Banned book essay

Oscar Mendoza 802

               My essay on my banned book

In the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is about an Native American boy named Junior the age of 14 and how he struggles to find himself in his old of white people and Indians. He is a special Native American filled with hope that has not been diminished by others around him and goes to school at a white town where he’s told that is where hope is. He ask his parents which people have the most hope and they both respond at the same time saying white people.This book is about how a young man is struggling to find who he wants to be and how wants to represent himself.

One way Junior struggles to find himself is that he does not know if he is going to represent himself as a white person or Native American. For example according to the book it states that “Can an Indian have a legacy in a white town? Should an Indian even worry about his legacy?”(pg. 182). Junior is a starter on the varsity basketball team and his other great teammates are compared to great white players in the past, but no one compares Junior to any player because he’s Indian. Junior still worries about his legacy and if he will be remembered which is something very strange for an Indian that Junior even knows that it’s weird. Junior struggles to know which “type” of person is he going to be or remembered as.

        Another way Junior struggles to find himself is when he wonders if he should even be at the “white kids” school. For example, according to the book it states “I felt like someone had shoved me into a rocket ship and blasted me into a new planet. I was a freaky alien and there was no way I could get home.” Junior makes it seem as if he was a completely different species and he wasn’t human. He does not know “the ways” of the new people and he is a stranger, He knows that there is turning back because his Indian community disowned him and if he goes back to the Indian school he will be destroyed. Junior knows this is the right place to be if he wants a brighter future and he still does not know if he should stay Indian or not because of how confused he is about turning back or staying where hope is.

      The last way Junior struggles to find his true identity is when he compares Native americans  and white people. For example, according to the story  it states" And when i looked over I saw the sad face of all of those Native Americans, whose parents are probably drunks, deal with weed or other drugs, those boys whose dads will probably beat them for losing the game and probably didn't have any food to eat all day. (pg.195). junior sees what his race is how they are in some serious issues that are life threatening and these Native American kids lives are just going to get worse and worse as they grow up.  He later looks on the white kids his school and sees this “Yes these kids had some issues in their lives but none of them were life threatening, All of them were going to college, had their own cars ipods and mothers and fathers with good jobs that supported them and didn't have to worry about surviving or not.”(pg.195).Junior feels his struggle here the most if he wants to seek a better life a harder life that requires more work or lose all his hope in himself and his life and be in a near death situation all the time.         

In conclusion, this is why Junior is very confused if he should represent himself as a Native American  or should try to find a brighter future with the white people as he is told that they have the most hope. He is confused all thought out the novel until he finds that the “white kids” school is the right place for him to be, but deep down inside he does know that he is a Native American and he can not change his appearance of his skin or anything of the outside, but he can change who he wants to be in the future

Book reading list

book list

1.Sold by Patricia Mccormick 

Finished September 25

2.The scorch trials by James Dashner

Finished:october 2

3.Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Finished: October 12

The Kill order by James dashner

Finished: October 22

Day of doom by David Baldacci

Finished: October 30

The absolutley true diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Finished: in progress of finishing 

YA book essay

Oscar Mendoza 802

   In the book "Day of Doom" by David Baldacci a family named Cahill's are fighting against an organization called the vespers to free their family members that are being hostages and the rest of the world from being destroyed. This family has obeyed orders from the vespers so that their family members who are being held hostage don't die. In the final book of this series the Cahill family have to stop the vespers from detroying the world and save their family members at the same time when the vespers always seem one step a head of the Cahills.As you may see this book shows the archetype "hero vs villain" in which the Cahill's are the "heros" and the "villain  " are the vespers.

  The archetype "hero vs villain" is shown when Amy Cahill is surrounded by three vespers including Isabel Kabra and is going to be shot to death. For example according to the text it states" Army was surrounded she saw no way out of this. She thought"this is the end. Good bye And,good bye everyone." Suddenly the noise of sirens and " Your are surrounded surrender now or face the consequences!"(p.168) Later on Amy is told by her brother Dan that he created a hologram and with is advance speakers made the noise sound real when he noticed that she was surrounded. The cahills always seem to have each other's back especial in high risk situations and it is a life or death situation . In this situation Amy and Dan Cahill were against the odds, but Dan was able to save his sister from three vespers.

    Another example of the archetype "hero vs villain"is when Jake Rosenbloom and Amy Cahill are trapped in a train cart surrounded by Isabel's Kabras body guards when the train had lost its power. In the dark both Amy and Jake could not see a thing but the bodyguards could with their night vision goggles. According to the text it states" Jake  watch out!" Screamed Amy as she felt something thrown at her and dogged it ,but hit Jake. Amy kicked in the direction the object had come from and heard a hmpf. She picked up the man night vision goggles and directed Even where the bodyguards were to attack them while Amy had jakes back. In less than 5 minutes all the guards were down."(p.269) Both Amy and Jake worked very well together to stop the bodyguards from hurting or killing both of them.  After that they turned the power back on and tried to stop Isabel from killing Dan.  The Cahills never give up no matter what their situation is they always keep on fighting to save each other and to do what is right.This is another situation which the book shows how the archetype "hero vs villain" is shown.

