Final Reading Response for Coming of age novel

           My coming of Age novel is, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. This book is about a boy named Arnold who transfers to a who lives with a poor family in a reservation. Arnold was born with many medical conditions which cause him to have an over sized head, and because of that, he gets bullied even more. He goes to a school named Reardan in the reservation. But one day, his teacher told him that going to Wellinpit, a small school full of white people (he was Indian) that was 22 miles away from where he lived, would help him and that he would have a bright future if he goes there. Arnold decides to go there, but the entire Rez turned against him, even his best friend Rowdy. The Rez thought he was being a traitor by going to a white school, Arnold had to go through many ups and downs in his life at Wellinpit. I think that Arnold became more confident of himself when going to Reardan by, punching Roger in the face, Meeting Penelope, and joining the basketball team.
           Arnold became more confident of himself by Punching Roger in the face. It was his first few days at Wellinpit, and a gang of big jocks came and ganged up on Arnold, they made racist remarks about Arnold which really made him mad. " 'Did you know that Indians are living proof that n*gg**s f**k buffalo?' I felt that Roger has kicked me in the face. That was the most racist thing I heard in my life. Roger and his friends were laughing like crazy. I hated them. And I knew I had to do something big.I couldn't let them get away with that sh**. I wasn't just defending myself. I was defending Indians, black people, and buffalo. So I punched Roger in the face. He wasn't laughing when he landed on his ass" This is when Arnold says I'm not taking any more of these racist jokes I'm not letting people make fun of me, and I have to put an end to that. Roger never fought back, Roger became nice to Arnold after that, Arnold basically made a statement that said "If anyone makes fun of me again, the same thing is gonna happen to you."
          Another reason Arnold became more confident of himself, is by meeting Penelope. Penelope was a girl Arnold had an immediate crush on. But Penelope was different from all the other anorexic volleyball stars, she didn't care that Arnold was poor, if any other one of the anorexics found out their boyfriend was poor, they would immediately dump them, but Penelope cared more about personality than rich/poor. "I figured she was going to march right out of my life right then, but she didn't. Instead she kissed me. On the cheek" Arnold never had a girlfriend in his life and the first one was a gorgeous,caring one. Penelope went out with Arnold when he helped her when she was puking in the bathroom and got all messy. "'Hey Penelope' I say 'Don't give up'" After that Penelope told Arnold how everyone thinks she's having a good life and all, but she's not, but after that Arnold and Penelope were very close.
          And lastly Arnold became more confident of himself by making the basketball team. Arnold made the varsity team, while thinking he would make junior varsity at the highest. Arnold was called, "their secret weapon" because he was a very good shooter. I think that got Arnold to meet new people by playing basketball. When you're growing up you always have a way to go through life, do something when you're bored, for Arnold it's playing basketball.
          I think that in the end, good things happened especially Arnold regaining his friendship with Rowdy, now, not only does Arnold have all these friends from Wellinpit, he has his best friend back, Arnold made a good decision going to Wellinpit, having better education, meeting more people, and becoming more confident of himself. I think that beating Arnold up all those times was just not right, but now Arnold is doing better then anyone on the rez.

