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Post by ikejr11 on Aug 18, 2014 3:35:24 GMT
In my novel of choice i choice to read We Were Here, by Matt De La Pena. In this novel the protagonist is Miguel Castaneda. Miguel has been convicted in a case where he stabbed his brother and he is sentenced to a year in a group home. Once inside the group home for awhile he is approached by another one of the inhabitants in the group with this idea to break out. He takes along with him his roommate Rondell Law, and even manages to take $750 from the the group home.
Once outside the group home Miguel, and the two people along with him have one plan, and that is to get to Mexico. They have a dream of finding work at a Resort, and becoming fisherman. Along the way one of the kids, Mong realizes he is fighting a losing battle with his kidneys, and under the influence of a lot of whiskey he decides to take his life. So Miguel, and Rondell continue to Mexico, but once they reach there Miguel has a change of heart. His dream then becomes to pay all of the money he stole from the group home back. He even calls the group home leader promising him her will do so. Once he has to money to do so, he has another change of heart. His dream is to now make peace with himself and do his time, and pay for hi crime. So Miguel heads back for the group home, and manages to pay back all $750, and serve out the rest of his time like a man.
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kyles
New Member
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Post by kyles on Aug 18, 2014 3:58:07 GMT
I read the book "We Were Here". The protagonist is Miguel Castaneda, whose mother is white and dad is Hispanic. Instead of chapters, the book consists of journal entries written by Miguel. In the beginning of the book, it seems that Miguel's American Dream would have been to have a better life, and not to have to live the life he was living in Stockton. He wrote that in Stockton "every other person you meet is missing teeth or leaning against a liquor store wall begging for change to buy beer." Life had not been easy, even up to the point he was sentenced to a group home. He wrote that the book he would have written could have been about "my dad dying in the stupid war and how at the funeral they gave my mom some cheap medal". At that time, he just wanted the chance to live a happy life in a place he could feel safe and comfortable. His American Dream changed as he was in the group home. He had been sentenced there after a terrible event that occurred which he felt responsible and guilty for. He wanted to have freedom, and he wanted to be someone that was smart and respected when he got out of the group home. He wrote in his journal that he liked to read books because "When I'm following what a character does in a book I don't have to think about my own life. Where I am. Why I'm here." He decided to read every single book in the game room, just like Malcolm X did in prison. He writes, "And by the time I'm done reading all the books my year will probably be up, and they'll let my ass out, and when I walk through them front doors I won't just be a free man. I'll also be as smart as goddamn hell."
After running away from the home (they were planning on going to Mexico), and losing Mong, Miguel opened up to a girl he had met and found himself telling her his whole story. His American Dream had changed again- he wanted to make things right. He said he couldn't go across the Mexican border- he said, "I still had to be in America. Until I made that shit right. And that was why I came up with our new plan, how me and Rondell were gonna get money and replace what we took from the petty cash, send it back to the Lighthouse." Miguel and Rondell showed up at his gramps and grandma's house and worked hard for pay. His grandma told him she forgave him and knew that what had happened was an accident. After that, Miguel thought he was on his way to achieving his new dream of making everything right- he wrote, "I felt mad happy." He and Rondell worked so hard that day, they "were tired as hell from a hard day of work." He said, "And I felt proud. Like I had earned something. Like I had heart." As Miguel finally walked back to the Lighthouse to repay the money he had taken and do his time, he thought, "Might as well go back to the Lighthouse and finish my time. Might as well pay my restitution and not owe anybody anything." And, "Might as well make good with the rest of my life"..."Might as well call my moms...tell her I'm so sorry about what happened and I love her even if she doesn't feel the same way right now." Miguel was ready to "make good on his time" and wanted to achieve his new dream of turning things around, living a life he could be proud of, and having a relationship again with his mom. All of this would help the pain and guilt he had felt over the past six months.
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Post by Karina perez on Aug 18, 2014 4:03:59 GMT
In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson the protagonist is a freshman named Melinda. When she starts school she feels like a outcast. Her american dream is to have a normal life, but after she got raped by Andy Evans at a party and called the cops everyone hates her. She has to make new friends because everyone hates her, she meets a girl named Heather. They become friends but Heather want to fit in so she ditches Melinda, Melinda realizes how alone she is and starts to reconnect with one of her old friends named ivy. It is when she is in art class and receives a project to do something about a tree. she thinks it will be easy but it turns out harder then she thought, in the end she knows everything isn't perfect and it fine just like her life.
Rachel Bruin is Melinda's "ex- best friend" hates her for calling the cops at the party, as soon as she starts dating "it" Melinda tells her everything that happen that night. When she tells the truth Rachel doesn't believe her and calls her a "Lire!" And says "... You're jealous.". When Andy finds out it was her who told Rachel he gets mad and was going to do it again when Melinda yells "NNNOOO!!!". Word gets around and she starts to live a semi-normal life now, she starting to talk more. Her dream was achieved at the cost of her almost getting raped again.
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Post by haydenwatson on Aug 18, 2014 18:14:11 GMT
At the beginning of the book Miguel's, the protagonist, American Dream was, ironically, to leave the United States and start a new life in Mexico. He wanted to escape his criminal history, and forget the horrible crime that he committed. Miguel, however, changes his American Dream when he is literally feet away from crossing the boarder. He decides that he can't go due to the fact that his grandfather crawled through the sewers to get to the U.S, and his father died fighting for the country. Miguel's new American dream was to pay back his group-home for the money he stole, and to set his life straight by finishing his sentence.
