Silver Star Informational Text

Using Informational Texts to Give Me Perspective on Silver Star
In the past, when I've read novels I generally did not look up information surrounding the topics of the novel. I never really thought it was important to use informational texts to support my reading . But when I read the novel Silver Star by Jeannette Walls, I found it extremely useful to inform myself on big issues in the novel. The articles helped me understand my characters motivation and helped me have empathy towards my characters. While reading Silver Star I gained perspective on emotional abuse, racial integration and the effects of trauma by reading a variety of informational texts.
There are several scenes in the novel where Mr.Maddox is emotionally abusive to several

people in Byler. In the novel there are many times when Mr.Maddox tries to manipulate vulnerable people in the town.

On page 104 “Those are my clothes,” she said. “ I don't have anything to wear” “They're not your clothes,” Mr.Maddox told her. “ They're Jerry Maddox’s clothes. Who bought them? Jerry Maddox. Who worked his butt off to pay for them ? Jerry Maddox. So who do they belong to ?” “ Jerry Maddox” Dorris said.” It is clear that Mr.Maddox is a very disrespectful given the way he is talking to his wife Doris. However after reading Marni Feuerman’s article “ Warning Signs of an Emotionally Abusive Relationship” that I was able to see that Mr.MAddox is more than just “disrespectful” he is emotionally abusive. The informational text reads that “Psychological abuse can look like, Using money to control”.(Feuerman) Given the way Mr.Maddox verbally manipulates his wife, Doris we see that she becomes submissive to Mr.Maddox. Considering the

impression of the situation we can see that Mr.Maddox is using money to convince Doris that she is powerless and that Mr.Maddox is the only one in control. This is clearly shown in the text because we see that Mr.Maddox forces Doris to understand that he is the one who worked to pay for her clothes and that without his money she would not have anything. The text also shows Mr.Maddox’s desire for Doris to understand that everything belongs to him and that she has nothing. Although this is only one occasion of Mr.Maddox’s verbal abuse towards his wife, I inferred that Mr.Maddox might emotionally abuse others within Byler by showing his need for authority and control.
Another informational text that helped give me perspective on the setting of social climate in Silver Star is “Racial Integration of Schools”. In Byler an ongoing issue they have is integrating schools. After 1879 integration was permitted but not required within schools. In one scene we see Bean come to the realization that the african americans did not want to integrate just as much as the whites didn’t either. In one scene Bean is talking to her new friend Vanessa, “Fair? You want to talk about what’s fair and what’s not fair? What’s not fair is having your own school closed down and being forced to go to the cracker school.” “What do you mean? I thought the black kids wanted to go to the white schools. I thought that was the whole point”(Walls 138). After reading the informational text, “Racial Integration of Schools (Brown v. Board of Education.)”, I learned that since 1879 the option to integrate schools was permitted but not forced on to districts and that though it was an option to integrate both blacks and whites did not want to integrate with each other. “ Education operated separate elementary schools under 1879 Kansas law, which permitted (but did not require) districts to maintain separate elementary school facilities for black and white students”(Racial Integration). Beans surprised reaction to what Vanessa had told her shows that Bean really did not understand the black people’s side because she did not know that the black people did not want to integrate with the whites just as much as the whites did. Vanessa says “having your own school closed down and being forced to go to the cracker school” this really highlights the fact that the blacks were forced to leave their own school and integrate with the whites and that before the black and white students had the option not to integrate but after 1970 school integration was forced on too both sides. Given the time of when the novel is set in , I am able to understand that both blacks and whites were not pleased with integration.
Finally, a crucial text in helping me understand the novel in a deeper way was the article “Coping with Unexpected Events : Depression and Trauma”.

At the end of the novel Liz had extreme trauma after the incident with Mr.Maddox. The setting of the novel (Byler) contributed to Liz’s trauma do to the fact that everyone knew everything and that most of the people in the town of Byler were very conservative. After the incident that happens between Mr.Maddox and Liz, Liz experienced a lot of depression and stress due to the traumatic event . “Who denies lies? Who will scrutinize the lies? The size of lies? Who will pluck the lizard's eyes? Who cries,who spies,who sighs,who dies?”(Walls 231). This shows that Liz was experiencing a very serious amount of stress due to all the emotions and blame she felt towards herself. The informational article advocate that to help a person recover from trauma, “Be on the lookout for signs of stress.Listen to others and allow them to express their feelings and reactions” (Coping from Unexpected Events). Fortunately at the end of the novel, Liz continues a normal life in Byler with the support of her sister Bean and Uncle Tinsley to help her heal from the

trauma.
After reading the novel Silver Star with supporting informational texts, it helped me understand issues, current conflicts and my character's motivation in the novel. By reading these articles I am able to empathize my characters and understand the novel's message better. Overall I have learned that in the future, I will seek out informational texts when reading novels as a way to help give me perspective on the novel.