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Post by Emily Carter on Aug 15, 2014 16:21:32 GMT
In the book "Speak" by Laurie Halse Andersin, the protagonist is Melinda Sordino. She is a 9th grader at MerryWeather High School. Melinda's American Dream is to be able to speak up for herself and have a normal life. She wants to be popular and have a ton of friends. But this can't happen for her since everyone, including her best friend, hate her. No one likes Melinda because at her very first high school party, she called the cops. Melinda called the cops because at the party she was sexually assaulted. However, she doesn't tell anyone about this. Melinda just wants to fit in and have a normal life. She tries not to call any attention to herself. But towards the end of the book she realizes that she can't run away from what happened the night of the party. She finds out that "IT" (who she was assaulted by) is Andy Evans. Melinda then also finds out that Rachael, her best friend, is falling in love with Andy. Even though she is scared that Rachael won't believe that Andy did this to her, she confesses to Rachael what happened that night. Thankfully, Rachael believes her and they become friends again. Throughout the novel Melinda really changes as a person. She learns that standing up for herself is not a bad thing and will truly help her become a better person. All she had to do achieve her American Dream was to broaden her horizons and tell the truth about what happened the night of the party. |
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Post by Aidan Anderson on Aug 15, 2014 18:45:45 GMT
Ember’s primary goal was to save her mother. The theme behind that was her American Dream: freedom from her oppressive government. At the end of the novel, her dream is achieved for the moment. Even though she is not in the clear yet, she no longer has to obey the government. The emotional toll on Ember was great in her attempts to get away from the government. She was imprisoned, always under threat, and she once had to put up with interrogation.
Ember was also involved in someone’s death, although I don’t think the fault is on her. The man who was supposed to transport them to Virginia was shot by the FBR. The underlying dream doesn’t change, but Ember’s goal does. Her first objective was to rescue her mother. After she found out her mother died, later her main goal was to save her friend Rebecca. All of this involves acting outside of the government, so it was part of her dream.
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Post by calvinnguyen on Aug 16, 2014 0:03:43 GMT
The book "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson features a ninth grader, Melinda Sordino, as the protagonist. The setting starts her off as a freshman in high school who is isolated or as she says, "outcast". She walks through the halls of the school catching glimpses of all her old friends from middle school. The reason behind her "social shut-out" was because she had called the police to a party that she was at. Why she called the police was irrelevant to everyone at school. As a result, she socially suffered through her ninth grade year of school. Her "American dream" was to tell everyone why she called the police.
Melinda called the police to the party because she was raped by another student by the name of Andy Evans. She saw him as a "Greek God" and said that he looked like a "cover-model guy". In the end, he took advantage of her and then the police came. She came into school "clanless" because she didn't tell anyone that she was attacked. Her american dream never changed because through out the book she would contemplate telling her parents because their relationship is very distant. Melinda scratched her wrist with a paperclip until it "stops hurting". The next morning her mom told her that she doesn't "have time for this". Finally, Melinda finds the guts to talk to Rachel, her ex-best friend who is dating "IT" A.K.A. Andy. She reveals her secret to Rachel who then storms out thinking that Melinda was just jealous.
However, in the girls' bathroom, Andy Evans was at the top of the guys to stay away from list on the wall. As Melinda was walking through the hallway, she sees Rachel break up with Andy. Melinda is then happy and successfully reaches her american dream to speak up for herself and let someone know about what happened to her.
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Post by jmathews on Aug 16, 2014 2:01:45 GMT
In the novel, Article 5, the main protagonist is Ember a seventeen year old girl from Louisville, Kentucky. Her American dream is to be reunited with her mother and friend and be left alone to live their lives. She also wants things to go back to the way they were before the War and before the rise of the Federal Bureau of Reformation (FBR). In the book Ember says, “I remember scrounging for food and clothes in dumpsters during the war,” hinting that when the war started she was at least old enough to search for food with her mother. It appears she was old enough to remember times she felt were better before the Three Year War began.
In the novel, Ember does not achieve her original goal to be left alone with her mom and friend and her American dream begins to change. This is due to the fact she and her mother are arrested and sent to different places, Ember being sent to a reform school and her mother sent to jail. When Ember is arrested her mother is placed under arrest “for violation of moral statutes, Section 2 Article 5 pertaining to children conceived out of wedlock.” This was a violation of The Moral Statutes. Ember’s goal then changes and she focuses on reuniting with her mother and friend, but sadly she can only partially achieve this goal. When Ember finally escapes with Chase, she finds out Chase was forced to kill her mother while he was in service to the FBR. This strains their relationship, but ultimately she works with Chase and the resistance against the FBR. While her American Dream of living in peace with her mother cannot be achieved, Ember works to gain peace and a better life for herself and others.
