Tangerine Expository Essay “Our lives are fashioned by our choices”. First we make our choices, then our choices make us.” In the action-packed novel Tangerine by Edward Bloor, Paul’s older brother, Erik Fisher, may be a gifted football player that is the placekicker of the Lake Windsor high school football team, is actually a broken person that has developed to be the antagonist and actually Paul’s biggest enemy. From being a part of why Paul was blinded, to making him preoccupied with his fear, Erik is the reason why Paul’s life has been painful and tormenting. But Erik hasn’t been the only one torturing Paul. Erik also has a right-hand man, named Arthur Bauer, who has also been the reason why Paul has lost some friends. In Paul’s life with Erik, he has contributed to the death of Luis, laughed at Mike Costello’s death, and opened Paul’s eyelids and spray painted his eyes as “payback.” First things first, Erik has contributed to the death of Luis Cruz. …show more content…
This is shown as, “I stood up straight and faced them all, like I had seen Luis do. ‘I saw–I heard Erik Fisher tell him to do it’” (Bloor 284). This clearly shows that Erik gave orders to Arthur Bauer to hit Luis with a Blackjack. The effect here is now Erik has to be confronted by a deputy in front of his family, Arthur’s family, and Joey for having to be a part of the death of Luis Cruz. Erik was also instructed by the deputy to stay in his house at all times as the deputy may come back at any time, meaning that Erik might be decided on what charges he might face. Therefore, Erik has been a part of the reason for the death of Luis Cruz. Moreover, Erik laughed at the fact that Mike Costello died in a lightning strike. Mike Costello, a backup quarterback on the Lake Windsor High School football team and Joey’s big brother, died on September 5th from a lightning strike while leaning on a goal
Things that all three flashbacks have show that Erik attacks only with at least one of his friend, they relate to Erik’s harassment on paul, and their parents never punished Erik. In the first flashback, he was getting
Alan Sitomer’s newest fast paced novel Homeboyz is a hardcore suspense story that will immediately put readers on the edge and leave them breathless in the end. Sitomer’s character, Teddy ‘T-Bear’ Anderson is an aloof seventeen year old that doesn’t care for anything other than to avenge his innocent fourteen year old sister Tina’s death, by targeting the infamous gang members of his city. As Teddy’s family mourns and his mother falls into a deep depression, his father Mr. Anderson, also known as Pops attempts to run the dysfunctional ailing household and his linen delivery company by himself. While Teddy observes his family, his desire to seek revenge grows stronger each day until he finally uses his extraordinary visionary skills to come up with a plan.
“The dream lives on twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, twelve months a year. The dream has four years at a big-time college ahead of it. And who knows maybe even the NFL.” (Bloor, Page 212). Tangerine is a realistic fiction novel by the author, Edward Bloor, talks about the struggles of a young boy named Paul Fisher. Paul Fisher rises through the problems he encounters, first starting off as a cowardly and timid boy to a brave and strong person. The book Tangerine reflects how the consequences of Erik Fisher, Paul’s brother, effect Paul after Erik injured his eyes, punched his friend, and ignores him.
While Luis was talking about the dangers of “fighting the freeze” he says, “if you get too cold, come in here. If you get too tired, come lay down”(219). Those words demonstrate that Luis understands the risk they are taking. He really thinks things through, and is also is a good leader by the way he takes charge of the boys. When they woke up the next morning, paul tells Luis that he saw him get hit with the blackjack, and Luis tells him not to be afraid of them. Luis’ advice makes Paul think, “how could I be so afraid and Luis not be the least bit afraid of the same thing”(229). Through Luis’ bravery, it encourages Paul to overcome his fear. The quote shows that Luis has a big impact on the way Paul views Erik and Arthur. His bravery also makes Luis seem like more of a mentor to Paul because it displays how much Paul looks up to Luis. Clearly Paul feels so strongly for Luis because Luis is there for him in ways Erik never was. By giving advice to Paul luis is a
Luis’s arms shot up to cover his head but he staggered to the right and fell on one knee. Arthur stuck the blackjack into his gym bag and continued walking, as if nothing happened”. I did not like that Arthur had to use violence for something bad that they caused. This impacted Paul because it gave him the choice to tell or not to tell about Erik’s violence. The evidence that supports this is on page 246 it states “should I come right out and say, actually mom he wasn’t killed by a tree branch he was killed by Arthur Bauer on orders of Erik”.
