Lessons and Craft of Stay

            I just finished the book Stay by Deb Caletti. It was a pretty interesting book. I think there were two main lessons in the book. Before I talk about the lessons I want to mention how the author wrote this book. It was about Clara’s life only. The first chapter was the past and how she met Christian. The second was the present and how she was getting away from him. Both of these stories continued alternating by each chapter. At the end they merged into one story which was the present. It was cool how the author did this and managed to pull it off. Sometimes it was a bit confusing. At one part I was like wait, what happened before this in the chapter about her past? Overall I thought it was a good book.

                The first lesson I thought that the author wanted to teach was be careful about who you trust. A lot of books are about this and it’s a big thing. Trusting the wrong person can lead to many other problems that you might not even imagine happening to you. It was just like how Clara trusted Christian in the beginning. Towards the end of her relationship, she just wanted to get away from him and couldn’t. It was like she couldn’t be free.

                The second lesson was to improve on your mistakes. Clara went through this in the book. Christian didn’t like her to joke with others and she listened to him but only at the very beginning of their relationship. Later, when Clara went out with Finn, she was careful not to joke around with his friends at first. When she noticed Finn didn’t really care whether she joked around or not she understood that he was the right one. This might be a different kind of example but there are many other situations that you can improve you mistakes in. 

Theme of Martin Espada’s Poems Essay

Martin Espada is a famous poet.  He was born in New York in 195. He has published more than 15 books full of poems. His poems have been published in Spain, Puerto Rico, and Chile. His poems have different themes. Some of them do have the same theme but in different ways of expressing them. Some of his poems are based off of pictures or they are just experiences or moments that he thinks about probably. Three of his poems stand out to have the same theme but expressed in different ways. The three poems Revolutionary Spanish Lesson; The New Bathroom Policy at English High School; and Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877 have the theme that separation is wrong because of the words that he uses in his poems.

            In Revolutionary Spanish Lesson Espada writes about how a guy feels when his name is mispronounced. He writes it from a first-person point of view. He says that when someone mispronounces his name he wants to “hijack a busload of Republican tourists from Wisconsin, force them to chant anti-American slogans in Spanish”. His description is so specific. He shows how there is a separation between the white people and Spanish or any other ethnicity. He shows that there is a border that separates the Spanish and the whites and he is writing this poem to show these whites to try to pronounce names correctly to make this border disappear. It’s like a message for the white people who make no move to pronounce someone’s name correctly.

            In the second poem The New Bathroom Policy at English High School Espada writes about a principal in an English High School using the bathroom while listening to boys talk in Spanish. He doesn’t understand what they are saying except that they are talking about him. He decides to ignore them and relax. This is another example of how there is a border between the Spanish and whites. It’s like the principal doesn’t care about the Spanish kids and he’s like speak your own language and I’ll stick to mine. It’s the principal creating the border by not trying to figure out what they are saying. If there was no border he would at least try to find out what they were talking about which indicates he cares, but that’s not the case.

            In the third poem Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877 Espada writes about a photograph of forty white vigilantes lynching two Mexicans and showed their pride by crowding into the photograph. This is a very clear example of separation. It supports the fat that the whites didn’t care about the Spanish people and were proud to hang them. Except that this photograph was from 1877 which means that this was a long time ago. It’s a message for the people now not to repeat the same thing. It’s so that the separation between Mexicans and whites don’t get so strong that the whites begin to hang the Mexicans. It’s to teach a lesson.

            Overall these three poems represent the theme of separation and how it’s not right. He expresses this message in the same form but in three different ways. He shows it through history, through a first-person point of view, and an example of someone creating it. It’s an attempt to diminish the separation between whites and Mexicans and other ethnicities. It’s so that everyone respects each other and each other’s language. It’s to show everyone separation is wrong.

Response on "Forever"

            I just finished the book Forever by Maggie Stiefvater which I figured out is actually a good book. From the cover and the blurb on the back I really didn’t think it was going to be a good book but it actually was. The main characters; Sam, Grace, Cole, Isabel, and Rachel; taught some very important lessons. Some people might think that this book is useless but it actually teaches a lesson.

Grace had everyone thinking that she had disappeared but she wasn’t. She just didn’t want everyone to know that she was a wolf and so was her boyfriend Sam. She didn’t even want to tell her parents. When Sam got taken in to be questioned about Grace’s disappearance, Grace said she wanted to tell the public that she was still alive and show them that she hadn’t left. Sam didn’t want her to tell everyone because then it might lead to everyone finding out that she was a wolf. Grace said that it’s better than Sam possibly going to jail for being accused of doing something to Grace. Grace was ready to give up her happiness to get someone to stay out of trouble and that should happen in this world too between people.

When Grace revealed to her friend, Rachel, that she is a wolf Rachel was first shocked and thought she was joking. She even said that if Grace is a wolf, she’s a zebra. That was her first reaction but later on she actually accepted. She didn’t stop talking to Grace or even avoid her; she accepted her and continued to be best friends with her. It just shows that is you’re friends with someone and know that they’re trustworthy, you should accept them however they are.

