Face to Face Response

Fear

Anjum Mir does a great job of speaking about her fear in an unbiased manner. She expresses her fear for others' reactions to her and her child since they were Muslim. After 9/11, waiting a week to go in public with her child was necessary in lots of ways. She understood that she should not put her child in a position where he should be discriminated against at a young and innocent age. She was understanding to the natural reaction from Americans, which is a big part of overcoming her fear. Although our country should not be this way, it is. All Americans are just that, and to be discriminated against for being different, especially being allowed by the constitution, is wrong.

Anger

Muslim-Americans have the right to be angry for many reasons. People from their country had attacked the U.S. in the name of Islam, which put out a bad reputation for many Muslims. Muslim-Americans these days are almost forced to validate themselves in a way to make them appear to be safe in the eyes of concerned Americans. It isn't fair to them since they had no part in what was going on. Although it's natural to wonder "what if," it just isn't right. Americans have a right to want to defend their homeland, but we should also open our eyes and recognize that just because someone comes from a certain place or heritage, doesn't mean that they have the same negative intentions as their ancestors.

Reading Response #4 - Burned

Burned

Ellen Hopkins

This photo relates to how Pattyn is feeling in terms
of her relationship with her father
and her life as a whole: lost, alone, misunderstood. 

Two weeks later, Ellen Hopkins still has me turning the pages of this amazing story. Pattyn, the main character, continues to question her place in this world as the book goes on. As her father's anger towards her not-so-religious decisions progresses, so does her curiosity about where she belongs in this world. As every little thing begins to set Pattyn off, it gets harder and harder for her to control her emotions. Bishop Crandall reports to their household to talk with Pattyn about her recent rebellious behavior which includes getting caught fooling around in the woods with a boy who isn't of her religion and breaking a window after seeing that same boy with a new girl. Pattyn just doesn't understand, Bishop Crandall addresses her parents' worry, and Pattyn snaps right back at Bishop by telling him to "put his advice where his toilet paper sticks."

Soon after Bishop tells her to apologize, she learns her mother is pregnant with another child, except this time, it's a boy. With Pattyn being such a rebel, she is sent off to her Aunt Jeanette's, also her father's sister who hasn't spoken to him in years. She understands that she is causing great stress to her family now, and she accepts the fact she needs to get away from them. Could this be a good experience for her? Will Aunt Jeanette provide her with a better life, or will she begin to question her spot in this world even more now that her father has ridden her? 

"I Didn't Want to Go

But they played the guilt card,

Which gave me no choice. I did feel

guilty

about lying to get my way,

guilty

about almost giving my virginity away 

to someone who didn't deserve it,

guilty

about the things we'd done instead,

guiltier

about broken windows, broken noses.

And should I somehow make Mom

lose

her baby, I would forever

lose

every inch of self-respect,

lose

every ounce of my newfound belief

that I wasn't born to be a

loser.

So I agreed to a road trip across Foreverland.

With my dad at the wheel."

(page 170)

This poem emphasizes Pattyn's understanding that she just doesn't belong at home right now. Something needs to change, and she sees that. Even though she just wants her father to accept her and love her as her oldest daughter, she realizes that her father has demons he's fighting with his alcoholism. 

Reading Response #3 - Burned

Burned

By Ellen Hopkins

If you have been reading my last book response posts, you will notice that I have changed books. I recently abandoned the book Breaking Beautiful due to the school only letting you have the book for 2 weeks. I could have kept it, but the more I read, the more I didn't want to anymore. Burned by Ellen Hopkins is my current read, and let me just say that I couldn't have chosen a better book at random than this one.



 

 

Burned is about a young Mormon girl named Pattyn Von Stratten. Pattyn grows up in a house with 

6 sisters and her parents, who hardly ever communicate. Her father is an alcoholic who is a walking nightmare once evening hits.  Church is an awkward priority to this family every week, due to everyone knowing their family issues without stating them. Her mother is a careless one, not working a job or changing her girls' diapers - that was Pattyn's job. Pattyn has been tied down to such a time consuming lifestyle playing "mom" to her 6 younger sisters, going to church, cooking and hardly ever having time for friends who have faded away as she grows up. One night she is faced with a sex dream that makes her question her religion and lifestyle as a whole. Is she pure? Does God control her dreams? The following poem is one she included in her book as the thoughts of Pattyn. It stands for her struggles and what she goes through.

 

 

 

"Brother Prior is an idiot. And I'm

supposed to swallow his garbage

like it doesn't even taste bad.

Well, it stinks! Ask him about

Joseph Smith, he can recite

an entire oral history.

Ask him about dreams,

he pretends like he doesn't have them.

Ask him about God. . .

 

I'm not sure he even believes

God exists.

 

Do I?

Does Mom?

 

Does Dad? I mean, really?

I know his past haunts him.

But if he truly believes

he and God are brothers,

meant to live together

in the Great Beyond,

can't he ask for a hand,

a way to silence his ghosts,

without Johnnie WB?

Or is his drinking sin

enough to make his Heavenly

Sibling turn His back?"

(page 40-41)

 

Ellen Hopkins has a magical way of putting this story together. She writes in poems, page by page, that literally keeps you turning until you fall asleep with your face in the book. Yes, this happened to me the day after I checked it out from the library. Her poems are always written in a different style than the last page's poem. Sometimes they are even shaped like what she is talking about. For example, she mentioned spaghetti on page 59. She wrote the lines of the poems as if they were stringy, flexible spaghetti noodles. I appreciate her writing style. It stands out from the standard chapter book just because it causes the book to flow a whole lot easier. Hopkins makes events flow into feelings in the most perfect way. The flow is just unlike any other author I have ever read.