holdens_age_jayden-mata.docx |
Holden is an unreliable narrator since he always contradicts himself and is rarely ever sincere, an example of this is when Holden describes Stradlater earlier in the book. He says that Stradlater is a handsome guy, then ads "But he is mostly the kind of handsome that" which completely changes the reader's image of Stradlater from handsome to average. The reason that it is a good thing that the reader can't rely on Holden completely is that if the story were told by another character the book would lose all meaning in regards to it's teenage audience, and if the book had been written in third person then all the answers would have been provided right away and removes the sense of development in the book
What we can tell from the first page of the Catcher in the Rye is that this is a first person narrative written in past tense. We see that the main character is quite serious yet laid back and performs action based on his present feelings. Despite his attitude the narrator is also childish from the phase “that stuff bores me”. The sentence structure is going to be long continuations strung together by commas as shown by the first sentence which contains 5 commas and in the copy of the book I have goes on for 6 lines. Despite the character’s personality his language is never really to serious and rather immature using adjectives like “touchy as hell” as well as shortening his long sentences with lines like “They’re nice and all”. This manner of speaking seems extremely pessimistic towards most things that the character speaks of. We also learn that the book has a relatively short time period from the line “This madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas” that tells us that the book can’t be much more than a week long, also the book is likely to be a very slow read since on the first page the narrator gets sidetracked and talks about his brother’s car.
Holden Caulfield can be referred to as one of the original teenage voices of American literature, this alone gives good reason for the book ‘Catcher in the Rye’ to become a high school standard. However as the book age’s students have been taking a more negative approach to Holden and his issues, which leaves us which the question, should high school students read Catcher in the Rye.
I support the in school reading of Holden’s story despite that modern students find Holden to be whiny and childish purely because the underlining story is still relevant to students no matter the time period or material. In the Catcher in the Rye Holden shows us that as a child people often want to explore and do things for themselves, however to do such things as a child will incredibly wearing on the person as shown at the end of the book when Holden decides to return home and beyond tat when he his narrating from a hospital. The symbol that I have is my second generation IPod touch that is now around 6 years old. It is so old that it hasn’t had the right hardware to update for around two years now. I did most of the chores in my house for around a month in order for my mom to give it to me; she had won it a year earlier in a competition at work. When I was younger I accidentally dropped the IPod about ten feet onto solid pavement with no more than a small dent. Since then I have had confidence in the strength of this IPod and how it symbolizes to me that the things you work for last the longest.
Chapter 3-
Just ducked out of old Spencer’s lecture. Told him I had to go the gym to get my gym equipment. I’m such a good liar that it kills me sometimes. #Ossenburger Just got Back to my room, It's warm in here and kind of cozy. #Ossenbruger Ackley Just barged into my goddamn room again, I wish he would brush his teeth or at least clip his nails over the goddamn table. #Ossenburger #AckleyKid Ackley had another tense moment with Stradlater. It’s to bad since Stradlater was being nice, in a phony way. #Ossenburger #AckleyKid #Stradlater 1. A school could attempt to censor or ban a book when it contains age restricted materials, or displays graphic imagery whether sexual or violent. Also when the material is directly offensive or insulting to religion or culture.
2. Yes if the material contains sexual and/or violent. More so at younger ages. 3. Teachers and students should be enabled to read the books of their choosing the books of their choosing outside of an educational area. when in a personal or social environment almost every book should be permitted. Three Little Pigs One day I was going for my morning flight when I spotted a little pig building a house of straw. It wasn’t long after that a wolf came along to speak with the little pig. “That wolf is always trying to tick into landing so he can have a meal” I thought to myself.
