English 485: Expedition Adolescence

Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario follows the story of a Latin-American immigrant boy traveling the borders in search of his mother.  This novel focuses on the determination of adolescents and how their adamant spirit can be used for the greater good, whether it be personal or societal.  This nonfiction text intrigued me as soon as I picked it up; I ended up reading the entire work.   As I read through each section of the text, it seemed like Enrique was faced with trouble after trouble.  From his mother leaving Honduras to make money, to moving in with random relatives, to becoming a teenage father, Enrique always seemed to let his ambition get the better of him. I noticed quite a bit of character development, which I think rings true for many adolescent, when he focused his ambition towards his family.  For lack of a better word, Enrique was hellbent on reaching his mother and he pushed everything aside and exhibiting prime determination and maturity in ...

Enrique's Journey  is a nonfiction novel written about one boy's experience with immigration into the United States. After his mother leaves him to go to the United States for a better life for her children, he waits eleven years before he attempts to find her. On his journey from Honduras to go find her, he endures through numerous trials like drug lords, corrupt law officers, etc. These experiences that author, Sonia Nazario, writes about have given us insight to what it is like as an immigrant to the United States. Based on this novel, the journey is dangerous, expensive, and possibly deadly to whoever is on it. Personally, it makes me wonder why anyone would want to put themselves and even their children in a situation like that; however, I have never been in a country where my life is threatened everyday either. While I may not understand this journey fully, I do respect anyone who is willing to abandon everything they know and are comfortable with. I think that it is tr...

While reading  Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario, I noticed the recurring theme of abandonment and how it affected many characters throughout the first two chapters of this novel. Lourdes is the mother of Enrique, Diana, and Becky and she must abandon her children for a better life in America. Lourdes decision was not out of ill-will, but it has left scars on herself and the children she has left behind. The guilt that Lourdes feels justifies that her abandoning her family in Honduras was necessary. Enrique is on the receiving end of Lourdes decision and  has to  experience abandonment from 2 other family members. I believe that Enrique’s mother, father, and grandmother leaving him is Nazario’s way of showing how this is a toxic practice that only makes the “dysfunctional” family cycle bigger. To me, Lourdes’s smuggler leaving her in L.A. is another form of abandonment, but it has an even deeper meaning. The smuggler’s failure to following through with the original ...

I think if you are going to become an educator, books like this one that confront a topic like immigration is a necessity to read. As I went through the public school system, I had many friends that came from very poor immigrant families, many of them with parents who moved here before the child to save up money for their children. I think this book would have worked great in my classrooms due to the large amount of Hispanics who lived in my school district. Many kids would connect the journey with their own, or from the stories they have heard from their parents journey. The division of families has been going in immigration and will likely continue for some time. The division happens in two ways, like Carmen, Nazario's housekeeper who left her children behind to send them money, and by our government separating them physically when they enter the country. In both ways, it is impossible not to feel extreme sympathy for the families, the mothers, and most of all the children. I ...

Enrique’s Journey i s by an American journalist, Sonia Nazario. This novel is based on a true story of an adolescent boy trying to reconnect with his long-lost mother as he travels from Honduras to the United States. While this story is written from Nazario’s own curiosity, it is written to show the difficulty that takes place when parents decide to leave their children behind and the results children may face. I enjoy reading this novel knowing that the author was inspired by her background of being an immigrant from Argentina. I feel as though this can influence many adolescent readers from different countries to be more open with their cultures and aware of immigration with all of the turmoil that now takes place in the United States. It is evident that immigrants are looked down on and not given a chance once they are caught in the US, also they end up in harsh conditions when placed in concentration camps. Also, an unstable environment can affect the way adolesce...

In Nazario’s, Enrique’s Journey, we can follow a boy on a mission to find his mother. They are both Hispanic and his mother struggles with finding ways to provide for her son because of their situation. This is where the mother has to make an incredibly hard decision to leave her son so he can have a better life or keep him with her so they can both struggle. She ultimately decides its better if they are both separated so her son can have a chance at having a life she never had. While this is such an unselfish opinion it leaves Enrique wanting to know more, and wondering where his mother could be at this moment in his life. This also raises questions on who he is, what is his purpose in life is, and why his mother truly left him. From the very beginning of this novel we can see Enrique is questioning everything that has happened to his mother up unto this point. He doesn’t know why she would separate them, but he does know she lives in the same state as him currently. With these tw...

In the prologue and chapters one and two, I think that family and family decisions are a large aspect of this book and Enrique's life. Lourdes' decision to leave is something that we discussed in class, and I think it is a very difficult subject because everyone may have different opinions on if Lourdes leaving is for the best. I think that she had the best intentions because she wants a better life for her son. This is why the choices families make are so important. Each family is different, and in Lourdes' situation, she had to do what was best even though it was going to be difficult. Nazario writes, "Lourdes knows. She understands, as only a mother can, the terror she is about to inflict, the ache Enrique will feel, and finally the emptiness" (3). Lourdes more than anyone knows all of the feelings Enrique will feel, but she also knows this journey is a chance for a better life for her son. I think this topic and this story is so important because as future ed...

