Reading Inquiry: Who has power in your book? How do they use it?

      Power comes in many different forms. I realized this after my group came up with our reading inquiry; Who has power in your book? How do they use it? I saw that in every book I read this year and the movies I had watched, elements of power and authority were involved. Not by coincidence, but because power means a lot of different things.
       In the book "The Perks Of Being a Wallflower" by Steven Chbosky, the main character Charlie witnesses a drunk girl at a party get raped by her boyfriend. He watched as the boy coaxed the girl, who was drunk and therefore incapable of taking action, to do things against her will. The boyfriend may have been slightly drunk, but there is no question that he abused his power over her weakness. The girl pleaded for him to stop, but he used her lack of strength and his "words of comfort" to force her into doing something she didn't want to. This is something that people do in everyday life. A lot of people don't notice it. But peer pressure, and the prospect of having someone break up with you or stop liking you, can make people do things they wouldn't have otherwise.
      Also in "The Perks Of Being a Wallflower" Charlie's sister and her boyfriend showed a similar kind of power. To me, it seemed like Charlie's sister didn't like guys who were too nice to her, or bowed down to her. But then her boyfriend got mad at her one night and hit her, and she started liking him more. I think this has less to do with his sister being weak than it is her wanting to be around a more authoritative figure, that she had to compete with or impress, rather than someone who was desperate for her attention. Her boyfriend shouldn't have hit her, but what's more worrisome is that his sister wanted his lack of attention. I think this might be one of the (many) reasons people stay in abusive relationships.
        I read the graphic novel "V For Vendetta" by Alan Moore last year and recently watched the movie adaptation. The movie differs a lot from the book, but both tell the story of a fictional period in time (set in 1997) when England becomes a fascist dictatorship, using extreme policies to keep their citizens under their control. It seems that the government officials in V For Vendetta have become numb to the people they have so much power over. This connected to the many countries in the world today who suffer from fascist governments and dictatorships.
         In conclusion, there are many different levels of power that are explored by movies and books alike. It also plays a huge role in our daily lives as students and for people around the world.
     

Social Justice Issues in my Independent Reading Life

       In "Fat Kid Rules the World" by K.L. Going, one of the major themes is bullying. The protagonist Troy's brother, Dayle, gives off the impression that Troy is an "embarrassment". Troy is overweight and doesn't have a social life or any real hobbies. Dayle is athletic, popular, and seemingly the favorite of his father's two sons. Dayle constantly gives Troy the impression that he is unwanted and a disgrace to their family.
       I can't imagine having to live in a home where you feel unwanted. It's a problem that a lot of people, at least to me, see as something that can be easily fixed: with positive energy and inspiration. But unless someone jumps into your lonely life and acts as a savior, like Curt did to Troy, how are you supposed to get back up on your feet, again and again without hope that things will change? People need support from others, which is why guidance counselors and supportive peers are so important. It's hard to tell yourself that things will be okay when you're sensitive, or weak, or have experienced loneliness too many times to think it will change. Exclusion is a form of bullying that I find very important to understand and know how to prevent.

Why The Best Kids Books Are Written In Blood by Sherman Alexie

     Sherman Alexie is the author of the book "The Absolutely True Diary Of a Part Time Indian" which is about a young teenage boy living on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Arnold, the main character, suffers from cerebrospinal fluid in his skull which causes him to have physical disabilities like a large head and a stutter. His family is poor, and he lives among violence. The book follows Arnold, or Junior, going to an all white school outside of his town, and the struggles that he endures. This book has often been on banned book lists.

      In response to Meghan Cox Gurdons's piece "Darkness Too Visible" in the Wall Street Journal, in which she discusses the unsuitable content for young readers in young adult fiction nowadays, Sherman Alexie wrote his own article, "Why The Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood", Alexie states that the reason violence, abuse, depression and other upsetting topics are so important in young adult fiction is because they are real issues that many teenagers are going through. 

      Staying away from reading about troubling subjects does not protect the reader from them  happening in real life, says Alexie. Kids who have been raped, abused, self harmed, suffered illness, loss or depression have already been exposed to terrible things. Reading about them in fiction helps them understand what they are going through, or can even just provide a distraction to the world around them. Writers like Meghan Cox Gurdon ignore the thousands of teenagers who need young adult fiction that deals with real life issues, and instead focus on priveleged teenagers who "need protection". However, Alexie writes that teenagers who haven't had to face the horrors that are written about are sure to experience them later on in life, or see them being experienced by a loved one. Reading helps them build empathy for future issues that others might have. 

      Alexie himself writes that he expresses his feelings about his childhood through his writing, and loved writing his book because it gave him a huge opportunity to connect to readers going through similar problems. At the end of the article, he says "...I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed."

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Ella Walsh 806

                                                            The Side Effect of Dying

         "Whenever you read a cancer booklet or website or whatever, they always list depression among the side effects of cancer. But in fact, depression is not a side effect of cancer. Depression is a side effect of dying." -Hazel Grace Lancaster, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

         The book The Fault in Our Stars revolves around Hazel, a 16 year old girl with Stage 4 thyroid cancer and metastasis in her lungs. John Green describes Hazel's emotional problems as a result of her facing the prospect of death, rather than her actual cancer. In many ways, The Fault in Our Stars is less a cancer book and more a book about dealing with death.

          I've found that often in movies or books that discuss cancer, the cancer patient acquires a sense of higher knowledge before the time of their death. They realize the importance of life and family, and spread their intelligence to other people, a heroic final gesture to the living world. Children battling cancer are also often shown as strong and brave. But really, death is very personal. It comes with feelings of worthlessness or being targeted by the universe.

          This is exactly how dying is depicted in The Fault in Our Stars. {SPOILER} When Augustus' condition hits a critical point towards the end of the book, he becomes selfish and angry. Although Augustus was selfless and kind hearted, he lost himself in the face of death. This connects to how Augustus describes his ex-girlfriend, Caroline, who also had cancer, and how she tended to be rude and ignorant. Gus wonders if Caroline was that way because of her cancer, or because of her existing personality. I think that dealing with the possibility of your own death can change a person- for better or for worse. 

          Because of the approach that John Green took in writing "The Fault in Our Stars", it is easier for readers to connect to. Because you can read about someone with cancer and pity them, but reading about feelings that someone has of being unimportant, fearing oblivion or facing death can relate to a much larger group.   

Looking For Alaska

     Over the summer I read the book "Looking For Alaska" by John Green. I found myself feeling that every character was a person I knew. John Green's story and character development let the book portray a lot of problems and intense feelings that teenagers go through.
     The main character of the book, Miles, is very bored with his life in Florida and decides to attend Culver Creek boarding school in Alabama to "seek a Great Perhaps". I found this detail already to be so true to life as a teenager. After going through the phase when you're young and everything you see is exciting to you, you're thrown into a place where you feel like you've seen all there is to see. And suddenly, the world around you changes and everything bores you.
     At Culver Creek, Miles meets the Colonel, his roomate, and Alaska, a girl he soon falls in love with. However, Miles finds many problems as well as wonders about Alaska and the way she treats people. Sometimes books make teenage girls seem perfect in the eyes of boys who fall in love with them, but Alaska is a very conflicted character, and Miles realizes this.
     Lastly, although there are a lot more great story points that I'd want to go through but I wouldn't want to spoil the ending, Miles spends a great deal of time throughout the book doing homework and studying. I always read books and watch TV Shows where the characters literally never do homework. The fact that Miles was always under the pressure of schoolwork as well as dealing with his internal feelings  was pretty accurate to what life is really like.