes through a series of events that eventually influences him to become the man he is today. Geoffrey Continues to reflect on his experiences and shows how he learned from them being that he grew up very poorly compared to an average kid in a rough neighborhood in the south Bronx where he went through a number of life-changing or eye

Did you ever wanted to sail to the new world to get gold and other treasure’s. In 1607 John Smith (Captain Smith) brought some colonist with him to build the new world. . The book blood on the river is about Samuel who was an orphan.Samuel got transferred to captain smith as a page and they sailed to the new world with some other colonist. Jamestown conflict was to survive because the colonist had to get there own prey and build shelter. Samuel was aggressive Charaterin the beginning of the book, he was caring in the middle of the book, and he was loving at the ending.

In his poem “Behind Grandma’s House,” Gary Soto details the life and daily routine of a somewhat masochistic ten year old boy as he kicks over trash cans, terrorizes cats, and drowns ant colonies with his own urine. In many ways the boy acts as any other boy his age would be expected to, but he tends to go further than most young boys with his actions and descriptions of how he feels. This extra violence and destructive tendency the narrator exhibits can lead the reader to believe that, rather than being a typical child, he strongly craves attention due to his circumstances, and he is willing to act out and act obscenely in order to receive that attention.

On a daily basis, does one think of him or herself to be cruel or violent? Many think that mankind has a nature of being savage. People believe that we acquired the trait of viciousness and that it is inside every one of us. One person that focuses on the savagery of humans is writer William Golding. In his novel Lord Of The Flies and article “Why Boys Become Vicious”, he tells of the production of savagery. Golding speaks of the circumstances that cause fierce behavior. Chaos, fear, and the corruption of power breed savagery. Without these components, savagery can not flourish.

In Gary Soto’s short story “The Jacket” the main character, the boy in the jacket, vows “ I spent my sixth-grade year in a tree in the alley, waiting for something good to happen to me in that jacket, which had become the ugly brother who tagged along wherever I went.” The boy blames his jacket for all the struggles that happened to him and he believes that the jacket brought him bad luck. Soto uses this to support the theme because the boy is being distracted by the jacket. Which makes him not try to improve his life. Soto uses literary elements, symbolism, and conflict to support the overarching theme: focusing on the small things like appearances can distract society from the bigger more important things.

Imagine having a perfect life without trouble and then all of the sudden your whole life shatters in one freak accident. This is how Henry Smith felt in the book Trouble. Henry’s father always said “If you build your house far away from trouble, trouble will never find you.” Everything was working in his life he went to a great school, had some good friends, had a good relationship with his family, and had a nice house. That was until one night when Henry’s older brother Franklin got hit by a car on his usual 5 mile run. In Gary D. Schmidt's Trouble, Henry has to grow as a young man. With his brother dying in a brutal car accident, finding out the truth about his brother, and having to go on an adventure with his brothers alleged murderer.

Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin was a short story about the struggles of living in a tough, rundown neighborhood and looking to drugs as a way out.

In the story Mother and Daughter, The author Gary Soto was giving the message that mothers aren’t always perfect, but they always want the best for you. Yollie and her mother, Mrs. Moreno, had a very good relationship. The author described Mrs. Moreno as: “ A very large woman who wore a muu-muu and butterfly shaped glasses.” (Soto 203) She liked to water her lawn in the evening and wave at the cars passing by. Meanwhile, they stared at her, laughed at her, and wondered how she got so large.

In Gary Soto’s short story ‘Growing Up,” the main character, Maria, says, “‘I know, I know. You’ve said that a hundred times,’ she snapped.” Maria is acting ungrateful because she doesn’t want to go on vacation with her family and she is arguing with her father about it instead of being grateful for what she has. Being grateful is feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness and being thankful. In the story Maria argues with her father about not wanting to go on vacation with her family and claims that she is old enough to stay home by herself. Maria is trying to grow up too fast and she put her family to the side instead of being grateful. In this story, conflict, characterization, and symbolism all have an effect on the overall theme.

In “How to Handle a Bully,” by Kathiann Kowalski, an experienced journalist, Kowalski reports the different strategies to stop bullying. She informs that bullying is at its peak in the late teenage years, but can start in an early age. Kowalski concurs that girls intimidates as much as boys; however, they do it differently. She explores many reasons why bullying occurs at the first place, and who starts bullying. Kowalski exemplifies the situations that victims could be in, and the solution on how to handle the bully. She encourages students to collaborate to come up with a school’s code of conduct, which will be used to fight bullying.

In the short story, “Seventh Grade,” by Gary Soto, the author pokes fun at the seventh grade boys in the beginning of a school year. The main characters are Victor, Michael, Mr. Bueller, and Teresa, a girl Victor has a crush on. In the end, Victor learns that is it is always best to be himself.

In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger readers are introduced to a young man named Holden Caulfield who introduces himself and begins to tell his story of how and why he left his school; Pencey Prep. In the story, Holden explains how he is being kicked out of school and doesn't want his parents to know and so leaves school early. throughout the story, Holden explains what happens to him before he must go home and act like he is home from school for a break instead of being kicked out. When it comes to the topic of Author's purpose of The will of individual vs the will of the majority some will think the purpose is to show that Holden going against the will of society to rebel, however, I think the author’s purpose of The Catcher in the Rye was to show that the individual will manifest in his desire for isolation comes from his is fear and damage done by fear of pain, failure, rejection, and is unwilling or unable to go along with the majority. This all shown through Imagery, symbolism, and diction.

Holden Caulfield lives his life as an outsider to his society, because of this any we (as a reader) find normal is a phony to him. Basically, every breathing thing in The Catcher in the Rye is a phony expect a select few, like Jane Gallagher. What is a phony to Holden and why is he obsessed with them? A phony is anyone who Holden feels is that living their authentic life, like D.B. (his older brother). Or simply anyone who fits into society norms, for example, Sally Hayes. Holden’s obsession stems from his fear that he may become a phony one day. So, he spends the book running from adulthood by doing childish things and struggling to keep his life from changing.