The Goon Squad

Throughout her life, Billie Jo faces many challenges. The one particular object that constantly affects her life is the dust. “‘Daddy!’ I called. You can’t stop dust!” (32) The dust is a whirling storm of death and depression that cannot be stopped. That, however, is not the only problem Billie Jo must face. Later, she loses what every child cherishes most, her beloved Ma. Billie Jo accidentally threw a pail of kerosine on Ma, and that’s just when the guilt begins. She attempts to save Ma, but only wounds her hands, Hope seems lost to her because she cannot even find comfort in the piano, the only thing that helps her through the hardships. People begin to point fingers and only blame Billie Jo, not her father who also caused the accident. “They only said, Billie Jo threw the pail of kerosine.” (72) This guilt pushes her into a well of darkness.

After having a dream like prom with Grant, Saha wakes up,in a strange place she eventually learns to be Aurora, an analog of Earth, in a parallel universe and Grant is not Grant, he is Thomas. Feeling betrayed and lost in a universe that is not her own, Sasha Lawson must imitate the princess of this foreign land if she is ever to return home. It takes Sasha a long time to forgive Thomas for lying to her, but she eventually does, and even develops feelings for him. Throughout the story, Sasha makes friends, discovers

Throughout The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien it is difficult to separate what is fictitious, and what is true. During the entire work there are two different “truths”, which are “story truth” and “happening truth”. “Happening truth” is the actual events that happen, and is the foundation or time line on which the story is built on. “Story truth” is the molding or re-shaping of the “happening truth” that allows the story to be believable and enjoyable. It is not easy to distinguish “happening truth” from “story truth”, and at times during the novel O’brien reveals which is which. On the other hand, when the reader is blind to

To begin, Stargirl defies the term normal throughout the novel with her identity as the quirky over the top person she is. “She laughed when there was no joke. She a danced when there was no music. She had no friends, but was the friendliest person in school” (Page 15, Spinelli). This quote by Spinelli shows that Stargirl is different than everyone else, not only in the way she dresses and looks, but also in her demeanor and outlook in life. The book goes along to say that the kids at Mica Area High School couldn’t make her out. In fact, Stargirls identity and refusal to join the rest of the school in their conformity lifestyles, is drawn out though character Hillari Kimble spreading the rumour across the entire school that “She (Stargirl) isn’t real” (Spinelli, Pag 7). going onto to tell Mica Area High School her conspiracy about Stargirl being a ploy by the

Many women have been through incidents where one has had to exhibited personal strength to get through an appalling event or circumstance. Preparing for this journey, Strayed packed a backpack to take along with her on the Pacific Crest Trail. Not knowing what all she needed, she packed unnecessary items such as books, shoes, stoves, and even a twelve pack of condoms, but why? Going into something for the first time not knowing what to expect can be very dangerous. Every night the unexpected happened “Each night the black sky and the bright stars were my stunning companions; occasionally I’d see their beauty and solemnity so plainly that I'd realize in a piercing way that my mother was right. That someday I WOULD be grateful and that in fact I was grateful now, that I felt something growing in me that was strong and real” (Strayed 128).

The Things They Carried is a collection of stories about the Vietnam War that the author, Tim O’Brien, uses to convey his experiences and feelings about the war. The book is filled with stories about the men of Alpha Company and their lives in Vietnam and afterwards back in the United States. O’Brien captures the reader with graphic descriptions of the war that make one feel as if they were in Vietnam. The characters are unique and the reader feels sadness and compassion for them by the end of the novel. To O’Brien the novel is not only a compilation of stories, but also a release of the fears, sadness, and anger that he has felt because of the Vietnam War.

