2.
Prompt: Coming of age in America is a chasm to cross, which is magnified by social unrest and inequalities.
Response Requirement:
a. How
does the Civil Rights era impact the teenage journey of Lily and
Zachary Taylor? In what ways does it present identity problems?
b. How does social climate affect growing teenagers’ identity and coming of age in one of the other books we've read this year?
When completing open-ended responses, remember to use RATE.
3.
The civil rights era is affecting Lily and Zach because they are two different races. Zach can not do all the things he wants to like Lily can. Whenever Lily and Zach go somewhere together, Lily is questioned why she is with Zach. According to the text, “She looked over me. ‘You’re new.’ ‘She’s staying with August.’ Zach explained. ‘You’re staying in her house?’” One of their honey customers says this, because she doesn’t think Lily, a white girl, belongs there. Lily then wonders if this lady will go telling everyone that someone of a different skin color is staying with August.
ReplyDeleteThis time period presents identity problems because Rosaleen is African American and because of this Lily is not supposed to look up to her as a mother. It must be confusing for Lily, because Rosaleen acts like her mother even though she works for Lily’s father. She says, “Rosaleen had worked for us since my mother died.” So it is as if Rosaleen replaced her real mother. Lily is looked at suspiciously, because she is traveling with an African American. People are confused why they are together. Normally African Americans are not bailed out of jail by young white girls, so since Lily did this it might cause people to watch them more and ask questions about them. Lily can not find who she is and come of age because of the conflicts that growing up in that time period gave her.
Social climate affects teenagers growing up in the book Diary of Anne Frank. She has to wear the star on her, indicating that she is Jewish. Since she has this star on her, she can’t do the things she wants to do, like Zach. When Anne’s family is stuck in the office building, Anne is not making friends or learning anything. Lily and Anne seem as if they are alike, because they are both hiding from people who have hurt them. Lily’s father said that he is going to find her and tear her to pieces. That makes Lily never wanting to go home again and just keep going forward. She can’t go to the police because the police are probably looking for her and Rosaleen. In this way Anne and Lily are the same, because they are both trapped with nowhere else to go.
Just because I'm black i can't date you because you are white. This is how it was in the Civil Rights era and because of this, the relationship between Lily and Zach was affected. The relationship was affected because Zach felt that he couldn't be in a relationship with Lily because she was white. On page 135, Zach says, "Lily, I like you better then any other girl I have known, but you have to understand, there are people that would kill boys like me for even looking at girls like you." This shows that although Zach likes Lily, he can't be in a relationship with her because he is black and she is white. Just because people are racist, Zach has to be quiet around white people and hide his true identity which is outgoing and nice. This reminds me of Anne Frank because for 2 years she had to stay in hiding and hide her true identity of being Jewish.
ReplyDeleteSocial climate affects the teenage growth of Francis Cassavant in the book heroes. Francis was affected when he had a big break up with Nicole. This relates to Lily because Lily wasn't able to grow up a normal teenager due to the death of her mom and having to live with her abusive father. Francis also ran away from life by going into the army at the age if 15. Lily also ran away, but from T-Ray, with Rosaleen. Both Francis' and Lilys' growth as a teenager was affected by big conflicts in their life.
Jackson thrust the bottle upon his face, shattering into a million pieces, like a snowball hitting a brick wall. Blood trickled down his face, curling under his chin like it were his tears. Being a kid is hard enough as it is. Being discriminated against for the color of your skin, and having to defend yourself drastically increases the magnitude of difficulty for being a kid. The text states, “I watched the policeman put Zach and the other three boys in his car. Driving away, he turned on his siren and red light, which seemed unnecessary, but I guess he didn’t want to disappoint the audience on the sidewalk.” This quote has great significance. If Lily got arrested, it would not be a big deal, but it is for Zach because he is African American. This must cause problems for Lily and Zach. Zach is probably not confident in himself and Lily probably feels guilty because she is not discriminated against. I think that this will definitely cause problems once Zach is released from jail.