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Post by thomasfrance24601 on Aug 16, 2014 8:34:38 GMT
All Melinda Sordino ever wanted was peace. After being raped at a party by a boy named Andy Evans Melinda calls the authorities, but cannot speak about what has happened to her. She is ostracized by her peers for "squealing" about the party causing some of them to be arrested without any explanation. The american dream involves the certain inalienable rights, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." the last of which is taken from her along with her voice. The pursuit of her "american dream" was to retrieve her happiness by finding the strength to speak up about what happened to her. After speaking up her major problems like her home life and social exclusion start to repair themselves.
Melinda does achieve her goal in the end when the truth comes out. Overall her problems mainly stemed from her continued silence. The time it took for her to gain the strength to speak cost her depression, her friends, her entire freshmen year, and worsened her relationship with her parents. Her american dream changes when she decides to speak to her friends and Mr.Freeman about what was done to her by Andy Evans. When the truth comes out she must work to further deal with her trauma.
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alec
New Member
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Post by alec on Aug 16, 2014 15:14:13 GMT
The protagonist is Melinda, she is a freshman at Merryweather High School. She had an experience at a party that she will not tell anyone, but this experience made her call the cops. So now everyone that was at the party treats her very badly in school and on the bus. Her only dream is to be socially accepted by the school and to be heard. A small one of her dreams is to have a bestfriend. The reason she called the cops at the party is because a guy named Andy Evans raped her. This is very hard on Melinda. She doesn't tell anyone about her experience, making her very depressed. This event has made Melinda's grades fall. Her family and the guidance counselour try to open her up and find out whats wrong. Melinda finally goes up to Rachel her former friend and tells her she got raped by Andy.
After this event Melinda feels great that she finally told someone. She starts to open up. She grows a gardens which does symbolize her throughout the book. How she is growing stronger and stronger. In the end of the book it really shows how strong she has gotten. Because Melinda told Rachel what happened to her she blows him off at prom. Andy is angry about this and finds Melinda in her hideout closet. He corners her. He tries to rape her again but Melinda got a piece of the mirror that broke and held it to his neck. She overcame her fears. It turns out there was other victims of Andy. Everyone finds out about him and Melinda is accepted into the school again. Her dream was to speak and have people listen to her. Melinda's dream never changes, it stays the same through the entire book.
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Post by Cody Hausdorf on Aug 16, 2014 15:35:42 GMT
In the book "Article 5", the protagonist, Ember Miller's American dream is to live in a country where there is no war. Earlier in Ember's life she live a happy life with loving friends and family. Soon a war starts and ruins everything she loves. First the boy she loves, Chase Jennings is drafted to be a soldier in the war. Then her mother is convicted of a crime called Article 5. The soldiers unexpectedly come and take her mother away and are taking Ember to an unknown place too. What makes this even more devastating and awful is that one of the soldiers taking them away is Chase Jennings. Ember thinks he has turned out to be a heartless, cold, soldier. Soon Ember is living in a detention center until Chase comes and breaks her out. She doesn't trust Chase at first but later she does. Towards the end of the book, Ember finds out that her mother has been dead since she was taken away. Ember finds a way to blame chase for her mother's death and almost loses her mind.
All these terrible things have happened to Ember. What makes these things even more awful is how they happened so soon. Ember went from living a fair and calm life with small problems like school to having extreme emotional and physical problems. Her dream now is to go back to how things were. She wants to live a life with her mom, Chase, and her friends, without dealing with pain and loss. Her American dream doesn't seem like that much to ask, but it is terribly hard to accomplish. In the end, she isn't able to fully accomplish her American dream. Instead she ends up without her friends, without her mother, and without a proper place to live. She ends up joining the resistance of the war with Chase, who she now trusts completely and loves him again. She hasn't accomplished her American dream and it is now impossible to accomplish. but, she is a lot happier than she used to be.
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Post by Will Smith on Aug 16, 2014 15:35:50 GMT
In the book Article 5 by Kristen Simmons, the Protagonist is a seventeen year old girl name Ember. Her American dream is to for things to go back to the way they were before the war, and to be reunited with her friends and family after she was taken by the FBR (Federal Bureau of Reformation). Since the war the country has had an oppressive military government that has revoked the bill of rights. In their place the moral statutes have been made. Ember's mother was in violation of Article 5 of the moral statutes because she had a child but she wasn't married, so the FBR came and took her to prison to wait for a trial and they took ember to a reform school because she was under the age of 18.