She’s at a car repair shop getting her car fixed. Instead of her needing extra sanitizer to kill germs, she needed an extra set of hands to help her with the baby while she pays the man for his services. She then tells the mechanic “Here can you hold him” and just hands the baby to him. He takes the baby and play with him as he kicks his little legs. Even though she didn’t know him nor trust him, she did at that moment because she needed help with the baby and wasn’t really worrying about putting sanitizer on the man half of body because she was in a rush and ready to go. Dirty hands and all, she had respect for him to help her out. She had to respect and trust him in that moment because she needed

“The Book Thief” presented a story filled with various themes that comprised a powerful plot line. Although there were many themes in the story, there was one that stood out to me more than others. In the process of reading the book, the theme of suffering affected me the most. The definition of the word suffer is to experience or be subjected to something bad or unpleasant. Different characters within the story are subjected to dreadful feelings and are therefore suffering. Through my analyzation, I observed the three different types of suffering that the characters experienced: guilt, feelings of emptiness, and anxiety. The characters of “The Book Thief” experience these three types of suffering in different ways.

In the article, entitled, “My Uniform,” Cheryl Strayed offers a look at what it is like to do something only to impress others. The main character in the article, goes through so much trouble only to impress a boy. She questioned herself the whole time she was buying the piece of clothing that did not make her feel like herself. As she put not the piece of clothing, more questions popped up in her head. Although she still went through with the piece of clothing and wore it anyways, the next day she would vowed to never wear anything like that again. Instead of the sexy piece of clothing she thought would impress the boys, she found a pears of sweats that made herself feel good. When talking about the baggy sweats she fell in love with, Strayed

When this romance initially commences, Leo notices people treating him differently as if he is an alien. This is because Stargirl is an extraordinarily typical girl who doesn’t track the culture of the school. She plays an ukulele, keeps a pet rat in her tote bag, treats everyone with kindness and serenades them in the lunchroom on their birthdays. As a result Leo requests Stargirl to transform her identity so she can fit into the school, and people won’t look down upon them. He wants her to conform into the society. She adjusts her name into “Susan”—an “ordinary” high school girl. The reader discovers in this progression that she is discontented pretending to be what she isn’t. Ultimately, she is happiest when she is factual to herself. As she articulates “Every once in a while someone comes along who is . . . a little more in touch with the stuff we’re made of, it’s our identity what really perceives who I am rather than assimilating I rather enjoy myself as who I really am. ” (Spinelli, Stargirl 177). This advocates that perhaps one can take a message from her and be a little truer to one self. Rather than following what others say and having no genuine identity, it is vital to build up an own identity a way one can be referred to as.

Even when Sasha does not want to remember her past, it creeps up on her and comes to life anyway. She is walking down a Paris street on her second day in town and as she is walking, she remembers that she used to work at a shop not far from the street she was on. She recounts the story of a woman who came into her shop that was bald and she was looking to buy an accessory to wear in her hair for the evening. The woman’s daughter is completely embarrassed and she begs her mother to leave. After trying on several different pieces, the old woman finally gives up. Sasha overhears the daughter tell her mother that she has made a perfect fool of herself and that if she ever intends on doing such a thing

     Throughout the story there are several aspects of the Protagonist’s character that play a major role in the shaping of her future. During her childhood she

Through the movie many of the student’s situations are shown. Eva (April Lee Hernández), a Hispanic girl in a gang, was at a shooting in a convenience store and knows that her boyfriend Paco (Will Morales) killed the man in the store. Her father is in jail for gang related crimes as well. Because of this, her father tells her that she needs to lie in court in order to stay “loyal” to the gang.

her life around to fit in with the crowd . She is soon exposed to drugs, sex and violence. It

In the problem Ivan Markovitch finds that Sasha, a young man who is twenty-five years old explains to him that his life has been hard. Sasha stole fifth teen hundred rubles or money Cornel was angry at him. Ivan ended up taking his side and defending Sasha. Then the Cornel thinks that the boy can have a helping hand. My thing is why does Sasha get easily influenced to do things. Sasha was trying to get out the punishment that Cornel gave eventually the other found out. Now I think he should be put in jail. Why can’t he just take his punishment and stop with the trouble making. Then Sasha gets released. In the beginning the Cornel thought Sasha was a criminal. Sasha doesn’t like the fact that Cornel is always thinking negative of him.