In class, we discussed a lot of questions but one that stuck with me was just how unaware we are about immigration policies and even further, illegal immigrants. I'm researching why adolescent literature revolves around controversial or sensitive topics and I hadn't previously added Enrique's Journey to sources I wanted to pull from, but I think it may be a good one. I know growing up we learned about Ellis Island for like two days but other than that, it wasn't until college that immigration was ever discussed in my educational career. Maybe incorporating this book in the classroom would be a good way to incorporate more of a discussion surrounding immigration. I'd like to know more about why people come to America. Why not Europe? What drives them to come (good and bad)? After just reading the beginning of this book, I'm drawn to understand more about immigration and policies surrounding such. Is it just me that doesn't feel "in the loop" on our ...

I thoroughly enjoyed reading through Maus. It was my first time ever reading a graphic novel, so it could be confusing sometimes with all the text bubbles. Sometimes when multiple speech bubbles were in one panel I would find it difficult to know who was speaking first. Also, while I love the art style the amount of black on the page could be overwhelming and distracting. Now with all of my gripes out of the way I'll talk about what I enjoyed about it. I think that this is a perfect way for young adults to learn more about the Holocaust in an engaging way. For some students history could bore them and the idea of reading a historical fiction book could be terrible for them. However, with this engaging text type it can help engage young learners or readers in a subject matter that they would not typically enjoy. Something else that I really enjoyed was the story telling. I thought that the idea of having the main character be interviewing his father about the Holocaust for a com...

Enrique's Journey tells the story of Enrique and his family's journey to finding one another. This story is so amazing in so many ways because it sheds light on a topic that is not talked about enough in a progressive way in this country: immigration. This story takes us through the journey that Enrique's mother takes to cross the border to get to the US in hopes of helping her family survive back home in Honduras. The literature piece is told in third person and reads like a documentary piece. We are given immigration facts in the story such as the one we get about Enrique, telling us, "he will become one of an estimated 48,000 children who enter the United States from Central America and Mexico each year, illegally and without either of their parents." I really appreciate this story so much because it highlights the difficulties immigrants face, that are so similar to what many go through even today, for the hopes of just receiving a better life than the on...

In the novel Enrique's Journey   Sonia Nazario takes us through the life of Enrique. She tells about all of the choices and sacrifices that had to be made by his mother and himself. The book was written in third person perspective so the reader never gets into the heads of any of the characters. She still managed to connect the reader using emotion. The reader starts to feel for Enrique from the beginning when his mother is getting ready to leave him. The reader starts to sense the emotional impact that will have on Enrique. His mother leaving had a major affect on Enrique because that left him moving from home to home. Her decisions affected his decisions in the long run. If Lourdes would have stayed and raised her kids, would Enrique have made the same choices? or would he be a completely different person because he did not spend his entire adolescence missing his mother? Parents choices have lasting affects on their kids even if they do not realize it. Lourdes should have shak...

The Hate U Give was written by Angie Thomas and in her novel one of her themes is stereotyping black people. The idea that all black people are drug dealers who disrespect cops, when in reality most are thriving respectable people. In today's society there are many hate crimes that deal with racial issues that really should not be issues and that is what this book tries to portray in the end. People can overcome any adversity no matter their skin color. The reason that black people have such a terrible reputation is because of the media. Another theme of the novel is poverty. In the novel the reason behind Khalil selling drugs was to payoff his mother's debt. Sadly, in today's world this is how a lot of poverty stricken people make money especially when they see no other way out. Most kids who were born into drug dealing families end up growing up to sell drugs. They feel pressure to provide and see no other way that to sell drugs. Then there are some who find a way to ma...

My research question is: "How do middle level educators address sensitive topics without overstepping their bounds?" My focus questions would be: How do you address the topic of sex? How do  you address the topic of sexual-orientation? How do you address the topic of mental illness in the classroom? What do you do when a parent says they are not okay with the topics being discussed in the classroom? How does a teacher not impose their opinion on the matter onto their students? I know that these topics must be addressed in a classroom because to avoid them is not doing our job as educators. If we want to build up student who can think for themselves and look into the facts of an issue before forming an opinion, then we must start that in the classroom. I have selected this question because it seems like most often, sensitive topics are avoided in the classroom or not addressed in a fair way. I think that The Hate u Give , The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-ti...

