10 Things I Hate About Me Essay

Adolescents are very unlikely to reach their full potential without the guidance of an adult figure, such as a mother, father, sibling, or guardian. Adult figures are essential to a growing child because they exemplify decision making, wisdom, and overall life lessons on how to grow up. Although some children do have an adult figure in their life, they aren’t always the best influences for their children, adults also face their own battles which can reflect upon their exterior, ultimately having a critical effect on a child’s development. For example, in “Running with Scissors” by Augusten Burroughs, the main character Augusten lives with his mother who suffers from a mental disorder who guides him into a pathway of chaos and disorder. Augusten learns to cope with no guidance, but still faces many issues that could have been resolved with a reassuring adult figure.

This paper will jump into the psychologically significant findings in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You. All research for this paper was conducted using the text required for the fall semester of Developmental Psychology (offline) and using the internet. While some see the movie as just a depiction of normal teenage life with an overbearing parent, there are many notable psychological stages, and even disorders present throughout. Without having done research to discover these, it would be easy to look over them, but once pointed out, they are more than obvious. It is interesting to see how they were put into the movie without making it the main theme of the movie itself. This paper will define those psychological findings, explain them, and locate them within the actual movie.

The main idea of this story is she wanted to be free to live her own life so badly that she

Modern culture promotes having fun and doing what feels good in the moment. Connie has poor communication with her family, shown by her rebellious behavior and lack of respect for her parents. She chooses to distance herself from her family which results in them not being there when she needs them the most. Parents are supposed to be protectors and leaders in their children’s lives and when these key aspects are not present, a window is opened for the victimization of youth. The consequences of such situations result in a predicament like Connie’s and becomes an immense concern for the effects that modern culture has on

The Iranian government forced its control on children by forcing segregating the schools and making girls wear the Iranian headscarf. Wearing the scarf represents the concealment of childhood in Iran for Marjane and her friends. Reformation in Iran comes with the protests, violence and eventually war which disguise the chance of childhood for the youth of the country. Marjane says, “we found ourselves veiled and separated from our friends” (4). Concealing these children from the childhood they deserved left them to deal with fear, anger, loss and death. Her story highlights the lack of stability children need to grow into responsible adults. Marjane’s story represents the thousands of children in Iran who are lacking the proper elements for child development because of the revolution.

10 Things I Hate About You takes William Shakespeare’s classic play, The Taming of the Shrew and manages to make it relevant to a modern audience. The story remains the same with the younger sister, Bianca, not allowed to have a relationship until her older sister, Kat, does. They did maintain several original scenes and even used several direct quotes from the original play. The writers have eliminated some of Bianca’s suitors and changed the way Kat is tamed to appeal to a modern audience. Shakespeare would have agreed with the casting of the movie. This movie may turn Shakespeare’s work into a teen comedy but it maintains many of the elements that made the play such a hit.

When a child is forced to make decisions alone at such a young age their innocence is robbed from them and their development is lead down a path which they are not yet ready for. Her actions are a classic example of this and the path which she was lead down was paved with boy after boy.

In Joyce Carol Oate’s, “Where are you going, Where have you been”, a young teen by the name of Connie is in a stage of what appears to be rebellion. Along with many other teens, Connie’s parent’s oblivion to what she does outside of the house allows it to continue and worsen. Since Connie not being held accountable for her actions, it leads her down paths of destruction. Are Connie’s bad decisions really her fault? Typically, teens do not rebel for fun but there is a deeper meaning behind the actions. In this story, Connie goes out and rebels in search of better things than what she has at home.

When she sends Marjane away from Iran, she assures her: “I know how I brought you up. Above all, I trust your education” (147). Marjane’s mother doesn’t want her daughter to live in such an oppressive time. When the veils become mandatory, Marjane’s mother wishes to take her to an opposition demonstration: “She should start learning to defend her rights as a woman right now!” (76) In growing up with such strong female role models, Marjane learns to express her opinion and always stand by her beliefs. They taught her to stand up for herself as a woman, and in doing so, introduced her to a feminist perspective on life.

Evident in the abundant arguments regarding freedom and to the extent of which these freedoms are protected by legislation, Americans typically believe that their fellow citizens can be trusted with almost unlimited freedom. Americans exercise many privileges such as speaking freely and having access to news media (whether true or fictitious) that we assume are our basic human rights. We believe that the more freedom we have the better and that we can control ourselves rather than relying on external pressures on freedom However, these are not given to all people and were in fact punishable offenses for Marjane Satrapi in her childhood and young adulthood as a woman in Iran as revealed in Persepolis. While at first she despises the constraints on her freedoms put in place by the government and her family, after struggling on her own with virtually unlimited freedom she goes back to the more restrictive environment in Iran. Satrapi argues that while we should not allow extreme government control of freedom, so restraints made by parents and other family members is crucial in the development and bettering of a person’s upbringing. With too strong of governement restriction of freedom, one has no outlet of self expression or individuality and with too much freedom Satrapi is unable to create a safe environment for herself and remains emotionally unstable and she therefore argues that an environment with some restrictions is best.

Youssef (as local politician) serves as a representation of the Algerian people as well as their collective struggle for independence against the French. Amna’s decision to lie to Hakim shows that her loyalty is to her nation (or future nation), above all. Her decision was one aimed to be a contribution to the resistance. This decision to act is also present in Chérifa, Youssef’s twenty-nine year old wife. Chérifa’s strong and determined character is discovered early in the novel through her refusal to bear the children of her first husband and, eventually, her separation from him. This assertion is seen, even more so, when Youssef (her second husband) faces the risk of being arrested. It is then that she realizes: “I have to act.” After the arrest of Saidi, a fellow local revolutionary, Cherifa feels obligated to find her husband and warn him of the danger that Saidi might reveal information during his interrogation that might jeopardize Youssef’s safety. In order for her to do this however, she must leave the house alone, an act that is prohibited for Muslim women. Cherifa, When faced with this difficult decision to either remain loyal to her role as Muslim woman and potentially endangering her husband, or, defying this prescribed role and reaching out to Youssef, she chooses to act. The problem, though, is that as a Muslim woman, she cannot leave the house unaccompanied. When faced with the choice of remaining

I believe that life is a learning experience and being able to recognize our own strengths and weaknesses can help us become better individuals in anything we choose to do, whether it is positive abilities and skills that can help achieve our goals or negative personal areas that need improvement. Knowing yourself and what you can do, can help you recognize and overcome your weaknesses.

School, to me and among many peers of my age, is not a distant term. I have spent one-third of my life time sitting in classrooms, every week since I was seven years old. After spending this much time in school, many things and experiences that happened there have left their mark in my memory. Some are small incidences while some have had a great impact on me. However, regardless the degree of significance, things that happened all contributed to shape the person that I am now.

When asked to describe myself I never know what to say, but I should know myself the best, right?

When I look in the mirror I know whom I am, but society makes it difficult to understand who I am, because I was born to immigrants of Nigerian descent, and I am a first generation American, that term is sometimes used so loosely. By looking at my name they assume that I am from some island, but I am so quick to tell them that “I am Nigerian”, there is another statement that normally follows this. “You do not have an accent”. I wonder if I had an accent would I be considered Nigerian and not American; then I say that “My parents are Nigerian” and then that changes, so to them I am just associated with the Nigerian culture it does not make me Nigerian, there has been many discussion between my friends who are the same like me confused to