In “Teenage Wasteland” by Anne Tyler, Donny causes his own poor choices in the story. It is revealed through Donny’s bad behavior and his laziness in school. First, Donny puts himself in a hole. He has bad behavior, and makes his own decisions to do the wrong thing. One day the school calls Donny’s parents. Informing them that,” [Donny] had cut classes on at least three occasions” and,” He smoked in the furnace room” (206 Tyler). This is Donny’s fault; he knows what he is doing is sophistical. He knows he will get in trouble, but he does not care enough to even consider the consequences for his actions. Furthermore, even after getting counseling, Donny’s behavior still continues to decline as the school year progresses. The school eventually expels Donny because,” There had been a locker check, and in Donny’s locker they found five cans of beer and half a pack of cigarettes” (212). It is clear that Donny does not want to do the right thing. His behavior is …show more content…
juvenile, but he continues to do it. He does not care about the outcomes of his corrupt behavior. In conclusion, Donny is plainly a bad person, he does not want to follow the rules, and it is his choice to not follow them. No one forces him to do the wrong thing. Secondly, Donny is just directly passive in school.
He does not want to do his work, and consistently puts it off for other things. He tells his parents every night,” He doesn’t have any homework or he did it all in study hall” (206). He is defiantly lien to his parents; because if he were telling the truth, he would not be failing his classes. He is unenergetic, and does not want to do the work in his school, so he chooses not to. Next, after Daisy stops asking Donny about his work. Donny’s grades worsen especially in one class. In history class, the teacher informs Daisy that,” [Donny’s] rose from a D to a C, but now they’ve slipped back, and they’re closer to an F” (210). In the end it is clear that Donny just does not want to work because he is too out of it. He rather practice doing the wrong thing; than actually doing something productive. In conclusion, Donny is just careless, it is obvious he can do the work, but he is just too lazy to do it. He is the only person, holding himself
back. In conclusion, Donny can only blame himself for his own fall as a person. He is a very bad behaving, and sluggish student. In the end, Donny ruins himself, because of himself and not anyone else.
His grades were very bad and he wasn’t known to be a good student in class. He was described as, “ noisy,disruptive, always fooling around with his friends”. When his mother was notified about this, although her help was limited, it seemed to help him for a little bit, but then he fell back into same place as he was before. Donny was set up with a tutor, by the name of Cal. Cal was not the type of tutor any parent would intentionally set their child up with. He encouraged the child to rebel against authority. He criticized every attempt Donny's mother made to help her child. Donny unsurprisingly enjoyed the sessions with Cal. At the end of the story Donnys tutor was dropped and Donny was sent to a new school. His grades began to look better, but after a few months he disappeared. No one knew where he could be, not even Cal. Donnys parents are now left with a lost
Katie’s teacher, Mr. Dubey, puts a very high emphasis on the students at Katie’s school about how important school is. Because Katie starts to feel bad for using David to get into Harvard, his attitude toward the topic changes and he tells that she should be self-serving and not really care what people say and to not "ruin the rest of your life just because you feel a little guilty right now"(74). All of these conflicting messages on what Katie should be like, how she should treat others an...
Parents are always supposed to look out for the best interests of their child. Anne Tyler authored the short story “Teenage Wasteland” which depicts the strained mother and son relationship between the character Donny, and his mother Daisy. Donny is a teenage boy who is struggling with his grades at school and is exhibiting poor behavior. His mother Daisy is concerned with her son’s grades and behavior, however, she fails at getting her son the help that he requires. Told through a third person point of view through the character of Daisy, Tyler uses irony to tell the story of a teenage boy who is failed by the adults in his life who are supposed to help him flourish, including his parents, a psychologist, and his tutor.
