Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Adolescents in literature: Identity - Coggle Diagram
Adolescents in literature:
Identity
A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Sandwich
Benjie is 13 but doesn't believe he is a "chile" (pg. 1)
Doesn't believe he is addicted to heroine
Doesn't blame anyone but himself (pg. 65)
Many struggle with helping Benjie. Cohen wants to help his students to better their education and themselves, but is tired of being an outcast. he also has the mindset "Kid addicts don't bother a soul" (pg. 36). Greene on the other hand says "lets don't kill him outta the kindness of our hearts." (pg. 48) because Cohen didn't want to "uoset " people.
Green wants the best for his students, as does Cohen. However, Greene helped Benjie when no one else would. He didn't want to see what he had known as a good kid to become lost. Cohen left Benjie alone because he was quiet. Greene didn't care that Benjie felt betrayed or hated him as long as he got a chance at help.
Childress uses different language to show difference in class, age, and education.
just as the articles included give us a look at other information not shared in these points of view.
The drug dealer Walter also has a interesting perspective in the story.
Nothing is free, drugs solve nothing, if I don't sell them someone else will anyway, and the army/military doesn't fix anything it just sends you off to be murdered not be kept out of trouble..
one of the most controversial characters has a lot of good things to say and has a lot of opinions one may agree with.
I agree with the military not being a fix for everyone, so many see it as an easy way out.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the universe
Ari struggles with his sexuality, cant understand why he sees Dante as beautiful.
Ari's aunt Ophelia serves as a sign that his sexuality is ok. Aris seems to be afraid of being wiped from his families home like his brother. he wants so badly to tell them that hes not his brother through his aunt and her funeral though, he finds out that she was in love with a women and though the rest of her family ostracized her, his mother and father did not. They loved her either way.
Ari's mom made sure to express the fact that her sister was with a woman didnt bother her. whenhe asks his father if it bothered him he replies "if it mattered to us, do you think we'd have let you come and stay with her?" (pg.286)
Ari fears anything happening to Dante, especially something like what his brother did to the prostitute because Dante never runs.
Ari becomes violent to protect Dante because he cares about him, not like his brother who became violent out of anger.
Saenz uses symbols/items as a way to give more information. The symbols reveal to us things about the characters. He also uses repetition to get certain points across. The repetition reminds me of my friends today, mimicking each other.
Skin color and class differences shown by education, profession, housing, and Ari & Dante's schools.
this book is a mirror for the readers. we can see ourselves in the way Ari thinks and explores his identity.
Ari sees life in a series of phases (pg.16) he also blows off life being a series of phases as a way for a parent to excuse not know what their child is going through.
as he got older in his journals he would talk about what ages he enjoyed being and how his body was changing
as he got older he lost the childlike innocence of life and develops depression
on page 78 he talks about sparrows falling from the sky and how it was his fault. i see this as him second guessing himself and changing his ways so that he isn't judged and fits in with his community. He's paralyzed by fear of being ostracized.
Dante plays a major part in Ari's self worth and his standards (pg.98)
The time period of these settings are 10 years apart in widly different communities.
a focus on family
Benjie seperates himself from his family and appears to be mad or annoyed with them
for Aristotle and Dante "La Familia" is a huge concept. Ari is constantly thinking of his family and their thoughts/acceptance.
Ari constantly compare himself to his father and later when he knows more, to his brother.
Ari struggles with his sexuality and tries to go with what he normally sees by trying to kiss and be with Ileana. He struggles with his feelings for Dante, while Dante is open about his.
Benjie struggles with butler as a father figure especially when he leaves.
Butler goes out in his pajamas trying to save Benjie.
he didnt expect to be doing anything, he was preparing for bed.
he refuses to let Benjie go "its nation time!" he says (pg. 110) "it's you and me from now on, hear"
Benjie then goes on to say butler is a "real man" (pg.111) and keeps thinking "butler you are my father" (pg.112-13)
Both Ari and Benjie get a new perspective by attending a funeral
Ari sees it's ok to like men and opens up to his feelings about Dante.
Benjie goes to Kenny's funeral (died of overdoes) and is scared by it.
A Wizard of Earthsea
“Sometimes indeed he was uneasy working even such lesser spells as the summoner taught him.” Pg. 74
hes afraid of things in the dark - the "Shadows" - like what he had seen in ogions home
by just fighting with jasper though Ged forgets his fears and try's the spell that was in ogions book that had scared him.
he notices familiar runes that im assuming are from the book.
through this event we can see just how impulsive Ged is. we can also see just how badly the wants to beat jasper and how far that want could drive him.
ged can be a selfish and is a very conflicted character. jasper is also a challenge for Ged, another test he fails due to selfish fight that leads to the summoning of the shadow. however, Ged is selfish to protect his pride.
