Ever consider belonging to a club, a gang, or maybe a sorority? Well, at Grace Hall that would be breaking the rules, but there are plenty who think it’s worth the risk. Surprisingly, quiet Amelia gets tapped by the most elite social club in her school; The Magpies. Although she is tentative to join, she is drawn to one of the leaders, Dylan. Amelia finds herself lying to her best friend and mother in order to succumb to the Magpies’ secretive orders. When Amelia wants out of her covert social gig, her life falls down around her. In the aftermath, Amelia’s mother, Kate, attempts to understand the covert life her daughter had been living the last few months, however the truth seems to be tangled in school rules and the ever-present Magpies. …show more content…
This journal will question, evaluate, and visualize aspects from Reconstructing Amelia. If Kate had been more present in Amelia’s life, would she still be alive?
Kate unexpectedly became pregnant while in law school, and in an attempt to be the better mother she had always wished for, she kept the baby. Amelia grew up with no father and after receiving disturbing texts on the identity of her father, she prompted her mother to finally tell her the truth. Kate had always been sure that Amelia’s father was her long time business associate, Daniel. However, given Daniel’s dour personality, Kate chose to keep Amelia under the pretense that her father was just a guy who moved to Africa before she was born. However, Amelia didn’t quite believe this story. This was the basis of her mistrust that lead to the loss of communication between her and her mother about her own life, communication that may have stopped Amelia from going down the road that lead to her death. If Kate had worked less, she would have suspected Amelia was lying about her whereabouts. Kate would often leave for work as Amelia left for school and wouldn’t come home until after Amelia had fallen asleep. If Kate been home more often, she would have realized that Amelia’s stories didn’t match up with her best friend, Sylvia, and would have caught onto Amelia’s secret life much quicker. When Kate was called to the school to pick Amelia up for being suspended, she was an hour late. When she finally arrived, Amelia had already been found dead by a fall from the school roof. Finally, if Kate had been …show more content…
monitoring Amelia’s social media presence and messages she would have witnessed the brutal bullying and hazing Amelia was subjected to, “Kate was plugged in enough to the world of mothering --- mostly through other women at work who had kids --- to know that some mothers put their kids on notice that they’d be checking periodically; others seized the opportunity of a child’s unattended smartphone to do their snooping undetected. Kate had done neither. She’d opted, instead, to trust Amelia” (McCreight, 81). When Kate searched through Amelia’s digital presence after her death, she discovered that Amelia had received hundreds of hate texts and that she had participated in an inappropriate blog through the Magpies. If Kate had been regularly monitoring Amelia’s phone, she would have found these frightening texts and images and therefor put an end to the whole situation. Overall, if Kate had been more existent in Amelia’s life, it may have prevented her death. The moment it was revealed that Liv was the writer of gRaCeFULLY (a blog known to gibe about the school’s students) was extremely shocking. Liv had been Amelia’s favorite English teacher. She placed higher expectations on Amelia and gave her extra attention because she understood that she was a talented student. When Liv met with Kate and the detective on the case, she was extremely forthcoming and disheartened about Amelia’s death. These moments make it all the more surprising to know that Liv wrote a blog containing hateful comments about Amelia. It is also shocking because based off the blog, Liv knew that the Magpies were bullying Amelia, however, she always acted with an I-don’t-know-anything☺ attitude around Amelia and never intervened to have it stopped. She wrote in gRaCeFULLY, “Okay, anybody out there able to tell me why one of the clubs is picking on one poor little honor roll sophomore?” (McCreight, 293). It was an unforeseen twist to learn that Liv was the author of gRaCeFULLY. Throughout reading this book, I could clearly visualize some of the facial expressions of the characters.
