Short Story Analysis – Block Party – 145th Street Style by Walter Dean Myers 1. Block Party – 145th Street Style is a story about a girl named Squeezie who tries to help her best friend, Peaches, cheer up and stay away from trouble. Peaches is sad that her mom is marrying another man soon after her father’s death. Squeezie takes Peaches to a street fair to try and cheer her up, but Peaches ends up getting angry and fights with a boy named, J.T. at the fair. She calms down later and decides to go to J.T.’s house to apologize. At his building, she finds his sick mother sitting on the roof where they have been living without a home. In the end, J.T. and his mom are taken care of and Peaches is happy about her mother’s successful …show more content…
Peaches has a lot of respect for her father as he was her best friend before Squeezie. She is a rather strong, but nice girl who is willing to help other people. For example, although she was giving everyone attitude in the story, she was still willing to help Big Joe and her mother serve food or help J.T. take care of his mother after struggling to push past him at the landing. Squeezie – is a female African – American fifteen-year-old who is a very good friend of Peaches and her family. She is a nice, friendly girl who is constantly following along her best friend, Peaches, to keep her out of trouble and keep her happy. In the story, she tries her best to keep Peaches from being harmed by J.T. and spends $63 for Peaches wedding gift for her mother. She is alright with all her efforts because she enjoys their friendship. J.T. – is a male African – American sixteen-year-old who always gets in trouble. He is a good-looking guy and is great at playing basketball. J.T. tries his best to take care of his mother without causing more trouble for others. He has had a bad history; however, he seems to have learned from his mistakes and is now working for a better future. In the story, he felt very sad for having to fight Peaches and promises to repay her for her help with his mother. 4. I think that the author is trying to teach us that everyone has a soft side despite
In Streetwise, Elijah Anderson (1990) discusses the social forces at work in an urban area he calls the Village-Northton. His is a sociological field study of the daily interactions between the residents of an area encompassing two communities--in his words, "one black and low income to very poor (with an extremely high infant mortality rate), [and] the other racially mixed but becoming increasingly middle to upper income and white" (Anderson, 1990, p. ix). In keeping with valid sociological fieldwork, Anderson (1990) immersed himself in the community from the summer of 1975 through the summer of 1989.
The different types of characters in “Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business” play important roles in the story. The diverse age groups help to show how Junie B. is disrespectful to all of those that surround her. The main characters are Junie B. Jones, Mother, Daddy, Grampa Miller, Grandma Miller, Lucille, that Grace, Mrs., that mean Jim, Ollie and the principle. These characters are very effective because they add to the story in their own individual ways. They were made to help keep the audience laughing, but in reality they just help by adding more people that Junie B. is disrespectful to in the story.
We often assume that if people live a different way than us we can’t be friends. We like to stick in a group that makes us comfortable. In chapter 4, Speaking Truth to BS, Brene gives us seven guidelines that help us stay civil: boundaries, reliability, accountability, vault – confidentiality, integrity, non-judgement, and generosity. She is telling us that staying away from judgement allows us to see other people’s perspectives and look at people in a different way. In chapter 6, it is mainly bout how we have spiritual connection with everyone in the world. We want to belong and connect. In Chapter 7, Strong Back. Soft Front. Wild Heart., she says that if we want to make true belonging something in our daily lives, we need to have courage and vulnerability. “Strong Back” refers to our calmness in the face of trouble. It is how we hold our place in the world. “Soft Front” Is how we move toward others in the spirit of compassion. It is how we really hear what others are saying. I really don’t understand why she added the “Wild Heart” to the saying. I believe that I was told to read this book because to show how to put things
From supporting evidence and three quotes, shows my thinking that the theme of the book is that not everybody is like you think they
When James found out that his stepfather had died James dropped out of highschool and he possibly failed all of his classes. “I virtually dropped out of high school after he died, failing every class” (McBride 6). James did not do well after his stepfather had passed away, he just didnt want to do good in life anymore. Moreover, James continued to not do good he really like his stepfather alot and that really affected his life, Hunter was like a father figure to James because his father had died before James was actually born. “Me and my hanging-out boys were into the movies” (McBride 6). James would continuously go to the movies with his friend, he even went for a whole year going to the movies with his friends. Jame’s sibling were very upset with him because James would just ignore them, his siblings were just concerned for him. Lasty, James dealt with his Stepfather's death by simply just ignoring it, James had stole from a drug dealer once after his stepfather's death, James has done a lot of criminal actions after his stepfather's death. “I snached purses. I shoplifted. I even robbed a petty drug dealer one. And the in the afternoons, coming home after a day of cutting school, smoking reefer, waving razors, riding the subway, I would see my mother pedaling her blue bicycle” (McBride 6). James wasn’t doing good he was not listening and he was skipping school and nothing mattered to him. During this time of his stepfather's death James would be coming home from ditching school and on his way home he would see his mother driving her bicycle. They were both doing what grieved them from Hunter Jordan’s
Many times you will find that the characters in this book put others before themselves in a lot of hard situations. Although, it's not in any intense situations, you can still tell that the characters of this story will help each other out no matter what. Getting weight off of someone's shoulders is nice to do for someone, esecially if they have a lot on thier
In the first place, a person with a kind and sympathetic nature is a person that will do good deeds like Ponyboy, even if he’s in a gang that is supposed to be barbarous, vicious, or even acquire ways to convert into a criminal he is kind hearted. For example, on page 78 it says,“You ain’t like any of the gang. I mean I couldn’t
This book explores lots of different emotions, all tying into each other. Each emotions feeds off others, and different people experience different feelings. Emotion is a major part of the book because, while it doesn’t often go that deep into it, it is the driving force for lots of the plot
This self-description of the narrator says it all. He gives a brutal, yet inflated description of himself and his friends that gives the reader a very round main character.
