Independent Writing Project

Coming of Age

My dad has always affected the way I grew up. He made me stronger. He made me stand up to people. He made me be determine who were my real friends and who weren’t. He did it without knowing.

My dad had scars all over his face. Every time he picked me up from school as a child, everyone would always look at him. Some people would laugh, some would just look at him with a horrified expression. I wouldn’t get embarrassed at all. I would get angry. People would make fun of me for having a dad that ‘had a funny face.’ At first, I would feel pathetic. I soon got enough of it and would just explode. Every time someone would talk about my dad like that I would just start screaming and talk about their parents. Some of my friends would actually make fun of him saying he looked like Freddy Krueger, I’d tell them to shut up and basically just leave them. That just showed me the type of friends they were. As a kid I learned how to react to people’s insults. I was strong enough to stand up for myself. Some people don’t though. My father gave me that strength I needed for the future, and without even knowing it.

My dad got the scars due to an allergic reaction. As a child, my dad would bleed from his nose allot. His mother wanted to do something about it so she contacted a doctor and told him about it. The doctor prescribed some kind of cream for him. She placed the cream on his nose, but she didn’t know my dad was allergic to it. the cream worked but my dad would scratch his facial area uncontrollably. Then the doctor prescribed a different cream for his itch. That scream just made things worse. My dad would scratch his face more, and his mother would just place more cream. Eventually scars formed.

Soundtrack On Coming of Age

Demons by Imagine Dragons

Halcyon by Ellie Goulding

Airplanes by B.o.B.

Hanging On by Ellie Goulding

Crawling by Linkin Park

Stained Glass Eyes and Colorful Tears by Pierce the Veil

So Far Away by Charli XCX

King for a Day by Pierce the Veil

Teen Idle by Marina and The Diamonds

Rusty by Tyler, The Creator

Obsessions by Marina and The Diamonds

Lego House by Ed Sheeran

Stay Away by Charlie XCX

Runaway by Linkin Park

I Hate This Part by The Pussycat Dolls

Take My Hand by Charli XCX

Joy by Ellie Goulding

Your Bones by Of Monsters and Men

A Place For My Head by Linkin Park

How Can I by Charli XCX

IFHY by Tyler, The Creator

Set Me Free by Charli XCX

I chose these specific songs because each one revolves around the idea of pain and regret, which is part of coming of age. 

Essay

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare is a play starring two characters: Romeo and Juliet. These two young people fall deeply in love but cannot be together because of family grudges. The two try everything to be together and even get married secretly. Many factors play roles in this love story that create similarities and differences to our modern society's love stories. 

When the play was written, one would usually get married if they were older than thirteen. Throughout act two, Juliet and Romeo get married. Today, people that just met wouldn't get married that fast. Juliet just met Romeo and Romeo just met Juliet. Nowadays, a teen who feels the same way Juliet felt about Romeo about another guy, would actually take caution because of the crime that has been going on, people getting kidnapped, getting killed, or raped. In act one scene three, nurse says on page thirty five that Juliet is fourteen. Knowing that Romeo is eighteen would give the reader a weird feeling. If a thirteen year old thinks that they like an eighteen year old, one would think that they are crazy. Since in our society people usually date people their own age, and people that get married, get married in their thirties.

In the book, Romeo and Juliet weren't allowed to be together because of family grudges. In our modern society, some people aren't allowed to be in relationships because of religion. For example, if someone were to like people from their same sex, most religions wouldn't allow it. Christians, muslims, hindus, and other religions would find it very disrespectful. The book is similar to the modern world because of the theme of 'star-crossed lovers:' "Lovers whose relationship is doomed to fail are said to be “star-crossed” (frustrated by the stars),because those who believe in astrology claim that the stars control human destiny." -dictionary.com

The outside environment also plays roles in both the book, and in our modern society. In both the book and in our world, there will be at least one person who will make at least one comment on a relationship. It can be positive, or negative. Throughout act one, Juliet's parents are talking about Juliet's marriage with Paris. But a few pages ahead, the nurse, the person closest to Juliet, tells Juliet that she should marry Paris and forget about Romeo. Juliet's love for Romeo is strong enough to ignore what the nurse said and continue with her relationship, even though nurse is the closest person to her. In today's society, most people would actually listen, especially with the bond that Juliet and nurse have. There have been many movies, TV shows, and books written on how "always trust your best friend with relationships:" the best friend tells her best friend that her boyfriend has been cheating on her, the girl doesn't listen, the girl regrets not listening to her best friend. Knowing that most of the people from our world have watched a movie or a TV show that goes with that outline, the person would be smart enough to listen to their best friend.

Reading this text has been very interesting. This text relates to the world by transmitting the theme of 'star-crossed lovers,' it is present in everyday life. The reader should know that not everyone's love life can be controlled by an individual. It is a topic that can be influenced by the outside environment and family members.

first draft

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare is a play with the theme of "star-crossed lovers." Throughout the book, Romeo and Juliet struggle to be together at peace. The actions Romeo and Juliet are very different compared to modern day teenagers or couples.

