Jared By David Gifaldi Analysis

In the historical fiction novel, “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry,” written by Mildred D. Taylor, Stacey, a young boy of color, faces an internal conflict regarding whether Jeremy or T.J. would be the best choice of a friend for him. Throughout the narrative, Stacey presents that he understands that both Jeremy and himself would be safer if they stayed away from each other and that a friendship with T.J. would be completely accepted in that era. However, Jeremy would be the better choice for a friend for Stacey because he shows real respect for the entirety of the Logan family, he is honest when it comes to realizing his misconduct, and he proves to be much different than his racist family.

The story “Me And Earl And The Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews takes place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The time setting is in the year 2011 nearing the end of the school year and main characters, Gregory Gaines, Earl Jackson, and Rachel Kushner are all in their senior year at Benson High School. The setting differentiates the character’s personality by separating them by social class. Author illustrates Rachel and Gregory living in a middle class home in a quiet neighborhood in the town area they live in. However, Earl lives in a dangerous and unkept part of the city that characterizes him and his family as dangerous people because of their semi-economic disadvantage. Andrews specifically describes the Jacksons’ house as “falling apart- there’s

In ‘By the River’ by Steven Herrick the novel focuses on Harry’s coming of age and furthermore the events that progress him from childhood into adulthood. This coming of age novel portrays the circumstances that impact Harry, and serve as stepping stones on his journey to adulthood and maturity. The most significant milestones that advanced him from youth to adulthood are the multiple losses that have had a severe impact, the many responsibilities that have been inflicted upon him and the flourishing friendships that helped Harry experience life’s greatest lessons.

In David Updike’s “Summer”, Homer is overcome with an innocence yet fixated crush on Sandra. The adolescents spend their school-free summer at Sandra and Fred’s family lake house. This vacation, according to Homer, proves to be different. Homer, Fred and Sandra’s transition to adulthood is much like the change from summer to fall they are experiencing. If Homer could get out of his own head, then he could get the girl and summer of his dreams.

Have you ever felt like you just needed an escape from any situation or you house for a while or have you ever felt like you were being neglected? In the short story “The Ascent” by Ron Rash, the story follows the life of a boy named Jared. Who is in a household where both of his parents are drug users and though to their best efforts do not do the best at watching or raising their kid. Jared has make-believe time in the woods to escape home as he does he stumbles across a crash plane the cops have been looking for and inside he finds a man and woman dead. He steals the woman’s ring and the man’s watch. His parents take the ring and watch from Jared and then leave him to buy more drugs. As they do, Jared ventures off to the plane for the final time where he believes he is ascending above the clouds in the plane. Due to the actions of his parents and how life around him play out, Jared does anything to escape his life through the imaginary projections of his make-believe world that he puts himself in the same danger as his parents.

In the fifth paragraph, Dillard describes Rahm’s appearance and juxtaposes that to vivid imagery. At the start of the show, Dillard was, “Idly paying...attention,” when she saw a “medium-sized, rugged man, dressed in brown leather, all begoggled…” who happened to be David Rahm. These mundane details describe Rahm as an average, ordinary man, who great things were not expected. By using mundane details, audience members understand how Dillard did not pay any extra attention to Rahm because he appeared to be average. However, once Rahm was in the plane, his actions demanded her attention. When Rahm started flying, he “seemed to fall down the air...streaming beauty in spirals behind him.” This example of imagery juxtaposes to the previous mundane details in order to convey how once Rahm entered the plane, he became one with it.

In Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man, he explains how powerful exile plays an important role in the narrator’s journey to finding out who he really is. According to Edward Said “Exile is… a rift forced between a human being and a native place,…its essential sadness can never be surmounted…a potent, even enriching” .The narrator’s journey to finding who he is, was alienating and enriching.