At the reform school they make children whose parents have been arrested into 'model citizens'. Ember tries and fails to escape from the reform school on her own and is sent to be punished. Before Ember can be punished she escapes the Reform school with the help of a FBR agent named Chase who she knew before he was a solider, and focuses on reuniting with her mother. She finds out later that her mother was executed for her 'crime', when she finds out that hr mother was executed Ember runs away and is captured by the FBR again. She is going to be put on trial and probably will be executed but she escapes with the help of Chase. After Ember escapes she joins the resistance so that she can fight for her American dream of things going back to the way they were before the war. She knows that she can probably never accomplish her dream of reuniting with her friends but she will still try to fight for her freedom.
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Post by Ryan Bangtson on Aug 16, 2014 19:53:09 GMT
In the novel, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, the protagonist is identified as Melinda Sordino. Melinda is a freshman in high school at Merryweather high school. She does not have any friends because she called the police to a party. She did not call the police on her friends, she called them because she was raped by "IT" or Andy Evans. This is what makes her American Dream hard to accomplish, being that it is to be able to speak up for herself. Her only outlet at school is her art class, where she is drawing a tree, relating it to herself.
Melinda achieves her dream after her self realization of what happened to her and how she voiced what happened to her to her lost best friend Rachel. She also accomplished her goal with the help of her art teacher, Mr. Freeman, when he told her that her tree does not have to be perfect because there is no such thing as a perfect tree. She related what he had said to her to her own self image and realized that it is ok that she is not perfect. Her ultimate accomplishment was standing up to Andy Evans when he attacked her yet again, gaining the respect of the school and her old friends.
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Post by prestonarchuleta on Aug 16, 2014 20:36:58 GMT
Identify the protagonist’s American Dream. Does the protagonist achieve that dream or not? At what cost? Does the dream change throughout the novel? Cite specific examples from the text to support your answers. In the book "My New American Life" by Francine Prose, the protagonist is Lula. She’s a twenty-six year old Albanian. Lula’s American dream is to become a citizen of the United States. Who came to the United States as a tourist? But when she gets here she starts to work at a bar called La Changita with fellow immigrants. She was looking for a job on Craigslist because her tourist visa was about to expire and saw a job that said "Divorced man looking for companion for teenage son". Not long after that she moved in with Mister Stanley and Zeke. After a couple months of living at Mister Stanley she got her work visa from the help of an immigration lawyer Don Settebello and also a very good friend of Mister Stanley. Out of the blue three Albanian guys arrived at mister Stanley’s asking a favor from Lula. Alvo the boss asked her to keep a gun safe. She took the gun and put it in her drawer that can jeopardize her new American life. In the book Lula does get her green card and gets the job at the court as an Albanian translator. At the cost of her getting her green card she lied to Mister Stanley about Alvo, had a gun in his house, lied to don and tried to make him lie to help alvo, and alvo was deported back to Albanian. Lula’s dream does not change but her outlook between the United States and Albanian are different.
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Post by cmartini123 on Aug 16, 2014 21:32:26 GMT
For the novel you chose, answer the following prompt in at least two well developed paragraphs: Identify the protagonist’s American Dream. Does the protagonist achieve that dream or not? At what cost? Does the dream change throughout the novel? Cite specific examples from the text to support your answers. In the Novel. "We Were Here" The protagonist, "Miguel" was first sent to Juvenile Detention Center and then sent to a group home because he killed his brother. He escapes the group home thinking that he could start all over in Mexico, where he could work at a resort, meet girls from all over the world, and fulfill the American Dream there. But it hits him once he makes it up to the border fence and realized he can't do it. He must serve his sentence. But all this didn't come with no cost along the way he lost a group home mate and probably one of the closest people in his life, his friend Mong, who committed suicide at the beach that Mong used to spend his summers at. This helps Miguel realize he needs to finish his sentence. At the end of the book you realize that he has found his American Dream back in the house he escaped from in the beginning. Even though he doesn't have all the freedoms most Americans have he had his best friend Rondell with him and he was in a place that accepted him even after what had happened with his brother.
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Post by Courtney bush on Aug 16, 2014 22:21:16 GMT
In the book "where the heart is" by Billie Letts, a seventeen year old girl named Novalee Nation is the protagonist. Novalee Nation is a unmarried pregnant girl headed to California with her boyfriend Willy Jack. Novalee never really had a stable family as a child. When she became pregnant she was determined to have a better life for her daughter. She dreamed of having a two story house with "a balcony that overlooked the ocean". Her mother had left her at a young age for her boyfriend that was supposedly an umpire. On their way to California, Novalee stopped at the Walmart to use the bathroom. Her boyfriend, Willy Jack, left her at the Walmart. Without a support system, Novalee was forced to fend for herself. While living at the Walmart she meets Moses Whitecotton, a photographer who would later become like family to Novalee. She also meets Sister Husband, as well as Forney Hull. When Novalee has her baby in the Walmart, it makes national headlines. Her mother visits her in the hospital promising to help her out with apartment shopping. Novalee being the trustworthy person she is, gives all her money to her mother who never returns again. Novalee becomes best friends with one of the nurses in the hospital named Lexie. Sister husband offers to give Novalee a roof over her and Americus (Novalee's daughter) heads.
