Perks of Being a Wallflower Reading Response

      Growing up is a difficult task for everyone, especially Charlie."The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky is a collection of letters written to a stranger that explain Charlie's life and allow him to express his feelings. While going through the changes of becoming an adult, Charlie is also coping with the death of his only friend, Michael. So now Charlie must learn to fit in, adjust to an unfamiliar high school, and deal with struggles that all adolescents face, all by himself. But soon, Charlie starts to become friends with Patrick and Sam who help him to fit in and adjust. In this book, Charlie's friends and family were the ones who guided him through high school, and he couldn't have done it without them.

      In a friendship, there needs to be understanding, honesty, and acceptance in the relationship. Even early on in their friendship, Patrick and Sam were very accepting and didn't exclude Charlie. For example, "Patrick and Sam didn't just throw around inside jokes and make me struggle to keep up. Not at all. They asked me questions." Patrick and Sam made Charlie feel welcome to be their friend. They accepted him as he was and were genuinely interested to get to know him. Being accepted makes everyone feel good about themselves. It boosted Charlie's self confidence and allowed him to become more comfortable and social. This is something that definitely helped Charlie to adjust and fit in to his high school.

   

      Besides being accepted into Patrick and Sam's friendship, Charlie needed to actually feel like he belonged. But before them, Charlie had never felt that before. "I just remember walking between them and feeling for the first time that I belonged somewhere." For a long time, Charlie had never felt that he belonged anywhere until he met Patrick and Sam. There's nothing like knowing where you belong, especially to a person like Charlie. It shows how close the three of them were and how happy Charlie was that he had found friends like this. Without these friends, he would have felt out of place.

      The guidance of Charlie's loved ones was crucial for his growth as an adolescent in high school and for his dealing with a lack of belonging. What Patrick and Sam gave Charlie was something that nobody else could give him: acceptance. From welcoming him in with no hesitation, they allowed Charlie to feel sure and confident in himself. Patrick and Sam gave Charlie friends to lean on and have fun with, but they also gave him a sense of belonging which helped him through the hard years of high school and adolescence.

China's Cram Schools Essay

                   Imagine taking a test that determines your future and the rest of your life. A bad grade, and all your hopes and dreams are gone. For students in China, they don’t have to imagine, it’s their reality. In the article “China’s Cram Schools” by Brook Larmer, the gaokao test is explained as an important college admission test that Chinese high schools students take to ensure a successful future. Getting a good score allows admission into a university, which later leads to a good job and life. But getting a bad score means a disappointed family and a hard life full of manual labor. It isn’t fair for the rest of a teenager’s life to rest solely on their score on one test.

            The fact that the gaokao determines a student’s future causes the pressure to do well to become almost unbearable. In the article it says, “Teenage suicide rates tend to rise as the gaokao nears.” As the stress levels rise because of the test, many teens break under the pressure. The students know how high the stakes are and after a while it becomes too much. But some students have no choice if they want a future. “Manual labor would be their fate too, if they failed to do well on the gaokao.” Many students from rural areas are hoping for a life better than that of their parents, and the gaokao is the only thing that will make sure their lives are successful.

            Wealthier students have more opportunity to prep for the test, which is unfair. Poor villages have poor schools with poorly trained teachers, meanwhile more wealthy families can “hire private tutors, pay for test prep courses, or bribe their way into the best city schools.” With these advantages, the students with more money have better chances of doing well on the test. Because of this, “rural students are allocated far fewer college-admissions spots than students from cities.” This means that sometimes the students can’t control how well they do because they are limited to good education and resources.

            Despite the immense pressure on the students to do well on their test, some still see the good in the gaokao. Recently, China had a big growth in their economy, but many parts of the country still remain in poverty. The test is said to allow people who would normally have no hope of getting out of poverty to get a share of the booming economy. “The question is whether those people will be able to grab a piece of China’s new wealth.” While a good score can ensure a new future for a student who grew up poor, this still only puts the stakes higher and adds more work and pressure to teens.

            As shown in the article, China's gaokao test causes a lot of pressure for Chinese high school students because the rest of their lives depend on a good score. While good scores allow bright futures, bad scores mean hard lives of work. Although some may say that the test is a good way to allow a spot in China's economy, some students have advantages because they already have money. And a spot in the growing economy in no way makes up for the tremendous amount of pressure and lost lives the test is responsible for.

Espada Essay

     Abuse of power is a serious problem and effects lots of people. Various poems by Martin Espada tell stories of people using their power to make others, particularly Mexicans, suffer. They show the unfair treatment that Mexicans endure or have endured. Espada’s meaningful poems “New Bathroom Policy at English High School”, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”, and “Two Mexicanos Lynched at Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877” all express examples of abuse of power.

            The poem “New Bathroom Policy at English High School” shows a principal abusing his power. He overhears students speaking Spanish while he is in a stall. He hears his name come up in the conversation and assumes they are talking badly about him. He then bans Spanish in the bathroom so it won’t happen again. “The only word he recognizes is his own name and this constipates him. So he decides to ban Spanish from the bathrooms.” This shows how the principal jumped to conclusions and immediately thought the Spanish students were saying something bad. Because the principal didn’t understand a language that wasn’t his, he decided to take it out all together, which is abusing the power he has over the students. This is unfair to the students and shows the discrimination that probably happens everyday around the world,

            “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson” is another poem that shows an example of abuse of power. In this poem, the speaker fantasizes what would happen if another person mispronounced his/her Spanish name. He/she talks about buying a toy pistol, hijacking a bus of Americans, and using other forceful and violent acts to get revenge. The author also used allusion and exaggeration. The poem reads, “push my beret at an angle, comb my beard to a point.” This describes an Argentinian military officer, Che Guevara, who was powerful and forceful. The acts that are described in this poem such as, “I want to buy a toy pistol,” are exaggerated revenges for when people abuse their power and say names wrong. The speaker was not using his power, only imagining, yet the Americans were when they said the Spanish names wrong.

