Looking For Alaska By John Green

It covers adult themes … that most students have not been exposed to and should not be provided by the school. It is a novel that has no life lesson to be learned”(Gomez). A middle school in Minnesota had this book in their library and parents did not approve of their children reading it, because it has explicit scenes in the book. The parents of this community had a meeting in December 2015, talking about if the book should be banned or not. When the meeting was over, the book Just One Day, was banned in Minnesota schools entirely, and parents were happy that the book was finally

Gary Soto was born in Fresno, California in April of 1952. He is the son of Mexican-American working-class people and he also earned his MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in 1976 at The University of California. In the novel, Pacific Crossing, Soto writes about two teenage best friends who receive an invitation to Japan to participate in an exchange student program. The two friends, Lincoln Mendoza and Tony Contreras, are from California and they both live in the same neighborhood, called a barrio. Gary Soto also lived in a barrio when he was growing up in California. Tony and Lincoln are also Mexican-American, like Soto.

Chapter ten flashes forward to McCandless death, and it was published in the New York Time and Anchorage Daily News. The media wrote of how foolish and ignorant McCandless was for going into the wilderness so unprepared. Once the death is being investigated by the police the police begin to question Sam, McCandless’s half-brother. To identify him he shows them a picture with long hair and a beard. This made me question who was the man in the picture, was it really McCandless? He wasn’t reported as having long hair, ever. As the half-brother informs his parents of McCandless death the parents respond in devastation. I find it weird that the police contacted his half-brother first and not the parents. Oddly enough I find myself agreeing with the media more than I do with the author. I cannot seem to grasp the thought of going into the wilderness, and not being overly prepared. While I understand that it is a brave action, it is also foolish and somewhat stupid on his part. I also find him to be very selfish. In chapter eleven the author starts to interview McCandless parents, and starts to question the family’s dynamics. The father is very similar to McCandless in the aspect that he is very intense and highly intelligent. Chapter twelve is a continued exploration of McCandless’s character. The author wants to know what made McCandless, McCandless. He finds that he took a road trip to the desert the summer before his freshman year of college, and nearly died of dehydration. I

The book New Found Land was written by Allan Wolf in 2004, Allan used striking poetic features and fictional characters to recreate Lewis and Clark 's expedition across the continent. There mission, find the fabled Northwest passage to the pacific ocean, this group of courageous Americans may never come back. Through his use of Historical and fictional characters, Wolf was able to showcase the different viewpoints of Lewis and Clark 's crew. One of the key characters that led the expedition to success was Meriwether Lewis. I chose to look up his last name due to the fact that his last name is the more well known than his first name. Lewis is the english form of the french name Louis, this form was also derived from the german name Ludwig

In April of 1992, a young man of the age of twenty-four, later determined to be Chris McCandless ' body, was discovered in an old Fairbanks bus in the Alaskan bush. Four years after his death, Jon Krakauer wrote a novel titled Into The Wild, the book traced McCandless 's journey around much of the United States, across the West side of Canada, and even down to the boarder of Mexico. Over the many years since his death, speculations have arisen about how death was brought upon him. Most believe starvation was the only reason, but with extensive research Jon Krakauer discovered another theory, that a substance in the seeds that Chris McCandless was ingesting was a contributing factor to his death. Even with this conclusion many around the world despise Chris for his being naive and unprepared when walking into the wild. While others believe he was brave for following his dreams and never letting anyone talk him out of his plans. Chris McCandless was an adventurer who was brave enough to never back down, but in the end his luck turned for the worst and was misfortunate enough to have ate the wrong type of food. McCandless was an inspiration and a lesson to people of all ages, that dreams aren 't meant to be taken lightly and even with possible risks they should be followed. Jon Krakauer 's book tells a marvelous story of a young man who left behind the outside world to do what he loved the most.

“[A] recent author and public figure…[Colin Powell, wrote a] book, My American Journey, [that] helped me harmonize my understanding of America’s history and my aspiration to serve her in uniform…Powell gave me another way to think about the American dilemma and, more than that, another way to think about my own life” (Moore 131-2). Author Wes Moore wrote the book The Other Wes Moore, both an autobiography and a biography about a man who shares his name and has a similar backstory, to demonstrate how people’s destinies are primarily influenced by the environment into which they are born. Examining stories including and similar to those of both Wes Moores, as well as reflecting on one’s own personal experience, can provide insight into

There are an infinite amount of unique responses to the question “What is the meaning of life?”. However, the majority of people will agree that the true meaning of life is to find happiness and what is really important to one’s self. In Jon Krakauer’s, Into The Wild, Chris McCandless conveys this idealism through his life’s journey as he bravely defies all limitations. Chris McCandless isolates himself from society in his Alaskan Odyssey as a way to defy accepted expectations and to begin discovering the meanings of life without any corrupted influences.

