As I read many of the essay in This I Believe edited by Jay Allison I felt like many of them related to my life, some more than others. Out of the many essays in This I Believe my favorite is “Remembering All the Boys” by Elvia Bautista. This is my favorite essay because her and I share many of the same beliefs and views on treating people with kindness and compassion no matter what wrong they’ve done to you or your family, which are core values my family instilled in me at a young age. At one point in her essay she says, “My brother was sixteen when he was shot by someone who liked red, who killed him because he liked blue”(17). A few lines later she says “And we will go together and bring a big bunch of flowers enough for both of these
In The Dancer by Vickie Sears a young girl, Clarissa, finds herself and her confidence through dance. This took time, devotion and passion. At first, Clarissa was young, a bit odd and very isolated, this is shown in line 61 “as quiet as she could be, she was”. As Clarissa grew up she found something she loved (dancing) and practiced it alot. Showing how far Clarissa has come, the foster mom said “There Clarissa was, full up with music.
New York is an incredible city. Known as the city that never sleeps, its nights are as lively as its days. Sometimes you can feel lost in the excitement. Being lost is not a good thing if you are on a secret mission. In Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick ,Joe Schreiber uses the New york city at night to exacerbate the conflict between Gobi and Perry.
Character Profile: Dancer The Dancer by Vickie Sears is a short story about a five-year-old aboriginal girl named Clarissa who was lost in the world like many others. In the beginning of the story, Clarissa has just been put into a foster home where she is described to be scared and filled with anger. When walking into this foster home, Clarissa had only brought enough stuff that could fit into a paper bag.
The short story, “Good enough” by Rachel Vail, speaks about the main character Dori and how she starts as what the poem, “Identity” by Julio Noboa Polanco would say as a flower but transform into a weed at the end. Dori tries to impress or fit in with the popular girls by getting an Orion shirt they all wear for Dori’s birthday. However, Dori’s family is not in the best financial situation, so this makes it really hard on the parents to get this. On Dori’s birthday she opens a present to find that her mom has given her a fake, which hurts her, but she does not tell her parents, so they do not feel bad. When Dori wears it to school the next day one of the popular girls goes up to her and taunts her about it, Dori ends up crying but catches herself and remembers that even though its fake her mom had so much love behind it and did her best which makes Dori get over it and know that it's okay to not be in the popular group or be different.
The Power Behind “Just Walk on By” In Brent Staples article “Just Walk on By”, Staples shares his thoughts on the way marginalized groups interact. He uses his own experiences as a young African American man to shed light on how people can have implied biases that affect the way they treat other people. Staples does this to demonstrate how society develops preconceived notions in the minds of individuals about marginalized groups, primarily African American men, which are often a flawed representation of the people within these groups. The rhetoric he uses is key to developing an understanding persona and an emotional appeal that exposes the implied biases of people without alienating or offending the audience, to whom-- among others-- he attributes these biases.
Rashad from All American Boys by Jason Reynolds was falsely accused of stealing and put into custody while trying to buy chips for a party. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a pyramid that shows the needs and goals of people. When you have one need already, you move on, and vice versa. The first need is air, water, and food. The second need is personal security and health.
In Allan Levine’s article “How a Summer Camp Taught Me What It Means to be Jewish in North America,” Levine highlights his personal experiences of how attending Camp Massad, a Jewish summer camp, positively influenced him growing up as a Jew in North America during the 1960s. Levine wrote this article to educate and reminisce on the importance of Jewish summer camps to Jewish youth and culture. Levine defines and explains jargon specific to individuals who have attended Jewish summer camp to ensure those unfamiliar with the topic understand his points. An example is when Levine explains the meaning of the phrase “Ruach,” meaning spirit, a term familiar to those who have attended Jewish summer camp. Levine draws on personal experiences to convey
What would you do if you were overworked at your job? Jack, in the play The Boys Next Door, by Tim Griffin, is worked to the brink day after day. He helps four disabled grown men with buying groceries, guiding them through everydays, and connecting them to the outside world. After years of working with the men Jack decides to leave. Jack's decision to the leave the men is justified because he stayed with them a long time, his stress might become to overwhelming so that he is hurting more than helping, and he deserves the chance to chase after his own desires.
The essay “The Joys of Reading & Writing: Superman & Me” by Sherman Alexie has three effective writing techniques: metaphor, title, and point of view. One metaphor, which is good, is “I realized that a paragraph was a fence that held words” because “it worked together for a common purpose”. The paragraph held words that connected together. The title of the story is perfect because he uses “Superman and Me” superman saves people. Much like a comparison, Sherman also tries to save students by encouraging them to read and gain knowledge that can be achieved by books.
Along for the Ride, by Sarah Dessen is a captivating young adult, fiction book. It is about an eighteen year old girl who goes to live with her father and his new wife and child for the summer. When there, Auden realizes all the experiences she had missed out on. She meets many new friends and learns how to make up for lost time. Over the course of the summer Auden learns about love and heartbreak for the first time and she also learns to take chances, which in turn result in many new experiences and adventures.
“While craving justice for ourselves, it is never wise to be unjust to others. ”- Lew Wallace. Lew Wallace is an American lawyer. He writes about religious points.
In the song “Stand Up” by Cynthia Envo she says, “So I'm gonna stand up, take my people with me, together we are going, to a brand new home, far across the river, can you hear freedom calling? Calling me to answer, gonna keep on keepin' on”. In this song lyric, Envo shows that she is going to fight for her rights until she possesses them. To maintain self-respect and pave a path for future generations it’s crucial to stand up for what you believe in.
“When you say “Yes” to others, make sure you are not saying “No” to yourself,” Paulo Coelho once said. This quote ties in with the novel Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli because one of the main characters, Stargirl, tries to be someone she is, not to get people to like her instead of being who she really is. Stargirl Caraway, who has homeschooled her whole life, enrolls in the Mica High School and quickly becomes the center of attention because of how different she is. A boy on the more popular side named Leo Borlock falls for her, little did he know she liked him too. Due to Stargirl falling for Leo, she falls to peer pressure of wanting to be like everyone else for Leo not to be embarrassed by her.
“Superman and me,” by Sherman Alexie is about a boy, Sherman, who grows up in an Indian reservation and becomes different than most Indians around him. He began teaching himself to read and other things at a very young age. What he learned to read with was actually a superman comic book. The heroic vibe is definitely well used throughout the story. You can look at many different quotes in the story that would do the heroic vibe justice, but this one in particular sticks out; “I throw my weight against their locked doors.