James Duncan’s book entitled, The River Why, focuses around the main character, Gus, and how he changes throughout the book. In this book Gus is discovering what life really is and that the whole world does not revolve around fishing. After moving out of his erratic house he spends all of his time fishing at his remote cabin, but this leaves him unhappy and a little insane. He embarks on a search for him self and for his own beliefs. Duncan changes Gus throughout the book, making Gus realize that there are more important things to life than fishing, and these things can lead to a happy fulfilled life, which in turn will help Gus enjoy life and fishing more. Duncan introduces a character, Eddy, who significantly changes Gus’s views on what he needs in his life and she gives Gus a sense of motivation or inspiration. Eddy changes Gus by their first encounter with each other, when Eddy instills in Gus a need to fulfill his life and when they meet up again, completing his need. Fishing is Gus’s first passion but he loses it after he puts all of himself into it, and when Eddy comes into his picture Gus feels a need to have more in his life, like love. Through finding love he re-finds his passion for fishing and learns more about himself. When Eddy and Gus finally get together, he sees this “equilibrium” between his old passion, fishing, and his new one, Eddy. Duncan’s use of Eddy gives Gus a new found sense of purpose and to have a more fulfilled life is a critical step in Gus’s development as a character. This is why Eddy is the most important character to this book, because she gives Gus inspiration to find himself.
Coming off the death of his father, his best friend, and his cousin, he must fight a constant battle against negative community influences such as guns, drugs, lack of opportunity, and cultural stereotypes. On the ruff streets of southeast Fresno, Eddie is just trying to get by. All he wants is to forget his violent past, find and hold down a job, and walk the right path, But after his cousin's murder, Eddie finds himself slowly drawn back into the cycle of violence and going against the scrim of a city sweltering in the grip of poverty, crime, and unfulfilled dreams, this is a story of a young man struggling to survive in a world spiraling out of control. Fresno is the city where the novel materializes.
Bissinger creates empathy in the reader by narrating the lives of once Permian heros. Charlie Billingsley, a Permian football player, “was somewhere at the top” while he was playing. It was hard for the football town of Odessa to forget “how that son of a bitch played the game in the late sixties”(80). While in Odessa, Permian players receive praise unmatched by even professional football. This unmatchable praise becomes something Permian players like Billingsley become accustomed to, and when he “found out that...you were a lot more expendable in college(80). This lack of appreciation that is equivalent to the one that they have received their whole life makes them go from “a hero one day to a broken down nobody the next”(81). With the realization of this reality, Billingsley becomes one of the many to spend life as a wastrel, living in his memory of playing for the Permian Panthers. The reader becomes empathetic towards how the once likely to succeed Billingsley, becomes another Odessan wastrel due to the over emphasis and extreme praise the Odessan football team receives. Bissinger does not stop with a classic riches to rags story to spur the reader’s empathy but talks about the effect the Odessan attitude toward football has on the health of its players. Just like in many parts of the world, in Odessa, sports equates to manliness and manliness equates to not showing signs of pain. Philip, an eighth grade boy aspiring to one day be a Permian Panther is lauded by his stepfather as he “broke his arm during the first demonstrative series of a game ...[but] managed to set it back in” and continued playing for the rest of the game. It is noted that Philip’s arm “swelled considerably, to the point the forearm pads...had to be cut off”(43). By adding details such as these, Bissinger
Due to J.D Salinger’s personal and relatable narrative treatment, Catcher in the Rye continues to engage audiences, even 64 years after it was first published. The way the book deals with alienation and disillusionment in regards to Holden’s past trauma - through the closeness of first person narration and conversational writing among other techniques - creates a personal connection to Holden’s character and helps adolescents relate his troubles to their own.