In Angie Thomas’s, The Hate U Give , we are introduced to an African American girl named Starr that struggles with many things in her adolescent life. One of the main things she struggles with throughout this novel is finding her identity. The reason for this is because she is stuck in between two worlds. The African American world of Garden Heights and the white world of Williamson. Since she is in this situation, she tends to change who she is based on the people she is around, which is common for most Adolescents her age. The other thing she struggles with during this novel is having to deal with Racism and police brutality because she is African American. At a very young age Starr has to try to understand why her friend was killed outside of a car for simply making his way towards her window. Even though he was unarmed and had nothing on his person the white cop shot him down in cold blood like it was nothing. From the very beginning of this novel the reader is able to see how ...

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is a deep and emotional read about a young girl grieving the loss of her best friend at the hands of police brutality. While that is what we do see on the surface, the story takes readers on a deep and emotional ride that is political and all too real. Some of the themes we see in this book such as figuring out a sense of identity and code-switching are themes we have seen in other novels we have read such as in The True Diary and in Brown Girl Dreaming. What makes this book special though is Starr's honest narrative.   Starr tells readers pretty early in the book that when she is at the "white" school she is just cool by default because she is one of the only black kid there (11), but that she also she could just be herself too like Will from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is too (35). This indicates she has to wear a mask in front of others so she doesn't fit the "black stereotype" label of being ghetto or angry. By living her...

While reading "The Hate U Give", I was amazed how Angie Thomas created a character that so many African-American adolescents could relate to. Police brutality and reclaimed identity are major themes shown throughout the novel that we witness Starr approach and tackle, but I feel the true gift to readers is understanding the importance of "dueling identities". Starr is a perfect example of simply just wanting to fit in with her surroundings, and the cost of that is giving up pieces of herself to conform to the expectations of the "other" group. Code-switching is very common and reading this novel helped bring to light how emotionally, and mentally draining it is to operate in this behavior. Code-switching in this novel is a survival trait that Starr must master if she wants to live a life where she has control over who she is and how the outside world see hers. Starr is very careful with her behavior and claims that her  "... voice is changing already....

In her novel, The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas explores race relations within American society.  Through the main character, Starr, Thomas conveys what it can be like for an African American teenager growing up split between two parts of society.  Starr is a resident of Garden Heights, an inner-city black community.  However, she attends school 45 minutes from her home at a place called Williamson, which is part of the upper-class white community.  As Starr copes with the murder of her friend Kahlil, she has to also cope with her struggle to form a single identity. Throughout the novel, Starr explains that there is two sides to her: Garden Heights Starr and Williamson Starr.  Depending on which community she is in, she changes her voice, vocabulary and behavior to better blend in with her surroundings.  However, when Khalil is murdered, her two worlds begin to collide.  This collision forces her to face the fact that she is ashamed of coming from the...

Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give is such an inspiring novel, so I feel that this is a great reading selection for an English classroom. I feel this way because not only does it allow readers to look at the situations presented in this novel from a different point of view it also is a leading gateway for an important class discussion. The personal connection I have with this novel is the way the main character Starr expresses her feelings of the innocent people who are and have been targeted by police and society itself. I agree with the author's portrayal of adolescence because she allows the characters to go through real-life struggles that sadly many may be able to relate to. Adolescents manage code-switching by studying how the crowd they are around at the time acts and knowing when and when not to say certain things or act a certain way around them. I am not sure how we can overcome stereotypes, media bias, and institutionalized inequities because although topics like such are ...

I wanted to talk a little bit about Emmet Till today in my blog post. Emmet Till was used in The Hate U Give frequently as a symbol of The Civil Rights Movement and even a symbol for Khalil. Most of you probably have heard about Emmet Till but I would guess that many of you don't. Some of us are unaware about him and other black victims because this is a conversation which is not held enough. People do not want to talk about Emmet Till or police brutality because it make us uncomfortable. It says something that these conversations make us uncomfortable. I want us to be uncomfortable. I want us to be uncomfortable about a society that often and systematically projects hate. We can not make changes while we are comfortable. Emmet Till was a fourteen year old African American boy that grew up in Detroit, Michigan and was born in Chicago in 1941. After an interaction with a woman named Carolyn Bryant the boy was taken out of his house by the woman's fiancé and his friend. They ly...

Throughout The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, there is a clear emphasis on family. Starr's family and siblings not only support her though their words but also through their actions. It is even seen that her close friends are like family to her. With everything that is going on in Starr's life, I think it is important for her to know that she has a family backing her up every step of the way. The next day after Khalil was murdered, Starr's family is hesitant on what to say. Starr says, "It's like a "Fragile" sticker's on my forehead, and instead of taking a chance and saying something that might break me, they'd rather say nothing at all" (Thomas 33). This scene is very important in the novel because the love is shown through their words or lack of. They are worried about Starr and what this has done to her. They do not know how to be there for her, but they just want her to know that they are there for her. As the novel continues, Starr is...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo3hRq2RnNI One of the essential questions for this books is "how do adolescents handle code switching?" I think this is super interesting because for research in my Development of the English Language class, I watched the video above entitled "The Cost of Code Switching" as the speaker covers code switching and her own experience with such during adolescence. This TED talk examines how it takes away from one's individuality. She persuades listeners to move towards a world in which we appreciate one's dialect rather than placing prejudice on such and that we allow for a truer sense of  diversity. I highly encourage you to watch it! One quote from the book that connects to this is "My voice is changing already. It always happens around "other" people, whether I'm at Williamson or not. I don't talk like me or sounds like me. I choose every word carefully and make sure I pronounce them well. I can never, ...