Ged is again tested by the power of the stone - terrenon.fails test: too prideful to ask for help. believe the stone is too powerful and refuses to use its power. pg. 163-164
Ged's selfishness: protects his pride because he is from a poor island, his identity as Gont, and he like to use his power. Ged doesnt like to sit around learning he wants to show power. he picks a bone with jasper because he's Wizard born (pg. 61) and Ged wants to prove himself better.
Test: failed- Pechvarry's son who is ill and dies. Ged was meant to "heal the wound and let the ding spirit go" but he ignores this and continues after the boys spirit to try to bring him back. Ged uses too much of his power trying to defeat the shadow he becomes ill again. pg.111-114
simple beast the little otak heals him by licking him
Yevaud: wins test: own yevauds name, uses mgic defensively, protects islands Pg. 127.
this is also his first job and it wasnt great but it was a small job to prove himself
Ged is told to face his problem head on - the shadow. he's got to run toward them he needs to be the hunter and not the hunted. this leads to him becoming one with the shadow. becoming his whole true self.
Balance: inaction to action, recognizing consequences. Dark AND Light.
magic in use to perform spells
child into and adult
The Serpents Secret
"her shouting in multiple languages" pg. 7, second time mentioned; Kiran's friend speaks many languages and I think its important the author includes this, possible future reference or just for identity purposes. maybe this makes people feel included or perhaps Kiran can't speak as many languages or her home language as well as she would like.
Kiran is Indian and feels like an outsider even when with Lal and Neel
they fly away - trope of starting journey. Kiran will become a new person
has the scar that bother her; pattern on a cobras head, is the mark of the serpent king
accepts she is both the serpent king and moon maidens daughter but believe her parents are Ma and baba the ones who raised her
Mati is her cousin/sister
when she accepts all of herself she is able to unlock her powers and help her family and friends. she protects rather than being the protected, she recognizes herself as strong
crying is not a weakness but a strength
"Lal you know we should stay together" pg. 108; continue to hide things; foreshadowing
Neel is meant to protect Lal in order to remain in good graces with the king
"you must see and accept the face of your shadow self, but never lose yourself in the darkness, if you do that no one will fetch you."
again themes of dark and light ad what is Neel hiding Pg. 93
Neel is Half rakkhosh, his mother is the queen of demons
Kiran talks like an adult on pg. 62 "this place could use some serious, immigration reform"
heavy topic for kids but it is a education attempt.
kiran also talks like a child "oh man my mom is gonna kill me" Pg. 24 when the rakkhosh trashes her house.
"undoccumented scoundrels" reference to present day problems with immigration and the sadness and damages peoples opinions can cause. around page 63
scene is written in a funny lighthearted way but older audiences know this is a rough subject.
Mythical things/beings
child into adolescence
Mirror and window
i am not Indian but I can relate to her personality and learn about hardships she endures while someone of the same background as her can relate and feel represented.
Can choose to be good but must accept both parts of ourself
everything is connected by love
Both Earth Sea and Serpent have a struggle of good and bad within themselves as characters and accepting both parts of themselves as one whole and not halves that doesn't define them.
Binti
Himba
Durable sturdy tops and long skirts, wooden sandals, steel ankelets. Braids and otjize
use otjize as a means to bathe and not waste precious water pg.46
don't leave the homeland
Khoush
white flowy cothes, colored belts and veils
Make fun of Himba calling them "dirt bathers" pg.6. they tuug on binti's braids sayingit smells like jasmin flowers and "not shit". think of himba as less then them an dirty.
Travel freely across planets
Binti is a master harmonzier and is the first of her people to leave the planet and go to Oomza Uni. on her journey she it constantly met with different people who find her weird or "tribal" pg.51
though she is "lower" she still knows more than some Khoush like the security guard
Math is her life. Its part of treeing and makes up everything to her. she makes the astrolabes even "some of the finest" pg.7
Astrolabes make up their identity and their future: "give them access to my entire life - me, my family, and all forecasts of my future." pg.4
resists snatching it away because she's scared of what they could do with it and to her. though she wants to go to the university she is still cautious of what could happen and keeps her mothers warnings close to heart.