When the play was written, one would usually get married if they were older than thirteen. Throughout act two, Juliet and Romeo get married. Today, people that just met wouldn't get married that fast. Juliet just met Romeo and Romeo just met Juliet. Nowadays, a teen who feels the same way Juliet felt about Romeo about another guy, would actually take caution because of the crime that has been going on, people getting kidnapped, getting killed, or raped.

In act one scene three, nurse says on page thirty five that Juliet is fourteen. Knowing that Romeo is eighteen would give the reader a weird feeling. If a thirteen year old thinks that they like an eighteen year old, one would think that they are cray. vERY cray. Since in our society people usually date people their own age, and people that get married, get married in their thirties.

Throughout act one, Juliet's parents are controlling her marriage. They want Juliet to marry Paris. Today, parental involvement in their children's relationships is only common in young people and some adults.In the play, Juliet's parents are controlling her relationships: who she marries. They want Juliet in their full control.

Reading this text has been very interesting. This text relates to the world by transmitting the theme of 'star-crossed lovers,' it is present in everyday life. The reader should know that not everyone's love life can be controlled by an individual. It is a topic that can be influenced by the outside environment and family members.

outline

introduction:

thesis- the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is very different from today's love stories: many factors play roles in love stories like the setting and time period.

body paragraphs:

on act 2 Romeo and Juliet get married. Nowadays people don't usually get married when they first meet.

act 1 scene 3 states that Juliet is 14.

act 1 scene 2 shows how Juliet's father is playing a major role in her love life, along with her mother and the nurse.

conclusion:

the text relates to the world by the theme of "star-crossed lovers" and the theme of love in general.
the reader should understand that this topic depends on the person who is 'in love' and that this topic is affected by the outside environment.

Reading Response

"I'm just damned. I am utterly and completely damned. You'll shoot me at the end no matter what I do, because that's what you do to enemy agents. It's what we do to enemy agents. After I write this confession, if you don't shoot me and if I ever make it home, I'll be tried as a collaborator anyway." (page 5)

The book I'm currently reading is "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein. The main character is "Verity." I have just started this book, but as far as I am reading, Verity is a spy that has just been captured by Nazis. Verity is confessing what she has done inside the book. Wein makes Verity has an "I'm gonna die anyways so I can do whatever I want to now" attitude.

On page five she states that she's gonna be shot anyways so she might as well just do anything she wants to (the quote above). The author makes Verity have this sort of attitude to make the reader think that Verity gives up. 

The fact that Verity is a spy, and she is giving up, makes the reader question the book. Spies aren't supposed to give up. They are capable of lying until death to accomplish their mission. This makes the reader infer what will be happening throughout the story.

This is just the beginning of the book. There is much more to read about. It would be logical to think that there will be more than just one confession throughout the book, since all of this is going on in just the first five pages.

Reading Response

I've just finished reading Fifty Shades Darker by E.L James. The author wrote this in first person, and also included the narrator's thoughts throughout the book. The main character is Anastasia Steele and throughout the book she is the one describing everything by her point of view.

In some parts of the book, Anastasia does things without telling the reader. On page 116 she explains how Christian, her boyfriend, pulls on her bottom lip, making her stop biting it. She never said anything about biting her lip before, this shows the effect that her boyfriend has on her, he makes her forget things and just focus on her.

It almost seems like E.L. James didn't write the book, but Anastasia Steele did. It's like if Anastasia is a person in real life with all of the descriptions she gives in the first, and in this book. It makes you forget about the actual author completely.

Throughout the book, the author includes some of Anastasia's personal thoughts to actions around her. On pages 366 through 370, she includes her short thoughts in italics, and her inferences on the actions of others in the regular fonts: "Oh. What's he doing in here? Oh, fuck." "Keep him talking, keep him talking, keep him talking." In these pages, Anastasia's boss is hitting on her, and possibly trying to rape her.

Throughout the book, she includes many of her inferences, but most of all, questions: "why doesn't he let me touch him?" page 117 "where is he going with this?" page 369 "how did all this happen?" page 349. Throughout the book she seems completely confused from all the questions she asks, most of them get answered, some of them don't.

Reading Response

Reading Response

Ned Vizzini, the author of The Other Normals, makes the main character, Perry Eckert, seem like a geek. In the book, Perry is fifteen, but is described as a ten year old. Perry has an older brother who is always at parties getting drunk, Jake. 

On the first page, Perry states that he was “alone in a room playing with myself. Not in that way – playing Creatures & Caverns, the popular role-playing game.” He describes the game as popular. The name that Vizzini gave the game doesn’t make it sound popular: it makes it sound childish and geeky. 

Throughout the book, Ned Vizzini makes Perry do things he thought he couldn’t be able to do, but for his games. On page 55, Perry punches a kid on the forehead and leaves it bloody. On page 44, he fights with his brother to get his game back, and the author describes Perry and his brother both being surprised of Perry’s speed, since Perry is usually very slow.  

When I was getting through the beginning of this book, I actually understood Perry. I understand his addiction to these games and how he wants to have them with him all the time. I was addicted to playing Pokémon. It was a huge addiction. I always stood awake from seven to twelve in the morning playing it. Like Perry, it also affected my school grades.