ReplyDeleteThe Star of David sat on her shirt like a pimple on picture day. She was looked at funny, called names, and taunted in other ways. Anne Frank was affected by the social climate in the Netherlands. The text states, “The man holding the shovel handle walked right up to the truck bumper and stared at the boys with the same half smile, half sneer had seen on T-Ray’s face a hundred times, the sort of look conjured from power without benefit of love.” When one person thinks they are better than another because of something insignificant that greatly affects their life. In Anne Frank’s case, the social climate was so bad that she had to go into hiding. Anne was actually found, persecuted, and killed just because she was Jewish. This is similar to the way that Zach was persecuted. While Anne technically broke the law by hiding, she was arrested and killed for something that wasn’t even wrong. Zach’s case is similar, he was arrested because his friend did something wrong, not him, and he was likely persecuted mainly because of the color of his skin.
Zachary Taylor’s hand rubbed against Lily’s cold as an ice cube face. It calmed Lily and if she could choose, she would want his hand to stay there forever. Lily could feel it; she could feel it whenever she was with him. It was a feeling that she had never felt; a feeling she was starting to like. Lily had a crush. A crush on … Zachary Taylor. Lily was a 14 year old white girl while Zach was a junior in high school and was colored. Living the civil rights era it impacted the teenage journey of Lily and Zach in a negative way. It prevented them from being together. On page 135 it states, “Finally he unwound my arms and said, ‘Lily, I like you better than any girl I’ve ever known, but you have to understand, there are people who would kill boys like me for even looking at girls like you.’” This shows that due to their identity no matter how much they like each other it prevents them from being together as a couple. Today, some people still face the problems of not being able to be together because of their appearance but, not as bad as it used to be.
ReplyDeleteAll Lily could hear were her ears ringing with terrible words. Words such as, “did you ever see one so black.” And “your black ass is gonna apologize one way or another.” (as said on page 32 and 36) The words pounded and pounded against her heart like your heartbeat when you just finished a really hard work out. She didn’t know what to do but, she hated to see Rosaleen beat up like that. This is an example of some challenges with social climate in the book, the secret life of bees. This affects growing teenagers’ identity because teenager, like Lily, we always remember these words that were said, or actions that occurred. In the book, the diary of Anne Frank, Anne faces a very similar challenge. The social climate of Jews verse Christians is affecting Anne, who is like any other teenager. Instead, of enjoying her one and only teenage experience she is forced to hide is a secret chamber (with people she barely knows at first.) All in all, in a perfect life, social climate shouldn’t matter and every one should be able to enjoy growing up as a teenager. Though, as many may know the world is still not perfect today and social climate is still an issue.
Love is very strong and sometimes things get in the way of it. That thing for Lily and Zach is the racial gap between blacks and whites. The Civil Rights era impacted the teenage journey of Lily and Zachary Taylor because it restricted them from loving each other. They can’t love each other because if they are seen together, their reputation might be damaged. It represents identity problems because black and white people aren’t supposed to interact with each other. T-Ray would discourage Lily and Zach together because then all of his friends would make fun of him like he was a fool for letting his daughter date a black boy. On page 135 Zachary says, “Lily I like you more than any other girl I’ve known, but you have to understand, there are people who would kill boys like me for even looking at girls like you.” Zach is trying to say that his black friends would kill him if they knew he liked her because they hated white people for how they treated them. White people are cruel to black people and it sounds so strange to even think about both races loving each other. Zach loving Lily would ruin his reputation. There is a problem similar to this today, with gay marriage. Some people think that gay marriage is wrong and against normality. If you were gay, your friends mat not like you anymore because it is not normal, just like a black boy and a white girl loving each other.
ReplyDeleteThings that happen when you are a teenager are like glue to your brain. They just stick around for the rest of your life. Social climate affects Francis’s growing identity and coming of age when he didn’t stop Larry from hurting Nicole. Francis was scarred for life and he had a rough time growing up. One of the biggest impacts this had on his life was that it caused him to attempt suicide. He then decided that he would go to war to die, but ended up surviving. He had a terrible time trying to keep his identity undercover after the war. He is going through all these hardships through his life just because of one wrong choice. This is a mental scar on his life that he lives with, but many kids all around the world today live with physical disabilities. Their life is changed forever because of these just like Francis’s life is different every day because he didn’t stop one thing.