My EQ question for my research paper will be: How does cultural representation impact young adult readers of color?  Focus follow up questions: What minority culture is most represented today in YA? What sort of impact does seeing this representation have on a POC?  What more work should be done to give a voice to those who don't feel as represented?  Is there one group or type we push to get represented more over others? Are YA books obligated to show accurate representation of these cultures and when does It become cultural appropriation? Why is this a topic that as been surfacing more in recent years? I really wanted to do this question because I think I can find a lot of information on how impactful it is to appropriately include different diversities in text. The topic is close to my heart because as a POC I remember always feeling more connected to a story or to characters who looked or felt like me. I will include information from our reading, ...

For my research topic, I chose the question; “How does YA literature help adolescent readers find their community?” Smaller questions chosen would be; “Are these impacts more positive or negative?”, “Are these results shown more in family or social communities?”, “Can YA lit influence adolescents to be someone they’re not?” and “Does this influence come from the author or the main characters themselves?” I chose these questions because it interests me that a story, true or false and even a human being can have such a huge impact on how people choose to behave, think and express themselves. Surprisingly, I never thought about if a book has allowed me to find myself or act a certain way, but I do know that majority of YA novels are written by adults who write books based off of their experiences as an adolescent as well. That fact alone is what makes this topic so interesting to me. A few books that I’ve chosen that relate to this topic are The Hate U Give , The Absolutely True Diary of...

     I plan on researching and validating that exposure to controversial, and other wise not widely discussed topics during adolescence such as post-colonialism, exposure to disabilities, and race are not just important, but critical in creating well-rounded and tolerant adults.      Without books like The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, adolescents may never be exposed to how post-colonialism effects people we share our country with. Some kids may never have a genuine experience with someone like Christopher, who is an extremely capable child with Asperger's within  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. Though it is widely available, some may not be fully enlightened about information of police brutality and racism, and even if they are,it is impossible to understand the pain and persecution that the characters face with The Hate You Give as a young white person, which the book functions to expose.      Each of these...

My research Question for this upcoming paper is going to be: How can Young Adult literature help adolescents find their true identity within a society that wants them to conform to normality? Focus Questions: 1. Does society strip identity away from adolescents? 2. Can being a different ethnicity cause identity loss? 3. Could having a bad home life cause adolescents to hide who they really are? 4. Do peers of adolescents have a negative or positive impact on who they are as a person? 5. Is there a constant pressure of trying to fit in no matter the circumstances during this stage of life? 6. Is being different in a normal world deemed unacceptable? 7. Through these novels and resources can adolescents finally see its okay to express yourself even if they go against the rules of society? I chose to explore this topic because I believe this is a huge issue for young adolescents throughout the world today. It seems that young adolescents from all generations struggle to find t...

The topic hat I want to explore for my research paper is how YA (young adult) literature  assists in the development of young readers and how it influences their sense of self and allows them to explore  life experiences  and realities.  Focus Questions:  1. What are common life experiences. (love, death, assault..)  2.  Is America prompting diversity? 3. Who are some under represented cultural groups in literature? 4. What makes a character "different"?  5. How is racism a reality? How is discrimination a reality?  6. How does these novels go against common stereotypes? I selected this topic because this semester in my African American Literature class we have learned about poets, and authors that I have never learned about and should have been taught in middle and high school. I believe that this is the same for many other cultural groups as well as social groups. Even now I am not exposed to diverse authors, and I fear ...

My research question is "How can Y. A. Literature give readers a sense of identity?" Some of my focus questions are How does Y.A. Lit influence an adolescents' view on identity? What are some of the most common types of identities seen in Y.A. lit? Do Y.A. books give adolescent readers a sense of belonging? Will the sense of belonging make them want to read more? Will the influence of identity make the adolescents want to read more? Do parents have an affect on adolescents finding their identity, even in books? An overview of this paper is that I will be looking at the influence of identity in Young Adult Literature, and the affect it has on the readers. Each novel is unique when it comes to identity and they each influence readers in a different way. I plan to use the following novels that relate to the topic: Dante and Aristotle, Diary, The Hate U Give. I selected this topic because I want to know how big of an affect Y.A. books have on adolescents finding th...