Summary Of Derrick's Essay 'Not'

Decent Essays
Human beings have a fixed feeling about social status in a community. If someone is different, they are rejected and are often thrown under the bus by the popular kids. Derrick demonstrates in his six-word memoir how he is not like the majority of kids and how he wants to be remembered by more than a number. In the visual representation, the picture shows how 90 percent of teens achieve their diploma from high school but Derrick wants to be remembered by more than just another person who graduated. He wants to make a difference and be someone important in his school. Derrick underlined "Not" in the memoir to amplify the meaning of being someone more in his world and not just being a statistic. By doing so, the reader can infer that the word

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Everyone has a green-eyed monster living within them waiting for the right time to show itself. Both Andrea Roman and David Sedaris let their green-eyed monsters show in their essays. Andrea Roman wrote her essay “We’re Not…” to demonstrate how Bolivian culture has influenced her lifestyle and has slowly become a part of it. Roman insinuates that her mother, a native Bolivian, expects Roman to behave and act as a Bolivian would. This means that as a child Roman was not allowed to borrow clothes, attend sleepovers, or even finish her homework on Sundays.…

    • 1228 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Every student can fit into the one-size-fits-all model of standards, but not every student can fit into The One-Size-Fits-All Model of Standards. Every student is their own model of standards because every student has his own highs and lows and minimums and maximums. Limits to a student’s education in any topic that catches his attention is the cause of eventual boredom and declining motivation, which Davidson believes is the cause of students dropping out of school. In “Project Classroom Makeover,” Davidson details her visit to a middle school and highlights her observation of a young green-haired girl who sat absentmindedly while the other students fussed about Davidson’s appearance, both literally and figuratively. The young girl showed no desire to participate and even “[looked] defeated by school,” (61) but by the time she began to draw that all changed.…

    • 1597 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Into the Wild, The main character Chris McCandless is not someone who might be considered to be a “typical” young adult. Although he has some traits commonly seen in young adults, he cannot be mistaken for someone else. During his journey going into the wild, the reader can see what makes Chris abnormal compared to other people his age. There are three main components that prove this. First, Chris did not have materialistics desires, something that drives our society.…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Elite student in the 21st century are often described as, quick, witty, or shape. Now as time has passed, smartness found in students is not creative or intellectual but rather standardized and generic. Originality, within the student body has fairly decreased over the years. As the school system becomes more standardized, students start to lack creatively when the hierarchies main goal is for individuals to fit in a one-size-fits all model. In “Biography of Hegemony” and “Project Classroom Makeover,” both authors address their concern that the hierarchy in schools and Wall Street are placing standards on individuals solely on the importance of name and test scores.…

    • 1684 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Being successful in the United States today appears to be one of the most—if not the most—daunting tasks for American youth. High school students today face an immense amount of pressure from parents, faculty, and themselves to be involved in and excel in everything, including sports, academics, and clubs. David Brooks, however, believes that some children can achieve this daunting task more easily. Brooks, in his Op-Ed “How We Are Ruining America”, uses logos, personal anecdotes, and hyperbole to add depth to his argument and successfully prove his point that the children of affluent parents are systematically and unfairly advantaged when compared to the children of low-income families, and that this advantage is maintained through structural and cultural class barriers.…

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Living in a world where entitlement seems to be a growing problem, McCullough, in his “You’re Not Special” commencement speech attempts to open the eyes of the audience to the true reality of life. McCullough uses this pivotal moment in life, high school graduation, as a great tool to get his theory of everyone has the same worth; no matter the case. McCullough’s eye opening speech uses many things to prove his theory by listing numerous statistics and facts. McCullough’s use of emotion firmness in his idea really helps make him believable by striking down many counterarguments at the same time, tone and . The comparisons and references to historical national events and real life examples really make one think about how they think of themselves compared to the world.…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    MacLeod’s Finding’s: Norms, Values and Ideologies in Ain’t No Makin’ It In the study, Ain’t No Makin’ It, Jay MacLeod introduces us to two extremely distinct groups of male youth, the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers. The Hallway Hangers are a dominant group of teenagers who constantly rebel and openly resist the American ideology of education.…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The past three years, for which I have been a high school student, the unexpected has seemed to be inevitable. After years of being protected from the ‘real world’ and trying to develop a sense of self, students are expected to appropriately deal with both a constant fear of failure, and the daunting idea of the future. As a high school student, I face the constant struggle of balancing well-rounded academic achievements, a part-time job, and extracurricular activities, along with a social life – all of which are vital aspects to maintaining proper mental and physical health. Emily Dickinson, like many writers, wrote about her own interests and life experiences. These complex and uniquely executed poems directly relate to the everyday struggles,…

    • 1320 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How I Used Public-School While reading the essay “I Just Want to be Average,” by Mike Rose, I noticed how his schooling experience was opposite of mine, there were similarities that lied within our home life, as well as coming from poverty and then making it in the end. During my time in high school, I had my own battles to fight every day, I was homeless, had a hard time finding the courage to make it through class and was stealing the bare necessities to make it week to week. I overcame this with sports, finding my own courage and believing in a school official who didn’t let me down. Eventually, I found my place in high school, despite how unpromising it looked for me in the beginning.…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Paul McHenry Roberts “How to say nothing in 500 words”, I was caught up by the colorfully words strategy. As I understand by his explanation using colorful words does not mean using literary colors to pen down words rather to get depth and meaning out of the message that is to be conveyed. Using these words would in turn help the reader formulate better the scene that the writer is trying to convey. This is an effective way of author to audience communication I personally find this one of the most important strategies that any writer should follow because, being a writer the main purpose that we are writing for is to get our thoughts, opinions our visions across to our chosen audience just the way we formed it in our head.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What if each person walked around the earth naked? With no clothes, accessories or belongings to indicate social class? This is would be interesting to see because in the documentary, People Like Us, it was seen how much people judge each other by their outward appearance and personal belongings. The first thought about someone is made with the observers eyes, that first meeting could forever change the way you see that person. With that first encounter you walk away with a preconceived idea of their class level, income and social skills.…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In today’s world, people are constantly competing to be better than their peers in almost every situation. In each competition between people, there is always going to be one clear victor. Sure, the victor may have emerged solely from the competition, but he or she may still not be better than everybody else. It is how they carry out every opportunity for greatness that determines if they can be considered “the best”. In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Finny is motivated to be the best in the school through his sports and his ability to charm his way out of difficult situations.…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Publication Information: Rose, Mike. "I Just Wanna Be Average. " Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. By Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle.…

    • 1078 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his work, And Still We Rise, Miles Corwin shares his one year experience with twelve students in a gifted program at Crenshaw High School, a gang dominated, dilapidated and parlous institution in South Los Angeles, California.…

    • 1567 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In the John Hughes’ 1984 film, The Breakfast Club, there were a lot underlying social issues that are very relatable to teens in high school of that age range. The early 80’s film was centered around five teens who have in some way been stereotyped by not only their peers but also by their parents and other authority figures. The main theme for the film is to overcome stereotypes and develop a voice for one’s self. As we as self-confidence and self-acceptance. At the end of the film each characters opens up about who they are and realizes that they should no longer accept the standards their parents or peers have set for them and decide that it is time to take control of their own live and be who they believe they are as a young adult.…

    • 1953 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays