Blog Review on Chloe’s Post

Link: http://chloesblog24.blogspot.com

In Chloe’s post about Looking For Alaska by John Green, she uses factual information such as text evidence, and connections to common issues such as friendship and smoking. Although I have not read the book, Chloe’s post made me want to. Also, I have read many of her posts before, but this one really stood out to me.

Chloe starts her post by giving a quick summary of the book, but with my understanding, not giving anything away. She also uses helpful adjectives to describe the main character, Miles. As she goes into the 1st and 2nd paragraphs, she starts talking about the symbolism in the book, such as the cigarettes they smoke and the smoking hole they go to, and what things they represent in the book. One of the connections she makes between the cigarettes and death and self-destruction, not only pertains to the book but to life. In a way, I feel that Chloe’s portrayal of the cigarettes symbolizing that is an important message to those who smoke! She also uses thought-provoking quotes that support her symbolism ideas even more.

Chloe’s example of the smoking hole symbolizing friendship also relates back to her conclusion, in which she talks about the same thing, but she connects it outside of the story but to how it made the readers feel. I think this was a really unique craft move, because usually in a conclusion, a writer makes a connection to the world. But instead, Chloe decided to infer about how the readers related to the realness of the book. Also, I found this post of Chloe’s to be different than some of the others I’ve read of hers, for two reasons. The first is that she talked a lot about symbolism, whereas in other posts like her post about the book The Help, she talks more about central issues. Because of this, it was interesting to read Chloe’s writing on another author’s craft choice. Secondly, the structure of Chloe’s story was interesting to me, because she formatted her body paragraphs about the examples of symbolism separately instead of together.

Overall, I found Chloe’s post about Looking For Alaska to be very informative, but also unique and stylistic. Her post has a really even balance of fact and opinion. Because of this I would now be fascinated to read the book, and see if I agree with her statements.

Non-Fiction Critical Analysis

In the article "The Impact of Divorce on Young Children and Adolescents" by Carl E. Pickhardt the author wants the reader to know the mostly negative effects on children and adolescents after divorce, and the difference between a kid’s behavior and a young adult’s behavior. The author says at the beginning of the article that he is responding to a question sent in by someone on his blog, which helps show that this is not a random issue Pickhardt just decided to write about, there are other people who are experiencing this problem and even asking for help. At the end of the article, the author also includes links to two books he has wrote on the same and similar topics.This helps prove that he is not an unprofessional trying to voice an opinion, but he is experienced in this field and knows a lot about it. The article mainly touches on how most of the effects of divorce are negative, and kids and teens respond to it differently.

Pickhardt mentions multiple times negative effects divorce has on sons and daughters of all ages. For example, in the article, Pickhardt lists, “Witnessing loss of love between parents, having parents break their marriage commitment, adjusting to going back and forth between two different households, and the daily absence of one parent while living with the other, all create a challenging new family circumstance in which to live.” This long yet informative quote shows many different ways in which young people of divorce are affected and faced with many struggles because of divorce. The first part of the quote in which Pickhardt mentions seeing parents lose their love for one another seems to be one of the worst ones, because if pre-divorce a child has been living under the illusion that their parents love each other and practically have a sacred bond (marriage), to see that illusion shatter and the bond break can be horrifying and even scarring. Another example is, “Convincing a young child of the permanence of divorce can be hard when his intense longing fantasizes that somehow, some way, mom and dad will be living back together again someday.” This quote is just completely heartbreaking. This is because if a child always has that little piece of hope in their mind that thinks there’s a chance of his or her parents getting back together, it is very hard to destroy that piece of hope, so a child will just be practically tortured for the rest of their life if it doesn’t happen and they’re just waiting for it to.