  The final example of the archetype "hero vs villain "is when all of the Cahill's fighting the vespers(including the former Cahill hostages)are in a room for the final battle to decide if they will defeat the vespers or die. For example according to the text it states" Amy saw all of the ones she cared about Dan,Fisk,Nellie,Ian,Evan,Regan,Jake, Jonah, Atticus,Phoenix and Hamilton working together back to back as if they will never separate again. The Vespers didn't come through the doors but instead the walls opened up and a flood of vespers came through. Each one knowing vespers out protecting each other from not seen enemies. It was a beautiful sight to Amy to see her family working together, a thing she thought was never going to happen."(p.309)Later on a former vesper and Cahill sacrificed herself so that her family could have destroyed that machine that would have killed all of them and destroyed the world. The Cahills had a very tough history with them always fighting, but for once they were all cooperating for the greater good. This is the final example of how the archetype "good vs evil" is shown.

  In conclusion this is how the archetype "hero vs villain" is shown in "Day of Doom". All of the Cahill's or some managed to work together to save themselves and the world from the vespers. The Cahill's showed this archetype but also the statement of  family and how important family is. In the real world many people or groups are seen as good or bad to try to destroy or help for the greater cause.

Ashes essay

Oscar Mendoza 802

                    Ashes

“Children ought not to be victims of the choices adults make for them,” said Wade Horn. This quote perfectly describes what Ashes is going through.The short story “Ashes” by Susan Beth Pfeffer is about how a young girl named Ashes and how she has to choose sides between her mother and her father.Ashes shows amorousness for both of her parents through the story but does not know which one to be allegiant to. This makes the reader think about how decisions even the ones that seem small have a big impact in our life.

    One decision Ashes has to take throughout  the short story is to know if she should keep on hoping just like her dad and still believe in him. For example, according to the story it states “ When I was little dad promised me a star necklace, but like most of his promises that one never came true.”(pg.115-116)  Ashes herself recognizes that her dad has given her a lot of empty promises and not a lot of complete promises. Ashes also knows that her dad gives her happiness and joy. She says that every time she saw her dad the sun shined brighter than the day before . Her dad always showed care and love but when he was truly needed he was never there. As Ashes puts it her dad is always there if you need him,well not always. He is always there to help you with the small things ,but not the big things like child support checks. This is what leads Ashes into confusion on her feelings about her dad.

Another decision Ashes has to deal with throughout the short story is if she should take the money away from her mothers emergency savings in the teapot. For example in “Ashes” it states” You'll be able to pay her back by Friday? Dad I don”t know thats a lot of money. What if mom finds out?” (pg.123)Ashes keep on doubting herself because she does not know if she should agree to “borrow” the money. Ashes dad says that he will be borrowing the money. This makes me think that he is just trying to trick Ashes into giving him the money so that it seems as if Ashes dad isn’t really stealing it from Ashes mom.Ashes knows that her mom is very serious about the money and that it would be wrong to take the money away from her ,but she still believes in her dad and is pressured  to take the money just because of how much she loves  her dad.

In conclusion, Ashes struggles to make the decision in her life because of both of her parents personalities and how they think about each other. She struggles on knowing if she should or should not trust her dad and if she should or should not take the money of her mothers teapot. You the person reading this essay would probably not know what to do in this type of situation.

The author does a very good job presenting the way a teenagers life is a constant struggle of making up your mind and what type of person you want to be. Ashes represents a perfect example of the struggle between choosing what would be the right thing to do and why it would be the right thing to do.

My summer reading book paper

  My summer reading book paper by: Oscar Mendoza

One book I read over the summer was " A separate peace"by John Knowles. This book is about a relationship of two young man named Phineas and Gene and how World War II had a really big effect on the relationship, when they thought it was unbreakable. Phineas and Gene had many ups and downs through the story. This book taught me how war affects everyone and everything even the most strongest and beautiful things are going and to be affected by war.

One way that the book ‘A separate Peace” show me how war affects everyone and everything even the strongest and beautiful things.  The mood of the school Devon(setting) before the war was very joyful and fun, but when the war came it became the opposite if fun.Phineas and Gene were always playful and laughing trying to make the mood better at the school. They were both always smiling and happy. After Phineas realized how the world really is he wasn't as happy anymore. He didn't give off that happy mood that made everyone be happy. Phineas even wanted to join the army but since he was crippled he could join which made him change inside holding secrets and pain that he would normally tell Gene. The whole schools mood went down when all of the sadness dropped onto them and there was no joy to try to lift their spirits. how hard it was to be drafted into the army and deal with camp and training. This shows that war even has an effect on a entire school.

Another way that the book “A separate Peace” taught me how the war affected Phineas a “innocent” character. Phineas used to be a very innocent young man which didn't think was anything wrong with the world. That everything was perfect, nobody was mean and everybody was a good person. For example Phineas thought that his friend Gene was the best person in the world. After Gene broke his leg permanently. Phineas realize that Gene wasn't such a great person because Gene caused the tree to shake so that he could fall.  This was caused by jealousy because of how Phineas seem to be one step ahead of Gene especially on becoming  a "man" to join the war. Phineas was "innocent" not knowing about the evil in the world before the war destroyed his innocence.

Another way that the book  “A separate peace” showed me that war affects everyone and everything even the most strongest beautiful things was Phineas and Genes relationship. Before the war started to have an effect on their relationship they were the best of friend. When the war started to have a effect they had a vibe that was filled with mistrust. For example, Gene thought that Phineas was trying to sabotage his schoolwork so that Gene could not  be as  “equal” as Phineas. After they had doubts they were never the same around each other not playing games or hanging out in their dorms especially not being roommates. the war destroyed their relationship which seemed to be unbreakable.

In conclusion this is how war has an effect on everything even the most strongest beautiful things. a whole schools happy and joyful mood was destroyed, a person's innocence and the destruction of a thought to be unbreakable friendship.