SK8-9
Two people who are in love are separated by the prejudicial era they live in. Being as uncommon as it is, a black man and women married would be judged because of the twisted people and ideas caused by their era. Lily loved Zach since the day she met him. She was surprised to be in love with an African American because it was not encouraged in her upbringing. As stated on page 134, “Lily, I like you better than any girl I’ve ever known, but you have to understand, there are people who would kill boys like me for even looking at girls like you.” Zachary explains to Lily how the world would view their relationship. Lily doesn’t realize that Zachary would be judged by a lot of people for being her boyfriend. In sixth grade I did a report on the story of Emmett Till. Emmett was a 14 year old, African American boy who lived in Chicago. In the summer of 1955, Emmitt went to visit relatives in Mississippi. Life was much different in the South than where he lived in the North, but he wasn’t aware of how different. He was at a grocery store one day, while noticing a pretty white girl. He flirted with her and people were disgusted that he would even look at a white girl, being an African American. A couple days later, two white men kidnapped him in the middle of the night, beat him and then shot him in the head. Emmitt was killed for just looking at a white girl, just like Zach said he would be for looking at Lily.
ReplyDeleteFriends you used to have now walk on the other sidewalk from you. They ignore and judge you all because of your religion. Why would they do that, you never judged them for being Christian? Anne Frank was only a teenager when she was affected by the Holocaust. She was a Jewish girl who didn’t understand why the world was covered in hate. Still growing, she had to learn at a young age that she would be judged and mistreated because of her religion. As stated in the text, “‘Where you going?’ ‘To register my name so I can vote.’ ‘Did you hear that? We got ourselves a model citizen.’” This conversation was between the white men that were making fun of Rosaleen when she tried to vote. Rosaleen was called names by people of the opposite and Jews in the Holocaust were made fun of by people of the opposite religion. Lily was with Rosaleen while she was being made fun of, and only being a teenager, Lily had to learn early about these horrible things, just as Anne experienced them. Being white, Lily’s race was the one’s that made all this hate toward African Americans. Being Jewish, Anne’s religion was horribly treated and killed from the Nazis. Two very different girls of similar age’s lives’ were molded around the social climate they were surrounded in. Anne didn’t ever escape from her experiences, in fact they killed her. Anne died in a concentration camp that she was sent to in the Holocaust. Lily can now realize the way people are being treated and make a difference. I find these girls to have similar strength. The things Anne had to face may not even be comparable to what Lily has to face, but both girls experienced a lot and tried to stay strong throughout it all.
Zach dreams ever so strongly about becoming a lawyer. But with racial slurs most likely hitting him in the gut everyday his dream slowly dies. As for Lily, she wants to become as close as she can with the Calendar Sisters but June’s dislike for her creates a crevice between that relationship. When Zach says he doesn’t have a bright future, Lily asks why, telling him he’s not an orphan and he replies with “‘No... I’m a Negro’” Showing how bad the identity problem was for people like Zachary. He thinks he can’t be what he wanted to be because of his skin color. And so it’s horrible that Zach cannot live his dreams just because they do not accept his color in which his self-esteem is depleted. As for Lily when June emphasized that Lily was white is surprised her greatly that she would say that because Lily thought she was good friends with all the Boatwrights. But then Lily over hears June saying “But she’s white, August.” and is hurt by it. It presents identity problems because it shouldn’t matter what skin color is. You should judge a person by how they act. Like the way June acted was unruly so I can see why June and Lily have a small antagonistic relationship.
ReplyDeleteHe joined the war to die. Francis wanted to die honorably and when it didn’t happen he wanted to kill Larry LaSalle for what he had done. The traumatic experience that Francis went through changed his whole identity. He hid himself because he didn’t want others to know it was him. Which in turn he faked his name, and age and as the Daughter’s of Mary had said “Not one of them knew.” And not only does this refer to the people around Francis, it refers to Francis himself. He had lost who he really was because he thought that killing his childhood hero was the right way to get revenge after his experience. And like Lily, it was the journey that lead him to change himself back to the way he was and to let the past go.
