Coming of Age Multi Genre Project

As I have grown older, I have noticed that many components of my life have changed. I have been given a lot of responsibilities, a lot more freedom, and a lot more trust. Some of these changes I enjoy, because they make me feel like I have more control over my life. Others, however, I feel that they cut into my time and newly gained freedom.

In some cases things that I expected to change did not though. Becoming a teenager did not mean that I would be treated like and equal by grownup, nor be the perfect popular girl. I my 'when I'm a teenager' fantasies, I was just that. As I grew older though, I began to realize that things weren't going to go the way that I had planed. Still, until I became a teenager, I still had a small hope that my fantasies would come true.

This project was made to show that in becoming a teenager many things change, while others do not. I also want to show that sometimes things change and don't change when they are least expected to.

** My visual component is a painting so it cannot be put on the blog **

When I was younger I looked at the teenagers and thought, 'wow, I want to be like them. They are so cool and pretty, and probably have millions of friend who are just as cool and pretty.' Now as a teenager, looking back at those feelings, I want to tell my 8-year-old self to stop looking up to these people. Now that I know that these people are just people who act like they are cool.


Don't be them
The ones who
Look pretty and
Act cool,
Are really just
Shadows within
Skin

It is better to
Have soul and
Feeling than
Glitter on your
Skin
And plastic for a
Heart

So be yourself
Not who you
Are told
To be
Don't listen to
Those who criticize
You and snicker
As you walk
By

You won't be
Them, so don't expect
To be

It wouldn't have mattered if  I had listened then, but I would have it store in my brain, ready to show itself when needed. It is hard to understand why to be yourself instead of following the "rules" of society. When I was younger, I was always told by my parents and relatives to be myself. Eventually I mentally put it in the category of "stupid, useless" things parents say. As I grew older I tried to be just another person in our society. I wanted to be "perfect" like the other girls.

I feel like people are
Looking at me weird

Does that matter?
Are they you?

No they are not
But

You answered yourself.
Why do you care?

Because...

See, you don't
Know
Don't bother
It isn't
Worth it
Do you know
Another way?

People say
To be yourself,
but what does that
mean?

It means what
It is.
Don't try to change
Don't expect to change

Becoming a teenager, although I didn't become popular and outgoing, brought me a truckload of changes. All of a sudden I became responsible for watching my brother, setting the table, buying groceries, doing my laundry, and helping to prepare dinner. When I was younger, I couldn't wait to become a "venerated" teenager; the responsibilities that came along with it had yet to infiltrate my skull. They were an after thought to the "world of popularity" that I would eventually enter. When I entered it, I was hit with a shock. My fantasy of teenage glory included me being a completely different, cooler, person, who defiantly wasn't doing the laundry.

Dear Mom and Dad,
You were right about being yourself. Although I'm still working to get there, and still hoping that one day I will wake up as a "cool" teenager, I have accepted who I am. It is very hard to accept that thing that you thought would happen never did, even if they are a little girl's fairytale. The responsibilities that I got when I became a teenager are hard to manage, but I've accepted that they are part of growing up. Maybe some things that I wanted to change never did, and the things that I never expected to changed. Either way, I have grown to accept that this is what happens.

--Micaela

Essay: The Knife of Never Letting Go

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness follows the coming of age of Todd in this science-fiction story. As a young child Todd didn’t know of anything hidden from him. When he got older, information that he was “sheltered” from gets forced in his direction. Todd had to accept that many things that were kept hidden from him as a child. When he found out that he was brought up with lies he is confused, and doesn’t want to believe it. This discovery helps him learn about the real world.

 Todd grew up in Prentisstown, a town on the New World consisting only of males. As a child he was told that Prentisstown was the only settlement on New World. When forced to run away, he discovers many other settlements, and the truth that was hidden from him for his entire life.

In the beginning of his journeys, Todd learns that Prentisstown men aren't welcomed anywhere. The law of New World states that Prentisstown men found outside of Prentisstown will be killed. Luckily for Todd, he is still a boy, so he can't be killed; he still faces many hard feelings though. On his journeys, Todd sees his caretaker and substitute father, Ben, outside of Prentisstown. When men from a settlement see Ben, they say to Todd, "You might want to be careful who you start claiming as a parent, Todd" (378). Todd has a hard time facing that people, such as Ben, who he cares about are hated by the rest of New World. All of a sudden he had to accept that the people he grew up loving and looking up to are disliked by everyone else

A big mystery in this book is what happened to the women? Prentisstown is a completely male town. Todd and all of the other boys were told that the women were killed by a germ that was released by aliens, called spackle. When Ben told Todd the truth, Todd said, "The men of Prentisstown killed the women of Prentisstown" (393). This makes Todd feel hatred, more than he already had, for the men he grew up with. It also makes him feel hatred for himself for not figuring out the truth. He eventually comes to term with it, but hates his hometown even more. When he found this out, Todd didn’t believe it at first. He had always wished that he could meet his dead mother. It was easier to blame it on aliens, than his own neighbors.

Growing up, Todd was told the lie that Prentisstown was the only settlement on New World. Prentisstown had no associations with other settlements that Todd could remember; this was because Prentisstown was a "town in exile." Because of killing the women, the other New World settlements hated Prentisstown. "All men from Prentisstown were declared criminals. [They] couldn't leave" (394). Todd had a hard time accepting that other settlements existed, because he had grown up with the idea that Prentisstown was the only settlement. As he travels, he sees the world that he had missed out on as a younger boy. Seeing the real New World helped him come to terms with other things that came out at him after leaving Prentisstown such as what happened to the women, and why Prentisstown men aren’t welcome anywhere

Todd changes, and becomes more accepting and less ignorant as he learns more about the world. He is aware and accepts that he was brought up with lie, and he changes into a more accepting and knowledgeable-about-the-world person.