Reading Response

               In the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a part time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a bout a boy named Arnold, who lives with a poor family in a reservation. Arnold was born with many medical conditions which cause him to have an over sized head, and because of that, he gets bullied even more. He goes to a school named Reardan in the reservation. But one day, his teacher told him that going to Wellinpit, a small school full of white people      (he was Indian) that was 22 miles away from where he lived, would help him and that he would have a bright future if he goes there. Arnold decides to go there, but the entire rez turned against him, even his best friend Rowdy. The rez thought he was being a traitor because nobody else from the rez went to college. I think Arnold overcame transferring to Wellinpit by Meeting Penelope, Roger, and Gordy, beating Reardan in basketball, and talking to his grandma.
              One reason Arnold got over transferring to Reardan was by meeting Penelope, Roger, And Gordy, they became very good friends with Arnold, one way Roger helped Arnold was in the dance when Arnold only had five dollars. " 'but the thing is, My stomach is messed up because I er, forgot my wallet at home, I  forgot my money man.; 'Dude!' Roger said, 'Man don't sweat it, you should have said something earlier. I got you covered' He opened his wallet and handed me forty bucks'" I think that this shows that Roger is there for him, he just wants Arnold to have a good time. One way Penelope helped Arnold was when she found out he was poor "I figured she was going to march right out of my life right then, but she didn't. Instead she kissed me. On the cheek." This shows that Penelope doesn't care about how poor or rich Arnold is, and she excepts him for who he is, the normal pretty girls in his school would go "ew" and walk off if they found out their boyfriend is poor, but I think that what Penelope did was unbiased and in a way brave that she was going out with a really nice poor kid rather then some mean jock. And lastly, I think Gordy helped Arnold because, one day, Arnold answered a question and the teacher thought it was wrong, but Gordy proved it right. " 'Gordy' Doge said All happy and relieved and stuff, ' I'm sure you can tell us the truth' ' Uh, actually' Gordy said 'Arnold is right about petrified wood. That's what happened'" that shows that Gordy would actually tell the truth even after seeing his teacher so mad, he defended Arnold.
                 Another way Arnold overcame transferring to Wellinpit was by beating Reardan in basketball. Arnold blocked Rowdy when he was going for a layup and he hit a three in Rowdy's face " And then I took my three pointer and buried it. Just swished that sucker. AND THE GYM EXPLODED! this play ended up being the game winner, Willinpit won by 40, it gave them the momentum to win. I think this is important, because the last game against Reardan, it was on Reardan's court and people threw rocks at him, I think this paly was just a "HA! IN YOUR FACE!" Arnold basically said, I play for Reardan now, I play for a white school, deal with it. This also highlighted how he's fitting in with these new people, he doesn't care, he has these people, why need more people, in the rez, his only friend that cared about him was Rowdy nobody else, but here, he has many friends his team all care for him, even the crowd loved him after that play, people are excepting him more as an insider than outsider.
                  And lastly Arnold overcame transferring to Wellinpit by talking to his grandma. Over his entire life, Arnold's Grandma was one of his favorite people, he could talk to her about whatever and she would give him great advice. After Arnold punched Roger in the face, he thought that he would get revenge, but his grandma told him he respects him, and in the end that's what happens. IN the theme of coming of age, you always need someone to talk to about your problems, Arnold has his grandma, I have my brother, having someone to talk to is really good, it lets you release your feelings, and you feel good after that.
                  In conclusion, I can relate to Arnold, at one point in my life, I had problems fitting in,  I didn't get bullied. I think that Arnold should go to Wellinpit, he has such talent and it could lead him to a very good career, Arnold overcame transferring and it helped him, going ot a school where you can be successful

writing prompt number 2

How does your environment have to do with coming of age?
(This is a little short story)

Jake was very excited to start his first day at school, he couldn't wait to meet all new friends, he walked to the schoolyard and found K-101 imprinted on the floor and lined up with his class, he was amazed by all the different people there. A women, named Ms.Smith, guided the students to a classroom. Jake was amazed by the classroom, it had an entire section for, painting, blocks, and dressing up. His teacher let everyone introduce themselves to each other. Jake came across a girl that was very pretty, as soon as he was about to talk to her, A boy named Ralph came in and said
        "Hey, I'm ralph, I have every single action figure of the superheroes."
This got Jake angry, he was about to introduce himself to the pretty girl, Betty, and Ralph just took it away.
        " Oh yeah!" Jake said " I have 200 action figures in counting!" Jake didn't actually have 200 action figures, he just wanted ot make himself look good. Now ralph got mad, " Okay, we will have a action figure battle tommorow"

Final Reaindg repsonse

            Katniss Everdeen is a girl who lives in Panem, District 12, her dad is not alive, and her mom is very weak. And she has a little sister named Prim. Katniss  supports her family. by hunting and gathers in the restricted woods. She takes whatever she hunted and takes it to many places, the Hob, where she trades the food for money and other things, the bakery, where she gets a loaf of bread, and money from the

mayor, for strawberries. There are 12 districts, and this is North America 100 years later. I think that the way Panem runs is very corrupt.