But unlike Perry’s parents, my parents never sent me to a camp to recover from my addiction. 

Non-Fiction Reading Response

In the article "Obama Urges Speed on Immigration Plan, but Exposes Conflicts," the writer, Mark Landler, observes President Obama's actions and makes his own inferences. He shows what he thinks about Obama by using adjectives to describe his actions.

"President Obama challenged Congress on Tuesday to act swiftly to put 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States on a clear path to citizenship" (Landler 1). Here, Landler uses the word "challenged." Using that specific word in this context, the author is making Obama seem like he wants to give the immigrants of the US an easier way to become citizens of the US. Using that word in this context also makes congress seem like it doesn't want to give immigrants an easy time becoming citizens.

The author of the article also shows Obama's prudent, and caring side by stating that he also warned people about his plan: "Mr. Obama warned, however, that 'the closer we get, the more emotional this debate is going to become.' He said that if Congress did not move forward 'in a timely fashion' on its own legislation, he would send up a specific measure — something the White House has put off for now — and demand a vote." (Landler 1).

Reading Response

I’ve only read the first ten pages of Waiting For You, by Susane Colasanti, and I can sort of infer what's going to happen. Marisa is one of the main characters. She has just left camp and is going back to school. 

In the beginning the author talks about a love triangle that is going to happen. The situation the author is describing is that the girl falls in love with the popular guy and the geek falls in love with the girl. What the author is doing is that she adds problems and issues outside of the central problem to keep the reader from loosing interest. Marisa’s, the girl who falls in love with the popular guy, best friend wont stop falling for older guys and her family isn’t acting normal to her.

Nash is the geek of the story. The author describes a situation that most teenagers have been in. Nash asks Marisa for advice on love, but he wont tell her who is the girl he’s in love with, and then Marisa takes it as a hint and starts questioning his moves. 

Almost every teenager has been in that situation, either giving hints, taking hints, taking possible hints, or just thinking nothing and giving advice.

Nonfiction Reading Response

"Fall is upon us, and that means the school year is in full swing. Along with the stress of homework assignments and extracurricular activities, unfortunately some students bear an additional burden -- bullying" (Goldman 1).

Carrie Goldman, the author of "Why Telling Bullying Victims to 'just fight back' Doesn't Work,"makes the title of the article self explanatory. She starts the article of how every bullied child starts the school year, and continues the school year. She explains the stress school puts on us and the more stress bullied children go through. The author talks about how just telling children to fight back isn't enough. Telling someone to 'fight back' just confuses the person. How does he/she 'fight back'? Verbally, or physically? Some people just ignore this "advice" because it isn't giving them any courage or ideas at all. 

"Fighting back" is most people's way to approach bullying. If you tell someone you're being bullied, most of them will tell you to "fight back." The author talks about physical fighting. How fighting just worsens the conflict more.

"When multiple kids are targeting one child, the situation can feel completely overwhelming. Felicia Garcia, a 15-year-old New York student, threw herself in front of a train in October, allegedly after being taunted by multiple football players at her high school. How would it have helped her to simply punch one of them? It would not have done anything, except possibly put her at risk for physical harm.And earlier in October, Canadian teen Amanda Todd committed suicide after making a YouTube video detailing her history of being bullied mercilessly, online and in person. Both girls were allegedly the victims of sexually explicit bullying, which is not something easily combated by punching the bully in the face." (Goldman 1). The author here talks about how physically fighting back only will worsen the situation because no bully likes to be embarrassed.

Barbara Coloroso says: "As severe bullying continues, an element of terror is created. The bullied child is rendered so powerless that she is unlikely to fight back and she will not even tell someone that she needs help. The bully, who can act without fear of retaliation, counts on bystanders to either join in or at least do nothing to stop it." She talks about the actions that a bullied child is most likely to take because of the fear that's growing in the child. Fighting back doesn't make sense to a bullied child because the child already has this idea that the bully is always stronger. 





Works Cited

Goldman, Carrie. "Why Telling Bullying Victims to 'just fight back' Doesn't Work." CNN Living 31 Oct. 2012. Living. 30 Jan. 2013 <http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/31/living/bullying-fight-back/index.html>.

Looking For Alaska

Reading Response

I haven't gotten that far in the book, but in Looking For Alaska, by John Green, the main character is Miles Halter. It starts with Miles going to boarding school and saying goodbye to his parents. He then meets his roommate, Chip Martin. He meets Chip right after he exits the shower, with just a towel.

Chip starts to make himself comfortable with Miles and then they go to Alaska's room to get some cigarettes. [14] I haven't read anymore than that. From what I have read, and from what the title is, I'm guessing Alaska will show up in the book more than once. Looking for Alaska can mean many things, either she was kidnapped, she was killed, she was lost, or she was spiritually lost, as in she's not the same person she used to be, or she lost her memory.

What I think will happen in the story is that Alaska will get kidnapped. Miles and Chip would most likely go find her, since on page 13 she's the one chip goes to buy cigarettes. On page 14-15, Alaska tells chip a story about how she got honked. She also said she was thinking about how she's gonna "tell Takumi and the Colonel [Chip]" [15] which makes her and Chip seem really close.