The novel I read—Stargirl—presented ideas about individuality and challenging standard social attitudes, practices, and, in general, social standards that we as everyday people are used to. Set in Mica Area High School, the story follows Stargirl Caraway as her unconventional behavior and free-spirited nature are new to the students of her school. Through the eyes of Stargirl Caraway, the novel prompts readers to ponder the importance of individuality. This analysis will explore Stargirl's character as a focal point for examining her impact on the overall literary effect. Stargirl Caraway plays a remarkable role as an individual throughout the novel. From her unconventional ways to her spontaneous acts of kindness, Stargirl defies the expectations placed upon her by …show more content…
In her desire to be accepted by her peers and Leo, she makes efforts to change aspects of herself, such as adopting a more conventional appearance and conforming to societal norms. Yet, these changes come at a cost, as Stargirl begins to feel like she is betraying her true self. It is through this process of trying to fit in that Stargirl has a realization – true happiness cannot be found by changing yourself to feel accepted and normal. Ultimately, Stargirl learns that embracing her individuality, with all its quirks and mishaps, is essential to her happiness and fulfillment. "Walking with her after school that day, I said, 'I guess you’re giving up, huh?' She looked at me, and said, "I'm not a snob." Giving up. On what?. On being popular with the people. On being. How could I say it? She smiled. Normal - a snort of a snort. I shrugged. Yes, she said firmly. Yes. I am a naysayer. I’m answering your question. The answer is yes, yes. I’m giving up on trying to be popular and normal. Her face and body language did not seem to match her words. She looked cheery,
Kingsolver develops the story of a strong young woman, named Taylor Greer, who is determined to establish her own individuality. The character learns that she must balance this individualism with a commitment to her community of friends, and in doing this, her life is immeasurably enriched. Many books speak of family, community, and individuality. I believe, however, that the idea that Barbara Kingsolver establishes in her book, The Bean Trees, of a strong sense of individualism, consciously balanced with a keen understanding of community as extended family, is a relatively new idea to the genre of the American novel.
When reading Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, it is instantly understood that you have control of not only being yourself, but being true to yourself. In the novel, Stargirl left a great legacy in MICA High School and all the people living around in general. So after reading Stargirl, we can understand that individuality and truthfulness to yourself is important to everyone around and most of all,
From the mid to late nineteenth century, and into the early twentieth century, American short story writer Sarah Orne Jewett earned her part in the local color literary movement. In doing so, Jewett writes with a unique style: creating larger-than-life characters, naive narrators, tiny details, and oddities of all sorts. The culmination of these features are used by Jewett to expose busy and primarily middle-class readers to the lives of two young women in the short story “Deephaven Cronies”. Going deeper than the text, Jewett delineates the structure of social class, gender norms, and locality.
...approval by their family and the people around are considered as the most common trend between teenagers around the world and are used throughout the novel. Josephine was first introduced to the reading knowing that she was unsure of her identity and how she was searching for acceptance from her grandmother due to her illegitimacy. Marchetta created Josephine’s characteristic as one that the readers can truly understand and allow them to be able to feel a connection and a relation between the characters in the novel and themselves; it can make them realize that this is a social issues that each generation of teenagers face on a daily basis. The characters in the novel accompanied by the themes such as stereotypes and social statuses supported the author’s idea of creating a novel in which comment on the social issues and reflect reality within the novel.
The short story Eleven by Sandra Cisneros, focuses around the main character Rachel as an insecure developing girl who lacks the experience to handle everyday encounters. Rachel, an eleven year old girl truly encapsulates the thoughts that are present within an adolescent. The lack of confidence in herself, excessive fear of being judged, and ideas of growing up are ideals that are relevant within each and every one of us. The reader is able to relate to Rachel because her feelings and experiences that are described by the author are similar to what most people have been through and are currently experiencing. The characterization of Rachel is expressed through the author’s usage of point of view, imagery, and repetition.
This book teaches the importance of self-expression and independence. If we did not have these necessities, then life would be like those in this novel. Empty, redundant, and fearful of what is going on. The quotes above show how different life can be without our basic freedoms. This novel was very interesting and it shows, no matter how dismal a situation is, there is always a way out if you never give up, even if you have to do it alone.
