Story Of Collective Lessons

her life demonstrates her fear and in the end what fear can do to a

Although fiction is a literary genre that contains untrue stories about made up characters and situations, it also frequently references real life trials and tribulations. By creating a story about a fictional person or place the author has the ability to speak about serious topics without causing any friction with people who may be involved with that particular situation. For example, in “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara and “Brownies” by ZZ Packer the authors touch on multiple themes which range from the value of education to the impact that the socioeconomic status of a neighborhood or family has on children. The stories are very similar in a sense that they are both centered around an event taking place in the lives of

Every public school lunch room is filled with many tables, every day these tables are the perfect place for a student to find where they “belong”. Like Beverly Daniel Tatum states in “Why Are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”, part of the social groups forming in high schools goes to thank adolescents. Tatum writes, “As children enter adolescence, they begin to explore the question of identity, asking ‘Who am I?’ ‘Who can I be?’”(375). At this point in their life everyone begins to see their own interests and hobbies that makes them a little different than others. Because students are starting to realize their differences, in modern day high schools there are many social groups that students can identify with and feel the most comfortable being themselves.

This autobiography tells me a lot about the author. The “Valuable Lessons” lets me know what the author has learned so far in his life. The author understands some of the key aspects of life and knows what choices to make, which will benefit him. Also, the author adores his family very much. Family is of most importance is his life as he states in “One Medium Suitcase.” Also, I understand that the author has had some hardships in his life. Such as, tearing his ACL and having to be not able to play sports for the past year and a half. The author wishes that he could go back in time and change that day. Also, he says that he will overcome this problem and move on with his life in “Flashback.” The most important thing I learned about

After the phase of attempting to belong, I tried to do everything in my power to differentiate myself from those people, my classmates and also friends. I did NOT want to belong. My rebellious phase started with coming to school with white pointy ankle boots I could barely walk on. And I started to smoke because no one else did. I got judged by my classmates and laughed at and I pretended I did not care.

Once it was as a freshman, just my overstuffed backpack and me experiencing an environment radically different than anything I had been exposed to ever before. Later it was as a junior, frustrated with a lack of self-confidence. I was plagued with social anxiety, paranoid over the smallest issues and mortified by the prospect of being approached by someone in public. It was painful to check out of a convenience store by myself, let alone meet new people or strike up a conversation with strangers. I used to think that this was going to be my life; every social encounter would be like walking on glass. Finally, towards the spring of my junior year, I clawed my way out of that pit, and I realized that the world wasn’t out to get me. I forced myself to get outside of my comfort zone, and I’m incredibly proud of myself for making that leap. And with the encouragement and support from my friends at school, I ultimately learned that hard work and initiative are two of the most important virtues on the path to success. And this all stems from the personal connections I’ve made with my peers at school, with these relationships dictating the way I have matured and developed mentally.

Fear is something we all have. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and “When the Emperor was Divine” by Julie Otsuka show the readers how fear can have a major impact on people by encompassing the stories with a constant theme about fear. Emotions are very important in life because if not controlled, they can ruin the futures of other people. One of the strongest emotions, fear, is something that motivates action, whether it be forceful or not, and it can prevent people from making the correct decisions. Motivation is sometimes really difficult to acquire, but fear can be a powerful incentive for motivation.

In the article title “Individuality vs. Conformity: The Healthy Middle?” by an anonymous high school student it says that there are only two thing that a typical high school student wants to typically achieve in their short high school life (par. 1). One of these things is to fit in (par. 2). The second one is to be different (par. 3). How could you do this?. You could choose to be individual or just conform. However I really maintain the idea that what we should really do it's to stay in the middle so we won't forget who we really are and still be liked by different groups of people.

As teenagers, we’re all told in high school that “These are the best years of your life! Don’t waste them!” or something to that extent. Though in reality, high school is nothing more than a stress filled scramble to find your own identity or at the very least, one that will allow you to survive the next four years of hormones and midnight cram sessions. Some people find it unnaturally easy to find their clique, and others struggle to do so. I fall in with the latter category.

I think I speak for many people when I say high school is a critical point in one’s life. Coming into high school, things seemed to be tightly-knitted between my peers and I; those of us who had just

The short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara was written in 1972. “The Lesson” was a first-person point of view story, it was told by a young girl named, Sylvia. This story tells about the shopping trip that the teacher of the class, Miss Moore, took the children. The main ideas of this story are the economic life style, social inequality, and lack of equal education for the African Americans. Miss Moore tries to teach the kids there is a better life in a small trip to the toy store. Sylvia gets angry with Miss Moore taking them to the toy store, not understanding why she would take them. The way Toni Bambara wrote “The Lesson” in first-person narration gives the story realism.

For four long years I felt as if my high school was in a different world in of itself. I had spent that time interacting with an extensive amount of groups, or “cliques”, and getting to know what they do. Through my experiences, I had begun to realize what made this “subculture” high school of sorts run like it did. High school is an incredibly dynamic time for people, and I had changed as a person dramatically from my freshman to senior year. Like many, my freshman year was quite awkward, as remnants of my middle school self remained with me. As time went on, how, I talked to more people and grew out of my passive and shy personality. This did not just randomly happen without reason though. I began to learn and realize who I was and whom I enjoyed talking to in school, which explained why I spent so much time socializing with multiple kinds and groups of people. Everyone’s concept of “normal” was different, and high school was where I learned that lesson and will never forget.

When I was younger, I learned to fit in wherever I went. My family was disjointed for about four years until I finally got settled in high school. My parents divorced and I was pulled out of my first elementary school and sent to one closer to home after fourth grade. This was about the time that my bullying started. It crushed me to be different from the rest of the children whose parents were still together. Other students didn’t understand anything that went on and they made fun of me for it. Moving around a lot gave me the experience necessary to combat the harsh comments of others.

I was out of my comfort zone, and it was clear to all my peers as well. They were the vulture, and I was the carcass. People often say that girls are made of sugar, spice, and everything nice, but these girls were toxic. Their words seeped into my skin until I started to believe everything they said about me myself. After all, there were so many others who thought it was true, so it had to be. I had learned about what facts and opinions were, but was failing to apply it to my own life. My classmates said I was ugly, so I was. They said I was bad at everything I did, so I was. I no longer smiled when I headed into dance class, and instead hid my face, hoping their relentless attacks would spare me for just one

Great lessons are learned from small things that happen to us in life. Last week I stood at the bus stop waiting for a vehicle to convey me to work. It was raining and there was no bus. I considered taking a bike but I also realized that wind would make it difficult for me to use an umbrella on top of a bike; so, since I didn't want to get drenched I opted to wait for a bus. Forty minutes later, there was no bus. People formed clusters according to their various bus stops. And as time passed the crowd grew in number. Suddenly I looked by my right and saw a private vehicle parked about twenty metres away loading passengers. Out of desperation I left my bus stop and walked towards it. On getting there I discovered that it wasn't going my route. As I