Reading Response: Go Ask Alice

       Go Ask Alice is a book supposedly by an anonymous diarist. This story goes through a 2-year downwards spiral of Alice’s life as a drug addict. We see how she fails to communicate with the ones who love her, takes advantage of the privileges  given to her and turns to drugs thinking it would end under her control. Somehow that results in a horrible life style in which she never could’ve imagined herself getting accustomed to. This leads me to think that the claim in this book is not only can drugs complicate your life but they can end it as well.

  This book gives a unique perspective on how drugs can complicate and completely change your life style.  For example, in the last diary entry before coming back home, Alice writes, “I have just read the stuff I wrote in the last few weeks… I could never have written things like that! I could never have done things like that! It was another person.” In Alice’s case, it came to a point where she couldn’t even recognize herself, or her thoughts anymore. It was just a big illusion or version of reality that she wanted to believe in. A version where drugs were normal. After a while Alice eventually admits to herself that, “After you’ve had it, there isn’t even life without drugs.” It then elaborates and explains than she’s either doing drugs or completely paranoid about even touching them. Then she ends up relapsing and the cycle begins. You start to stop trusting yourself and become completely reliant on the people around you without even realizing it. Which is horrible when you’re reliant on the wrong people for the wrong reasons, like Alice was. So it’s probably an understatement to say that drugs complicated Alice’s life.

Go Ask Alice also shows how drug addictions, to some limits, could end your life, symbolically and literally. For example, when she was actually trying to stay off drugs she wrote, “ I want to get in with the square kids [at school], but I don’t see how I’m going to do it with my reputation hanging over me.” Not only this time though, in this portion of the book she kept feeling like she didn’t belong anywhere, and her past kept haunting her throughout the process. It was only a matter of time before her suicidal thoughts came back. Then the epilogue came, which only stated, “ The subject of this book died three weeks after her decision not to keep another diary [from a drug overdose].” That was practically all that was mentioned. All we knew was that she died from drugs. It could’ve been accidental, suicidal, or maybe the vengeful stoner kids, she thought were her friends before, came back to, once again, slip her a deadly dose. Either way, her death entirely started with drugs.

In conclusion, drugs will always find a way to complicate your life and result in the worst circumstances. I think this book portrayed this issue in one of it’s truest forms, and really showed that a life with drugs can never end well. If you think about it, this story could’ve saved a person from a lifetime that no one should have to face, simply from changing their outlook on drugs entirely.

Argument Essay: Should Parents Make Kids Stick With Extracurriculars?

In the article “Should Parents Make Kids Stick With Extracurriculars?”, by Bruce Feiler and KJ Dell’Antonia, there’s clearly a debate on a parent’s say in their child’s extracurricular activities. They make some very good points on both sides which has brought me to my claim. No, parents should not force their children into extracurricular activities.

The main reason parents shouldn’t be concerned is because it’s not completely necessary. For example, in the article “Should…” it states a mother’s perspective on the topic. In exact words, “Outside academics, I don’t see any reason to push my kids into anything they don’t want to do.” This shows that parents understand why a child might not want to do their homework, but that’s necessary in life. If it’s something like an instrument or sport, if you  don’t have fun doing it, you’d have no reason to ever use that skill ever again. Another mother agreed, and stated in the article, “if getting them out … to do the activity involves a battle, then… they can stay home.” In other words, is forcing your kids to do something unnecessary really worth the battle?

Also, although it may seem like no harm learning a skill you don’t enjoy, but actually you’re wasting hours on something you don’t even like to do. This may seem like an exaggeration but a mother in the article agrees as well. She says, “I see a cost in not quitting as well.” This shows a lose-lose situation by learning something you don’t want to learn. In simpler words, another mother in the article explained, “being forced to practice [something] are hours spent not finding something you love.” This statement really opened my eyes as to why getting forced into extracurricular activities comes at a cost as well.

I can see why parents might not want their kids to quit so easily on a skill they could learn. For example, a quote in the article mentioned, “I want [my kids]… to understand what it feels like to do something you don’t like, and to improve.” This would be a great lesson, if it was for something you absolutely had to do. Extracurricular activities are extra. So if the entire purpose of it is proving a point to yourself, then you don’t need it in your life. So what are you really gaining from this, other than determination for a skill you don’t even like?

In conclusion, parents should not force their kids into extracurriculars It should practically be entirely up to the child. Even if it’s good to have the skill of determination, its better to learn that with something you actually look forward to learning. This is an important subject, because this is a real issue that happen to many kids and parents. Also, kids might really benefit from this debate.

Reading Response: Faithful Elephants

      Faithful Elephants is a story by Yukio Tsuchia that takes place in a zoo in World War 2. In this story,the zookeepers are forced to kill all dangerous animals in the zoo. This includes 3 elephants, in which become the main part of the story. This story consisted of many opportunities of symbolism involving the elephants and their role in this piece. Yukio Tsuchia really expresses how reality can be somewhat deceiving and underestimated. She shows this throughout the book by explaining the story of a zookeeper and 3 elephants who happen to be caught in the middle of a war.

      As I previously stated, the author expresses how people underestimate reality. In this case it's war. After the elephants' lifeless bodies are dragged outside, the zookeepers scream "Stop the war!" repeatedly. Almost as if they were gradually realizing the reality of this situation, and once the elephants are dead, they have their breaking point. This also brings up an opportunity of symbolism that has been constantly used. It was the use of 'cage' instead of any other word. For example, "He could only pace in front of the cage". I thought this was the author's way of using the elephants as a symbol of the zookeeper's hope, considering he was trapped and left with nothing to do in the situation. 

     The way the author used the elephant as a symbol of hope, played an important role in the story. Considering this piece is all about how reality can be underestimated, you soon begin to find out that, as a result, not only are the elephants' lives lost, but so is the zookeeper's hope for the war getting any better for the rest of them. For example, "As the days passed, the elephants became thinner and thinner, weaker and weaker." The author wouldn't have described their death so vividly unless it was a symbol. So, basically, the author showed the elephants getting weaker, when really the hope in the war was actually getting weaker, as well.

     In conclusion, the theme of this story is reality can be disappointing. The author does a great job of portraying this theme, with the symbolism, and the ability to relate to this story. I don't necessarily mean losing hope in a war, but it could also be as simple as losing direction because of a situation in someone's life.