Racism/Segregation

So, I'm watching Remember the Titans on TV right now, and it's reminding me of the segregation that is talked about in Fences. They both combine segregation and sports in one way or another. It's a much bigger issue in Remember the Titans, but Troy also mentions it several times in Fences. Remember the Titans takes place in 1971, and Fences takes place in the 1950s. I was amazed to find out that this movie takes place after the Civil Rights Movement and after Fences. The high school in this movie is completely segregated, and the people in the town do not accept the African Americans at all. Finally, they agree to let them play together, but the other teams still are very judgmental and completely unreasonable. At that time, racism was still a huge issue. It's really sad to watch this movie and see what African Americans had to go through. Most of them weren't even given a shot, and this was almost twenty years later than the novel. This led me to have some understanding for where Troy is coming from. Don't get me wrong, I think that Troy should've given Cory a chance to play football; parents should give their kids as many opportunities as possible, but I can see why he might feel that he needs to protect him. I don't necessarily think he did it in order to protect his son, but it's a possibility, and he could've potentially protected him from a lot of horrible things that were done to African Americans at this time. Many people probably would not have accepted Cory, and he would've gone through some difficult times in order to get to his success.  I hope that Troy made his decision because he was trying to help his son out, but it's very hard to tell.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I've read about 50 pages so far in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. One of the first things I noticed was that Stephen Chbosky has his own, unique style of writing. The story is told through Charlie, a freshman in high school. He tells about his experiences through letters to an unknown recipient. Each letter begins with "Dear Friend,". The only real clue we get (so far) about who this recipient is, and why he's writing to him/her, is at the beginning of the first letter. Charlie says: "I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand..." He goes on to say that he does not want the recipient to know who he is, nor find him. The letters are very informal and not always gramatically correct.  I think this helps Chbosky to portray the full personality of Charlie, and in some ways, it makes the story more realistic. He writes like many teenager would casually write, instead of writing with an extensive vocabulary and perfect mechanics. I think his writing style is really interesting and the story is better because of it. How do you think this writing style helps or takes away from the story? What do you think of his writing style?

Intro Post

Interests: I spend a lot of time playing basketball, and I hope to play for another four years. I love spending time with my family and friends. I also really enjoy traveling.

Post High School Plans:  I plan to attend UW-LaCrosse next year to pursue a degree in Biology. Then, I hope to get in to their P.A. program; eventually I would like to become a Physician's Assistant. I'll also play basketball in college.

Favorite Book: My favorite author is Jodi Picoult, and my favorite book, also written by her, is My Sister's Keeper.