Janie’s first relationship is with a young man named Johnny Taylor. In the beginning of the novel Nanny catches Janie kissing Johnny. Nanny was opposed with the idea of Janie having any type of relationship, let alone with Johnny Taylor. This prompted Nanny to force Janie to marry, Logan Killicks, who is more socially accepted in the community. Nanny, then arranges the marriage of Logan and Janie because she values security and financial stability over true love. However, their marriage doesn’t last long. Soon after Logan, she meets a man, named Jody Starks. He is Janie’s second husband. Jody is a very successful man and businessman. However, he treats Janie much more like an object opposed to a person. Their marriage doesn’t last long. Then, Janie finally meets her first, true love, Tea Cakes. Tea Cakes is a good twelve years younger
Elie Wiesel uses a lot of characterization throughout the book to show kindness.”Doctor,I’m thirsty...he had water to bring to me …He was smiling…”(79).
When first starting to read about the narrator, he was shown as a person who actually had character. He cherished his pride and mostly his education . I don't think he knew that he would be blindsided by his education. The narrator knew that he was quiet, had ambition, mostly tried to stay out of the white man's way. Dr. Bledsoe made the narrator changed into a weak person but also a fighting person. The narrator didn't do what Dr. Bledsoe wanted so he now is shipped off to New York. He thinks it is for his education but little does he know, him being dumb for his education, could cost him everything. As the narrator was describing how the man was looking at him. He said, “ I became alert again as he mumbled something incomprehensible
Bratfest at Tiffany’s is about Massie Block and the Pretty Committee, who attend Octavian Country Day in Westchester, New York. Massie and the Pretty Committee are the uncontested rulers of OCD and every girl wants to be them, until Briarwood floods and OCD takes their brother school under their wing. Soon, the soccer boys become so popular that they put the Pretty Committee’s alpha status in jeopardy, causing Massie to declare a boy fast. Each member of the New Pretty Committee has had history with at least one Briarwood boy and many of them aren’t sure how to deal with the boy fast. Soon, the New Pretty Committee has been forced into overflow classrooms with LBRs (Losers Beyond Repair) and their secret bomb-shelter hang out has been remodeled
I chose two books that are about people, but have very different illustrations. The stories are different. The first book, Stuck is similar to There Once was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly where the boy has to put lots of objects up into the tree to get his kite unstuck. The second book, Block City is about a boy who builds a city of blocks using his imagination. The illustrations in the books are vastly different since you are looking at two different pictures of boys. The drawing types are different as the illustrator put their unique touch on the artwork in each book.
learns a multitude of important lessons through his wrongdoings with R.W. and Melvin. When the Simms brothers maimed him just for disagreeing with them, T.J. realizes that they were just using him the entire time. He learns not to seek popularity by doing crime with corrupt white men. At the same time, T.J. also learns that Stacey was his only true friend. T.J. said he “ain’t never really had no true friend but you [Stacey] (page 248)”. He realizes this when Stacey helps him get home safely. On the other hand, his “friends” R.W. and Melvin framed him by telling everyone that “three black boys robbed their store [the Barnett mercantile] and knocked out her and her husband (page 253).” When R.W. and Melvin asserted that T.J. was guilty, they brought him to court to get tried. This is where T.J. learned a third lesson. At the biased court, T.J. was “proven” guilty even though there was ample evidence of his innocence. Through his rash actions, T.J. “could possibly go on the chain gang (page 274),” or even die. T.J., a sly, foolish, lazy manipulator, learns that being vindictive to your true friends will never end happily.