Banned Book Essay

              "Things are rough all over,"-Cherry Valance. Growing up in a not so good neighborhood is always tough but you can always find a way to fight through it. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton written in 1967 which tells a story through the perspective of a fourteen year old boy named Ponyboy Curtis who is a member a gang called Greasers; a term used to describe men on the East side. He lives with two brothers named Darry and Soda and is the youngest of the three.  The rivals of the Greasers are the Socs, who are the rich kids of the West. Through the struggles of living in a tough city, the author shows that the life of a teenager is hard growing up with the troublesome people around them which influences them to do bad things.
               Living in the stubble, the character are faced with traumatizing experiences at young ages.
When explaining the aftermath of one of his closest gang members named Johnny getting jumped he says, "Johnny never walked by himself after that…[he] now carried in his back pocket a six-inch switchblade…They scared him that much. He would kill the next person who jumped him."The fact that fact that Johnny is so scared that he can't walk in his own neighborhood alone shows you that its not very safe and you have to be aware of your surroundings. The fact that he would d actually kill the next person that jumped him shows that they hurt him really bad. When talking Cherry Valence, a Soc, he realizes, "Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren't so different. We saw the same sunset." Even though the Socs are a higher class than the low class Greasers, they also have just as many problems as they do. Even though they are a higher class they are all facing the same struggles as one another.
           Living in a bad neighborhood causes them to do things that they wouldn't normally do things that they would never think to do. Moments after being jumpers by two Socs with Johnny Ponyboy says, "I realized what we were in for. Johnny had killed someone. Quiet, soft-spoken little Johnny, who wouldn't hurt a living thing on purpose, had taken a human life." Living in a bad neighborhood cause Johnny to do things that he would never ever think to do. It's to the point where it causes him to do such a major crime. Ponyboy also begins to say, "We were really running away, with the police after us for murder and a loaded gun by our side."At the age of fourteen, Ponyboy shouldn't be faced with these hefty problems like murder. At his age he shouldn't have to deal with something that teens usually don't face.
            Living in a tough neighborhood is hard on teens because it's hard for them to resist from doing bad things. Some teens are faced with drugs, gun fights, mugging and many other bad circumstances. It's hard for a teen to not be involved in any of it living in tough neighborhoods and towns. 

Independent Reading Book Essay

“Drugs are the enemies of ambition and hope- and when we fight against drugs we are fighting for the future.”-Bob Riley. Many people face the problem of addiction and that’s why they choose to do things that they’re not supposed to do.We All Fall Down by Nic Sheff  is a memoir  about Sheff retelling the story of his troublesome young adult lifestyle and struggles with addiction.  He is put into a detox and therapy to help him but he always feels the need to drug himself. Although drugs seem helpful they’re not always the right decision.

Nic knows that he shouldn’t be doing drugs but feels the need to do it anyway. While at a trap house  Nic describes the dealer giving him plate of crystal meth and says, “ When he handed over that plate… it was like they almost looked evil to me...It was sinister. It was like being in the presence of death.” This makes me think that he feels as if one part of his brain is telling him not to do the drugs  but the other part is telling him to do the opposite. Therefore, he knows he shouldn’t do it but it makes him feel good. After snorting the meth, he begins to say, “the whole world just closes down on me. There are new opportunities, no callbacks ever come. My car gets towed, and I end up losing everything all everything. This makes me think by doing all these crazy drugs causes him to lose everything and throw his life away. In other words, he knows it’s wrong but continues to do it.

Nic’s addiction had a huge affect on his troublesome life. When talking about his relationship with his girlfriend he says, “Relapsing-shooting heroin, cocaine, crystal-popping pills till we couldn’t even feel them anymore-smoking crack. We sold our clothes, book, CDs for drugs.” He and he girlfriend gave up everything just for drugs. He doesn’t realize that the drugs are only making his life worse and that they aren’t helping him in anyway. When explaining the fact that he had been offered a book deal to write a memoir about his life he said, "the book is on hold. Actually may have blown the whole thing completely. I have no money, no place to live, no car, no cell phone, nothing.” These drugs are becoming even more of a problem because he was offered such a big opportunity in writing a memoir but wasn’t able to do so because he devoted his life to doing drugs. Furthermore, he’d even give up a life-time opportunity just to smoke very harmful drugs that will affect his future.  

When sent to a detox Nic’s receives a lot of mentoring from his counselors and new friends to help him become sober. When speaking to his new friend, the friend says, “You start opening up and doing all this shit they [counselors] tell you, I guarantee, not only are gonna stay sober, yer gonna come out of her lovin’ and respecting yourself like you never have in yer life.”  This makes me think that Nic listens to what he’s saying, and he will stop drugging himself and try to do something with is life instead of wasting it on buying these unnecessary drugs.Therefore It will make him a better person if he were to quit drugs. When responding to him, Nic says, “I, uh… you know… thank you. I wanna change. I really do… I believe you that this is the place where that can happen.” This makes me think that he understands what his friend is telling him and he now has to find a way to prevent himself from doing drugs. Furthermore, he knows what he’s doing is wrong and he wants to live a better life.  