When Amelia asks her mother for permission to study abroad in Paris, her suggestion shot down. Amelia flashes a pouty face similar to one of child not getting candy at a store☺, as Kate attempts to keep a stolid expression, “Yes, Amelia, I can listen, for a minute,” Kate had said, trying not to lose her patience. From the sour look on her daughter’s face, the Thanksgiving trip to Bermuda Kate’d suggest had been akin to offering up a weekend of dental work (McCreight, 10). When Kate gets her first intimation that Amelia may not have jumped from the school roof, she tries to argue the possibility of a murder to her friend Seth, although his doubting frown concluded that he didn’t believe it, “Kate could tell Seth still thought that Amelia’s death had been suicide… Seth shook his head and frowned. His usually snappy demeanor was muted now, almost completely” (McCreight, 176). The most dramatic moment was when Sylvia finally admitted that she had accidentally pushed Amelia off the roof. Sylvia was beside herself with tears, tears that started like a snowball☺ getting bigger with every gasp of air, “There were tears streaming down Sylvia’s face now. She tried to speak but only sucked in air. Then she dropped herself down onto a kitchen chair and put her head in her hands as she sobbed” (McCreight, 360-361). These displays of emotion came with a vivid image while I was
reading the book. This was a coming of age story that dealt with the struggles of high school students as they begin to find their spot in the world. While Amelia may have realized that being in a club was not the place she should be, it was already too late. However, Kate was able to reconstruct Amelia’s true identity, and become closer to her daughter who was now so much further away.
In her final letter to her mother, Eliza admits her wrong doings. She tells her mother she ignored all the things she was told. All their advice fell on her deaf ears. She explains that she had fallen victim to her own indiscretion. She had become the latest conquest of “a designing libertine,” (Foster 894). She knew about Sanford’s reputation, she knew his intentions, and she knew that he was married, yet she still started a relationship with him. And her blatant disregard for facts and common sense caused her unwed pregnancy and premature demise. Eliza Wharton had nobody to blame for her situation but herself. She ignored warnings, advice, common sense, and other options available to her. She chose her ill fated path and had to suffer the consequences.
Kate was born and brought up an only child. At first Kate was a normal child and no one thought anything of her. When she got a little bit older Kate began to do things other children wouldn't normally do. At one point she was caught in her Barn with two boys and her tied up. Her mother and father punished her for this and whipped her until she was good again. Kate was doing great things, she was doing things that made her look like a perfect child. One day though Kate made a plan to kill her parents by locking them in the house while she sets it on fire. Kate did this and immediately got out of town. This is when Kate made her and ended up with Adam Trask another main character.
When asked by George what she was crying about the only thing she can recall is that the incident was “something real sad on television” (6). In consequence of the failure to express emotion, the difficulty of evolving society
"What girl at Lansing High would not want to be in her place right now? Millicent thought, amused. What girl would not want to be one of the elect, no matter if it did mean five days of initiation before and after school, ending in the climax of Rat Court on Friday night when they made the new girls members." (Plath 199)
Her family life is depicted with contradictions of order and chaos, love and animosity, conventionality and avant-garde. Although the underlying story of her father’s dark secret was troubling, it lends itself to a better understanding of the family dynamics and what was normal for her family. The author doesn’t seem to suggest that her father’s behavior was acceptable or even tolerable. However, the ending of this excerpt leaves the reader with an undeniable sense that the author felt a connection to her father even if it wasn’t one that was desirable. This is best understood with her reaction to his suicide when she states, “But his absence resonated retroactively, echoing back through all the time I knew him. Maybe it was the converse of the way amputees feel pain in a missing limb.” (pg. 399)
Ava is a senior who is new to the school. With being new to the school, Ava wants to just get through the year with no drama. She is an unwilling participant in the Prom Bowl as the “Wild Card”. While not as skinny as the other girls in school, Ava doesn’t care about the social dynamics of the girls. The other main character is Mark Palmer, a typical senior football player. As the quarterback for the team, Mark is trying to earn scholarships for college. The character Mark has never had a long-lasting relationship in high school. Mark tries to save Ava from being involved in the Prom
...o see them as teachers. Dani’s foster mum refusal to engage with Dani had always been like this, even before her Dad left. She had always felt second best. Mum made no secret about it – about “the fact that after Rebecca and James had came along she had wanted Dani to move somewhere else”.