Resilience is displayed through the drive shown by the characters in these stories, despite hardships or trauma in their pasts. In The Road, Papa and the boy continue to move forward and “carry the fire”, staying morally true to themselves, even despite the things they had seen. The boy’s mother shot herself, he has seen cannibalism, slavery, and people reduced to monsters and broken shells of humanity, but he is still fighting and trying to be one of the good guys. He still wants to help the little boy when he meets him, still wants to help Ely when he meets them (McCarty, 162); The Boy still has a desire to help people who are suffering. He is starving, but he wants to give away his food so that the people who are good in this world won’t die.

Mr. Junot Díaz’s paper titled “The Money” is a paper about the struggles of growing up as a Dominican, or less specifically an immigrant, in America. The paper offers a brief gimps into Mr. Díaz’s life as a young man, it shows his family structure and his neighborhood structure. It shows the type of people he had to deal with growing up and how he handled the way these people acted.

Thirteen is an odd number in everyone's lives, as it's the age where social norms and people themselves change the quickest. James Howe's Jeremy Goldblatt Is So Not Moses is the story of Jeremy Goldblatt, an outcast among his peers, coming of age to face his Bar Mitzvah and the expectations of his friends and family. Jeremy has always been a bit different, and some teenagers see different as a bad thing. All he wants is to be accepted, and his Bar Mitzvah is the first big step. The story itself is heartwarming, if a bit far-fetched, following a youth facing down adversity with the power of kindness and friendship. The story's excessive sweetness and makes it difficult to relate to, but the many literary devices are used and used well,

In Terrance Hayes’s poem “Mr. T-,” the speaker presents the actor Laurence Tureaud, also known as Mr. T, as a sellout and an unfavorable role model for the African American youth for constantly playing negative, stereotypical roles for a black man in order to achieve success in Hollywood.  The speaker also characterizes Mr. T as enormous and simple-minded with a demeanor similar to an animal’s to further his mockery of Mr. T’s career.

Speak is a terrifyingly realistic depiction of a rape victim’s struggle to find her voice and find herself once more after a vile “encounter” with the school’s golden boy. The story gives more information about the rape as it progresses, and eventually the reader learns the crime occurred at an end-of-the-summer party where Andy Evans, desired by most of the students in Merryweather High School, took advantage of an intoxicated and vulnerable Melinda. This lead to the protagonist contacting the police and shutting the party down, as well as causing Melinda to become alienated by her peers in result.Because of this awful ordeal, Melinda is seen as a snitch by her peers during the entirety of her freshman year. Melinda Sordino’s story shows

Family members and close friends impact people’s lives in immeasurable ways. Octavia E. Butler uses this to develope Lauren in Parable of the Sower through interactions with the people around her. Growing up in a bleak area of a now dismal United States, her faithful upbringing contrasts with the necessary survival mentality demanded by the outside world.Two effectual characters in Lauren’s journey are her father, Reverend Olamina, and her younger brother, Keith. These two characters represent extremes of both devotion and destruction as they influence Lauren to choose her own path as an adult. Each character has a separate impact on Lauren as she matures into adulthood.

The book Wonder by R.J. Palacio was filled with eye opening precepts. As I read the book I felt that one precept stood out most of all. This was the September precept “When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.”- Dr. Wayne Dyer. I fell this means that you should choose kindness over the ability to be right. I say this because in a way the ability to be right is not always a good trait to have. For example we all know that one person in school who is a teacher’s pet or know it all no one really enjoys talking to them. Another example of why you should chose kindness is because you will be lifted up in the community. Kindness is something that many people possess but do not use. This trait is important because without

Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl is a movie that reflects the value of friendship during tough social situations. The movie portrays several inferences and levels of the made up friendship between the main characters Greg and “the dying girl” Rachel during her struggle with cancer and the friendship between the two senior students in the same high school Greg and Earl. Both of Greg and Earl craft short films during their senior year in high school, yet they refuse to publish them or give a copy to anyone up until the part in the movie in which Greg life changes because he develops a friendship with a girl with leukemia named Rachel and the other part where Earl publicizes the films he did with Greg to Rachel. In this film, Greg faces many difficult situations because he was forced to do things that