Self Esteem

Have you ever imagined you had a birth defect? Whatever you just imagined, August has it worse. In Wonder, a book by R. J. Palacio August Pullman is born with a special gene that has disfigured August’s face. Wonder is about how August has to make new friends and deal with bullies. August is always bringing up how other people look at him. These looks often make him feel unwanted, lowering his self-esteem.  His low self-esteem makes it hard for August to make friends. You need high self-esteem to make friend. Only with high self-esteem will you be able to be yourself, and not pretend to be something you’re not.

At first August is always being stared at. He says that he doesn’t like the awkward glances, but that he’s used to the looks. However, sometimes they really bother him. For example, during the school art show all of the parents were glancing at him. All of the weird sideways glances make  August feel uncomfortable and unusual, lowering his self-esteem. August wasn’t making any friends because of his low self-esteeme, but then Jack, a kid in his class, stood up for him, punching a bully who was teasing August. This made August’s self-esteem rise, and people started seeing the real version of August. Consequentially, August began to make new friends. 

I’ve always tried to be the kid with high self-esteem.  I try to keeps out of other people’s problems and just be myself and have a good time. That’s worked for me. I stay out of Facebook and social networking, and try to avoid from other people’s conflicts. However, I have witnessed low self-esteem and how it causes people to try to be something they’re not. For example, at my summer camp a few years ago there was a kid named Bihn who had a few mental disabilities. Everybody else in our bunk already knew each other, but we did not know him very well.  Bihn acted out in inappropriate ways to draw attention to himself, and become our friend, because he felt excluded and he didn’t have the self-esteem to just be himself. But contrary to Bihn’s intentions, his actions got us in trouble, making us predisposed not to like him before we even got to know him. Bihn’s low self-esteem caused him to act as somebody he was not, making us predisposed to dislike him because of his inauthenticity and immature actions. This shows how low self-esteem causes people to lose or fail to create important and necessary friendships. 

Great Gastby Reading Response

     Over the summer of 2013 I read several books including The Great Gatsby a short book written from the perspective of the neighbor of a rich young man named Gatsby, and the incredible story of his life. Gatsby who was a well ranked officer during the first world war, was rewarded with an education at any university he pleased, he chose oxford, but dropped out before the year had even ended. So he became an "Oxford Man" when he arrived back home he moved east, and made a fortune in dirty business. After a long and intertwined relationship with a previous lover Gatsby killed himself after claiming responsibility for a murder his lover accidentally committed. This book which has been banned in some parts of the country for being inappropriate for children should none the less be read. This book does have some scenes at parties, that get violent, or people who are drunk making bad influences, as well as the final idea of succeed being revealed, but this book displays all of those ideas in bad light, teaching children how unnecessary and dangerous these actions are. However this book was fabulously well written and It should be read by both children and adults of all ages. One other problem is that the book ends quite abruptly with the unexpected suicide, and the book is cut off abruptly ending a fabulous story, as if the author had a deadline, and he was about to go over, so he wrote a short sad ending, that didn't exactly fulfill the books potential.