Sam was fighting with Shelby while they were both in wolf form, Cole sensed that Sam wouldn’t win and would go down. He shifted into a wolf, told Sam to leave with the rest of the pack, and fought Shelby. He knew Sam so well because he was friends with him and lived with him that he didn’t want him to die. He was ready to sacrifice his life for him. That’s how close their friendship was. It shows how if you really love someone, you should be ready to sacrifice something for them if not your life.

Isabel saw that Cole went down, while fighting Shelby in wolf form, because of people in helicopters shooting at him. She thought that he was dead and didn’t want it to happen to the rest of the wolves. She thought that since she couldn’t save Cole’s life she should save all the other wolf lives that were in danger because of the people, including her father, who were trying to wipe them out. She drove to the middle of the clearing where the people were shooting at from the helicopters and she looked up at the helicopter through her sunroof and looked up at the helicopter until they saw her. The shooting stopped and her father texted her to get out of there but she told him not until he did and stared at the helicopter until the wolves got out of the way. She risked her getting punished for other peoples’ (who turn into wolves) lives. This doesn’t happen that often in this world because people aren’t that close or they are too selfish.

These are very important lessons that are for people everywhere. They are shown through a book that people might think is useless it actually isn’t. It’s actually very interesting. I think that these lessons were what the author might have been trying to get through to the reader. I just really want to read the other books written by Maggie Stiefvater.

Reading Response on Am I Blue?

People rush to figure out who they are in life. Are they straight or are they gay? Most of them are pressured by society who thinks they are gay. Inside the person is perturbed and doesn’t even know what they are themselves. They rush to make decisions and most of the time they try to avow to  themselves they are straight so that they won’t get pressured but sometimes the truth is that they are gay. They preclude the thought that they might be gay. Later on in life they know they made the wrong decision and they struggle inside themselves when people who are gay are taking the right path of their lives. In Bruce Coville’s short story Am I Blue?, the reader learns that you can and should take your time to figure out who you are even under all the societal pressure.

            The main character in Am I Blue?, Vince is the main character who is perturbed whether he is gay or straight. One day he gets bullied by Butch Carrigan and then he meets his fairy godfather who is Melvin. Melvin shows Vince how there are other people in this world who are gay. Through all of this, Vince’s status comes up a couple of times. At one part in the beginning it says, “ ‘Me being your first case. Does that mean I’m gay?’ I didn’t mention that I had been trying to figure out the same thing myself for about a year now.” This quote means that Vince is confused if he is gay or not. Later on in the story towards the middle it says, “ ‘Gaydar,’ said Melvin, stirring his coffee. ‘Automatic sensing system that lets you spot people of similar persuasion. A lot of gay guys have it to some degree or other. If it was more reliable, it would make life easier on us—’ I interrupted. ‘Speak for yourself.’ ” This means that Vince doesn’t want to accept that he’s gay because he doesn’t even know himself yet.

            So finally everyone should take time to figure out who they are before they make conclusions like Vince learned not to do. Vince went from rushing to figure out what he was to learning to accept whatever and whenever it comes to him. The reader learned to mainly take your time to figure out who you are and accept what comes to you. Like at the end of the story Vince’s thought was, “I’ve decided to save it when I really need it— m­­­aybe when I meet the girl of my dreams or Prince Charming. Whichever.”



Revision on "Drummer Boy of Shiloh" Essay

           In “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” by Ray Bradbury, Joby is the drummer boy who we think ran away and joined the army. He thinks about hiding in the peach orchard and staying until the soldiers to the battle at dawn. He thinks about doing this because he is scared that he won’t return alive. The general finds him and speaks to him and changes his mind so that he chooses to go to battle and feel confident about it. Bradbury shows the reader to face life with faith and courage even when it’s most difficult.

          In the story Bradbury shows how Joby didn’t have courage in the beginning but after the General talked to him he had faith. In the beginning Joby thinks, “If he stayed very still, when the dawn came up and the soldiers put on their bravery with their caps, perhaps they might go away, the war with them, and not notice him living small here, no more than a toy himself.” Then the General says, “But if he beat a sure, steady, ever fast rhythm, then, then, their knees would come up in a long line down over that hill, one knee after the other, like a wave on the ocean shore.” That’s when Joby was completely convinced and knew that he a purpose to go to the battle. When the general asked, “You’ll run them through for me then, boy?” In response to what the General asked Joby gestured as Bradbury described, “The boy nodded mutely.”   He prepared himself, with faith and courage, for the morning when he would leave with the other soldiers to the battle.  

          So, Bradbury showed how Joby went through not having any courage and faith before the General gave him a talk. Then after the General gave him a talk he completely accepted the fact that he had to go to battle.  He showed how even though it was going to be a scary time they should all have faith in what they were going to do and enough courage to do it.