            One reason I think that the way Panem runs is very corrupt is because the Capitol, and a few districts get all the money in Panem, and all the other districts are living of….wait half of them aren’t even living, that’s how bad it is people struggle to find food, and usually, the kids have to support their family because most people die in a very early age. I think that this is not that, “Oh, they don’t have any businesses in the district” it’s that the Capitol and a few districts have all the money, and the others have nothing, you know this because, in the Capitol there are so many gadgets and high tech equipment, and the best food, while in the poor districts, the houses are made of poor material, and there is barely any technology.

            Another reason I think that the way Panem runs is very corrupt, is because of “the Hunger Games.” The Hunger Games started when the districts started a rebellion on the capitol, but the districts lost, so as punishment, The capitol started the Hunger Games where 1 boy and 1 girl from each district go head to head to KILL each other, and the last person remaining is the winner. Firstly, I don’t think that this is a reasonable punishment, I think there should be no punishment at all, and they should make the districts equal in terms of wealth. Also I think that seeing people kill one another is no fun, I think that the kids are all innocent and they don’t deserve to die for no reason.

            And lastly I think the capitol’s system is very corrupt because, this is the future America, and you would think that it gets better. But surprisingly, there are no laws regulating killing innocent kids for no reason, I think the government is very bias, and there is no democracy, and it’s unfair.

            In conclusion, I think that the way Panem runs is corrupt because The Capitol and a few districts have all the money, and everyone else has nothing. Another reason that the way Panem runs is corrupt is because of putting innocent children to fight for their lives in the Hunger Games, and lastly, I think that the way panem  runs is corrupt is because there are no laws. I would never want to live in Panem. I f I was President of Panem I would pass laws to help the many poor.

Hunger Games

             So Katniss Everdeen is a girl who lives in Panem, District 12, her dad is not alive, and her mom is very weak, and she has a little sister named Prim. So Katniss is the one who supports her family. Katniss goes hunting in the woods, the woods are what separate each district, and they are restricted, but Katniss hunts and gathers there. She takes whatever she hunted and takes it to many places, the Hob, where she trades the food for money and other things, the bakery, where she gets a loaf of bread, and money from the mayor, for strawberries. I think that The hunger game and the whole Panem is very cruel.
             One reason I think Panem is cruel, is because they have these three districts and a capitol who take showers in money, and everyone else suffers to death, Panem is actually North America several years later, I think that if it was like that these days, laws would prevent that from happening, also, I don't think it's fair that people are very poor, and another group is rich to death, many people in the poor districts get overjoyed by a slice of bread. If I was president of Panem, I would pass some laws that would make everything evil.
             Another reason I think Panem is cruel, is because of the hunger games, I think that killing other people is just not fair. One thing that I think isn't fair is that The Capitol gets nobody in the hunger games. I don't think that killing people is a good way in punishment (the reason the hunger games were made was because when there was a rebellion against the capitol and lost) I also think that the districts would've won if they were given their supplies and everything. This kind of world is a world with no democracy, all the government controls everything. If I was loving in Panem, either I would organize rebellions, or live in the capital, I would want to organize rebellions, but I don't want to die of starvation.
              And lastly, I think that Panem is very cruel because of not being able to transport, and the difference between the rich and the poor. In Panem, they don't let anyone go from one district to another, unless it's for the government, I think that that's not fair because, many people who have to support a family and just cant find a job, could go to other districts find more jobs, and more food, and if they could move to the capital, they would be living a good life. Also, I think that the difference of poor and rich people are very important. IN Panem, you have two levels, very poor, and very rich, and I think there's always a way to fix that, donate money to other districts, I don't think Panem is fair.
              In conclusion, I think that Panem is a very bad place to live, I think that because of, hosting the hunger games, three districts and a capitol who are rich, and everyone else suffers, and not being able to get out of your district. Panem is one of the last places I would want to live, even if I lived in the Capital, I would feel bad that in another part of my country, people are suffering badly