“No, no, by the hair of my chiny-chin-chin” I heard the little pig proclaim as I was thinking. “Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in” replied the wolf. Then I heard a huff and a puff from the wolf and he blew the house in, it was a great gust of air and was incredibly fun to soar on. By the time I had return to see if the wolf would huff and puff again the pig was gone. I had decided to follow the wolf at a distance to see if he would huff and puff again so I could have the thrill of soaring on his mighty breath. Soon we came upon made of a house of furze and once more the wolf began to converse with its resident who was once again a little pig. I hated myself for hoping the wolf would blow this little pig’s house down as well. “Little pig, little pig, let me come in” the wolf began. “No, no, by the hair of my chiny-chin-chin” replied the little pig. So the wolf proclaimed “then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll Blow your house in!” The wolf began to huff and puff and puff and huff. And all the while I was having a wonderful time riding his huge breath. Until eventually I heard a crack and a crash. I turned to find the little pig’s house of furze destroyed and the wolf frantically searching the wreckage for little pig. After the wolf had found the pig he began to eat him in a way so horrifying that I nearly broke into tears, I had to get away as fast as I could. As I flew away I saw another little pig building a house of bricks. I knew it wouldn’t be long before that big bad wolf would come for this little pig as well, but I was too terrified to warn him and instead I hid amongst his bricks. By the time the little pig had finished his house I was hiding in his rafters, still shaken by what I had seen earlier that day. Just as the little pig lay on his sofa I heard a voice that sent shivers through my feathers. It said “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” Without even moving from his place on the sofa the little pig replied “No, no, by the hair of my chiny-chin-chin.” The pig had said this in such a relaxed way that it angered the wolf greatly. The wolf filled with rage replied “Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in.” I cannot explain how great my fear was when I heard those dreadful words, I had wished I was still outside so I could fly away from here on the wolf’s breath as far as I could. I had shut my eyes when I heard the wolf huff, and puff, and puff, and huff; but to my great surprise and joy the wolf could not blow this house down. Then I heard the wolf say “little pig, I know where there is a nice field of turnips.” The little pig turn his head to look at the door as is the wolf had gotten his attention “Where?” asked the little pig. “Oh, in Mr. Smith’s field, and if you will be ready to-morrow morning we will go together, and get some for dinner” “Very well,” said the little pig as a smirk crossed his face “what time do you mean to go?” “Oh, at six o’clock.” After the wolf had finished speaking I waited for a fair while, with no way of tracking the time that’s passed by I didn’t know when it was that the pig left to sleep. After he did return to his room I left through the front door as quietly as possible which wasn’t excessively difficult since the floors and door were new and sturdy. Teenagers these days tend not to be able to relate to novel characters like Holden Caulfield since the way in which people think has evolved with time. The mind of a human has plasticity which allows it to adapt to environments and circumstances. The result of this is a different style of thinking for each generation. In the time of Holden Caulfield teenagers ndsfnajfndjkkfnofknljfnldkfndsjlfnajdfnjfjhfldfndjfanlkjfbfabfkjdbfkjwfhenldhflnealfef
njedhfnjkewfnjdslfnw fjfnjdlfndfnskalfnajewfnkjdfnksjfhsfjha;;lahjfldshflkjhflhdlds;fh. Now teenagers think differently and mature a lot faster, also the poverty rate has increased dramatically since Holden’s teenager years. Teenagers now tend to care less about the issues Holden faced in “The Catcher in the Rye” and more about their futures and the people around them. Do I consider myself an adult? Well, no, I couldn’t possibly be considered an adult with my current state of mind. Plenty of people would have a different opinion than mine since being 18 makes me an adult by law. However being an adult is not be defined by possession nor age, to be an adult a person would need the correct state of mind.
Age is also not to be considered as a definition of being an adult, however someone becomes an adult they no longer view themselves as the victim of every poor situation they appear in. When this change of mind occurs a person cannot be as easily forgiven for a majority of their actions. This idea of being an adult would scare most educated people who understand the concept, me included. Although what is most terrifying to me personally is the fact that becoming an adult would isolate me. This is supported by my lack of social ability and incapability to approach gatherings; this would prevent me from introducing myself to new people at a workplace or any number of public areas. Despite this it would still be preferable to become an adult as apposed to remaining a child forever, since becoming an adult gives a person some sense of identity. Even though most people believe it is better to remain anonymous. |