Even though these destructive drugs are sometimes a reliever of pain they’re not always the way to go. If you feel the need to use some sort of nonprescription drugs you shouldn't do it because you can end up  throwing your whole life away by doing so. To all the teenagers out there who feel the need to use drugs should seek help because no matter what, drugs are never the answer.

Ashes Essay

        Every person will face a moral problem In their life. In Susan Beth Pfeffer’s short story, “Ashes,” the reader is introduced to a family facing divorce. Ashley, nicknamed, Ashes by her father lives with her mom and sees her father every Tuesday. Through the complicated relationship between her and her parents the author shows the reader how the decisions we make shape who we are.
The relationship between each of her parents is different. In the story Ashes explains how she feels with her father and says, “Felt like every time I saw my father the sun cast off just a little more warmth than it had the day before.” This makes me think that the distant relationship between her and her father makes every time she with feel special.  This shows that the days that she sees her father are a lot more special to her than the days without him.  Ashes also talks about what the father would promise her and says, “Used to promise me the stars for a necklace, but like most of his promises, that one never quite happened.” He promises things but never follows through. The father doesn’t understand that by promising something so big can have a bad affect on Ashes if that promise doesn’t come true. 
The reader experiences Ashe’s doubt and disappointment with her father. While describing the relationship between her father and mother Ashes says, “Dad could make everyone in the world smile except Mom.” The mom realizes that the Dad is a bad person and Ashes notices it but wishes it weren’t true. She loves her father but from what her mother thinks about she knows something is up. While her and her father are deciding where to eat, the dad suggest a diner and Ashes says surprised, “Can you afford it?’ I asked after doing the mental arithmetic of diner versus pizza.” Ashes is beginning to question the fact the dad can afford such a fancy dinner when they usually get pizza. She’s trying to figure out where her father is getting all this money and why is he giving her such a fancy meal. 
In the end she has to make the big decision to listen to her father or stand by her mother. The father begins to tell Ashes about how he needs money and tries to persuade her into taking money from her mom’s secret money safe and says, “It’s me she’d be angry at...I’d have the money in your hands by Friday,” Ashes then says “Dad I don’t know...that’s a lot of money...what if Mom finds out?” The dad makes it seem like it’s fine for her to steal the mom’s money. Ashes feels that she shouldn’t steal the money from her mom but yet she wants to help her struggling father.  “I looked out the window and saw only ash grey sky. In the cold stillness of the night, I could hear my father’s car keening in the distance. ‘You’re one in a million,’ it cried.” She is starting to feel hesitant to take the money. She also feels guilty and torn between the two parents.

Many teens are faced with problems of having divorced parents and often have to make important decision that affect their lives. In the end I predict that Ashes makes the decision to take the money from her mom’s secret money safe because even though she’s stealing from her mom she wants to help out her struggling father. She realizes that her father isn’t financially stable and even if it’s taking money from her mother she wants to help out her dad anyway she can. 

Summer Reading Response

          Football Genius by, Tim Green is about a boy named Troy White who has the ability to predict football plays before they actually happen. He is the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons yet he can not figure out a way to make the starting lineup for his football team, the Tigers. In this response I will be talking about a topic I learned from 7th grade ELA. It's called meaningful lines. I think meaningful lines help craft a better understanding of the book. meaningful lines. Meaningful lines help make a part of the story more descriptive and makes the reader think more about the book. Meaningful lines turn little things into a big part of the story. Meaningful lines can also show what a characters feeling or actions. Meaningful lines also are keep points in the story.

          One meaningful line(s) in my story is, "Mr. Langan said 'You're fired.' Krocks mouth dropped. He looked at Seth, then the owner, before stabbing his finger at Troy." This meaningful line(s) shows that Krock one of the meanest and fiercest people in the Atlanta Falcons organization and defensive coordinator was furious. the way he look at Seth and Troy shows that he knew that they were the cause of him getting fired. Another meaningful line(s) is, "Krock clenched his fists and took a step toward Troy... 'Don't even think about it'... 'I'll tear your eyes out' His mother stepped between him and the coach, her chin up high. Another meaningful line(s) is, "Krock stormed out of the bench area. A reporter came up to him with a microphone. Krock grabbed the man by his shirt and shoved him back into his cameraman, knocking him to the turf." This tells me that Krock is not afraid to be physical.

           This made me think deeper about books and how meaningful lines can affect how a scene is read. Meaningful lines show a characters reactions, and how they deal with certain occasions. Meaningful lines can affect a story in a big way. Meaningful lines describe a moment in a very descriptive way. It can also show how a character feels.