Miguel did achieve his American Dream. We see this when Miguel states “I thought how I couldn't stay kneeling in the street for the rest of my life. I had to get up at some point. So I did.” The cost of achieving his dream, however, was that he would have to serve his full sentence. Also, he might have to serve extra time for breaking out of and stealing from the group home, robbing the racist store owner, and any other crimes that Miguel committed while trying to get to Mexico.
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Post by Lance Madow on Aug 18, 2014 18:27:48 GMT
In the book "Article 5" by Kristen Simmons, the story is written from the experiences and point of view of the protagonist, Ember Miller. Ember Miller is a 17 year old girl, she lives in a small town with her mother. The time period in which the book is set, is a future America where war has ravaged almost half of the continent and the government has become extremely rigid and religiously oriented (specifically Christianity). The title of the book "Article 5" pertains to a set of rules called the "Moral Statues" the 5th moral statue states that "Couples that are not married cannot have a child", which is just the situation the protagonist is in, because Ember's mother had Ember while not being married to Ember's father, who we never meet. Ember's mother would have usually received a fairly lax punishment like a fine but instead she is sent right to jail and killed.
Ember's "American dream" is to have a government that is fair and free. Through out the story it is shown how the government is unforgiving and oppressive of citizens rights, and in the protagonist's case she loses her mother because of the governments unforgiving ways. Ember does not achieve her American dream in the story fully, the story ends when she is living with a group of rebels plotting to over throw the government giving Ember a sense of hope for her future. She is helped throughout the way by a previous serious boyfriend Chase Jennings and her previous roommate's boyfriend Sean. Ember does get other objectives throughout the book such as saving her mom and going to rescue Rebecca, her past roommate but her "American Dream" never changes.
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Post by Brendan Mazza on Aug 18, 2014 20:11:21 GMT
the book "Article 5" by Kristen Simmons, the protagonist in this story is, Ember Miller. Ember Miller is a 17 year old girl, she lives in a small town with her mother. The time frame the book is set in is the future of America, specifically when they are in the middle of a war. In this time period the government system is extremely corrupt and called the FBR the "federal Bureau reform". The name of the book "Article 5" is the title of the book because Embers mother breaks article 5 which says you cannot have a child out of wedlock. The mother ends up in jail and later executed because she broke this rule, while ember is taken to a facility to live in for the mean time
Ember's "American dream" is that the government "FBR" stops being corrupt and instead are fair and free. The novel explains how the government system is extremely harsh, in this case they put embers mother in jail and later executed while ember lives in a facility. Ember attempts but does not fully succeed in her American dream in the end, but she does join a rebel army to fight against the government. For ember to come so far at the end she had been helped by many people including a old friend of hers chase Jennings, who put his life in danger multiple times to attempt to save her and her roommate Rebecca , who had a friend named Sean who was apart of the army who helped then escape but later Sean is caught and was in trouble with the FBR. But sadly embers dream never truly happens in the novel.
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samc1
New Member
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Post by samc1 on Aug 18, 2014 22:45:39 GMT
The novel that i chose was We Were Here by Matt De La Pena. The protagonist of this story is Miguel and he grew up in Stockton and got sent to a group home with a bunch of kids. His American dream was to forget about his brother Diego that he had killed and escape the thought of him doing that by escaping the group home with Mong and Rondell. They were on the run along the west coast and Mong commits suicide by drowning himself and Miguel and Rondell make it to mexico.
When they reach Mexico, Rondell goes in but Miguel realizes that he has to serve his time and can live a free life with his mother. He eventually tells his reason for being in the group home and Rondell came back with him to server the rest of his time to. Miguel and Rondell are best friends now and basically brothers from what all they went through. He pays off the cash to Jaden and serves the rest of his time at the light house.
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Post by KennedyStarling on Aug 19, 2014 1:52:56 GMT
In the novel SPEAK Melinda's American dream is to make it through high school while everyone hates her for breaking up a party at the end of the summer. Achieving this dream is proving hard for her when she has no friends, doesn't talk, doesn't show up to class, and doesn't interact with her parents. During the school year she makes a friend and focuses most of her time trying to improve her art project. As her art gets better she begins to make an effort at life again by standing up to her "best friend" , leaving the closet she used to block out the world, telling her old friend what happened at the party, and standing up to "IT" when he tried to attack her again. Throughout the story her dream changed from surviving high school to being able to find her voice again.
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Post by tamipridgeon on Aug 19, 2014 20:48:56 GMT
In the book Where the Heart is by Billie Letts, Novalee Nation is the protagonist. Her dream was to always have a family and a home to love and cherish and when she found out she was pregnant at 17 years old she thought she could have that with her boyfriend Willy Jack and her baby. As they were driving to California they stopped at Walmart and while she was in the store Willy Jack drove off and left her by herself and she ended up staying there because she had no where else to go. She only had seven dollars and seventy-seven cense which was badluck for her because she never had any luck with the number seven. A man named Foley, the librarian saves her and she meets a sweet woman named Sister Husband who took Novalee into her home and at the end of the story she was able to achieve the dream that she has always wanted. Home is where the heart is and Foley and Sister Husband became her new family and she was able to build her home. |
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Post by Teagans on Aug 20, 2014 20:08:10 GMT
I would say my protagonist does eventually, pursue her american dream. Ember was constantly being criticized for her family background. She was always on the run from the military or government for being a "forbidden" child. Finally, by the end of the book she was freed and out of her country. So her true American dream, like Hester's was freedom.
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