ROmeo and Juliet Movie (1996)

So I watched the 1996 version of Romeo an Juliet, and I thought is was really good, I really like how they modernized everything, for example, Everybody had guns, when in the book, everyone used knives in battles. Also, I really like how Romeo and Benvolio had there own little "G" handshake, a own two friends would do, but I don't think they did that back then, I think they shook hands or bowed to each other. Also, Benvolio's clothing, he would wear a shirt with the buttons open, and he would be "fresh" and the way he talked he talked like your typical man living in a big city. Also I don't want to be racist, but, there were many black people there, most importantly Mercutio, I think it showed us how everyone is everywhere now, because before, there would be like one race living in one country, because nobody really found much new land, basically, how much our world has changed, you can find every race living in every country. One thing that I really don't get, is when at the very end when Romeo is about to drink the poison, Juliet wakes up and is just staring at Romeo not saying anything, and if she said anything, he wouldn't have drunk the poison and still lived. Another thing I liked is the characters, many of them emphasized what kind of person they are, for example, Tybalt, had that little mustache with a twirl on each end, you know those guys are evil, and he had his own gang and he wanted to just kill everyone, Also, lord capulet basically beat up Juliet when she rejected to marry Paris, that's saying Lord Capulet is a tough man, what he says goes, also, I really liked the nurse, she was the one who knew about Romeo and Juliet, and she helped Juliet, when lord Capulet was beating up Juliet, she was trying to take him off, showing the Nurse is a very nice character. Also, when Romeo killed Tybalt, Romeo started crying, and was very sad that he killed someone, and I think he had a great reason to kill Tybalt, because Tybalt killed Mercutio, that shows that Romeo is very caring about people, friends or enemies. I think this movie did a good job showing the story of Romeo and Juliet 

second draft (revised) of ela response

So Katniss Everdeen is a girl who lives in Panem, District 12, her dad is not alive, and her mom is very weak, and she has a little sister named Prim. So Katniss is the one who supports her family. Katniss goes hunting in the woods, the woods are what separate each district, and they are restricted, but Katniss hunts and gathers there. She takes whatever she hunted and takes it to many places, the Hob, where she trades the food for money and other things, the bakery, where she gets a loaf of bread, and money from the mayor, for strawberries.
         So there's this thing called the Hunger Games, it's when a boy and a girl from each district, they go into an arena and they have to kill each other and the last one standing wins, the games have been started when district thirteen started a rebellion against the capitol, and the capitiol beat district thirteen, burned it to ashes, and started the hunger games to show how much power the capitol has. So it's from ages 12-18, and you put a peice of paper with your name when you're 12, and it gets bigger and bigger as you go on, you can also enter your name more than once to get yourself one months worth of oil and grain.
         So It' th day of the reapings, and it's prim's first time with her name in the ballot, and so, Prim gets picked to be the girl representative, and so Katniss takes her place, and the other boy one's name is Peeta Mallark. They came to the capitol to the training facility and where they stay.
         I think that the Hunger Games is a very cruel thing, Firstly because, having fun watching kids no bigger then 18 years old kill each other, also another reason I think it's cruel, is because the capitol doesn't need to send players to the games, so basically, you take all the poor districts besides, 1,2,and 3 and put them in a battle. I also think that it's not fair that a couple of districts and the capitol have all the money, and everyone else are very poor, in the capitol and the rich districts, they have so much money that they can probably give to the other districts and still be filthy rich.