She’s just so weak. If she would stand up for herself, no one would bother her. It’s her own fault that people pick on her, she needs to toughen up. “Shape of a Girl” by Joan MacLeod, introduces us to a group of girls trying to “fit in” in their own culture, “school.” This story goes into detail about what girls will do to feel accepted and powerful, and the way they deal with everyday occurrences in their “world.” Most of the story is through the eyes of one particular character, we learn about her inner struggles and how she deals with her own morals. This story uses verisimilitude, and irony to help us understand the strife of children just wanting to fit in and feel normal in schools today.
Symbolism, similes and themes helped guide the reader to gather ideas and information about characters in this book about how you can amount to anything if you try hard enough. Walls shows you can come from any background and still make a name and a life for yourself. Jeannette
In Phoebe’s Prince story, for instance, no amount of finger pointing or apportioning blame can address the underlying issues. For one, she was an emotionally disturbed girl who had tried to end her life before she got bullied in school. Apart from her depressive state, Phoebe had minimal communication of her challenges in school with her parents or any authority figures (teachers or even the school principal) in her life. These gaps are what are highlighted in this paper and hopefully when fully grasped can help to minimize the gaps that exist in our social
When life becomes overwhelming during adolescence, a child’s first response is to withdraw from the confinement of what is considered socially correct. Individuality then replaces the desire to meet social expectations, and thus the spiral into social non-conformity begins. During the course of Susanna’s high school career, she is different from the other kids. Susanna:
Throughout the novel the reader finds out that one cannot stew over a negative situation, but instead, find the positive in a negative situation and move on to better things. In addition, people should always be themselves because we all matter, no matter what our differences.
Our class has been reading a book called “Brown Girl Dreaming” for the past two weeks. The author, Jacqueline Woodson talks about her life growing up. For example she talks about how her mom and dad divorced when she was young. She talks about how she moves to Greenville and how her grandpa is like a dad figure, and how her mother came back with a pale skinned baby after she went to New York. Character traits make up a person, and while reading the book, you can see what Jacqueline is like during her childhood. Jacqueline has many character traits, such as being jealous of her older sister, being naive, and she is also respectful.
At the age of ten, most children are dependent on their parents for everything in their lives, needing a great deal of attention and care. However, Ellen, the main character and protagonist of the novel Ellen Foster, exemplifies a substantial amount of independence and mature, rational thought as a ten-year-old girl. The recent death of her mother sends her on a quest for the ideal family, or anywhere her father, who had shown apathy to both she and her fragile mother, was not. Kaye Gibbons’ use of simple diction, unmarked dialogue, and a unique story structure in her first novel, Ellen Foster, allows the reader to explore the emotions and thoughts of this heroic, ten-year-old girl modeled after Gibbons’ own experiences as a young girl. Kaye Gibbons’ experiences as a child are the foundations for this.
Indifference in this day and age is seen all around. Many are influenced to be conformists, to not be perceived as unusual. The novel Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli effectively explores the experience of being unlike and incompatible in an environment as judgmental as high school. Leo Borlock, the narrator and main character, would soon become fairly intrigued and involved with Stargirl’s unique demeanor. After being homeschooled for years on end, Stargirl begins to attend Mica High School and is presented as a bubbly and daunting character who quickly gains popularity.
A need for both socialization and a sense of identity forge tight community bonds that many maintain throughout their life. Their life may center on religion, race, or even the socioeconomic class to which they belong. Communities reflect these aspects by grouping together individuals in similar situations and beliefs. Pang-Mei Natasha Chang’s Bound Feet & Western Dress expresses the importance of tradition and culture in community identification by detailing the life of the conventional Chang Yu-i and her relationship with a westernized Hsü Chih-mo. Susanna Kaysen depicts her personal struggles with finding the community that she belongs to in Girl, Interrupted. Both Yu-i and Kaysen learn that community is not assigned, rather it is chosen by a self motivated individual wanting inclusion. Community is formed from a group of people with similar goals and beliefs who obtain identity and strength in numbers. The member is forever bound to his or her community thus preserving the ideals in association which makes finding a new identity is impossible. The effect a community has on its constituents is profound in that it governs the way one looks at the world.