Pickhardt also spends a lot of time describing the differences between how children react versus how teens react. It seems, from the way he describes it, that children are much more needing and dependent, sometimes more hopeful for the future. Teens, on the other hand, become much more independent and/or rebellious; they can sometimes feel that their parents have broken his or her trust. For example, Pickhardt states, “...divorce tends to intensify the child’s dependence and...it often elicits a more regressive response in the child…”. He also mentions that, “The dependent child’s short term reaction to divorce can be an anxious one...There can be separation anxieties, crying at bed times, breaking toilet training, bed-wetting, clinging, whining, tantrums, and temporary loss of self-established self-care skills, all of which can compel parental attention.”. Finally, Pickhardt declares, “The child wants to feel more connected in a family situation where a major disconnection has occurred.” This last quote is very important and probably a good explanation for a child’s feelings and actions post-divorce. This is because if a “disconnection has occurred” then a child is going to try to do anything they can for themselves along with their parents to feel at least a bit connected again. This feeling is brought on by the trauma and significant change that divorce causes. For the adolescent, however, “divorce tends to...accelerate the adolescent’s independence; it often elicits a more...aggressive response in the adolescent.”. Pickhardt also says, "The more independent-minded adolescent tends to deal more aggressively to divorce, often reacting in a mad, rebellious way, more resolved to disregard family discipline and take care of himself since parents have failed to keep commitments to family that were originally made.". Finally, Pickhardt claims, "He [an adolescent] feels increasingly autonomous in a family .". This last quote is very significant because it shows a) the difference between how dependent children are versus how independent adolescents, and b) the massive change (usually) even between an adolescent pre-divorce and post-divorce.

         In my opinion, I believe that even though yes, divorce should not be banned because that would be unreasonable for the parents and in general, I do feel that their are ways around divorce having to be so painful. To me, sometimes it seems that parents themselves are not trying hard enough to help their kids cope better with the situation at hand, and that maybe if the parents did in fact help them, they wouldn't have the behavioral issues that they end up with post-divorce. 

Why Ellen Hopkins May've Wanted Readers to Feel Uncomfortable
(Note: spoiler at the end of the response)

After finishing the book "Burned" by Ellen Hopkins, I have come to the conclusion that there is quite a bit of disturbing content. The main character, Pattyn, is a Mormon teen in high school with a large, and complicated, family. She is the oldest of six sisters and later a brother, her mother is lazy, and her father is violent. Pattyn's father beats and hurts her, the second oldest sister, Jackie, and their mom. There are also pages talking and describing sexual intercourse, which later leads to Pattyn being pregnant. Although “Burned” includes lots of unsettling material, the author included it because she wanted to show awareness to these issues and truly understand how Pattyn felt in these situations.

The two topics Hopkins wrote about most intensely are child abuse, and teen pregnancy. I feel that these topics are very strong ones to chose, and many people have already taken action to raise awareness. But for teens, if they hear or read about these issues, most likely they’ll either feel lucky to not be in that situation, or feel uncomfortable because they are in that situation. That’s why I believe the author made a very good choice of weaving these issues into a YA book, because if teens get emotional after reading “Burned”, they can drive their emotions towards helping stop these problems. Also, if they read about these topics now as a young adult, later in life they will most likely feel glad that they weren’t pregnant at the age of eighteen like Pattyn. And if they decide to become a parent, after reading about how horrible Pattyn’s father really was to her, Jackie, and their mom, they will probably not want to do the same thing to their own child.

I feel that Hopkins also had to include this disturbing content and write so deeply about it because otherwise people who haven’t gone through what Pattyn did wouldn’t get how it really feels. If Hopkins had just plainly said that Pattyn’s father slapped her, the reader would probably feel upset, but that’s it. Whereas, by having a full two pages just about Pattyn’s dad slapping her, as well as many more on him continuing to abuse her, the readers usually get a discomforting feeling that makes them almost want to stop reading the book. This emotion, although not very positive, means that the content from the book has dug deeper than just “upsetting”, and that the reader feels not just sympathy, but even a bit of empathy.

Overall, it seems to me that these issues being put in the book made it all the better. At the end of the book, Pattyn’s fiancé dies, along with their baby, in a car crash. I believe that if Hopkins hadn’t intensified these issues, the ending would be somewhat loose and just depressing. But, because the author did, the ending was all the more upsetting, as well as thought-provoking.

Perspectives Missing in the Book "Burned"

The book "Burned" by Ellen Hopkins is a story about a girl named Pattyn and how she struggles with family, boys, and religion. She and her whole family are Mormons, so when Pattyn begins exploring the more rebellious things in life, it causes her some trouble. The entire book is told in verse from Pattyn's perspective. The author failed to include the perspectives of Pattyn's father and father, and this affects the entire story.