Binti comes to rely on the edan after it protects her from a meduse, she does things her people don't believe in and prays to the inanimate object to protect her pg.11
clutching the edan close she uses treeing to get through the meduse and figure out what to do. it gives her confidence and a clear head so she can d no wrong. "I know wat to do know" pg.16
the edan starts to become part of her in a way that she never lets it go. her fingers get cramped and it physically hurts for her to drop it. pg. 39
She creates the peace between the Meduse and the Oomza Uni professors using her Harmonizer ability. she identifies with the opressed and proves them they're wrong about the meduse and that the meduse was the ones who were attacked.
Binti struggles in feeling shes no longer Himba
She loses her Hair, they become okuoko. she gains them to be part of the meduse and become their ambassador. this way she can communicate with them without the edan to proove she wont hurt them.
her braids are gone and they represent her family for her. they had her "family's bloodline, culture, and history" coded into them pg. 10
she runs out of otjize. she cries when the last of it runs down the drain in the shower (pg. 53) it was the last bit of her homeland she had left and it was now gone. its also the substance that helped the meduse and gave her a way to protect herself from them and negotiate with them.
she tries desperately to make a new one with clay she found around her uni and flower oil she bought from the market. she wept when she put this on as well because she had changed. she was able to convince herself that the new otjize was ok but then the real test was if it would heal okwu.
When it heals okwu she's relieved and realizes that though she is different she is still Himba and she is still part of her family even if she went against their wishes for her future.
Feed
Titus
from a wealthier family, has an upcar, got the feed when he was a baby.
usually the feed is constantly sending him suggestion or he has a bunch of trouble forming sentences.
lost of "like" and pauses in his speech "example pg. 13)
lots of teens use uh/um/like in their sentences but his is to an extent that it seems like he's trying to form sentences on his own without the feed and not that he's nervous or unknowingly doing it.
when he cant describe what violets spine is or why its attractive the feed suggests "supple" pg. 14
its used in the right context for flexible but it feels off to me. something you don't usually hear about a spine and it just seems weird to be attracted to someone's spine.
Violet
from a poorer family, no upcar instead takes a taxi or catches rides, got the feed at 6 making
it dangerous for her
usually think for herself without her feed, prefers to talk outload if she can, doesn't want to be profiled by the feed.
in the end violet is scared and says "my god. what am i, without the feed?" pg. 217
the feed is so much apart of them that even when she's dying from it or is trying so hard not to let it profile her she doesn't know what to do without it.
Titus describes his dad "He was being very powerful and businesslike. He was dressed up, and he looked like he was ready to give some orders and sort things out."
this makes us think he's a business man on a mission her to find out what happened to his son and how these doctors intend to fix it
but he sounds like a teenager and its bizarre "she’s like, whoa, she’s like so stressed out. This is… Dude…dude this is some way bad shit."
makes me wonder if he's even concerned about what happened to his son just because he's the way he reacted like oh right no feed to chat whoops
Titus is consumed by the feed, he buys what it advertises and uses it to feel things
clothes: he buys thing he sees people wearing because its trendy or he buys things that are advertised on sale because "its a good deal"
he gets a car that the feed says would fit most of his friends
Malfunctioning: they go into malfunctions at party to have fun disregarding the fact their systems were seriously injured before. pg.87
Titus uses it to cope with what's happening to Violet pg. 237 then he feels guilty and goes to her
they're paying for programs to mess up their feed for a type of high.
their society depends so much on technology and they use it to make their problems go away.
actors/actresses start to promote lesions as fashionable and the girls go get surgeries to make lesions all over their bodies
there's an add about a movie on a true story of a cloning farm for humans. that harvests organs pg. 26
none of the characters are distressed about this and its just passed by in the reading as if nothing is wrong but as a reader I'm further distancing myself from these characters because that's a major issue and concern to me that they harvest humans.
All Titus knows is the feed, he doesn't really function any other way because he's grown up with it attached and as part of him. the feed is part of his identity or even is his identity at this point.
both binti and titus struggle with technology and how it affects them
for Binti hers is protection but also an advancement to build things, she also has items that hold her past and future that she created.
she uses her technology to help others and for protection
Titus has a computer system in his head that does everything for him in one thought. when its gone he doesn't know what to do with himself and his first thought was to check all his systems no open his eyes (pg.43).
they're frightened and just keep feeling their heads, they sit and stare at nothing, growing bored enough to make up games to play. but most of all they start to talk out loud for once.
