Carter's Blog

Comparative Essay – Parrot in the Oven .vs Praying

In many situations in life you must stick up for yourself, however Manny, from the book Parrot in the Oven and Kesha, writer of the song Praying, experience this the most. Both of those texts express that sticking up for yourself is needed for survival in today’s world, especially when you must face somebody that is very close to you. Those texts relate very much theme wise. In both texts we learn all about taking a stand for yourself to stop a greater evil.

 

To further explain how the themes cross each other we must look at Kesha and Manny’s experiences. Manny is constantly abused by his father in this book and it takes him a while to learn how to face his dad. He is absolutely terrified of his dad but Manny learns how to stop him throughout the book, just like how Kesha learns to face her ex who she says “brought the flames,” and “put me through hell,” while later in the song she says “I had to learn to fight for myself,” which directly quotes the theme which is you have to learn to fight for yourself.

 

Now, although it is true that both texts have the same themes, the way the theme shows itself in the book is completely different. Manny faces his dad or family while Kesha faces her ex-husband or ex-boyfriend. Kesha’s abuser seems to focus more on putting Kesha down, “Told me that I was nothing without you,” while Manny’s father chases his mom down with a rifle and not acting like a real father figure to Manny. They also handle the situations differently. Kesha seems to build her self-worth and esteem while also forgiving his abuser as it says in her song, “I’m proud of who I am,” and “I pray for you at night,” while Manny uses his words or his fists when needed and he also never forgives his dad for what he did to Manny’s family.

 

So as you can see, both of the pieces tell you that you must learn to take a stand and fight for yourself. After looking at those 2 pieces you can see that even though they show the theme differently, you still learn the lesson that if you don’t stand you will stepped on and used and trashed. It shows that if you want to survive you must fight and don’t let go.  So take a stand.

Literary Essay

Victor Martinez’s novel, Parrot in the Oven, takes place somewhere in the South part of North America. It is modern times, and Manny, the main character, starts the story by talking about his family – a drunk, abusive dad, one baby sister and one older sister, a lovely mom, and one jobless, older brother. He deals with bullying, abuse, violence, and gangs. One lesson from the story is running away from your problems only makes them worse.

From the start of this story he learns about running from his problems. He tries to run from Stinky and Bobby but they grab him, threaten him, and harass him. If he stood up to them he wouldn’t have to deal with them again, but he cowers away from them and so later in the book they rough him up. He doesn’t stop his abusive father from drinking and going to the bar early in the book so his dad later, after being pulled out the bar by his mom and him, gets his rifle and tries to shoot his mom. If he didn’t run away from this problem it would have gotten better. So, as you can see, even in the very start of the book Manny’s problems expand because he always tries to run.

Manny doesn’t know how to face his dad. In this part of the book Manny’s dad tries to murder Manny’s mom with a gun. Manny gets stronger. He almost tries to stop his dad, but he doesn’t try hard enough and his dad is sent to prison. Manny runs from his dad after a small attempt. He still doesn’t understand how to stop people from abusing him and his family. Manny still sweats 10 gallons every time his dad gets mad or looks at him weirdly. He doesn’t understand how much power he has, which he can use to stand up to his father.

Manny faces a new enemy at the end of the book. He joins a gang, not because he wants money but simply because he wants some kisses. He joins for lust. He gets beaten up in order to join the gang, and once he joins they try to rob an old woman. Manny suddenly realizes what he’s done is wrong morally so he leaves the gang and the book ends. This is a revelation to Manny. He stands up to the gang by simply leaving. He learns how to stand up for himself! This ends the book, which just shows how Manny standing up is the main point of the plot.

Some could say that the theme of this book is that running away from your problems can help. For example they may say if Manny ran from his dad it would help or that he ran from the gang which made his life better. This would make sense however Manny running from the gang is actually him standing up to them. He knows he can’t physically beat them so he beats them mentally by just leaving. Also, if he left his father he would get caught, his dad would beat him, and while he is away his mother would most likely be abused more, so the theme is actually to face your problems head on.

Parrot in the Oven Setting SIgnpost

The exact location of Parrot in the Oven is unknown, but using context clues we can assume around where it is. In the first 30 pages they are picking chili peppers, so we know it is near the South or Mexico. The main characters last name is Hernandez so it is definitely a Mexican last name. During the chili pepper picking the immigration police come and grab a group of Mexicans that are assumed to be illegals, so it is not in Mexico but in a state above Mexico on the border like Texas. The time period has to in modern times as they have cars and there isn’t any futuristic devices so far. The environment is overall just very hot and dry, as the main character Manny complains about it alot.

Final Narrative Draft – Passing Period Prediciment

The clock ticks as the minute hand hits the number twenty-three. “Alright class pack up,” announced Mr. Hoering to his eighth grade class. The class piles their bulky books atop their binders and line up. The passing period bell rings and the class walks out, but there is one problem. Some only have four minutes to urinate, grab their hefty books, and walk to the class which is a huge problem that many students are faced with at Blackhawk Middle School.

