Insecurities of the Average Teenager

Imagine being a fourteen year old girl with many insecurities and parents who just don’t understand. Georgia Nicoloson feels just that way in the book "Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging" . This character, Georgia, was created by the author, Louise Rennison, who took some of her own experiences from a kid and put them into this book. She knows that being a teenager if filled with a lot of fun but also there are many difficulties.

Louise Rennison lives in Brighton, England however she grew up in a town named Leeds where she had many child hood memories where stories in her series "Confessions of Georgia Nicolson" are based after. She was brought up in a three bedroom house with her mom, dad, grandparent, aunt, uncle, and her cousin. One of the stories that she took from her life and put into her book is when she bleached her hair with some cleaning product to get it blonde, however just like Georgia it turned hard and right in front of the boy she had a crush on it broke off. There are many other stories that the author put in that shows the average teenagers insecurities and struggles to fit in.

In the book "Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging" Georgia is always worried about fitting in; she was always caught up in how she looked and what she wore. She would change herself to fit in and would always worry about what people thought about her; "In my room in front of my mirror. Practicing smiling without making me nose spread. It is impossible. I must never smile again. " Georgia thought this after she just got rated by her friends saying that she had a bad nose and smile. The lesson of this book is to not let what people think about you change you. You shouldn't


Be confident. That is what it is all about; you have to be confident with who you are; don’t be diffident about yourself. Never worry about what others think of you; always believe in who you are. And make sure you know that being different isn’t always a bad thing.

Judgment in the "Outsiders"

Imagine getting into a fight where someone was killed and you and your friend run away to a safe place where the cops can’t find you. That’s what happened to Johnny and Pony Boy in the book "The Outsiders". Aside from that Johnny and Pony Boy encounter many more tragic incidents including the death of Johnny. Since Pony Boy is so sensitive it took him a while to recover from his best friend’s death, but eventually he did. Also within this book it holds a valuable lesson; don’t judge others before you know who they truly are because things may not turn out the way they seem.

Pony Boy isn’t like the rest of his gang. He has a more sensitive side to him; the kind of guy who loves to read and watch sunsets; not the kind of guy who wants to fight. All of the other guys had their own reasons why they liked to fight but Pony Boy didn’t "There isn’t any real good for fighting except self-defense." Pony Boy thought. And he took the death of his friend Johnny hard; he was in denial and gave up on many things. Finally in the end of the book he realized that he had to move on and accept things because for all his brothers did for him; he couldn’t throw it away and he knew Johnny would've liked it better that way. The whole mess started with the two gangs misjudging each other, both thinking the other had it easy and having a deep hatred for the other.

People are judged for all different reasons whether it is how they look, the money they have or the people they hang out with. Sadly, most of the people in our world are guilty of this; before they get to know a person they usually already have a label for them. This also happens in the book "The Outsiders". The two gangs the Socs and the Greasers judged each other for the money they had and the people they hung out with. Both groups hated each other without even knowing the other. Once they did get to know each other they realized that they are decent people and things aren't as easy for the other as it seemed. If people could just stop judging others before they know what they are really like; things would be much better off. There would end up being less regrets and hurt feelings.

Through the tragic moments and the raging fights; the true lesson in this book is to not judge each other. If everyone could come together and stop judging people things would be great. It is like the quote "Don’t judge a book but its cover.” Whether it is a good cover or a bad cover you will never know what it's really like unless you read it.

Art piece

Perfect and undisturbed they have no idea treachery awaits them
That their beautiful ship that was said to never sink, was going to…
Crashing down to the icy cold water
Innocent lives were going to be gone,
A beautiful night of pure bliss coming to a tragic end

Speak Essay

Imagine if all your friends hated you for a reason that isn’t even true, you have nobody to turn to and no shoulder to cry on. This is what happened to the main character, Melinda, in the story "Speak" ; except for she also had something deeply tragic happen to her that she can't tell anyone; or doesn’t know how to. In this story many of the characters really don’t have true identities and the story also withholds a strong message.

