Ruby Stettner
Mrs. Siragusa
1AC
Blog post/STAARS
S- Growing up
T- As children grow up they will often encounter feelings and situations that can be difficult for them to comprehend. Many times they will keep these encounters to themselves and try to understand them.
A- Adolescents
A- Sad, Confused, Compassionate
R- Characterization
S- “And I did. And I really hurt Sean. And then I started crying.” (pg. 7).
“ It’s like when you are excited about a girl and you see a couple holding hands, and you feel so happy for them. And other times you see the same couple, and they make you so mad. And all you want is to feel happy for them because you know that if you do, then it means your happy too.” (pg. 96).
The Perks of being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a bildungsrosman novel. It is an exploration of how as children grow up they will often encounter feelings and situations that can be difficult for them to comprehend. Many times they will keep these encounters to themselves and try to understand them. Throughout the novel Chbosky uses the literary technique characterization which is a method employed by the writer to help develop the character. When Charlie gets in a fight with another kid named Sean he starts to cry afterward because he feels bad about hurting Sean, “And I did. And I really hurt Sean. And then I started crying.” (pg. 7). The reader may find it odd that Charlie is the one crying when it was Sean who got a worse beating, this shows how Charlie feels things more deeply than others and how he is very compassionate towards others. Also because of the way the quote is stated the reader may get a sense that Charlie is confused as to why he is crying. Charlie often encounters conflicted feelings like on page 96 when he states that “It’s like when you are excited about a girl and you see a couple holding hands, and you feel so happy for them. And other times you see the same couple, and they make you so mad. And all you want is to feel happy for them because you know that if you do, then it means your happy too.” At one point he says that he feels happy for this couple and then he states that he is mad at this couple for no reason in particular. Also Charlie views that if you feel happy for others then you will be happy also. This is a perception on happiness that many people seem to ignore or at least not understand. Chbosky’s characterization of Charlie throughout the novel helps to give the reader a better understanding of what is going on in Charlie’s head and the reasons as to why Charlie makes certain decisions.
Question: Do you think Charlie realizes that many of the things that Sam and Patrick have introduced him to are often viewed as bad or things that you shouldn’t do?
Alyssa Norman
ReplyDeleteSTAARS essay
Siragusa
S – Abuse
T – Traumatic experiences and situations that occur when someone is young, such as abuse, can effect someone as they are growing up and maturing.
A – sad, confused, disgusted
A – Teenagers
R – Foreshadowing
Textual Evidence – “I had to stop watching at that point because I started to feel sick, but it kept going on, and they kept doing other things, and she kept saying “no”.” (31)
“And he wound up and he hit her hard across the face. I mean hard.” (Page 11)
“It ended when my great uncle Phil saw bruises on my Aunt Rebecca “(page 87)
The Perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a novel on adolescent age. Throughout this novel the main character Charlie, experiences situations with drugs, alcohol, death, sex, sexual abuse and even abuse. Abuse is a traumatic event that happens to Charlie and to his family and the people around him. The author Stephen Chbosky uses foreshadowing to help the reader make connections throughout the story. Charlie’s first observation of abuse was sexual abuse when he was younger. “I had to stop watching at that point because I started to feel sick, but it kept going on, and they kept doing other things, and she kept saying “no”.” Charlie’s first incident happened at his brothers party at his own house while he was in bed. Hearing and seeing what happened to the girl in the room next to him with her boyfriend, Charlie was revealed to that kind of situation at a young age. That situation could have made Charlie maybe think that what happened was alright to do or enjoyment for that person in power and in control. That event of foreshadowing happened to show that more abuse was to come throughout Charlie’s life while he was growing up. Another act of abuse happened to his sister. “And he wound up and hit her hard across the face. I mean hard.” You would think that Charlie would have stood up for his sister and said something to her boyfriend, but Charlie didn’t, he just sat there perplexed as to what had happened. Charlie knew it wasn’t right, but maybe he thought it was what happened in relationships because Dave and the girl he sexually abused are still together. Even after that incident happened between his sister and her boyfriend they were still together. “It ended when my great uncle Phil saw bruises on my Aunt Rebecca”. That was another act of abuse that Charlie had to witness through his growing up ages. A guy that met Charlie’s grandmother started to abuse his grandmother, Aunt Rebecca and Charlie’s dad. Charlies dad didn’t do anything to stop it and seeing that maybe Charlie felt it was alright because he had seen it happen so many times for so long. So for Charlie seeing that during the age he was, those events could have affected his maturity level and how he viewed things in life because all he has seen is abuse throughout his life. The re-occurrence of events makes the reader suspect there will be more acts of abuse throughout the novel which is foreshadowing.