#sk8-14
The Civil Rights era drives a wedge in between the possible relationship that Lily and Zach could have as friends or even more. This time period presents identity problems because it filters people in so they can only converse and interact with their own race."Lily, I like you better than any girl I've ever known, but you have to understand, there are people who would kill boys like me for even looking at girls like you." This quote that Zach told Lily defines the borderline between their different races that is very difficult to cross. If Zach and Lily lived in the present tense, they would be allowed to be friends or have relationships together. Overall, the Civil Rights era has shaped personalities by restricting who can associate with who, and has majorly affected Zach and Lily by making it a huge hurdle to overcome if they want to be in any type of relationship.
ReplyDeleteSocial climate affected Francis Cassavants' identity because the "great crusade for freedom" led him to join the war as a way to die honorably and then the other veterans considered him one of them when he was in the bar with them. This affect of the social climate is similar to Lily's problems that are arising from her living with people who are black when she is white. "Here is the translation: I am completely confused what a white girl like you is doing staying in a colored house." This quote of what Lily was thinking when the police officer was questioning her about why she was living with black people when she was white shows that whites and blacks aren't supposed to socialize, and especially not live with each other. These two examples show very well how the social climate both in the book Heroes and The Secret Life of Bees has affected both Lily and Francis lives' and changed their identities like a volcano eruption changes a landscape.
The Civil rights movement was a time in American history when African Americans stood up for what is right and tried to end segregation. African Americans did succeed in ending the segregation laws, but they did not fill the gap that was created social between the two races. The civil rights era impacts Lily and Zach because it doesn’t allow the two teens to date each other because they are different skin colors. This causes identity problems because the teens may become swayed by the outside world and may start to think that the relationship will never work out because of the skin color differences. On page 135 the text states “But you have to understand, there are people who would kill a boy like me for even looking at a girls like you.” This shows that they cannot be more than friends because of the gap between races. In today’s society teens do not have to worry about your girlfriend’s or boyfriend’s skin color. America is much more open minded.
ReplyDeleteTeens all over the world are impacted every day by the social climate of the world. When these teen are impacted it causes them to not form their own identity and opinion, but the identity and opinion of the world around them. Francis Cassavant in the book Heroes faces that same struggle because he wants to be like the older boys and go off to war, but he is too young. In the book The Secret Life of Bees, Lily, the protagonist in the book, cannot understand how and African American boy could be attractive. On page 116 the story says “I was shocked over him being handsome.” This shows that Lily was impacted by the social climate of the world. I feel that social climate still acts like the brain of teens. The social climate of the world greatly impacts teens.
The civil rights impact lily and zach because they like each other. Lily's white and zach's not. if there caught together in the public Who now's what will happen. So its hard to like someone thats black during the civil rights movement.
ReplyDeleteThis generation is all about social media. All you hear about is " did you like My selfie?"
You need to be social to be noticed. People don't talk that much anymore. Now its phones and stuff. So social climate does effect teenagers.
Young love has been questioned and fantasized about for as long as we can remember. Lily and Zach however, even though this may be young love, they have to deal with it very differently. Not only will they not be accepted as two people who love each other, they will be hurt both physically and emotionally by the racists of this time era. Zach says “Guys like me aren’t supposed to be with girls like you.”. This shows that they are both trying to figure out who they belong to and where they belong. Even though society isn’t allowing them to be witch each other, part of their search for identity involves finding who deserves to be with them and who will care. The racism of this era impacts the teenage journey of Lily and Zach in many ways, but the biggest way is how one of the biggest parts of growing up, finding love, is being restricted by the racism.
ReplyDeleteIn the other books that we have read throughout the year, the climate that had the most effect on the search of identity was definitely Anne Frank. Living in the circumstances that she did obviously had an amazingly large impact on her search to find herself. People made it seem like her religion made her not good enough or at last not as good enough as the other people of different religions, being confined the way that she was must of taken out a lot of her ability it grow and be who she really wanted to be in life. Being a teenager myself know that it is one of the most difficult times you can go through in life, and being surrounded by the fact that you might die and being surrounded by negativity, doesn’t help you find yourself