Gaining maturity and growing up is an important part of life and can affect your future. In “Uglies” by Scott Westerfeld, everyone lives in a futuristic society where the only way to be equal and be accepted is to look perfect. The government pressures and manipulates young adults to undergo an operation that turns them from an average ugly, to a stunning pretty. The main character, Tally, is excited about becoming “pretty” but her friend is not. Her friend, Shay thinks having the operation will change her brain and plans on running away. Because of this, their friendship is torn apart. In “Uglies”, Westerfeld uses the hoverboards as a symbol for growing-up and gaining maturity. In the beginning of the book, Tally thinks of the hoverboard
Charley Goddard when into the war when he was fifteen years old he when into the war only to be a man. He was not thinking of what he would have to live on, the conditions he had to live under. He was not thinking that he would have to see the things that he had seen, doing the things that he had to do to stay alive. When Charley entered the war he wasn’t scared mostly because the didn’t do much. When the war really started to “kick up” or become more intense he started to get scared, he almost threw up half of the time. He didn’t think he would have to walk and take cover from dead men- dead friends. When Charley was out of the war he was twenty one. He was walking with a cane and is complaining that he was too old. When Charley said he was too old he wasn't talking about his age he was talking about the things he had seen.
Have you ever had a sibling that you were jealous of or disliked? In “The Scarlet Ibis” The narrator reminisces about his feeble and sickly brother, their time together, and how he felt about. In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis”, author James Hurst uses Doodle’s brother to show that Doodle’s brother can be kind and cruel to Doodle.
The outlook on our future is promising due to teenagers realizing how crucial uniqueness is in this world. Teenagers are coming to the realization that a person’s heart is much more important than their outer appearance. Teenagers are beginning to understand that a person’s outer appearance isn’t what’s going to make the world better, their heart is. In both “The Uglies” and in “Harrison Bergeron”, the authors show how they believe the future is going to turn out. Their predictions show a future that is not so promising and a future that is completely controlled by their government. Reading these stories should inspire young teenagers minds and help them realize that this isn’t the type of future they want, which will then lead to teenagers
In this society everyone is obsessed with beauty. And the Uglies are the people between the ages of 12 and 16 they live in a remote community far from the beautiful people. In this community the Uglies anxiously wait for their 16th birthday. At the age of 16 they go through a mandatory plastic surgery in order to live up to society’s standards. After they go through plastic surgery they will be known as pretties, and they will also live with all of the other gorgeous people.
The book I chose for this assignment is Reviving Ophelia. This was a very interesting book. Mary Pipher, PhD. discusses the roles that society plays in shaping the self esteem of teenage and preteen age girls. The author contends that our society today is very look-obsessed and media driven. Through magazines, television, fashion, and retail the "idea" girl is formed and anyone who doesn't fit this idea is not perfect in the culture that girls live in today. Weight issues have caused conditions of anorexia and bulimia putting young girls in jeopardy of declining health. Dr. Pipher chronicles the life of adolescent girls from their carefree days of being energetic, assertive, and tomboyish to their losing themselves at the onset of puberty. Most girls lose their previous selves to fit into a norm of society, being more passive, depressed, and self-critical. The main point of this book is to help uncover the true self of adolescent girls and to give them techniques to help them combat the views of society. This quote from the book summarizes all that the author was addressing when writing this book. "Most girls choose to be socially accepted and split into two selves, one that is authentic and one that is culturally scripted. In public they become who they are suppose to be."
Scott Westerfeld’s science fiction novel titled Uglies, is a book about teenagers who live in a world where everyone is expected to look the same after the age of sixteen. 2.Tally lives in Uglyville, and not being able to await the day she turns pretty, she sneaks into New Pretty Town and meets a girl named Shay who is also visiting her “pretty” friends. 3.Shay and Tally become extremely good friends, and they do everything together, including using apps to morph their faces and imagine what they’ll look like after their surgery. 4. As Tally is morphing her face, she realizes that Shay is very uncomfortable and wants to sneak out into the Rusty Ruins, a place without any civilization, and while they are there, Tally notices that Shay oddly
In the Disney movie Life-Size, actress Tyra Banks plays the role of Eve, a Barbie-like doll, who is "perfect in every way," come to life. Later in the movie, the once-very popular Eve doll's sales decrease dramatically, and the company stops the production of the Eve doll not realizing what they are doing wrong. Distressed, Banks, the "life-size" Eve doll, turns to her owner Casey and learns two valuable lessons—that perfection is boring and unrealistic, and it is okay to make mistakes. Casey tells the life-size Eve that the Eve doll is too "goody-goody" to be real, and girls need more realistic role models—heroes—with personality, inner struggles, and mistakes. Almost everyone likes heroes from Spiderman to firefighters to Dad who inspire the young and keep them motivated; however when the heroes' lives and beliefs are fabricated to fit a stereotype, these humans regress into nothing more than a boring ideal. Heroification with cognitive dissonance blind students to the reality of this world and limit their ability to view controversies objectively.