In this film, Tracy is a prime example of an adolescent and much of what I have learned this year can be applied to her character. “Fitting in” is a concept that is seen a lot in adolescence. Teenagers will do pretty much anything at times to have friends or appear to be “cool.” That is exactly what happens to Tracy in this film. As the film begins, Tracy is a good, simple girl, and her pureness all changes when she befriends the most popular girl in school, Evie Zamora.
Looking back on the death of Larissa’s son, Zebedee Breeze, Lorraine examines Larissa’s response to the passing of her child. Lorraine says, “I never saw her cry that day or any other. She never mentioned her sons.” (Senior 311). This statement from Lorraine shows how even though Larissa was devastated by the news of her son’s passing, she had to keep going. Women in Larissa’s position did not have the luxury of stopping everything to grieve. While someone in Lorraine’s position could take time to grieve and recover from the loss of a loved one, Larissa was expected to keep working despite the grief she felt. One of the saddest things about Zebedee’s passing, was that Larissa had to leave him and was not able to stay with her family because she had to take care of other families. Not only did Larissa have the strength to move on and keep working after her son’s passing, Larissa and other women like her also had no choice but to leave their families in order to find a way to support them. As a child, Lorraine did not understand the strength Larissa must have had to leave her family to take care of someone else’s
Cold sweat trickles down Kate's back as she stands over the hospital bed, watching the mother she cares for slowly pass away. The droning beep of the monitoring heart machine pierces through the air. Kate kisses her mother one last time, wiping warm tears from her watery eyes, and sluggishly begins to leave. Step by step out of the door the pain intensifies in her heart, but Kate must keep staying strong and move on. A new chapter of her life begins here. Much like Kate, Anna Quindlen undergoes with the catastrophic death of her mother dying of cancer, leaving her arriving at college with an entire new perspective. Her significant childhood and maturement, experiencing the death of her mother, and giving birth to three children influenced Anna Quindlen with her writings.
act, and devoted his entire attention to his love for Amelia. Amelia, however, felt no
Lisa finds Baby upset in their hotel room, sulking about the tongue lashing and discriminating views of her parents and the manager of Kellerman’s. Lisa’s empathy for Baby is full of warmth and understanding. Lisa catches herself when she offers to do Baby’s hair, and instead compliments Baby by telling her she is prettier, her way. A portrayal that historically these two characters would not have put aside their rivalry for the affections of their father.
Jack Salmon, Susie’s father, is most vocal about his sorrow for losing his daughter. However, his initial reaction was much different. Upon hearing that Susie’s ski hat had been found, he immediately retreats upstairs because “he [is] too devastated to reach out to [Abigail] sitting on the carpet…he could not let [her] see him” (Sebold 32). Jack retreats initially because he did not know what to do or say to console his family and he did not want them to see him upset. This first reaction, although it is small, is the first indicator of the marital problems to come. After recovering from the initial shock, Jack decides that he must bring justice for his daughter’s sake and allows this goal to completely engulf his life. He is both an intuitive and instrumental griever, experiencing outbursts of uncontrolled emotions then channeling that emotion into capturing the killer. He focuses his efforts in such an e...
...e has done for him since he came into town with nothing, and proceeds to, with Marvin Macy’s help, leave her broken and even tries to kill her by poisoning her. Together Macy and Lymon proceed to destroy the café and take everything, Miss Amelia’s money and all of her belongings. Lastly, Cousin Lymon ends up being a victim himself. Marvin Macy is only using him to seek out his revenge on Miss Amelia, because he knows how close Lymon has become to Amelia in the time he has stayed there. Sometimes in life, we tend to love and want what we cannot have, what is not ours to begin with such as was the case in all of their situations. They were all victims of unrequited love and because they all had ulterior motives in their relationships with each other, they were ungrateful and not mindful of their attitudes and how they could hurt other, they were also victims of karma.
Mallory was in the student council room trying to get the president to agree to let her make a pep club. But the president says no. So now she isn't sure she can do the list, or go vintage is getting really upset. But then Oliver her ex’s cousin says that they actually have to take a vote. And once they take a vote on if pep club should be a thing there are