The first perspective missing from "Burned" is that of the father. Although I have not finished the book, so far Pattyn's dad has most definitely not made life easy, but I believe there are points where it may be significant to hear the father's thoughts. For example, on page 173 of the story, there is a dialogue between Pattyn and her dad, "Dad will you miss me?" Pattyn asks. Her dad responds, "Miss you? I don't even know, Pattyn." I feel that this small conversation, already important, is definitely a place where I would like to hear what the father is thinking. For one thing, without wording it like that Pattyn's father is basically saying he will not miss her. Obviously, no daughter would ever want to hear that from her dad. Also, maybe there's more too it than just what the dad says. Maybe he really will miss Pattyn, but does not want to admit it because he doesn't like to show emotion, which is shown earlier in the book. Another example is on page 192, in which Pattyn is now staying at her Aunt Jeanette's house for a portion of the summer, and Pattyn says (referring to her father) "He didn't bother with good byes, which only hurt a little." I think that the author made this sentence depressing to make the readers to know that Pattyn is still a little girl inside who only wants to be loved by her dad. On the other hand, I think the author excluded the father's point of view in this section especially because if we had heard his thoughts on this, it would make Pattyn's statement less pitiful and cause the father less blame. A final example is on page 148, in which Pattyn's dad is punishing her for romancing with a boy named Derek, after the the father has slapped her she says, "Defiance rose up like vomit. I swung back and yelled, 'Don't you ever do that again!' He caught my arm. Held it midair, and I found in his eyes conflicting emotions-something almost like apology, and something very much like satisfaction." This page is very very interesting, because at this point the author almost does give us a little of the father's perspective, but still through Pattyn. I feel that it would be so interesting to know how the father felt in that moment, considering it is so powerful. I think the father would most likely be feeling the emotions that Pattyn describes in his eyes, but I would like the dad himself to put his feelings into words, and maybe that would unfold the father's notions for slapping Pattyn in the first place, if they were not just because she did something wrong.

The second perspective missing is that of the mother. Up to the point I'm at in the book, the mother has been busy with her large family (Pattyn has six sisters) and obedient to her husband when he is nothing but rude to her. For example, on page 35, Pattyn questions the things that happen in her family, "How, no matter what happened the night before, the next day Mom and Dad would be tandem in bed?" I think this question Pattyn is asking is also somewhat speaking for what the readers want to know. If the mother's perspective was shown here, then maybe she would have something to say about that. I believe that the reason that Pattyn's mom is still with Pattyn's dad could be two reasons; the first is that she feels she needs her husband's money and protection to support her family, and the second is that a part of her still loves him and remembers him the way he used to be when they married. Another example is on page 52-53, in which Pattyn is reminiscing, "...But this tiny piece of me kept thinking back to another, happier time, when Mom loved Dad. And me. And Dad loved Mom. And me.". I think that this line is very strong, because it gives readers a glimpse of what Pattyn's life was like before everything became troublesome. But, I would like to know what the mother thinks of all this, because most likely she wishes it was like this all the time, including all her other children.

I believe the fact that the story lacks these two perspectives of the father and the mother greatly affects the story. One reason I think this is because if the perspectives had been there, it is possible that Pattyn's point of view wouldn't attract as much sympathy. Not that the parents' perspectives would outshine Pattyn's, but it would prove some of her points wrong and cause it to blame less the parents and more all three of them. Another reason I think this is because the mother and father are very significant characters in the story, but in many scenes their opinion is not needed, since the story is centered around Pattyn. For example, whenever Pattyn is at school or outside of home, there really is no input for the parents to make. And finally, it is after all a book for teens, and when teens tead young adult they usually like to read about someone around their age, like Pattyn. If they were reading about the mother and father's points of view, they may not understand or find it less interesting because it is much harder to relate to it. But, I still think it would be interesting to sometimes get a taste of what the father or mother's thoughts are once and a while, because it could 1) add alternate perspectives besides Pattyn's, and 2) add more depth to the story as a whole.

Overall, I believe that no, Hopkins should not have replaced Pattyn's entire perspective with that of her mother's and/or father's, but I think she should've included a bit of it once and a while. I feel that all YA books that include a powerful conflict between the child and the parents should include a little of the parents' point of view. Even so, the book "Burned" is so far fantastic and very intriguing, so aside from this one flaw I would definitely recommend it.

Should Access to YA Fiction Be Limited in Any Way?