In Jean Rhys’ novel “Good Morning Midnight” the reader is introduced to Sasha Jansen. Sasha is a run of the mill alcoholic who has seemingly been handed the most dreadful hand in life. Her husband deserted her, her child died, she is poor, and mostly—she is isolated and alone. Her viewpoints on the world, and herself, are very cynical and pessimistic. Sasha’s story details her downfall in a stream of consciousness narrative that takes the reader from one thing to the next and back again. It tells of the things she has sensed which leads to the inevitable end of hopelessness which causes her to suffer severe disconnection from the world around her. The problem is, absolute hopelessness is the best thing that Sasha could find for herself. For Sasha, everything must be kept in perspective. She must not go places that make her remember, she must not do things that make her remember, and she must not see things that make her remember. For Sasha, remembering her tragedies means destroying the careful routine that she has crafted for her life. Sasha herself alludes to this when she claims “[she] doesn’t want the way to the exhibition, [she] wants the way out.” (13)
Lafeyette and Pharoah are faced with many hardships in their day to day activities. Their apartment, the once beautiful complex, now has broken appliances, poor plumbing, horrible security and from the basement come smells that one housing manager described as “foul odors” that “no equipment presently in use by staff could be used to withstand the odor beyond a minute” (p. 240). The boys wake up every morning in this horrible public housing that would most likely be condemned if it was located in any decent neighborhood. Lafeyette and Pharoah get ready for school, usually putting on clothes which have been washed the night before in the bath tub, and then leave for school. Pharoah, who loves school, is always in a hurry to get there, leaving the apartment before anyone else. School is the one place for Pharoah to stand out and get away from the neighborhood for a while. He even attended a summer school program that was supported by the University of Illinois. Lafeyette, on the other hand, isn’t into school very much; which explains why he has such a large number of tardies. Both boys are always careful as they walk through the streets to school to be alert for gunfire, they don’t want to die young like so many friends of theirs.
grades plummet. He forms the idea that, “Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my
Parent/Child relationships are very hard to establish among individuals. This particular relationship is very important for the child from birth because it helps the child to be able to understand moral and values of life that should be taught by the parent(s). In the short story “Teenage Wasteland”, Daisy (mother) fails to provide the proper love and care that should be given to her children. Daisy is an unfit parent that allows herself to manipulated by lacking self confidence, communication, and patience.
Although I grew up with both my parents, my dad was working a 12 hour shift, so he could provide for all his children. Even though I had the love of both my parents, I chose to hang out with my neighbors most of the day. The neighborhood I lived in was full of drugs, violence, and money. I wasn’t really into the violence part. My dad was working all day just so we could have the things we required. I didn’t want to waist our family’s money so I would never ask my Mom or Dad for any. I started hustling anything I had or could get my hands on. It was a bad decision but at the time I wasn’t thinking about the consequences. I was just trying to get my hands on a lot of money. I started robbing places and people, and ended up getting arrested a couple times. Before I started to realize that in the long run, it would turn out for the worst. The first time I got arrested, I didn’t even care. I just wanted to get done with the process of everything, and get back to what I was doing. My mind was set to think “Damn how could you make a silly mistake, and get caught like that.” My mother was totally shocked when she found out that I was getting into trouble, because I hadn’t gotten any complains from school for bad behavior, or bad grades, and I had never let my mom know that I was doing all these useless stuff. Ultimately I got sent to boarding school and now have completely switched up my life. My environment was having a big affect on my life. I learned from my mistakes and I am making a better future for myself. I don’t regret much because, I have gained so much knowledge from the wrong things I did in my life. The author Wes Moore had a change of environment and influences and turned out in a different situation, than the other Wes moor...
When a teacher stops caring a student stops caring because they believe the teacher does not care about them or their education. Rose said “you 're defined by your school as slow”(155). Importance is a big aspect of a student’s growing process, but id the teacher is bored, they won’t think they are important enough. Gatto said “as school personnel they are trapped inside structures, even more rigid than those imposed upon the children”(142). Students should always feel important and the more important they feel than the better and harder they will work in school.
