It has been
said that if you want to know who someone really is, browse
through their book collection. For many of us, what we read both
shapes and reflects who we are. This semester in the Literature
of Identity elective at Yorktown High School, we took time to
reflect on the role of literature in our personal development,
and then as an extension project created web pages documenting
some of our most valued literary encounters. We hope you enjoy
browsing our collection, perhaps finding some new texts to add
to your own library. If you have any questions about this
project feel free to contact me.
Literature of
Identity
Then Nancy
Drew Mysteries
By Mary A.
The
Nancy Drew series by
Carolyn Keene were always a favorite of mine.
Growing up, Nancy gave me the opportunity to go on
adventures every single day. Together we would solve
the toughest of crimes and the hardest of mysteries.
I was so enamored by Nancy Drew, I wished that I was
her. During St. Patrick's Day in third grade, my
friend and I were determined to find a leprechaun
and catch it. We took clues from everywhere and
pretended we were Nancy Drew in order to help us
solve the mystery.
Every young
girl from the
60's until today aspires to be Nancy Drew, she
was and still is the epitome of "cool." Maybe it was
that our lives were so empty of adventure and her
life seemed jam-packed with controversial and
interesting things that helped us through the
everyday monotonous routine of our own youthful
lives. It seemed that even after all the suspense
and close calls, everything in Nancy Drew's world
ultimately ended up fine. (Well at least before
Cam Jansen came along.) Just the premise of your
typical fiction children's book. I mean what would
this world come to if a children's book did not end
happily.
The legacy of
Nancy Drew has lasted a long time, I remember my
mother first introducing me to the books telling me
how she had read them when she was a little girl
also. At first I just thought it would be old
fashioned and stupid, but I started reading more and
more and became an avid fan. Till this Day I still
look back fondly on those days when nothing but
yellow and blue books covered my shelves.
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Goodnight Moon
by Keri
Goodnight moon by
Margaret
Wise Brown is a perfect bedtime story for all
children and it was definitely one of my favorite
stories when I was younger. Goodnight Moon is a
fun, picture book that makes good use of rhymes.
There is a lot of rhyming and repetition which helps
to make younger kids understand it better and it
makes it a lot of fun. The illustrations are also
great in Goodnight Moon. There are many objects in
this book that is made reference to and many objects
are said "goodnight to" such as the kittens, the
mittens, the socks, the clocks, etc. Many of these
things attract children's attention and is very fun
to read and look at. The book involves very little
reading and is relatively short, but it is my all
time favorite book.
My
mom read Goodnight Moon to me before bed every night
and I enjoyed it every time she read it. I always
found myself searching for the objects that are
located in the pictures. This book definitely can
relate to the way I am now. This book is creative
and it is written in poetry. I have always been
interested in art and poetry every since I was
little. I loved to draw when I was a kid and I liked
reading children's poems, which is why I read this
book over and over. Even now, I enjoy art and
literature and when I'm older, and have children, I
will definitely share this book with them.
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A Bronx Tale
by Steven S.
A Bronx Tale,
which was released in 1993 is a movie about a boy
named Calogero and his father Lorenzo who find
themselves in many difficult situations, being that
they were living in a time period when Italian's and
Black's were segregated in the inner city of the
Bronx.. Sonny, the local mob boss begins to have a
huge impact on the boys life throughout the movie.
After Calogero refuses
to finger Sonny to the police after he witnesses
Sonny shoot another mobster, Calogero, or "C" (a
nickname given to him by Sonny) is taken in by the
guys. With names like JoJo the Whale, Frankie
Coffeecake, Eddie Mush, Jimmie Whispers and Tony
Toupee, they force Calogero to grow up too quickly.
This again, did not go over well with Calogero's
father, Lorenzo. Lorenzo tried very hard to keep
Calogero away from the "bar" where all the guys hung
out because he knew what would happen, but it could
not be prevented. He and Sonny began to get into
little scuffles and eventually end up not talking to
each other the rest of the movie. Like any kid "C"
makes good and bad decisions. The story goes back
and forth with Sonny and Lorenzo basically tugging
at Calogero, indenting different aspects of life
into his head. It wasn't all that bad when you
think about it because not only was he book smarts,
and followed in his fathers steps of being a working
man, but he learned how to be street smart as well,
which only benefited him in the end. Lorenzo said
it best, " The saddest thing in life is wasted
talent."
After
seeing this movie for the second and third time, I
came to realize that this movie was one of the all
time greatest movies in which they show to every
extent what its like to be an Italian family. This
really only applied to me because I also come from
and Italian background and as I sat there and
watched the movie it made more and more sense to
me. The reason I found this movie so interesting
was because the way Robert Di Niro (who played
Lorenzo) portrayed the way Italians lived in the
early 60's on the streets of the Bronx. My family
lived in the Bronx for many years and this is why I
became more interested in watching this movie. When
I think about it A Bronx Tale is one of my favorite
movies because of all the excitement Di Niro brings
out of an ordinary day in the Bronx, and it is very
accurate to my knowledge. The music and the
characters also have a huge impact on the greatness
of this movie because it gave you the feeling that
you were in the 60's again listening to all the old
music. This movie was a stepping stone to all the
great
Italian mob
movies, and will go down as one of the best ever to
be made.