Kids all around the world love to read. Just walk into about any school and ask; most likely you'll get a positive answer! But what's upsetting, almost detestable, is that some people would like kids to not be able to read certain books, by banning them for various reasons. No, access to YA fiction should not be banned, but certain disturbing books should be separated from ones that are not, so people who feel uncomfortable can be warned.

One reason that YA fiction should be split into more disturbing books and less disturbing books is because some teens may have terrifying responses to disturbing YA. For example, in the article Tales of teenage cancer, self-harm, and suicide by Tanith Carey, there is a quote from Joanna Kenrick, who says "I know a girl of 12 in whose class the book [Red Tears] spread like wildfire-several of them also started cutting themselves." This proves how reading disturbing books can be negative for children who decide to read what is popular, or what their friends are (sadly) plunging themselves into. What children don't realize are the effects some books can lead to as shown from Kenrick's quote. People of the opposing side may argue differently. For example, in the article Should young adult books have age ratings? by Husna Haq, there is a quote from novelist Patrick Ness, who says, “Children are great self-censors...they know what they want to read…”. This argument does not consider that some kids are influenced by their friends’ opinions on things like books, so they would read a book without thinking about whether or not they truly wanted to.

Another reason that troubling YA fiction should be excluded from books that do not contain troubling content is because some parents may be uncomfortable with their children reading these types of books. For example, in the article Darkness Too Visible by Meghan Cox Gurdon, there is an anecdote about a mother, Amy Freeman, shopping at a bookstore for her 13 year-old daughter, and she says "Nothing, not a thing, that I could imagine giving my daughter. It was all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark stuff." This shows how parents are truly concerned and flabbergasted by the types of books children are reading these days. Now, this might not always be fair to the teens, but most parents have their kid's best interest in  mind. Other parents might argue that children should be able to decide what they want to read without parents getting into their business about it. For example, also in Darkness Too Visible, Gurdon states, “It is a dereliction of duty not to make distinctions in every other aspect of a young person’s life between more and less desirable options.” The truth of the matter is that for teens with no parental guidance they would most likely be lost or scared. In that case, parents should always be aware of what teens are reading, especially when it's more gruesome than usual. So, by having books separated, children and parents like Amy Freeman will have no problem easily scanning the books to make sure they're safe, before reading them and being unpleasantly surprised.

In conclusion, YA fiction would be much better separated between disturbing and non-disturbing books.  If books are not separated, both kids and parents would be unhappy to find a book that contained dark and mature content. Imagine a child who had been dying to read a book that had a bit of gruesome material, only to find out it had been banned, meaning it would be inaccessible. Would you want to be that child? Of course not, it's a practically heartbreaking situation. Whereas, if the book was merely in a section of a library or bookstore that was for darker books, people would not have this problem ever again.

Response to “Fangirl”

“Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell is a story about a girl named Cather, Cath for short, who goes to college and from there the plot revolves all around her relationship with her twin, Wren, her somewhat unstable but still loving father, her mother that left when she and Wren were young, her roommate Regan, her (later on) boyfriend Levi, as well as her overall college experience. One thing that I have picked up on is Cath’s feelings towards her mother, Laura, who abandoned her, Wren, and their father, strangely on the very day of September 11th, 2001. Throughout the story, although I have not finished it yet, it is proven that Cath is set and stone with not wanting her mother around. I feel that there is something deeper to Cath’s desire to push her mother away, and I predict that maybe something will change.

One reason that I consider there to be something deeper to Cath’s need to keep her mother away is that there are many examples within the story of Cath absolutely not wanting to merely talk about Laura. For example, as Cath is talking to her dad, he says “Cath...She’s your mother.” Cath responds, “There is no evidence to support that.” Even this small portion on dialogue demonstrates an impactful comment on Cath’s part. By saying that there is no proof to support that Laura is in fact Cath’s mom, it makes me wonder whether Cath would feel better if Laura really wasn’t her mom. But beyond that, it seems that Cath knows Laura is her mom, or is 99% sure, but responds to her dad that way almost to question it herself, so she can feel less abandoned. Another example is from later in the book, Cath is talking to Wren. Cath says, “She [Laura] left us. She didn’t love us.” Wren responds, “It isn’t that simple.” Cath states, “It is for me.” This section of conversation is also quite significant. This is because it proves how Cath really doesn’t need to know, possibly does not even care about the details to the story of Laura leaving, it is enough for her that she left in the first place. This, in my opinion, is a very reasonable and also somewhat expected response from any child or teen whose parent abandoned them without logical or fair explanation. A final example is even farther into the book, Cath gets a phone call. When she picks up and discovers her mother on the phone, she pulls her ear away from the phone. This minor action is actually anything but minor. It is so thought-provoking to read that when Cath finds out that Laura is on the other end she cannot stand it so much that she has to pull the phone away from her ear for a minute to recover. On the other hand, I don’t blame Cath. If my mother called me after a good maybe ten years of not being in touch, I would be shocked, perhaps a bit frightened, to hear my mom’s voice through the phone.