To start off with the issue of the four minute bell, students do anything in the last minute of class, like in the example above the students are told to pack up 2 entire minutes before we even leave class, and I believe that one minute would be better spent in the hands of the students. In the words of Jason Li “If students didn’t have to interrupt a class to use the restroom or get water, it would create a better learning environment for the rest of the students,” thus making the class time removed more efficient and more productive overall.

Secondly, if you have to move from one end of the building, need a restroom break, and need books from your locker it is a hassle to get to class. There is stress that is built up when you’re in a hassle, and that will make kids less efficient in class. For example when you are stressed during a test you make more errors and when you are stressed when talking to someone you stumble more. This stress builds up and worsens the more it happens and it doesn’t help when teachers tell their students they aren’t allowed to go to the restroom in class.  According to Douglas Carlson on forsterEDU, ” twenty-five percent of students say that stress lowered their grades or ability to finish a course,” which means this is actually affecting their grades too.

Last, but certainly not least, when students go from elementary school to middle school they lose their recess and class are longer, which means the students don’t have time to release stress and energy during the school day. This means that sixth graders will be too energized and stressed during many classes to pay attention, and this extra minute will help them at least lose a little bit of their stress. Also without recess their general happiness will be decreased and this never helps in any situation, especially in school where you must work all day.

To conclude why the passing period time should be increased by one minute we don’t do any work at all in the last minutes of class, students will be less stressed if they have more time between classes, it takes more than four minutes to finish everything you need to do between classes, stress builds up and makes students have more errors, and middle school students don’t get recess to calm themselves down. Adding minutes to the passing period will make the students happier and generally make the school day more productive. Maybe if this gets changed Mr. Hoering won’t have to shriek at his late students any longer.

Rough Draft – Passing Period

“WOOOSH”, a gush of wind sounds as the student dashes through the hall. The last bell rings. He is late to class again after going to his locker and doing restroom business, even though he talked to no one. This is a huge problem at Blackhawk Middle School, and it deserves much attention. Many students are faced with the challenge and torture of the four minute bell and I’m going to list the reasons that this time crunching bell should be increased to five minutes.

To start off, students don’t do much in the last minute of class anyways. The teachers usually just make the kids pack up before then and talk. That one minute would be better spent when the students need it most; when they are walking between classes. This would make a lot less people late to class. According to Jason Li “If students didn’t have to interrupt a class to use the restroom or get water, it would create a better learning environment for the rest of the students”, so it would actually increase productivity.

Secondly, if you have to move from one end of the building, need a restroom break, and need books from your locker it is a hassle to get to class. There is stress that is built up when you’re in a hassle, and that will make kids less efficient in class. Stress will make the kids rush and make more errors.  This stress piles higher if you forget to bring your book to class or if you are late or if you need to go to the restroom during class and the teacher won’t let you go because “you should have gone during passing period”, which was spent getting your books and rushing to class. If the student hasn’t gone to the restroom or doesn’t have time to get his books under the circumstance that he will be late then it could ruin the entire class.  According to Douglas Carlson on forsterEDU, ” 25 percent of students say that stress lowered their grades or ability to finish a course”, which means this stress worsens the kids grades. So this is even proved by surveys.

Finally, middle school students don’t get recess, unlike elementary students, which is a way to get out all of your stress and energy so you can focus in school. The middle school students don’t get this time to be relieved of stress and worry, thus making it harder to concentrate in school. According to Kennedy T. Michigan “Not having breaks or physical activity could cause a lot of stress on high school and middle students”, which explains why many middle school and high school students are so stressed and tired.

The passing periods should be increased from four minutes to five minutes because the last minute of class is usually spent talking or waiting for the bell, it takes five minutes to get everything you need to do done, stress builds if you have to rush across the building to get ready for class, and middle school students don’t get recess to release the stress made during class and during passing periods. I hope all schools consider their students comfort and stress levels when choosing the length off their passing periods to ensure the students are less stressful, more productive, and happy overall.

Conform to the Uniform – Student News

This coming in Blackhawk middle school has announced that uniforms will be coming to the dress code! This sudden code change has been made by the office staff at Blackhawk middle who believe it will encourage the students and allow them to concentrate better.

This has caused many disruptions inside the student body, as many students will not conform to this new law. According to Aaron Ryan “The uniforms are an attack on my personality and fashion choices,” which seems to be a common idea among the students. They believe the adults want to rip away their personality.

The staff at Blackhawk middle are not going to deal with rioting students and will force a change of clothes on students who do not follow the new norm. If it gets bad enough the staff says they will resort to calling parents and may even suspend students for protesting this ideal. The staff says the kids are being ridiculous and will get used to the changes.

Will the students conform to the uniform, or will they fight for their right to express themselves? Will the students overpower the staff or will the students overcome their adult leaders? Either way something be happening soon at the Blackhawk middle school.

Im a reader (ಥ ͜ʖಥ)

The Magic Thief was the last book I read. I hoped it would be about a thief using magic to steal things or a thief who becomes a wizard after stealing a magic object, but instead sadly it became very generic, as the thief steals a magic orb and the wizard makes him his apprentice.

The Book I Read

The Magic Thief was the last book I read. I hoped it would be about a thief using magic to steal things or a thief who becomes a wizard after stealing a magic object, but instead sadly it became very generic, as the thief steals a magic orb and the wizard makes him his apprentice.

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