Out Of My Mind By Sharon M. Draper

Hannah Arendt presents in her novel, The Life of the Mind, a theory she refers to as the “two-in-one.” She builds her theory off of a Socratic proposition. Socrates stated that it would be better for a group of men to be out of tune with each other than for him to be out of tune with himself. Here, however, lies a paradox. How can one be out of tune with itself? Arendt states that “you always need at least two tones to produce a harmonious sound” (183). Yet when you appear to others, you are one, otherwise you would be unrecognizable. But Arendt points out that you do not only appear to others, you also exist and appear for yourself. In doing so, you become more than one. As Arendt paradoxically states, “A difference is inserted into my Oneness” (183).

We also learn about the new SAT and its essay component, which some college completely ignore. Some college and universities are eliminating their requirement for the SAT or ACT in an effort to minimize their importance and stress that surrounds them.

In her book, It's Complicated, Danah Boyd expresses her views on modern-day social media and the modern-day teenager's reliability with it. The book is comprised of 8 enlightening categories: identity, privacy, addiction, danger, bullying, inequality, literacy, and searching for a public of their own. Throughout the book, Boyd provides data, true stories, and factual conversations to help support her main claim: social media has taken over our youth.

Two best friends, Chris and Win, decided to do something great their summer of senior year before heading of to collage. Chris and Win are going to bike along the West Coast to Seattle, where Win’s uncle lives. At first Chris’s mom is against them going, while his dad pushes him to go because he had a similar dream that he did not accomplish. Win’s parents seem to not have a care in the world that their son is going to bike across the country. Eventually both sets of parents agree and the boys start their journey. The trip is going great but somewhere along the way things started taking a turn for the worst. The book Shift by Jennifer Bradbury is a great realistic mystery that keeps the pages turning.

The act of crossing a metaphorical threshold is one that is oftentimes difficult and daunting. Although it may require courage, the reward of gaining knowledge is worth the process of crossing whatever threshold life chooses to place in front of you. In Sue Monk Kidd’s novel the protagonist, Sarah Grimké, knows all about crossing thresholds. She lives by her own personal slogan to “err… on the side of audacity.” I have come to learn so much about myself and the world around me by doing just that.

Everyday is a risk. People never know what effect their actions can cause. The simplest thing can be changed and make a big effect on the rest of the world. People come by risks all the time by what they might wear or what they might say, but life with out some risk is boring and to plain. In the second chapter of “The Unthinkable” by Amanda Ripley, the chapter introduces to a family who lived in New Orleans before the Hurricane Katrina Attack. The chapter introduces to an elderly man who has lived in New Orleans for a while and has become accustom to the surroundings of New Orleans. Now the situation that is happening is that he is not willing to leave to run away from the storm and his family is scared to take the risk of leaving him behind. Yes risk is natural in life, but there are some risks that shouldn’t be taken and then there are risks that can be avoid for the better.

Ruta Sepetys is the author for Between the Shades of Gray, a novel that captures the truth of Siberian camps and the annexation of the Balkans by Stalin. Ruta Sepetys got the idea to write this fictional story when she visited her family in Lithuania and got the chance to discover more about her heritage. She got very fascinated about her family’s struggle to keep memories of her grandparents because of the annexation of Lithuania to the USSR. This conflict urged her to find out more about the feelings and people’s memoirs during this period in World War II so, she started interviewing the survivors from the Siberian gulags and gathered information to write her novel. The book was also inspired by her father, Jonas Sepetys, who escape

Sharon M. Draper is author of “Out of My Mind” . 11 year old Melody fears that she will never be always to write or walk neither talk to her parents or make friends. Melody the main character was born with a photographic memory and remembers EVERYTHING. Melody was in her bed as a baby. She was a happy baby but little did her and her family know that her life would be much harder than other families in the world.

Sharon Draper’s novel, Out of My Mind is a story of an eleven-year old girl who has cerebral palsy, she can’t talk, she can’t walk, she is weak, but she is extremely smart. Her name is Melody Brooks, and she has to be wheeled around in a wheelchair. Melody learns words from her surroundings, like her parents having a conversation, or words from books. In fifth grade, she gets a Medi-Talker, this is a machine that talks for her, this helps Melody a lot. When Melody goes to school, she meets Rose, a girl who is nice to her, but she also meets two girls that are mean to her, Molly and Claire. One of her teachers, Mr. Dimming is in charge of a Whiz Kids team, he chooses the eight smartest kids from 6th and 5th grade. The team is made of 4 finalists and 4 alternatives that compete for a chance to win a big trophy, two-thousand dollars toward their school, and an appearance on GMA, Good Morning America. Melody is a finalist as well as Rose, Claire, and Connor. Melody’s school, Spaulding Street Elementary School, wins the local contest. Unfortunately, Melody misses her chance to make it to the finals, which causes Spaulding Street to come in ninth place.

