Background Knowledge

Authors Note: Just a fair warning, you might not want to read this if you have not yet read and/or finished the books Speak or My Sisters Keeper. This essay is quite the spoiler, but I needed to use the endings of both of the book to make my point. So it you can read it, enjoy!:)

 The other day I realized, very few people in this world know the real me. Yes, they know my name, they know my favorite color, and they know when my birthday is. But think. How many people actually know you? How many people know that I take long showers? How many people know what I really want to do with my life? How many people know that I would rather read then watch TV? How many people know what I’m afraid of? How many people know me?

            On the back cover of the novel Speak, the description about Melinda reads, “The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that’s not safe. Because there is something she’s trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth.” …Given that information, how many people know Melinda?

            Melinda was the average teenage girl: she had friends, she went to parties, and she fought with her parents. That was until she was categorized as the “weird girl” or even worse the “tattle tale”. Melinda called the cops on a party in August, right before the start of school. People were arrested, fines were given out, and alcohol was poured down the drain. Way to go, Melinda. Throughout the book you get glimpses of what actually happened, but until her story is revealed, Melinda is just another girl in another school making big mistakes. They don’t really know Melinda.

            In My Sister’s Keeper, Anna on the other hand was not the average teenage girl. She was made in a dish for spare parts for her sister, Kate. Kate has leukemia and her kidneys have failed. Kate’s condition puts her into a life or death situation, and Anna doesn’t want to deal with it. She doesn’t want to give Kate her kidney. She is finished with being a donor for her sister. What would happen if she gave Kate her kidney? What if Anna wanted to have a life? Go to parties? Try out for the cheerleading squad? Play soccer? What would happen to Anna? As you read the book Anna appears to you as a self centered girl who only cares about herself. Her parents have turned against her. But, they don’t know Anna.

            This often happens in schools. Actually scratch that. This always happens in schools. We often take a look at someone or hear rumors, but 99% of the time first impressions or assumptions turn out to be false. Even the nicest people categorize other kids. Popular. Fat. Tattle Tale. Weird. Gross. And even more. But you never know, that person that you call fat might have a disease that causes them to gain weight. That person that you call a tattle tale might have been in serious trouble. That person that you called weird could have lost his mom, and is going through a tough time. That person you called gross might not have enough money to play for the water bill. You don’t know them.

Let's Do Some Math

Author's Note: This essay is about how well people are at figuring other people out.I need to make a comparative to another book to make my score go up so If you have any books that come to mind when reading this please comment!:) 

   People are like algebra. There is a side they choose too show. The smiles, the laughs, the mask. But, there is also a side they chose to hide, the side covered in secrets and lies,  otherwise known as, x. You can add up their likes, subtract their dislikes, multiply their actions, and divide everything they say and sometimes if you're lucky, you'll find that one person who's answer matches yours. But then, there are the equations that, no matter how hard you try, they're just impossible to figure out. But here's a hint: the adding and subtracting is easy; it's the multiplying and dividing where people tend to make mistakes.

     "Maybe I'll be an artist if I grow up" (78).

     "I do not buy the gold eye shadow, I do however pick up a bottle of death black nail polish. It's gloomy, with squiggly lines of red in it" Page 83

     "I open a paper clip and scratch it across my left wrist. Pitiful. If suicide attempt is a cry for help then what's this? A peep? A whimper? " Page 87.

     Three quotes, nine sentences, 66 words. Yet, they say a million things about Melinda Sordino from the novel Speak. Her feelings, her hopes, her actions. The answer is obvious, but for some people, the equation is just too hard. Let's do some math.

     "Maybe I'll be an artist if I grow up", The first time I read this, I didn't think much of it. Maybe she'll be an artist, yeah, pretty cool right? But then I read it again, and realized that she used the wrong subordinate conjunction…If? When I talk about what I want to be when I grow up I use, "When I grow up…" not "If I grow up…" Sure there is a slight chance that you won't grow up, that you'll be involved in some bizarre accident that cause your life to be cut short, but still, If?

  

     "I do not buy the gold eye shadow, I do however pick up a bottle of death black nail polish. It's gloomy, with squiggly lines of red in it" Now, I'm not an expert on symbolism, but something about "Death Black" doesn't sound right. Obviously Melinda isn't happy. Could you picture Pollyanna wearing death black nail polish? Yeah, didn't think so.

    "I open a paper clip and scratch it across my left wrist. Pitiful. If suicide attempt is a cry for help then what's this? A peep? A whimper?"  This concerns me. Melinda is shy, she doesn't have enough courage to "Cry for help" but what happens when the whimper grows? When it eats upon her until it's strong enough. Strong enough to make her do something she'll regret. 

     Once you break down the steps, math gets a lot easier. I'll assume you already have the basics down, so let's move on to the more complicated things. As you can tell, Melinda isn't happy, and she makes no effort to be happy. She has started to hurt herself, and I think, that maybe, just maybe she will cut her life short. The ending of this book could go a million different ways, but I think I figured out the equation. X=Suicide.

A Poem Inspired By A Child Called It

Author's Note: This poem is meant to be from the point of view of David from the book a child called it. 
 Open doors and opportunities

Too bad none of them are meant for me.

Sometimes life just seems to crumble

"Life's not fair," My mother mumbles

Food and respect that all I want now

Instead I just wipe the sweat from my brow

I make mistakes and so does mother

The only difference is I get punished.

Young, Wild, And Free

Young, Wild and Free

What happened to that?

What happened to me?

What happened to naps?

Not knowing what I wanted to be?

What happened to innocents?

To not knowing what certain things meant?

What happens when growing up…

Isn't something you can prevent?

Decisions

Decisions devour me whole

I disappoint people

And its eating my soul

What if things go wrong?

But what if they go right?

What if following my heart

Brings me death

Instead of life?