An Ounce of Cure 1

The Prince of Los Cocuyos certainly touches upon the topic of “Coming of Age”. Everyone experiences it at some point of his or her life. “Coming of Age” is the transition from one’s childhood to adulthood. While this transition is taking place, one gains more responsibility and privileges. It may affect a person both, physically and emotionally. Everyone experiences it differently. During this transition, you develop as a human being.

We’ve all know what it feels like: walking down the halls in middle school or high school while you feel like you’re being watched…analyzed…critiqued. It would almost seem like every person you passed would be silently judging you for what you’re wearing, how you applied your makeup, how you did in the last soccer game, or what they heard you did with Jonny. The passerby’s in the hallway would place you on the high-school-hierarchy-of-coolness scale based on superficial characteristics even before getting to know you. Adolescence is a time of learning and forming an identity but it’s also a time where you are constantly being watched and evaluated by your peers, sometimes even put down by physical or verbal means. Bullying has always been

Alcoholism does not only affect a person’s physical, mental, and emotional state, but it also changes the lives of people close to the drinker forever. It ruins relationships and trust that took years to build up, and may never be able to be restored. In Jeannette Walls’s memoir, The Glass Castle, she tells the story of her childhood in which her father was an alcoholic. Jeannette’s father, Rex Walls, was brilliant and charismatic when he was sober, but when he drank, he was destructive and dishonest.

When first introduced to the narrator, readers quickly pick up on how observant she is to the world around her. However as the novel draws to a close, many quick events take place with little to no explanation or commentary from the

Despite the large amount of people that feel confident and comfortable in expressing themselves freely, many adolescents have a deteriorating concept of self because of the belief that they should have to conform to their peer’s ideals. The identities of these children are being dictated by a need of acceptance from prominent social groups in their environment; however, teenagers must realize one’s own individuality as something beneficial and recognizing that conforming can become problematic in certain situations.

becoming beautiful and cruel. But, once she got assaulted by a guy, she started realised she does

In the short story “The Harvest” by Amy Hempel, an unnamed narrator is in a horrible car accident, where her leg is permanently disfigured. The story takes place after the accident, when the narrator is attempting to process the life changing event that’s just happened to her. The story is broken up into two parts,in the first part she describes the accident and the aftermath - the accident, the hospital, the recovery. But she opens the second half of the story by admitting that not everything we just read is factual. The struggle she is having throughout the story is to cope with and understand her accident, but her emotional distress inhibits that. The narrator conveys her instability and vulnerability that the accident caused in through the ways she decides to alter the details of her story. Although she goes through the process of reflecting on why she does this, she doesn’t come out the other side feeling less confused about why her accident happened to her, or any less unstable and vulnerable.

The person who she once was is almost entirely lost and she knows that her life will never be the

Alcoholism is a disease that not only affects the user’s behavior, but strains financial standing and social interaction (“Alcohol Problems vs. Alcohol Dependency”). Jeanette’s father in The Glass Castle, an undiagnosed alcoholic, would be the poster child for alcoholism in America with his many blatantly obvious symptoms. His relationships with the people around him, his finances, and his control over his actions and emotions deteriorate as the memoir develops. With this, Walls paints a very accurate account of alcoholism and its effect in America.

 Her attitude changes threw out the play, she’s very confident in the beginning, she doesn’t really talk back to anyone, but as it goes on her attitude changes and she’s very upset all the time and depressed.

The author carefully crafts the story so that every detail contributes to a certain unique or single effect, whether it is as complex as irony or as simple as depiction of feelings. The Husband describes his absolute love for Ann as he reminisces about the years he spent with her and how deeply he "knows"

As the girl continues on to grow up she is continually facing challenges with her confidence and thus affecting her emotionally and physically. For instance, one of the line states that “ she went to

only lead her to disaster. Every time she tried to get out of her addiction, she was drawn

Adolescence is about being yourself. Some people can’t determine wether or not it is better to fit in, or stand out. In “Lord of the Flies”, Piggy was being picked on and told Ralph that he was “the only boy in school that had asthma,” (Goulding). In “Lord of the Flies”, most of the kids on the island picked on Piggy. This is very similar to real life situations. In high school, or even grade school, there is normally one child, who is exceptionally different from the rest, who gets picked on. But, how do they determine if it is better to stand out or fit in? Either way, it’s kind of a lose, lose. If you stand out, you are more prone to be picked on or judged, but if you fit in, you are not being yourself and you are conforming to everyone else’s exceptions. We as individuals, shouldn’t be worried to be ourself, we should be able to be whoever we want.

cope with the events in her life because she was so adapted to being told how to think and