Alison’s story is the perfect example of what many families must go through when faced with the possibility of having a child diagnosed with a learning disability. Alison was not diagnosed with visual and auditory dyslexia until the summer before entering college. However, while still a toddler, her symptoms had been brought to her mother’s attention by her sister’s teacher. Alison’s mother then noticed her habits in repeating words incorrectly and how Alison would need tactile clues to follow directions. At the recommendation of her kindergarten teacher, Alison was tested for learning disabilities and the results from the school psychologists were that she was acting stubborn or disobedient. Her family did not stop with the school’s diagnosis. They had private testing completed that confirmed Alison did not have a specific learning disability. The final word came from a relative that happened to be a psychologist. He insisted Alison would grow out of her difficulties. So Alison continued on with her entire elementary, middle and high school journey as a student and daughter with an undiagnosed learning disability.
The theme of social conventions is displayed through character development. Despite Don’s many excellent qualities, he struggles with social conventions, and, as a result, has few friends. It is this lack of understanding that leads him to have minimal social activity. This is shown in the beginning and middle of the book through his selection of attire, the inability to decipher subtle social hints, and blunt use of language. For instance, Rosie comments on Don’s choice of clothing as akin to a homeless person’s: “I’m not walking around New York with a bum” (223). Later on the book,...
Garland asserts that these trouble makers are hindering educators instructing, scholars learning, and administrators maintaining (694), but she is wrong because many of these troublemakers do not know right from wrong and misbehave in class. When troublemakers do not know right from wrong, these individuals take these drugs that psychologically affect them. For example, I know this kid who went to my high school. I do not know his name but I remember seeing him around when I was a freshman.
Luke had always been the one student to cheat. Each time he had homework, he depended on his friends to get it completed. Every time he had to take a test, his desk partner or cheat sheet was always by his side. His grades were then much higher than average, and people expected so much of him. He had cheated so much during high school that it had become his daily routine. On graduation day, Luke graduated with high honors. He was accepted into one of the best universities in the state. When applying, he was asked to sign an honor pledge so he was able to get into the school. When summer break was over, he packed his things and moved into his new dorm room at college. When his classes started, he got loads of homework. Luke was thankful to have most of his classes with his roommate, so that he was able to cheat off of him. Luke made it through most of the semester by cheating on each worksheet or paper that he had to complete. At the end of the semester, he had many tests that he had to do. Luke made cheat sheets that he planned on using during the tests, but each one was observed closely. He suddenly realized how difficult it was to complete each test when he knew none of the information. Each one he completed, he scored low on it, making his final grade much lower than people had expected him to get. On his final test, he understood none of the material, so he decided to take the risk and get his cheat sheet out when he thought that the college professor was not looking. Unfortunately for Luke, he was caught. He was asked to leave the classroom and later found out that he was kicked out of the class. People were surprised that Luke was caught cheating, because most had thought better of him. Luke made the poor decision to cheat on one test and was caught, getting him into trouble that he would remember for the rest of his life. Luke’s future could possibly be affected by his decision to cheat, and cheating is a decision that he would not choose to make again. Luke’s future needs to be sustainable, but will his future be sustained if he makes the poor decision to cheat?
The story provides many sources for the boy's animosity. Beginning with his home and overall environment, and reaching all the way to the adults that surround him. However, it is clear that all of these causes of the boy's isolation have something in common, he has control over none of these factors. While many of these circumstances no one can expect to have control over, it is the culmination of all these elements that lead to the boy’s undeniable feeling of lack of control.
The main character, Tom Tin, faces hardships and struggles many fourteen year olds do not have to face so early on. His father has mistakenly got himself into trouble and it is up to Tom to save his father and help make his family’s future bright again. Tom has good intentions throughout the novel, but he gets himself into trouble. He turns out to be an unlikely hero after pushing through his doubts and finally triumphing over his mistakes along his journey.