First of all, Melinda really doesn’t know who she is yet; she doesn’t have a true identity. She hides in the crowd and even her bedroom doesn’t show who she is. It is a mixture of all of her friends personalities made into a bad mess… the only thing that actually shows who Melinda is, is her artwork; but even then it took her a while to get there. However, Melinda isn't the only one who hasn’t found who they truly are yet. There are many more people in this book who don’t express themselves and just change themselves to fit into cliques; this includes a girl that Melinda hung out with, Heather, she used Melinda as a person just to be there since she was the new girl at the school and her and Melinda were both outcasts. It shows that Melinda and Heather weren't "true" friends though when Heather decides to leave Melinda trying to fit into a new group called the Martha's.

"Speak" withholds a valuable lesson and it really is to speak up. Don’t let things be bottled up inside; they will only get worse. In the story "speak" Melinda doesn’t tell anyone about what happened to her that one night at the party; not even her friends or her parents. Instead nobody can help her move on from her tragic experience and also her friends hate her for a reason that isn't even true. They think she called the cops at the party because of drinking but really it was because she got raped. She was confused and embarrassed so she did not tell anybody about it. Eventually Melinda realizes what she has to do to move on from this situation; she told a friend that she trusted and she finally confronted Andy Evans, the culprit, about it. Since she did that she got the help and support she needed and started to put her life back on track and move on.

This book shows the challenges and obstacles in real life; it gives you many valuable lessons. It shows you to SPEAK UP because without doing so you'll never get to be where you want in life. Also, you have to be your self and let your personality shine because your life is too short to be somebody that you don’t want to be.

Patriotism

In this country Patriotism is what holds us together. It’s for all those people who risk their lives on a daily basis for our country. It’s what shows our appreciation for our freedom and all of that we've worked for to get it. Patriotism is all of those little things that we do every day. Your faith and devotion to this country is patriotism. Every day the flag flapping up high in the sky obtains our dignity and pride for this country.

Hemmingway Essay

Did you know that over 1,000,000 people commit suicide every year? And even more people attempt it; sometimes you just have to sit back and realize all of the amazing things in life. In the story "A Clean Well Lighted Place" one of the main characters decides to attempt the taking of his own life; he also is very similar to another main character who happens to obtain a more positive outlook on things. Interestingly enough, the author also obtains these similarities.

The two main characters in this story, the old man and the old waiter, are very similar in some ways. First of all, they're both lonely. When the younger waiter kicks the old man out of the café, the old waiter questions him; not understanding why the younger waiter would be in such a rush to get home; why would a couple of hours' difference matter? And the difference really is that the young waiter has a life; he wants to get home to his wife instead of hanging around at his job. Meanwhile, the old waiter wants to stay; he has nothing to come home to and enjoys the company and closure that comes from the café. He understand the lonely people that come there because he is the same way. He even says "I am one of those who likes to stay late at the café, With all of those who do not want to go to bed. With all of those who need a light for the night." And that’s really what it comes down to. The old man is the same way; he is already disconnected from people because of the disability of his deafness, each night that will understand how he feels. Maybe that’s why he attempted suicide earlier on in the story, because he was so lonely and didn't feel like he was understood.

Ironically, the author of this story, Hemingway, committed suicide at an elderly age just like the old man in the story attempted to. So did many other people in Hemmingway's life including his father, Clarence, and siblings, Ursula and Leicester. Along with Hemingway , these people seemed to lack a appreciation for life. Yet, why throw away all of the beauties of life? All of the wonderful moments and loved ones taken away from you. There usually is a reason for things, but it seems that Hemingway lived a full life. It was full of many experiences and loved ones. Even if the reason is unknown for sure, he must have had one.

Suicide could be the result for many things from Cyber bullying to Family problems or even the loss of a job. And for whatever reason suicide rates for young adults have increased largely, however the highest suicide rate happens to be the elderly which Hemingway was when he committed suicide. Overall, on average every 11.3 people out of 100,000 people have committed suicide . But sadly, for every death there is a an estimated eleven attempts. It’s a sad fact that suicide rates are so high, so many people take the wonders of life for granted, and once they're gone; they're gone.

In the story "A Clean Well Lighted Place" the old man had his niece to save him, but the thing is; people don’t always have that one niece to save them. And people just don't realize what they're throwing away. It's like that one saying people always say; you don’t realize how good it is until it's gone.