Nimona
Hardheaded
she always makes her own plans and refuses to listen to blackheart .
p.4 - she tries to alter his plans because she wants to do something she finds more fitting of a villain.
p. 163 - "Out" she had left the base because she was upset after temporarily losing control of her powers due to the device. Blackheart was worried about where she had been like she was a little kid that snuck out. she wanted out and so she did go out so she could get info and clear her head. again she wanted to do something so she did it.
p. 35 - she crashes through a door as a rhino instead of letting Blackheart hack it to open it.
p. 21 - "we're villains! Villains kill people sometimes!"; Blackheart is upset because she could've hurt herself or someone else in the explosion. mainly he doesn't want her killing people unless she's ready for the consequences.
p. 121 - "I DONT NEED YOU HELP! I HAVE NEVER. NEEDED. ANYONE'S. HELP!" after losing her control on her powers she freaks out (understandably so). she's always been alone though so its like she feels smothered by Blackhearts worry. like she can fix her problems on her own because she's always had to.
Shapeshifter
"I'm not a kid. I'm a shark!" p. 2
classic teen mentality of im not a kid so stop treating me like one
likes to take peoples forms and mock them a bit like on p. 34 with Blackheart.
a different race in the sense she's a shapeshifter and the rest are human
called:
monster - p.69, 258
weapon - p. 195
killer - p. 210
wretched beast - p. 216
tool (useful)/advantage - 33, 192
at the bank robbery Sir Goldenloin calls her "a little girl disguised as a monster."
him and Blackheart seem to be the only ones thinking of her as an actual person for most of the novel.
relationship with Blackheart
p. 163 - he treats her like a kid that snuck out, he looked like a parent that was waiting by the door with the lights off to catch them.
p. 237 - she feels betrayed because he told them of the machine that messes up her powers so they could fight her and get her to calm down.
the scene where he carries her in her child form reminded me of a father and daughter p.228-29
The Poet X
Xiomara wants the freedom to be herself.
she questions things in her life such as:
Religion -
p. 119-20 - eve; why do we have to resist temptation. what's the other option that's supposedly better, why is it better? why is it wrong to ask? why cant we be curious and how come she cant find it to be unreasonable. she simply doesn't believe what she is being told. she has questions and that's why she hesitates but no one will listen.
boys and dating:
p. 88 - her date cant be a actual date because then shed be breaking the rules
p.90 - cant date until after college because she shouldn't "play around"
Romantic feelings:
p.85-7: She has a dream about him and worries he'll know she did. So, she's anxious to be around him in class.
p.104 - she's wondering if she can touch Aman's hand or if she should act a certain way to impress him.
pleasure:
p.130 - she starts to explore physical pleasure with her body and wonders why its considered dirty and wrong to the church or god if it was made to feel good.
her outlet is poetry and not the church like her mom wants. she speaks around not only to date but to be part of the poetry club so she can express herself and have some fun.
she's just troubled with a lot of questions and not enough breathing room to be her own person. she's being forced to be someone she's not by her mother. she didn't grow up the same way and she's also grown up in a different environment.
Ethnic identity: Dominican
Her mom is an immigrant from the Dominican republic who came to the united states by marrying Xio's dad. They live in Harlem and call it their neighborhood/hood
strict catholic background:
mom wanted to be a nun and now forces that life of purity on her daughter to make up for leaving to marry a different man than god.
forced into confirmation
brother has a far less strict upbringing because life "ain't fair" and they have to "earn their way into heaven" p. 42
her mother speaks mostly in Spanish and we think she doesn't read much English until she reads Xio's journal and then burns it p.300
it seems like she lives in fear of her mother as she grew older. it also appears that the mom holds the power in the family
mother calls her marriage to a man who enjoys women a punishment for not becoming a nun and her inability to have kids for so long another punishment. p. 231
her mom works as a janitor, uses cleaning supplies to describe women and calls men dirty and unclean being. p.207
seems to have a super toxic relationship with her mom
kneeling on rice as a punishment, burning her journal, being called a whore, getting slapped, threatening to send her to DR all the time as a punishment for not listening cause they know how to straighten her out there.
feels less important that her twin brother like he's the favorite of the family. she feels separate to him in the family but still loves him.
they tell her she aint an easy one.
they named her Xiomara which means one ready for war while her brother is named after someone in the bible. then they get mad at her for being true to her name. Her name fits her perfectly as a strong and independent girl and they get mad at her for having a mind of her own.