The Last Lecture

Many people have fears regarding the act of growing up. For a small group of people, during their teenage years, these fears of innocence lost can be crippling, constantly affecting actions and moods (Participial phrase). They are reluctant to give up the innocence of the past and accept the cold, hard reality of the adult world. Holden Caulfield is one of these people. J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, follows Holden’s actions over three days throughout New York City as he attempts…

Three Days in New York Holden Caulfield is a seventeen year old very depressed man. He is grieving over the death of his younger brother. Holden goes to Pencey Prep, a private school. After receiving the notice that he is getting kicked out for failing four out of his five classes, he goes to New York for three days. While there, he sneaks into his parents apartment, and enjoys seeing his little sister, Phoebe. She 's the only person in the book, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, that…

“4 Minute Mile” is a movie that goes through the life of a troubled teen who uses track to escape his social status. Throughout the movie, the boy overcame struggles and experienced failure, but with the support of one individual he overcame those hard-ships. Drew needed guidance, and he needed a strive for something. At the beginning of the movie, Drew’s dad overdosed on drugs, leaving his older brother to be the “man” of the house, and his mom was never really seen. Drew was growing up in an…

¨Catcher in the Rye¨ by J.D. Salinger is a beloved American novel, it gives an inside look into the mind of an American teen who is dealing with struggles that lead into his quest to be recognized as an adult or a valuable member of society. In “Catcher In The Rye”, Holden faces the pain of dejection, grief over his beloved brother, unwelcome pressure into adulthood, and battles his own demons all while traveling the streets of New York on a quest of self-healing and exploration. “When a…

Finding the Right Path Students do not understand what a major impact teachers can have on their lives as a whole. The novel Siddhartha was written by Herman Hesse in 1951. Siddhartha is a novel about a young man, who, through much trial and error, faces troubles in finding his way down the path to enlightenment, or Nirvana. Nirvana is a term that is most commonly tied to the religion, Buddhism. It is best defined as a state of total self contentment and an emptiness in feelings. Throughout the…

Children often develop an urge to go against social norms and expectations when they are faced with the issue of growing up and maturing. The reason behind this rebellious behavior is widely debated upon among thinkers and scholars, one of which is Albert Camus, a twentieth century philosopher and writer who argued that the reason behind adolescent rebellion lies in the fact that young children often have tendencies to maintain their usual habits and innocence while avoiding the responsibility…

Holden on to Innocence (Formalist Approach) Through his emotional roller coaster across Manhattan, Holden Caulfield insists on obtaining something that is impossible: the ability to preserve innocence. From the start of the novel, J.D. Salinger straps us in and keeps us gripping on to the bars by revealing detail after detail of Holden’s life, allowing us to better understand his unwillingness to desert the comfort of innocence and conform to adulthood. For example, while speaking to his younger…

The Truth: Behind Gunnar Kaufman’s Eyes Paul Beatty’s hilarious and humorous apprising of Gunnar Kaufman in The White Boy Shuffle is about an inopportune surfer bum who moved from the house that he grew up in, in Santa Monica, to a town called Hillside in West Los Angeles. Throughout his life, Gunnar was only surrounded by people who were dependent on him and who tried to control him. So he does not take charge of his life and because of this, Gunnar is heavily affected by mental stress…

final wish. “He heard a harsh laugh behind him, and turning round saw the old King looking at him with a malicious expression. "Well, my friend! You don't seem to have managed so wonderfully with your first two wishes, do you? What will you do with the last? Turn yourself into a swan? Or turn Leita back into a girl?" "I shall do neither," said Mr. Peters calmly. "Human beings and swans are better in their own shapes (Aiken,3)". Surely, the most significant evidence that demonstrates the theme…

In J.D Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is the main character and he could be classified as being depressed. For several reasons being, Caulfield shows signs of being depressed. He is doing poorly in school, he abuses the use of cigarettes, and doesn’t ever feel like anyone can ever live up to his expectations. “As many as 8.3 percent of teens suffer depression for at least a year at a time, compared to about 5.3 percent of the general population.” (“Teen”). In the…