I chose to re-read Out of my mind by Sharon M. Draper because I remember Out of my Mind as being a really good and a really sad book. The genre is realistic fiction. I think it is realistic fiction because this story could happen in real life but it didn't in this book. This book is about a girl (Her name is Melody) who is disabled who can't walk or talk. In the book she eventually gets a machine that allows her to push a button so she can “talk”. Melody’s little sister gets run over by her own mom (on accident) because her mom didn't see and it was a rainy foggy day. Melody tries out for this competition that her school does and she makes it and Thai one popular girl doesn't. When they get to the airport they find out that there plane was

Out of My Mind is a novel by Sharon M. Draper. In this novel, Melody Brooks is an eleven-year-old girl with cerebral palsy. Melody's body is stiff and uncooperative, forcing her to use a wheelchair. Her mind works well, but she cannot speak. Melody hates her boring special education classes and the fact that she cannot make her thoughts and opinions known, even to her parents. Hence Melody has to fight to get what she wants. Eventually, Melody is given a computer that helps her speak and communicate in a regular fifth grade class. Melody even gets the opportunity to participate in a trivia competition. Unfortunately, even great success cannot change opinions of those who cannot see beyond the physical. This is a fact Melody is forced to face despite everything she accomplishes. Out of My Mind is a brilliant novel that takes the reader into the world of an amazing eleven year old girl who eventually realizes she is no different from the kids around her despite her body's disabilities.

The novel “An Unquiet Mind” starts off describing the life of a young girl, Kay. Early off in Kay’s life she is experiencing traumatizing life events. One of those events is a very close encounter with a plane that flew over the elementary playground very low and “It flew into the trees, exploding directly in front of us” (12). Early on it seems much easier to see how she developed the mental illness, manic-depressive (bipolar) illness. Also, her father showed signs of a bipolar illness and maybe it could be heredity. Another traumatizing event was when Kay and her family moved to California and the complete shock from the change in background. This switch also leads to Kay drinking before she attends classes for high school. Just at the age of 16, Kay is beginning to see just how much her mood swings are affecting her friends and how the bipolar illness is changing her life.

Sharon M Draper is an author that wrote, Out of my Mind, Tears of a Tiger, Darkness Before Dawn, Stella by Starlight and many more. She wrote at least 8 books. In 2015 she was honored by the American Library Association as the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime literary achievement. In 2015 she was honored with the Anne V. Zarrow Award by the Tulsa Library Trust., as well as the 2016 Upstander Award by Antioch College.

Perception is everything. People never know what is going on with the another race or side. In Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” she brings up racism and the societal normal. She never reveals the race of either of the girls in this story. Never knowing the race of the girls other than they are two different races shows how one race never knows that the other is thinking about or where they are coming from. In this story, two girls meet from very different back grounds and different races and become friends, then go separate directions. They continue to meet throughout their lives and try to rekindle the childhood friendship as adults. This shows how children do not know the differences or the color lines that society has put into place. As children, gender, race, and religion is never an issue. Racism is something that society has created. Society has made racism one of the main barriers throughout the world. In the story, the two girls are friends and live in a group home. The girls are witnesses to some bad things carried out by the older girls in the home. They end up separating and going different ways in life. When they meet up later, while rekindling their relationship they begin to reminisce about their childhood. They come to find out that their perception and memories do not exactly match up. The way things are perceived can change an outlook on life; after finding out how others see the same situation, it might change who you are and what you

As I was nearing the age of five, I noticed that my older sister would never play or interact with me. I would sometimes contemplate why, but at the age of five, not many things stay in your mind. As I grew older, I started to understand a bit more as to why I never did “sisterly” things— my sister was just not capable of it. One day, I asked my parents why my sister could not talk like I do, walk like I do, or move like I do. They told me that my sister was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a disorder that impairs movement and results from improper brain development before birth. After learning about what the disorder was, I asked my parents if there was any cure. Unfortunately, my dad told me that they took her to see several neurologists, and