In Tangerine Paul may be blind physically but he can see what his parents’ and the townspeople can’t. Paul, a middle school student and the main character, is physically blind and is looking for answers from the past. Erik, Paul's big brother, is a superstar football kicker and bully who is driven by anger and frustration. Their parents are struggling with the secrets from the past and the effect that they have on the family and the families future. Tangerine county in Florida has the well off town of Lake Windsor, where the Fisher family lives, and the poorer town of Tangerine. The author Edward Bloor utilizes blindness to symbolize how Paul may be visually impaired but can see social injustice, while Erik and his
At the beginning of his story, Holden is a student at Pencey Prep School. Having been expelled for failing four out of his five classes, Holden leaves school and spends 72 hours in New York City before returning home. There, Holden encounters new ideas, people, and experiences. Holden's psychological battle within himself serves as the tool that uncovers the coming-of-age novel's underlying themes of teen angst, depression, and the disingenuous nature of society. The novel tackles issues of blatant profanity, teenage sex, and other erratic behavior.
What was wrong with Holden, the main character in The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D.Salinger, was his moral revulsion against anything that was ugly, evil, cruel, or what he called "phoney" and his acute responsiveness to beauty and innocence, especially the innocence of the very young, in whom he saw reflected his own lost childhood. There is something wrong or lacking in the novels of despair and frustration of many writers. The sour note of bitterness and the recurring theme of sadism have become almost a convention, never thoroughly explained by the author's dependence on a psychoanalytical interpretation of a major character. The boys who are spoiled or turned into budding homosexuals by their mothers and a loveless home life are as familiar to us today as stalwart and dependable young heroes such as John Wayne were to an earlier generation. We have accepted this interpretation of the restlessness and bewilderment of our young men and boys because no one had anything better to offer. It is tragic to hear the anguished cry of parents: "What have we done to harm him? Why doesn't he care about anything? He is a bright boy, but why does he fail to pass his examinations? Why won't he talk to us?"
“Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday conveys the inhumane, gory lynchings of African-Americans in the American South, and how this highly unnatural act had entrenched itself into the society and culture of the South, almost as if it were an agricultural crop. Although the song did not originate from Holiday, her first performance of it in 1939 in New York City and successive recording of the song became highly popular for their emotional power (“Strange fruit,” 2017). The lyrics in the song highlight the contrast between the natural beauty and apparent sophistication of the agricultural South with the brutal violence of lynchings. Holiday communicates these rather disturbing lyrics through a peculiarly serene vocal delivery, accompanied by a hymn-like
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caufield believes that innocence is corrupted by society. He exposes his self-inflicted emotional struggles as he is reminiscing the past. For Holden, teenage adolescence is a complicated time for him, his teenage mentality in allows him to transition from the teenage era to the reality of an adult in the real world. As he is struggling to find his own meaning of life, he cares less about others and worries about how he can be a hero not only to himself but also to the innocent youth. As Holden is grasping the idea of growing up, he sets his priorities of where he belongs and how to establish it. As he talks about how ‘phony’ the outside world is, he has specific recollections that signify importance to his life and he uses these time and time again because these memories are ones that he wont ever let go of. The death of his younger brother Allie has had a major impact on him emotionally and mentally. The freedom of the ducks in Central Park symbolize his ‘get away’ from reality into his own world. His ideology of letting kids grow up and breaking the chain loose to discover for themselves portrays the carrousel and the gold ring. These are three major moments that will be explored to understand the life of Holden Caufield and his significant personal encounters as he transitions from adolescence into manhood.
Despite Holden’s pain, the novel is a fun and pleasant read, because the darker themes are usually masked by humour. For example, when Holden is being confronted about his expulsion, the text reads, “He put my goddamn paper down then, and looked at me like he’d just beaten the hell out of me in ping-pong or something”(12). When he compares his failure to losing a game of ping-pong, it makes the reader believe that the situation isn’t as serious as it really is.