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The novel that left the greatest impact
on me was without a doubt
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
by Mark Twain. The book has a great
message built in that Mark Twain
beautifully wrote in to the great
story. It made an impact on me.
Despite the message society gave
Huck, he still followed his heart
and put his neck on the line for
something that during his time, was
reason to be thrown in hell. Despite
this, Huck rejected this and did what he
felt was right. In my opinion, he did a
very noble and righteous deed. I felt
he had strong character and a keen sense
of the bad society he was living in.
During the novel he learns how a black
slave, who he thought at first was an
animal, is a caring and kind person who
relates to Huck very well. Huck
realizes that Jim is a normal person
just like himself and that what he
learned from people in his society was
twisted and untrue. This impacted my
identity. I realized how important it
is to stand up for what you believe in
despite what others say and that you
should follow how you feel, not how
others feel.
by Chris B. |
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Catcher
in the Rye
This
book is a story of a troubled boy, Holden Caulfield
and his teen adventures as he discovers who he is.
I was first introduced to this book when I listened
to a song "Who wrought Holden Caulfield" by
Green Day. The song, like the book, described a
teen who finds himself through his adventures
through a city.
The story begins in Pencey Prep, a boarding school
in Pennsylvania. This is where Holden finds he is
once again expelled from school. This has been the
fourth school he has failed out of. By this stage
in Holden's life, he begins to feel alone and
depressed. He generally believes people fake and
two faced. He hates the conformity of school and
the rules that oppress him. He knows he is capable
of being a great student but his lack of motivation
limits his academic ability. He decides to leave
the school, without permission and spend some time
by himself. He takes a train to New York City where
he comes across many different people and
realizations. By the end of the novel he still has
the same views but is able to cope with the reality
of the life he lives.
I
love this book because Holden Caulfield is the
quintessential teenager. He feels constricted by
school and hates the conformity and rules he must
abide to. I think this book addresses all the
issues teenage boys face. Holden addresses issues
like individualism, sex, drugs and identity. I
hated reading it in school until I found out how
ironic it is. I found all the anti-school and
morals of the book to contradict the major ideas of
High School. I think this book is a great coming of
age and everyone at some point can relate to their
own lives.
by Greg
B. |
The Cat in the Hat
Dr.
Seuss's whimsical rhymes take you off to
another place, a place where there are no
people just colorful characters, and magical
lands. It is easy to take Dr. Seuss's
stories at face value but there is almost
always a hidden message, or moral to the
story. In
Dr. Seuss's "The Sneetches and other
stories," the books focus is on racism,
prejudice, and even stereotypes. This being
a children's book sends an excellent message
to young children to be accepting of all
people regardless of physical differences.
This book was my first experience
learning about racism and prejudice. This
book taught me that it is not right or even
fair to judge someone exclusively on their
race or religion. The Sneetches and other
other stories taught me that everybody is an
individual and their physical appearance
doesn't make them who they are or how they
act. This is an excellent book for all
people including adults, and it should be
read and studied by all people.
by
Mark D. |
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The movie
Scarface
is a about a Cuban refugee named Tony Montana (Al
Pacino) who comes over to America as a political
prisoner and went from nothing, to something.
Montana comes to America with absolutely nothing and
struggles to get his citizenship. Once a citizen
he starts working in a low pay job cleaning dishes
for a diner in Miami. Tony's friend Manny tells
Tony that they can get jobs in the cocaine game and
they can get very rich. Tony starts to do jobs in
this drug game and is starting to make a lot of
money. Once Tony is starting to gain money and
power the man he is working for Frank is starting to
get jealous and the two have disagreements and start
to have problems and they end up going their
separate ways. Frank sends his men after Tony and
try to kill him but they failed, and they all got
killed. Tony confronts Frank and ends up taking
over his business once Tony tells Manny to shoot
him. After this Montana starts to gain a lot of
power and money, he believes that he is invincible.
He starts getting high off his own supply and and
starts to mess up a lot of the time. He kills his
friend Manny because he was seeing his sister, and
he messes up this job for a Columbian Drug lord, so
the drug lord sends a hit squad after him. They
eventually kill Montana and that shows the rise and
fall of Scarface.
I believe that this was one of
the classics movies which flopped in the movie
theaters but became much more appreciated a few
years later. I would give this movie five stars out
of five because it is a timeless classic movie.
Al Pacino
played the Renegade character Tony Montana
excellently and really made you believe what Montana
was even more. The rest of the acting staff did a
great job, and the story was very interesting. The
best part of the movie was when Tony's friend gets
killed with a chainsaw, but Tony still finds a way
to get the job done. I recommend this movie to
anyone, especially someone who enjoys gangster
movies such as Goodfellas, The
Godfather, and New Jack City.
-By Dan |
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