The practice of banning books in the United States is still present today. This essay looks to explore how Looking for Alaska by John Green has dealt with contemporary censorship issues. The novel was published in the year of 2005, and within the same year the teen book claimed the number one spot on a list of controversial books. To many people's surprise, the novel was even higher on the list than other known books such as Fifty Shades of Grey. So what making Looking for Alaska so bad to put it at the top? Is it the fact that the novel is descriptive and realistic of teenagers life? Reality needs to be known, it is reality that makes readers understand the dangers of things such as usage of alcohol. Although the novel Looking For Alaska by

In one particular instance, a bill was passed in Tennessee stating that teachers cannot encourage “gateway sexual activity” (Nazaryan). This bill resulted in Sumner County officials banning Looking for Alaska from the curriculums of all schools due to the book’s single, brief oral sex scene. The Tennessean covered the news of the ban in their newspaper and quoted parents who agreed with the ban, stating that the school board was right in banning the book from the young and impressionable minds of children, who could possibly be so influenced by this blip of a scene in a book, that they might go and immediately engage in the same, or worse, sexual behavior. The newspaper, did however point out that there were alternate ways to address concerns regarding the book, such as offering alternate books to students whose parents were against it. John Green’s YouTube channel, “vlogbrothers”, features a video, “I Am Not A Pornographer”. In it, Green, referring to the ban, states that “there is one frank sex scene. It is awkward, unfun, and wholly unerotic.” (Green). Green goes on to say that the only reason for the existence of that scene is show a contrast between a very physical scene that contains no emotional intimacy and a very non-physical scene that is full of emotion. In another video, “On the Banning of Looking for Alaska”, Green says “text is meaningless without context” (Green) . Green is speaking to his opinion that books are banned most of the time because a parent decides to show a school principal or administrator a single excerpt or page of a book. Without proper context, that excerpt or page can appear to represent a very inappropriate book. Alternatively, if a reader were to assess a book in its entirety, while keeping an opening mind, they could glean important and valuable lessons from

Upon reading the title to the reading “Camping for Their Lives” by Scott Bransford, A lot of images come to mind as they do for many people. Whether it be family outings, military experience or just plain adventure. Scott Bransford takes a good long look at camping in a different way. The author’s topic is about tent cities and their homeless populations. He argues the struggles that they have with little or no help from the government and highlights a location in Central Valley California. The author structures the article well starting off with an example of a married couple that does not have enough money to sign a lease or take out a mortgage. He then goes into the day to day life and difficulties that are accustomed with living as a homeless person. He mentions statistics and the government’s temporary remedies to deal with the homeless population and the complications when imposing restrictions. The author goes into depth about the lack of jobs within the areas but does not go deep into the addictions, the crime networks that operate out of the areas nor the filth associated with enabling these tent cities to pop up.

Summary: Looking for Alaska is the story of a young boy named Miles Halter who leaves his hometown in Florida in order to attend Culver Creek Preparatory High School in Alabama for his junior year. This boy loves reading biographies and especially memorizing last words of famous people. At Culver Creek, he meets new friends such as Chip his roommate also called Colonel, Takumi and Alaska a beautiful young girl with whom he will fall in love but cannot have since she already has a boyfriend named Jake. Unfortunately, under their influence, Miles starts smoking and drinking alcohol. One night after having drank a lot of alcohol, Alaska and Miles start to kiss but do not go further because Alaska

I’m Miles Halter and I believe that my story, Looking For Alaska, is important and should not be banned in schools across the country. Although my story may have mentions of drugs, sex, and alcohol, the ability to convey an important message is not hindered. Looking For Alaska has relatable characters and dark themes which actually make it a story that should be read by young adults.

Looking for Alaska is a book about a boy named Miles that goes away to a private school called Culver Creek were he meets a group of friends that he starts to hang out with throughout the year. He becomes very good friends with everyone and they begin to let him in on their secret spot called "the smoking hole", where they all smoke their cigarettes without getting in trouble. Soon he starts to get a crush on a girl named Alaska, which seems to already have a boyfriend. As soon as Miles starts to fall in love with her a horrible thing happens. Alaska dies in a terrible car accident, which turns into a very mysterious and confusing death. When Miles and the other boys get the news, they start fighting to find out the truth on what really happened. After reading this novel, one is left with the question, "How will we ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering?"

- 1970s: Early 1970s seemed to be continuation of ‘60s. Banning of news reports of opposition and overseas, but impossible to silence people completely. Exiled parties and people who were released from the problem tried to let me people know what was happening, but difficult to create literature and art: segregational theatres and restaurants. Act of creating The Island is an act of defiance in itself: different people of different races coming together, monument to defiance of political tyranny, extremely difficult  strategy: no written script until after internationally famous, no evidence, no arrests!

Leadership styles have evolved with mankind since the beginning. Tribal leaders in the past were responsible for almost every facet of their clan’s well-being, including basic life necessities. As times evolved leaders took on more of a political role and the ruled kingdoms and became responsible for their civilizations continued existence. These leaders demanded loyalty from their subjects as their empire’s very existence relied on it. In today’s corporate landscapes, leadership demands innovation as this is the life source which propels a company forward and guarantees its existence in the future. The ability to engage and captivate a workforce is only something true