After living with Sister Husband for a couple of months. She becomes close with all of the neighbors who often help babysit Americus. They all are like a big family. Moses Whitecotton helps Novalee find a career. Throughout the book Novalee realizes that family doesn't always mean the one you're born into. She realizes that family is who you make it to be. Novalee finally gets the family and support system she deserves. Novalee and Americus are blessed with a family and the house Novalee always dreamed of for Americus and herself. Even though she faced some rough times with Willie jack and her mother and also sister husband dying, she never lets that ruin her dreams she has for Americus and herself.
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Post by welchb17 on Aug 16, 2014 23:13:00 GMT
In the book "We Were Here" the protaginist is Miguel. Miguel is a trouble teen that is going through life on the wrong path, he turns to stealing, fighting, and getting involved with the wrong crowd and situations. At the beginning of the novel his "American Dream" is to be a thug or criminal. He does not want to follow rules or take any crap from anyone in the world. When Miguel is caugth stealing a bike and sentenced to a year at a group home his whole preception of his "American dream begins to change. At the group home he gets into many figths with many different kids. When two boys that he had previous conflicts are assigned a room with him he is extremely unhappy. But the three of them decide to put their differences aside and come together for a common cause, escape the group home. After the three of them escape the home they head south towards Mexico where they believe that they will be safe from their previous lives and their past will be forgotten. But on the way Miguel comes to the realization that he is going about his life the wrong way. Miguel at the border changed his mind on running to Mexico and finds his way to his uncle's to work for him. While standing at the border Miguel's "American Dream" changed. He went from wanting to be a thug and live the life of a criminal to wanting to make a change in his life and become a changed person. He wanted to live a life where he was not burdened by crime but by the life of a normal teen working and abiding by the law.
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Post by Sierra Courtney on Aug 17, 2014 0:13:04 GMT
Novalee Nation’s dream in Where the Heart Is is to never give up. Novalee did not have a good home while she was growing up which contributed to the choices she had to make. She did not plan on becoming pregnant, it was an accident. Since she had no home and was a pregnant teenager, she decided to travel with her boyfriend to California. During the course of their travels, she had to stop frequently to use the restroom. The next stop was a Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma. When Novalee returned from the restroom, her boyfriend was nowhere to be found. This could have been the end of Novalee, but instead she decided to make a new life for herself and her unborn child. Novalee would walk around Walmart and up/down the street as a form exercise to stay healthy. She would also feed herself from the vending machines. She was befriended by many people in the town. Novalee has her child in Walmart and is invited to live with Sister Husband.
Novalee achieves her dream eventually. She was able to overcome many obstacles and challenges which could have prevented her from reaching her dream. It would have been easy for Novalle to throw her hands up and give in, but she didn't. She struggled and suffered through it all, because she had to. She was able to build a house for herself and her child. After all the heart-ache Novalle went through, she was finally able to fall in love and build a real home.
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Post by Matthew Olsen on Aug 17, 2014 1:34:25 GMT
In the novel, "Where the Heart Is", the protagonist is Novalee Nation. Her American dream is to have a family and a place to call home. In order for her American dream to be achieved she has to deal with and overcome several challenges. She is seventeen years old and seven months pregnant. Her and her boyfriend, Willy Jack were on their way to California when he left her in a Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma. She was just left with seven dollars and seventy seven cents, just her luck. Sevens were always just bad new for Novalee Nation. "She knew he was gone, knew before she reached the door. She could see it all, see it as if she were watching a movie. She could see herself running, calling his name-the parking space empty, the Plymouth gone. He was going to California and he had left her behind… left her with her magazine dreams of old quilts and blue china and family pictures in gold frames.” That's when it began.
Novalee Nation met many good people and they have helped her deal with several difficult challenges. Those challenges she has to overcome to get closer to her American dream. It started off with her giving birth to a baby girl in Walmart and a man named Foley, the librarian to help her out with it. A man named Moses Whitecotton helped her find a strong name for her daughter, Americus Nation. “Get your baby a name that means something. A sturdy name. Strong name. Name that’s gonna withstand a lot of bad times. A lot of hurt.” Then found a sturdy job at Walmart with the help of the owner, Sam Walton. Then Novalee and her daughter where taken into a home by Sister. It took great cost to accomplish her American dream. She had to realized that her ex-boyfriend, Willy Jack had left her, all alone with the baby. She lived in a Walmart for months with nowhere to go and had to figure out how to start her new life. But that didn't keep her from her American dream. Her dream never changed. With the help of friends and family and all the time she put into hard work, she knew anything is possible.
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