This all leads me to predict that it would be a strange thing for Rowell to just leave the story with Cath still refusing to reconnect with her mother. The author could, but usually books resolve important issues like that at the end of the story. There are many different ways I have predicted it could happen. The first is that something tragic happens, such as maybe someone else’s mother dies, and that makes Cath want to cherish the time she has left with her mom, even though she wronged her earlier in Cath’s life. The second is that someone convinces her. I would think maybe Levi, because a) he is her boyfriend so she is bound to trust him and deeply consider his opinions, and b) he often talks about his own mother which could trigger something in Cath and make her want to be on good terms with Laura. Finally, and this to me is the least likely, Laura could reach out to Cath and try to make everything okay again. I say this is the least likely because it seems that within the last approximately ten years she has made no effort to try and talk to Cath, until Wren is in the hospital and she has no other choice. I hope that maybe one of these predictions will come true, and not just so I can say I was right, but for the good of the story. I feel that it would be nice to see Cath maybe not entirely forgive her mother, but accept her back into Cath’s life, giving her a mother with aspects that she can’t always get from her father. In conclusion, I do believe that Cath’s relationship with her mother plays an important role to the story, and I would be happy to see one of my three predictions to be proven correct.

                                                          Non-Fiction Critical Analysis

In the article "Should young adult books have age ratings?" by Husna Haq, the author wants the reader to know how even though yes, age ratings should be put on books since they have already been put on other things, kids can find the content anywhere, or may still try to gain access to a book with an age rating. One thing Haq does to help prove this is use quotes from authors G.P. Taylor and Patrick Ness to help show both sides of the argument. She also compared the idea of establishing age ratings for books to the already established ideas of age ratings for video games and movies. These examples help display how although it is most likely a good idea for books to have age ratings, because obviously it has worked fine for other items, but children might still research about a mature topic and try to get a hold of a book with an age rating above their age.

Haq hopes to explain to readers the strong points on how age ratings should be put on books considering they have worked on other things already, but there are other ways for children to obtain the information in them or to still read the book. One way she helps prove this is by including a quote from author G.P. Taylor, who says "I have changed my mind: I think children's literature has gone too far." Taylor also says, regarding the age ratings on other products, "I think think the way forward is a certification system for books, the same way we have in films." But then, novelist Patrick Ness rebuttles "Teenagers look at the Internet, they look at the news, they look at pornography on the Internet, they look at violent movies on the Internet." Ness also states, "Children are great self-censors. They know what they can read and they know what they want to read, and if you don't give it to them, they'll find it somehow." These contrasting quotes from Taylor and Ness help demostrate why books should and shouldn't have age ratings. Haq most likely does this to A) not show any bias in her writing, and B) to give readers a taste of both opinions so they can make one for themselves.

Personally, I believe that Ness has a very good point about how children will get their hands on what they desire, but people might as well put the age ratings on books so that kids who prefer not to reader mature or gruesome material can be warned, and won't be in shock halfway through a book. Although yes, I do understand that it is aggrivating for kids who are younger to read books about things they want to read about, on the other hand it could be a benefit for them. Young children may like to read about, for example suicide, but that doesn't mean they will understand it correctly, or it could even mean they would want to try it themselves. Most likely that would not happen, but it is still important to think about what the positives of putting age ratings on books are. And finally, it's not like the books with age ratings are banned! R-Rated movies aren't banned, and AO-rated video games aren't banned either, so why should a book with an age rating be banned! Overall, I feel that age ratings are quite necessary to the modern reading world, but that doesn't mean it is absolutely unaccessable to people who want to read it.