HW 25: Story Comments and Analysis

Kate,

I liked how you used the image of a rich girl, one that is usually portrayed as mean and snotty, but instead twisted her character to someone who is considerate and sympathizes with others. I like how you had her break out of her mask and still ended up cool despite the change. As a result, her change has encouraged others to look past their own masks and reveal themselves as well.

Rachel,

I liked how you portrayed the girl as someone who is mysterious and isn't social. Usually, people associate social skills with popularity. But in this case, your character was popular even when she didn't express interest in getting to know anyone.

Maggie,

Yeah, I'm wondering the same thing as Kate. Your vision of a cool person seems to be a nonchalant character, one who chooses comfort over fashion. Her mysterious attitude intrigues others and the more she ignores them the more attention she gets from them because they're not used to being treated this way. Instead, she finds more interest in the guy who was keeping to himself. Being different is cool.

Jia Min,

I really enjoyed reading your story. It was very descriptive and inspiring. Your character is cool in the way that she is fearless and isn't afraid of standing up for others. She's a good role model and is willing to go out of her way to help others. She wise and talented. Her personality and stature naturally demands attention and admiration.

Henry,

I liked how you started off your story. Your character didn't dominate from the get-go as you said, but she manages to take over with her lack of drama. You can clearly see that she doesn't show respect to those she doesn't think deserve it, and respect (or a smile) to those who do. She is confident in her attitude and could care less about what others think of her.

The pattern is obvious. Even though each of them portrays it in a different way, Henry's, Jia Min's and Kate's are all about challenging taboo situations such as standing up to bullies or giving a teacher attitude. Because they're fearless in handling a situation the way they believe it should be handled, their actions usually differ from the typical ones of other high schoolers. As a result, many others view this type of uniqueness as cool. In Kate's and Jia Min's story, the characters are portrayed as heros. And heros are always cool.

Henry's example had a girl who smirked at comments about her and treated the teacher like he didn't have anything above her. Her careless behavior is also translated in Rachel's and Maggie's stories. Rachel had a girl who was quiet and mysterious. She wasn't shy though. She just didn't show any interest in getting to know anyone. Maggie's character was the same although her character seemed to be trying harder to ignore the people around her.

A lot of the stories seem to have the protagonist showing kindness to at least one person who deserved it. Henry's smiled at the narrator at the end of his story. Maggie's gave a note to the boy who was by himself at the end. Kate's helped out the bullied girl while she turned against the mean kids. Rachel's gave a smile when the narrator introduced herself. And Jia Min's, similar to Kate's, helped out a wounded boy as she chased away the bullies. These characters seem to know exactly who they should or should not give respect to. They're confident and have no trouble flipping off the ones who they feel don't deserve their respect.