Brownies
In the story “Brownies,” ZZ Packer tells the story of a brownie troop away at camp. The story is about the brownie troop getting into trouble from assumptions they made about another brownie troop. The brownie troop were adolescents and their behaviors showed that. Adolescence is defined as a transitional stage of physical and psychological human development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to legal adulthood. (Wikipedia)This story has examples of persecution complex, myth of invulnerability and peer pressure.
Persecution complex is an acute irrational fear that other people are plotting one’s downfall (Rational Wiki). This is demonstrated in the story when Arenetta says that she heard a Troop 909 girl call Daphne, …show more content…
This phase is defined as the false sense that adolescents get from being protected from the mishaps and diseases that can happen to other people (coursehero). The example of this in the story is when the troop is making fun of Troop 909 for their odd actions. When troop 909 arrived at the camp, they were made fun on instantly. The brownie troop made fun of their sleeping bags, which had Disney characters on bags. They also ridiculed the Troop 909 still had stuffed toys and when they got off the bus they looked around as if they were in amazement of where they were. The next time they criticized Troop 909 was when they were dancing around a mound of hockey balls. “their limbs jangling awkwardly, their cries like the constant summer squeal of an amusement park (305).” Arenetta was eyeing the group as they were dancing and making fun of them. If the girls in Arenetta’s troop had been exposed to more types of people, they girls would have realized the Troop 909 girls were mentally disabled. The myth invulnerability can also explain why adolescents explore risks without first thinking about the consequences that with erupt. This refers to in the story when they make fun of Troop 909. Also when they plot to beat up Troop 909 they did not think of the consequences that would happen after they beat them …show more content…
Peer pressure is present a lot in adolescents, kids seem to go along with what their friends are doing so they can fit in with them. The best example of this is when Daphne does not answer Arenetta when she asks if she has heard the troop 909 girl call her a name. when she does not respond to Arenetta, she then gave her a hard look and Daphne then shook her head yes. Another good example is Arenetta asks if snot is going to tell on them if they had a secret meeting about getting back at troop 909. The whole troop was on Arenetta’s side so she then sided with them also. And lastly when they are leaving to beat up troop 909 snot and Daphne try and stay behind until Arenetta says “no, snot. If we get in trouble, you’re going to get in trouble with the rest of us (309).” Psychology studies show the adolescents are most likely to give into peer pressure because they cannot control their impulses to think ahead and can not resist pressure from others. This skill come gradually with age. “teens are very quick and accurate in making judgment on their own and in situations where they have time to
In the story “Brownies,” ZZ Packer tells the story of a brownie troop away at camp. The story is about the brownie troop getting into trouble from assumptions they made about another brownie troop. The brownie troop were adolescents and their behaviors showed that. Adolescence is defined as a transitional stage of physical and psychological human development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to legal adulthood. (Wikipedia)This story has examples of persecution complex, myth of invulnerability and peer pressure.
Persecution complex is an acute irrational fear that other people are plotting one’s downfall (Rational Wiki). This is demonstrated in the story when Arenetta says that she heard a Troop 909 girl call Daphne, …show more content…
This phase is defined as the false sense that adolescents get from being protected from the mishaps and diseases that can happen to other people (coursehero). The example of this in the story is when the troop is making fun of Troop 909 for their odd actions. When troop 909 arrived at the camp, they were made fun on instantly. The brownie troop made fun of their sleeping bags, which had Disney characters on bags. They also ridiculed the Troop 909 still had stuffed toys and when they got off the bus they looked around as if they were in amazement of where they were. The next time they criticized Troop 909 was when they were dancing around a mound of hockey balls. “their limbs jangling awkwardly, their cries like the constant summer squeal of an amusement park (305).” Arenetta was eyeing the group as they were dancing and making fun of them. If the girls in Arenetta’s troop had been exposed to more types of people, they girls would have realized the Troop 909 girls were mentally disabled. The myth invulnerability can also explain why adolescents explore risks without first thinking about the consequences that with erupt. This refers to in the story when they make fun of Troop 909. Also when they plot to beat up Troop 909 they did not think of the consequences that would happen after they beat them …show more content…
Peer pressure is present a lot in adolescents, kids seem to go along with what their friends are doing so they can fit in with them. The best example of this is when Daphne does not answer Arenetta when she asks if she has heard the troop 909 girl call her a name. when she does not respond to Arenetta, she then gave her a hard look and Daphne then shook her head yes. Another good example is Arenetta asks if snot is going to tell on them if they had a secret meeting about getting back at troop 909. The whole troop was on Arenetta’s side so she then sided with them also. And lastly when they are leaving to beat up troop 909 snot and Daphne try and stay behind until Arenetta says “no, snot. If we get in trouble, you’re going to get in trouble with the rest of us (309).” Psychology studies show the adolescents are most likely to give into peer pressure because they cannot control their impulses to think ahead and can not resist pressure from others. This skill come gradually with age. “teens are very quick and accurate in making judgment on their own and in situations where they have time to