Summary
In this section of the book Melinda talk a bit more about her family life. From how she describes it, her family seems like its sort of falling apart. They don't even have a normal thanksgiving dinner, they usually order pizza. Her grades are slipping, shes a social outcast at school, he home life isn't the best, and she still has a painful secret she has yet to share with anyone, including the reader. The one thing that seems to be going right for her is her art class. She seems to enjoy it more than anything else in the book. Its her escape, the only thing that keeps her distracted from the disasters of the world around her. She puts a lot of effort into a project her Art teacher assigned to her class. So far shes done tons of different drafts of drawings and sculptures of s tree and she doesn't feel like she's quite gotten it right. Some how i have the feeling that the end result of the project will tie into her telling her secret.
Quote
" I just thought of a great theory that explains everything. When I went to the party, I was abducted by aliens. They have created a fake earth and a fake high school to study me and my reactions. This certainly explains cafeteria food. Not the other stuff, though. The aliens have a sick sense of humor." (Anderson).
Reaction
This quote really shows how Melinda is avoiding her secret. Rather than telling someone and facing it, shes making up excuses for it and avoiding the whole thing all together.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Speak (pgs 1-40)
Summary
The first section of this book is pretty interesting. A Girl named Melinda Sordino who is starting her first yea of high school. It kind of reminds me how i felt when I was a freshmen except I had at least one close friend at the beginning of the year. She doesn't have anyone she can really talk to. She does meet a girl named Heather who she sort of befriends but she doesn't really listen to her. They don't really have anything in common, they're complete opposites really. Another difference in our freshmen year experiences is that I went to a completely new school with completely new people, she's known the people at her high school for nine years. Something happened at a party she went to over the summer that caused her to call the cops so everyone hates for it. They torment her in the hallways and shun her when she attempts to reach out to them. Even all of her old friends don't want anything to do with her. I'm curious to fin out what event caused such a dramatic change in her life.
Quote
" THE FIRST TEN LIES THEY TELL YOU IN HIGH SCHOOL: 1. We are here to help you. 2. You will have enough time to get to your class before the bell rings. 3. The dress code will be enforced. 4. No smoking is allowed on school grounds. 5. Our football team will win the championship this year. 6. We expect more of you here. 7. Guidance counselors are always available to listen. 8. Your schedule was created with your needs in mind. 9. Your locker combination is private. 10. These will be the years you look back on fondly."
Reaction
This quote really stood out to me because most if not all of it is true. All of the time you'll hear that teachers are here to help you but not many students feel like that is true. They're is barely enough time to get to certain classes even if you don't stop at your locker. The dress code seems to only be enforced during the warmer months since the school feels like that's when students will try and defy it most. They say smoking isn't allowed on school grounds but we all know a few who've done it. They always say the school is going to win the championships but i haven't heard that we have yet. Certain classes expect more of you but there are those few classes, like language, where the teacher doesn't really expect to get a lot out of you. Sure the guidance counselors are always there to meet with you, but are they there because they want to listen or are they just doing their jobs. Our schedules , we don't have much of a say in those. Your locker combination is private unless you tell someone. Last but not least, for some of us these will be the best years of our lives. This is kind of disappointing because we're not really getting to live. We have a repetitive schedule that involves eating, sleeping, learning, and working. We follow this schedule for six out of the seven days of the week and on holidays we are forced to balance homework, projects and spending time with our families. I really liked this quote because of how much I could relate to it and how much it made me think of my experiences during my freshmen year and my experiences so far this year. I guess only good literature has the power to do something like that.
The first section of this book is pretty interesting. A Girl named Melinda Sordino who is starting her first yea of high school. It kind of reminds me how i felt when I was a freshmen except I had at least one close friend at the beginning of the year. She doesn't have anyone she can really talk to. She does meet a girl named Heather who she sort of befriends but she doesn't really listen to her. They don't really have anything in common, they're complete opposites really. Another difference in our freshmen year experiences is that I went to a completely new school with completely new people, she's known the people at her high school for nine years. Something happened at a party she went to over the summer that caused her to call the cops so everyone hates for it. They torment her in the hallways and shun her when she attempts to reach out to them. Even all of her old friends don't want anything to do with her. I'm curious to fin out what event caused such a dramatic change in her life.
Quote
" THE FIRST TEN LIES THEY TELL YOU IN HIGH SCHOOL: 1. We are here to help you. 2. You will have enough time to get to your class before the bell rings. 3. The dress code will be enforced. 4. No smoking is allowed on school grounds. 5. Our football team will win the championship this year. 6. We expect more of you here. 7. Guidance counselors are always available to listen. 8. Your schedule was created with your needs in mind. 9. Your locker combination is private. 10. These will be the years you look back on fondly."
Reaction
This quote really stood out to me because most if not all of it is true. All of the time you'll hear that teachers are here to help you but not many students feel like that is true. They're is barely enough time to get to certain classes even if you don't stop at your locker. The dress code seems to only be enforced during the warmer months since the school feels like that's when students will try and defy it most. They say smoking isn't allowed on school grounds but we all know a few who've done it. They always say the school is going to win the championships but i haven't heard that we have yet. Certain classes expect more of you but there are those few classes, like language, where the teacher doesn't really expect to get a lot out of you. Sure the guidance counselors are always there to meet with you, but are they there because they want to listen or are they just doing their jobs. Our schedules , we don't have much of a say in those. Your locker combination is private unless you tell someone. Last but not least, for some of us these will be the best years of our lives. This is kind of disappointing because we're not really getting to live. We have a repetitive schedule that involves eating, sleeping, learning, and working. We follow this schedule for six out of the seven days of the week and on holidays we are forced to balance homework, projects and spending time with our families. I really liked this quote because of how much I could relate to it and how much it made me think of my experiences during my freshmen year and my experiences so far this year. I guess only good literature has the power to do something like that.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Girl, Interrupted (155-192)
Summary
This section of the book goes back to the period where Susanna was in high school. She talks about how everyone around her has seemed to figure out life and where their place in it is and she is still stuck. She talks about how depressed she became because she felt like she was failing at life.
Quote
"One of the greatest pleasures of mental health (what ever that is) is how much less time i have to spend thinking about myself" (Kaysen 157)
Reaction
What lead Susanna to believe that she was crazy was how much she thought about herself. This is something that the average teenager does. Since this occurred in the late 1960's, they may have had different perceptions of what sanity and insanity was. Because she thought too much of herself Susanna thought she was crazy and then drove herself to insanity by attempting to kill herself. I don't believe she was crazy but instead i believe she was lost and needed some guidance to help her get her life on track.
This section of the book goes back to the period where Susanna was in high school. She talks about how everyone around her has seemed to figure out life and where their place in it is and she is still stuck. She talks about how depressed she became because she felt like she was failing at life.
Quote
"One of the greatest pleasures of mental health (what ever that is) is how much less time i have to spend thinking about myself" (Kaysen 157)
Reaction
What lead Susanna to believe that she was crazy was how much she thought about herself. This is something that the average teenager does. Since this occurred in the late 1960's, they may have had different perceptions of what sanity and insanity was. Because she thought too much of herself Susanna thought she was crazy and then drove herself to insanity by attempting to kill herself. I don't believe she was crazy but instead i believe she was lost and needed some guidance to help her get her life on track.
Girl, Interrupted (116-154)
Summary
In this section of the book Susanna's therapist dies. She had a connection with her therapist that the book emphasizes by talking about some of their sessions together. Though out the rest of the book Susanna questions her insanity. At the end of the section she says she has recovered her mental health meaning that she isn't crazy anymore.
Quote
"I can honestly say that my misery has been transformed into common unhappiness, so by Freud's definition I have achieved mental health." (Kaysen 154)
Reaction
I honestly think that Susanna was never crazy to begin with. She even mentions in the book that what she was diagnosed as has been taken out of the books and replaced with common stages of adolescents. I believe that she was just growing up and experienced emotions and confusion that many teenagers today experience.
In this section of the book Susanna's therapist dies. She had a connection with her therapist that the book emphasizes by talking about some of their sessions together. Though out the rest of the book Susanna questions her insanity. At the end of the section she says she has recovered her mental health meaning that she isn't crazy anymore.
Quote
"I can honestly say that my misery has been transformed into common unhappiness, so by Freud's definition I have achieved mental health." (Kaysen 154)
Reaction
I honestly think that Susanna was never crazy to begin with. She even mentions in the book that what she was diagnosed as has been taken out of the books and replaced with common stages of adolescents. I believe that she was just growing up and experienced emotions and confusion that many teenagers today experience.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)