After carefully reading the essay “Tweens: Ten Going on Sixteen,” I agree with the author’s premise. Children of this present generation are growing up too fast because they are allowed by their parents and they sometimes get encouragement from their families. Some months back, while coming from the store, I had to use the public transport as my ride. While waiting at the bus stop, I saw a girl that should be not more than 11 years. She had a bandana as her top and a mini skirt. Seeing that broke my heart and unfortunately, her mother approved her way of dressing because she was with her the whole time I was at the bus stop and she did not complain about the way her daughter dressed. Her daughter was the sexiest girl in the bus stop and she
People tend to want change something about themselves to make them feel better of who they are. The author, Judith Ortiz Cofer and her family immigrated from Puerto Rico to the United States in 1954. She struggled with her own identity due to the transition of coming to a whole new different setting. The story “Volar” by Cofer, a young girl tries to escape her reality by having dreams and reading the fantasy world of comic books. In her dreams, she describes the physical changes she is experiencing, for instance her legs would grow longer, her breasts be larger, and her hair would go straight and turn gold. This is what seemed to be her desire look which is like Supergirl. However, Cofer depicts the young girls’ appearance “…find myself back in my body: tight curls still clinging to my head, skinny arms and legs and flat chest unchanged” (234). She points out her “flaws” instead of embracing her own body. She wants to have the physical characteristic of superhero and like be able to fly. Therefore, her identity is affected since being a superhero is not realistic and the story of a superhero being unstoppable does not exist. She considers her body to be unacceptable and there is nothing she can do to change it. A story, affects her identity because she admires superhero characteristics but she is weak. She wants to be someone else rather than her own self. She
Darrell Mercer was forced to leave his home in Philadelphia to move all the way to California to live with his grandfather. He didn’t want to but he had no choice. He left his friends behind. In his new school Bluford High, Darrell will have to pass his classes for the other half of the year and make friends in his classes. He just needs to survive the bullies while getting good grades.
Barbie, a doll manufactured by Mattel, Inc., encourages an unrealistic body image, racial insensitivity, and contradictive goals, and it is having a negative influence on young girls everywhere. Launched in March 1959 by Ruth Handler, an American business woman and president of Mattel, Inc., Barbie quickly became popular and has gone on to sell three dolls every second, in over one hundred and fifty countries. However, Barbie’s rise to success has not been wholly positive – there have been numerous controversies, parodies, and lawsuits, all addressing a number of issues. One such issue is how Barbie promotes an unrealistic and unobtainable body image. For example, to scale, Barbie is five feet, nine inches tall, has a thirty six inch chest, eighteen inch waist, and thirty three inch hips. Had Barbie been a real person, she would not be able to walk, much less hold her head up. Secondly, Barbie is racially insensitive and perpetuates stereotypes. “Mexico Barbie,” from Barbie’s “ethnic” line, comes with a passport and a Chihuahua, as well as stereotypical red lace ribbons in her hair. Lastly, Barbie portrays goals that are both unobtainable and contradictive. Barbie has had a variety of careers, such as being a doctor, astronaut, and President of the United States, but also engages in stereotypical domestic activities, such as cleaning and baking. These characteristics are affecting young girls in a time when they are most developmentally susceptible, and teaching them a number of negative lessons.
9 years old; I was one of those kids with that crazy toothless smile. I had those awkward brown pigtails and I had just discovered my mommy’s makeup. 9 years old and I felt unbeautiful. That’s sad. Look around you; can you pick out anyone who feels beautiful? I’m sure you could name a few who are beautiful, but do they know? Do they feel beautiful? The older i’ve gotten, it seems that younger and younger generations discover their insecurities even sooner than the ...
As a person grows older over time, they change as an individual whether it is about feelings towards someone to their career choices later in the future. (or about their career choices that they will make in the future) People change the most in the stage of adolescence similar to the novel An Abundance Of Katherine’s by John Green. Colin, Lindsey and Hassan make bold life-changing decisions neither of them would be thinking of making in the future. The three friends all have regular lives and never planned for their upcoming future. Each friend has a different routine and expects their lives to be the same forever but one summer, everything drastically changes for them. Ultimately, tough challenges that come in life make one grow as a stronger genuine person in the future.
Teenagers often feel depressed and sad because they do not have friends or they can not fit in so they start to establish new personality and a new looks so they can fit in. In Flower for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (1959) a 32 year old retarded man named Charlie Gordon undergoes a surgery to get smarter so that he can fit in his community and have a lot of friends. Unfortunately, the operation has side effects because nothing good lasts forever and a new Charlie gets reborn with a new personality. By looking at Charlie's personality as he gets smarter, he becomes more arrogant, selfish and he starts losing his friends.
My first character is David Webb. David was in the Vietnam War and was the kind of person who is strong and belligerent. It was until the government kidnapped his wife, Marie, in an attempt to manipulate him into working with them. David had a persona by the name of Jason Bourne. Jason Bourne is a killer and has murdered several people. David is trying to forget about his persona but he keeps talking to him in flashbacks. After his wife was kidnaped he thought “My Love, my only love – Don’t think that way. Jason Bourne spoke: she is a valuable possession taken from you! Get her back. David Webb spoke: No, not a possession, my life!” (Ludlum 75). This quote shows how David and Jason talk back and forth in his head. In the song, Hello, I feel like it really fits in with David’s personality. In this part from the song, “Hello from the other side”, I feel like it really shows his personality. I think this because the other side shows his Jason Bourne side.