Personal Essay
ReplyDeleteAbuse in someone’s life can drastically change a person or how that person views things in life or how that person even lives their own life. Just like Charlie’s sister after she was hit, she seemed more controlled by her boyfriend by having sex with him and all of a sudden liking the “Autumn leaves” tape when before she didn’t like the tape because she gave it to Charlie. The abuse changed his sister and made her think that was okay and right because she loved the boy. For someone seeing the abuse throughout their life like Charlie can confuse them especially at the age Charlie is going through. He might think now it is okay to hit his girlfriend or make someone have sex with them because he has seen his own family members go through things like that. When Charlie was hit by his dad, his dad was saying sorry and Charlie of course forgave him. Charlie could have thought that by saying sorry for abuse would make everything better, he could do it to his own kids when he is older too. I think abuse is not a very healthy or safe thing to do to solve problems and arguments. It cause damage and re occurrences most of the time for the people around the abuse. Receiving, doing or seeing the abuse happen.
Answer for Ryan Joyce’s question
I think Charlie feels guilty for Michael’s death because he probably thinks he could have talked to Michael more than he did. “Then, I started screaming at the guidance counselor that Michael could have talked to me. And I started crying even harder.” He wanted Michael to talk to him about his problems but he probably feels guilty that he didn’t ask what was wrong or didn’t try to become better friends with him. Charlie probably wishes he had done something before it was too late. Maybe he feels like it was more his fault because many people didn’t talk to him and he did so he could have seen what was wrong and done something to help him.
Laura Wright
ReplyDeleteMrs. Siragusa
3/22/11
Honors English 4AC
Subject: Growing up.
Theme: While you are growing up you will be faced with many challenging decisions where you may want to go one way, but feel as though you should go the other to be feel accepted by others.
Attitude: Confusion, Maturing, Informative.
Audience: Young Adults, Mature Teens.
Rhetorical Strategy: Imagery.
Textual Evidence: “The doctor told me that my mother and father found me sitting on the couch in the family room. I was completely naked, just watching television, which wasn’t on. I wouldn’t speak or snap out of it, they said” (Page 208).
“The fight was hard. A lot harder than the one I had with Sean last year. There was no clean punching or things you see in the movies. They just wrestled and hit” (Page 151).
TEAR:
The novel The Perks of being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a bildungsrosman novel that uses the rhetorical strategy of imagery throughout his novel. Imagery is the ability to form mental images of things or events. Chbosky uses this to help us develop a good understanding of what events and experiences actually look like or feel like being there. “The doctor told me that my mother and father found me sitting on the couch in the family room. I was completely naked, just watching television, which wasn’t on. I wouldn’t speak or snap out of it, they said” (Page 208). This quote gives the reader an image and reassurance for the idea that something is truly going on with Charlie and that he is coping with a personal problem. He said that he only remembered putting the letter in the mailbox and then the next thing he knew he was sitting in the doctor’s office. He mentions that he remembers is his Aunt Helen and says that he didn’t want to talk about the questions or answers of what he talked to the doctor about. This shows that he is embarrassed and scared to talk about his feelings with people and that something is really bothering him. “The fight was hard. A lot harder than the one I had with Sean last year. There was no clean punching or things you see in the movies. They just wrestled and hit” (Page 151). The fight begins when Brad calls Patrick a faggot during lunch and all of Brad’s football friends were pressuring him to do something to Patrick. Imagery shows how bad the fight was and what it would have been like to see the guys fighting during lunch. This relates to the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger because as well Salinger uses imagery throughout his novel. Especially during and after the fight between Holden and Stradlater and how he gives us the image of Holden’s face being all bloody afterword.
Personal Response:
ReplyDeleteThe Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky shows your teenage years can be tough because at times you will be stuck in the middle and not know which direction to go. Stephen Chosbky depicts how peer pressure can cause you to do or try things that you wouldn’t normally do on your own. For example “He said he had a quarter ounce of pot left. So, I took some of my Easter money and bought it. I’ve been smoking it ever since” (Page 139). This shows that since Charlie has fell into the peer pressure of doing what others do because ever since he started hanging out with his friends he has begun bad habits that are dangerous to his health. Charlie has also been continually drinking since his first party with Sam and Patrick. Also Charlie states “I’m now up to about ten cigarettes a day” (Page 103). The habits of smoking and drinking show a sign of grief and stress in Charlie’s life it could possibly be because of the loss of his Aunt Helen or feeling as though he isn’t accepted by people. This connects with Holden from the Catcher in the Rye and how he resorts to drinking and smoking to deal with his depression from missing his brother Allie and feeling left out. At the end of the novel Sam and Charlie have a talk and she tells him that he needs to begin doing things for himself and stop worrying about others all the time. She also tells Charlie that he should have been himself with Mary Elizabeth and that’s why she believes he is now with Peter. This shows that Charlie was afraid of showing who he really was because he was afraid that he would be rejected or not accepted by others because of whom he truly is.
Question:
Charlie very often mentions going to Big Boy, do you think there is any significance or symbolism to it? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.