            The third poem, “Two Mexicanos Lynched at Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877” describes a true event where two Mexicans were hung by vigilantes for being Mexican. In that time period, Mexicans were not considered equals by many of the white settlers. The vigilantes would hang many Mexicans because they did not want them there. The poem talks about Mexican customs and beliefs like La Dia de los Muertos and the Virgen de Guadalupe. The poem shows how the vigilantes treated the Mexicans because they thought they had power over them. Mexicans were killed simply because of their race and heritage, which is an unfair abuse of power.

            As shown in these three poems by Martin Espada, abuse of power has happened at many points in time and sadly still occurs today, in many different ways. The author believes that abuse of power is wrong and has a lot to do with opinions and what society deems acceptable. The author’s purpose is to inform people of the unfair ways that people abuse their power. He hopes that things will change by telling these stories in his poems.

Speak Reading Response

“I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We’ve been taught that silence would save us, but it won’t.” –Audre Lorde

            In the book “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino is introduced as an introverted and quiet girl who is starting her first year in high school with no friends. She is also carrying the burden of a big secret and is afraid to speak up about it. The summer before, Melinda was raped at a party by Andy Evans, a boy at her school. Melinda started off ashamed and afraid of what people would think if she spoke up, but she was able to grow by the end when she started to accept what had happened to her. She was ashamed of being involved in something that she ultimately had no control over, which raises the question of “is this fair?”

            It was unfair that Melinda was so afraid of speaking out about her rape because it wasn’t her fault. In the book it says, “It’s easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.” Melinda felt that nobody would care if she spoke out about the rape. This was a problem because she had no motivation to help her talk. She was afraid that people would judge her and make her feel worse than she already did. It’s hard to talk about something when you are afraid that nobody will support you. Since Melinda didn’t speak out at first, the fear and guilt were almost taking over her life. In the book it says, “When people don’t express themselves, they die one piece at a time.” Her emotions were keeping her from doing what she wanted to do and being who she wanted to be. Because Andy Evans raped her and she was so afraid to tell anyone, everything was bottled up inside. But the actions that caused these emotions were unwanted and unjust.

            Melinda has to live in fear and horror because of another person’s actions, which is unfair. Being a victim of rape caused her to be afraid and keep quiet which broke her down and made her feel weak. I predict that because she finally spoke out and became stronger by the end of the book, she will also be able to speak for other girls who are afraid and struggling for the same reasons. What happened to Melinda that summer was unfair because she was a victim of something that she couldn’t control and it made her live in fear. But worst of all, she was afraid to speak.

            

Scarlet Letter Reading Response

            “Let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart.” - Hawthorne

            In the book “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne has a big problem. While living in Salem, Massachusetts in the 18^th century, she has committed adultery. With religion being a big part in the lives of the Puritans, they believed that she had to be punished. The people of the society were ashamed of her and sent her to live on the outskirts of town with her daughter, Pearl. She also had to wear a scarlet letter “A” as a symbol of her guilt. The Puritans in the town were so focused on making Hester feel guilty, but she tried her best to not let the isolation affect her.

            By making Hester feel isolated and different, people believed it would make her feel guilty. In chapter two it says, “Ah, but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart.” The members of the Puritan society wanted Hester to know how ashamed they were of her. They hoped that by banishing her away and making her wear a scarlet letter, she would always know in her heart that she was guilty, even if she tried to conceal it. In chapter two it also says, “The Reverend Master Dimmesdale, her godly pastor, takes it very grievously to his heart that such a scandal has come upon his congregation.” Not only did people physically exclude her from their society, but they also showed their disappointment clearly. The reverend was an important figure for the Puritans and people would feel guilty if he were ashamed or disappointed in their actions. This made Hester feel different from the others because she was no longer accepted, even by the reverend.

            Many times, Hester showed that she would not be affected by the isolation or by the way the society made her feel different. When people first saw Hester’s scarlet letter, they were astonished by the way she had sewn and embroidered it on. “On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A.” If Hester had to wear the letter, she might as well make it look pretty. It shows that she cared about her appearance, and also that her appearance would not be completely drowned out by the bad ideas people had of her. In chapter eighteen it says, “She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom.” Hester had not fully recognized how limited she had been to the society until she was finally introduced to the real experience. She had come to accept that everyone felt isolated, until she realized that she was the only one. While this feeling of being different may have bothered some people, it hardly even affected Hester.

          Throughout the book, Hester Prynne made it a point to show that she would not be brought down by the way the society pushed her out and made her feel different. She showed that she was brave, strong, and defiant, and nobody could take those characteristics away from her. It took a lot for Hester to stay strong while everyone was making her feel so guilty, and most people might’ve broken down from the pressure, but Hester was a strong and independent woman who was able to care for herself and her daughter when nobody else would.