There are people in our lives who have helped us grow. In the summer before freshman year in high school Melinda Sordino was raped at a party. After calling the police she was left without friends or dignity. She isolates herself not knowing what to do. In Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda grows in many ways throughout the book.
Rough Draft Ever since grade school, Melinda and Rachel had been best of friends. In the book it talks about how Melinda was raped. With multiple other people, Rachel thought Melinda just called the police to crash the big end-of-summer party. Melinda’s biggest inspiration to open up about her story is Rachel. Once she finds out Rachel is Andy Evans new victim, she felt obligated to speak.
Everyone is different. We all have our own personalities and we all take different directions in our lives. People often find themselves lost in this giant world and feel as if they can't share what they are truly thinking or feeling. They hide their personalities and shield themselves from the people of the world, and the quote "Character is what you in the dark." all the more true.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a girl named Melinda who goes through traumatic events throughout her freshman year of high school. The novel also examines her relationships and attempts to communicate with other characters, as well as how she finds the courage to speak up for herself. Trees and seeds play a major symbolic role in the novel because they represent Melinda’s growth throughout the story. Throughout the novel, trees and seeds are mentioned numerous times.
One example of peer pressure that I found in the book was when Scooter says that he is going to jump the nail but then he actually has to go through with it because he doesn't want to be called a "Chicken". Elisa also got peer pressured. I know Elisa got peer pressured because she said she was going to jump with Scooter but she didn't want anyone to know because she didn't know if she was actually going to jump.
His friends were encouraging him to do things that Wes knows are bad. His friends were pressuring Wes to drink and smoke, even though he knew that it was a bad decision and he would never do it again. This shows peer influence through Wes and his friends. Next, not all friends are bad influences on Wes. “Peer relationships have the potential to promote as well as protect against engagement in dangerous risky behavior.
Peer pressure is a very disturbing thing in our culture today. In the book ScrewTape Letters, ScrewTape informs Wormwood about peer pressure. Of how this pressure can lead one astray for going into the wrong crowd. People change people. It is easier to pull someone off a chair than to pull someone up onto the chair.
Peer pressure can be as strong as the force in Star Wars because people can be bully someone into doing things. Peer pressure can make someone’s future really awful by making a terrible choice. Peer pressure is really bad for kids so young and teens since they make kids and teens have consequences of their terrible choice.
Summary “Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” by Jessica Statsky is a thoughtful insight on the competitive sports for children. She is of the view that the competitive sports can ruin the enjoyment that games are supposed to provide. These methods of playing the games like adults can prove to be lethal for physical and psychological health. The author quotes from an authentic source that “Kids under the age of fourteen are not by nature physical.” (Tutko)
Peer Pressure for Drugs What I believe how peer pressure influence teenagers into using drugs is because they want to imitate what others are doing and they want to look cool in front of everyone. What I consider Laurie Halse Anderson the author of “Speak” is saying about peer pressure is when someone forces you to do something and you don’t want to do it, they will leave you and if you do it they will make you do many other things you don’t want to do. How Melinda Sordino influenced by peer pressure because of her friends telling her to take a drink at the party, to let loose and drink a beer and she took the risk(Halse). I have experienced coercion when I was walking in the park, with my smaller crazy cousins that wanted to play in the long green slide, and this frightening man asked me if I wanted to smoke with him as we passed by him, however I said no and I walked away,
The Nature of Man The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a detail filled trip back in time to the 1920’s. Fitzgerald tells the story of the inhabitants of West Egg, East Egg, New York City, and everyone in between. He is able to turn something as simple as a party into an entire plot to earn someone's affection and, what might seems like a harmless old billboard, into a symbol that is talked about on numerous occasions. As the novel progresses, more and more characters are introduced.
At a young age, parents tend to teach their child right from wrong. They teach you this to become responsible, so when your an adult you do not have to rely on them while making decisions. In George Orwell's Shooting an Elephant, we notice he wanted to do the right thing by not shooting the elephant but gave into peer pressure to fit in. The narrator felt the need he had to shoot the elephant because the people of Burma were frightened and he wanted to be their hero. Peer pressure can lead people to do bad things for what they think are good reasons but are actually not.
An accepting and healthy environment is needed. Many people face peer pressure because they are deemed uncool and are pressured to do uncomfortable things and things that they believe are not right. If everyone accepts everyone around them for their real selves and will not judge them, people will not commit unhealthy acts and develop undesirable bad habits. People need to surround themselves around healthy and positive company that will accept each other and have healthy core values.
Experiencing peer pressure is a way to learn how to overcome pressure and to discover ourselves. We can not become perfect, but we definitely become stronger, more confident and are willing to cope with difficulties. Exposure to peer pressure also gives us an opportunity to think about other people’s outlooks towards life. It is a chance for us to choose the best from what the masses do as well as lead us to make right choices in life. To minimize the bad effects of peer pressure, parential involvement plays a very important part – it promote healthy behaviors and decrease the chance to engage in risky behavior.
Almost everyone has experienced peer pressure at least once in their lifetime,either on a small scale or a large one, in a positive or a negative way. Peer pressure is simply when someone gets you to do something. It is quite easy to get influenced by peer pressure (especially in the teenage years) because everyone wants to fit in and not be left out. Teens sometimes give into peer pressure by doing risky things. Correct friends -are more likely to- play more safe decisions in general.
