...Speak Personal Response Speak shows that the author, Laurie Halse Anderson, understands and remembers the crude emotions and unrest that makes up a teen’s world. This happens to be the most realistic fiction story on the battles of adolescence and harassment. Melinda does not turn into a racist activist Wonder Woman (even though she might when she is older) portrayed in some movies and her recovery is not sugar coated, it describes the true struggles. Even though this novel is based on sexual harassment it also focuses on the thoughts and feelings of a victim of the cruelties in high school. Rape and harassment are not issues I have dealt with but the shunning by friends, weird teachers, and oblivious teachers are problems that I and many others can relate to. For instance, the description of the Sordino family’s communication system on page 14 depicts how some teens get cut of from communication with their parents. The author of Speak portrays high school to be truly what it really is. “I am clanless.”(4) Melinda thinks just what practically all teens think. I am part of no clan; I don’t think FFCA has clans but you still fell “uncool” or not popular. Melinda also talks a lot about how no one cares what you have to say and in reality, that is the comprehension countless teens have about adults. Laurie Halse Anderson did a dead-on illustration of a ninth graders’ day to day life in the dog eat weaker dog world we call high school. Creativity and symbolism in writing are...
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...In life there would be many people who are going to be intolerant to you just because how you look and how you act. In the book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, the characters experience intolerance when they can't find friends. The story talks about 14 year old girl who is named Melinda and she is considered to be different. Ultimately, Melinda, narrator, develops throughout the book by speaking up what happened to her. People are intolerant to her because they understand too little about Melinda. Eventually, when Melinda speaks up people start understanding and accepting her. In the beginning, Melinda had no friends because most people isolated her from them because they understand too little about her. For example, Melinda states, ''I don't have anyone to sit with. I am Outcast.''(page #4) This shows that at...
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...American Pop: Popular Culture Decade by Decade. Ed. Bob Bacthelor. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press 2009. 978-0-313- 34410-7. 4 vol. 1,604p. $375.00. Gr. 9-12. This four volume set gives students a broad and interdisciplinary overview of the many and varied aspects of pop culture across America from 1900 to the present. The volumes cover the following chronological periods: V 1. 1900-1929, V 2. 1930-1959, V 3. 1960-1989 and Vol. 4. 1990-Present. There is an Introduction for each volume focusing on the major issues during that period. There is a Timeline of events for the decade which gives extra oversight and content to the study of the period and an Overview of each dcade. Chapters focus on specific areas of pop culture (Advertising, Books, Entertainment, Fashion, Food Music and much more) supplemented with sidebars containing stories, photos, illustrations and Notable information. There are endnotes for each decade and a Resource Guide and Index. Volume 4 also contains a Cost of Products from 1900-2000, and an Appendix with Classroom Resources for teachers and students and a Cumulative Index. Students, teachers and the general reader will love sifting through the experiences of Americans as they easily follow the crazes, technological breakthroughs and the experiences of art, entertainment, sports and other cultural forces and events that influenced each generation. Reference– Popular Culture ...
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...the intention of becoming an Episcopal Priest. He never attended divinity school, however, because his experience working in the hospital with children suffering from life-threatening illnesses inspired him to become a writer. He lived in Chicago for several years, writing book reviews, writing for radio, and working in publishing. During this time he wrote his first novel, Looking for Alaska (2005) to immediate, and increasing, success. He followed that first novel with An Abundance of Katherines (2006), Paper Towns (2008), and The Fault in Our Stars (2012), which reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for children. Green currently lives in Indianapolis with his wife and two kids, where he continues to write, produce videos, and speak publicly about an array of topics. chronicle his artistic journey in making the film adaption of his novel. The film's trailer gained over 3 million views in less than 24 hours after it was released. PLOT SUMMARY PLO Hazel Grace Lancaster is a seventeen-year-old living with cancer. At the request of her mother, who believes she is depressed, Hazel attends a cancer support group in the basement of a church. Hazel does not like the support group, but goes to make her mother happy. One day upon...
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