809 Reading Log

  • The Grapes Of Wrath - John Steinback

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Critical Thinking Question: Who Has the “power” in Your Text? How Does That Power Get Shown? REVISED "Just Listen" by Sarah Dessen


            “Power,” such an odd expression. There’s electrical power, solar power, and then there’s power. This imaginary sense of energy everyone talks about, where it comes from no one knows.

The irony was that even though I’d seen Will and Sophie go through their drama enough times to know it by heart, i was still completely surprised when I suddenly found myself a part of it. One bad move on one night, and the next thing I knew it was me she was after-me who was the [s***], the [w****]-and me cut out, not only of her life, but one I’d come to know as my own, as well. Pg 125

I believe in the book I’m reading, “Just Listen” by Sarah Dessen, Annabel’s ex-best friend, Sophie has the “power.”
Sophie and Annabel had the ideal friendship. They did everything together and told each other everything. They were best friends since the sixth grade and were now in highchool. But Annabel gave up a lot for Sophie. She ignored people and she made fun of people, even those she used to be friends with, she basically became a bully, and that’s not saying she liked it. Annabel’s world was turned upside-down, inside out in every which way possible when the friendship ended. Once Sophie ended the friendship that she originally initiated, Annabel was kicked to the bottom of the popularity pyramid.
How does that power get shown… I think the question should be how is the power not seen. Sophie had control of Annabel’s life without even meaning to. She just did. When their friendship ended, all of Annabel’s other friendships did too. If Sophie was mean to her everyone else was too, if she calls her a name so did everyone else, if she even gave her the slightest dirty look everyone mimicked her. Sophie was like the nucleus in a cell, she told everyone what to do and everyone did it, just because. She had some type of control over everyone. Why? Because she had a way of manipulating everyone. Even her boyfriend was an example of why she had this power: he was the male version of Sophie, herself.
In school, there is always that one person that everyone talks about, but still wants to be friends with no matter what type of person they are. It happens everywhere, I mean come on there was at least one person that came to mind, it can’t be controlled. Power like this can be shown in the movie Cyberbully, where a teen is bullied by her ex-best friends to the point where she attempts to commit suicide. A bit extreme, but you understand what I’m trying to say. My point is, in the words of Eleanor Roosevelt,

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” And with this power that people hold over others and friends hold over each other, I just want everyone to be more aware of their actions and how they treat each other.

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