Is it Really Summer Without the Beach or the Boys?

On January 17, 2023January 20, 2023 By nyah tIn Book Update, Characterization, NovelsLeave a comment

Jenny Han’s “It’s Not Summer Without You” has quite complex characters. Following Sussanah’s death in the previous book, titled “The Summer I Turned Pretty“, Conrad, Jeremiah, and Belly must figure out their emotions as their lives go through many changes. It could be argued that Belly is the most complex character, after struggling to find herself after losing so many people, but I would argue that Jeremiah is the most complex character in the series.

Often overlooked, Jeremiah has struggled the most all by himself. Growing up, it was revealed that Conrad was always his father’s favorite child. Of course, he was fine with being his mother’s favorite, but it had always hurt to see Conrad getting more attention regarding sports and creating a real bond with his father. Growing up like this led Jeremiah to respect and even love his dad even more while looking past the neglect he was presented with in his childhood.

Now, Conrad has run away from his problems in order to save the last piece of his mother; the beach house. This led Belly and Jeremiah to follow him up to Cousins and convince him to go back to university and finish the semester. But, with Conrad’s stubbornness and Jeremiah’s persistence, Belly is stuck between the two.

I Know What You Did Last Summer-Characters and Conflicts

On November 6, 2022November 6, 2022 By OLAF A.In Book Update, Characterization1 Comment

I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan is a young-adult suspense/mystery novel about four teenagers who did something last summer, and now are facing the consequences. While this book personally does not induce much fear, it does have great characters and a page-turning mystery to it that never seems to stop going.

The most successful part of this book is certainly the characters, as well as the internal conflicts that they each have. Obviously there is the main conflict of the story, but there are also individual conflicts that are unique to each character, who are all dynamic and round in their own unique ways. One example of these conflicts is with Ray Bronson, a nonathletic, non-popular guy who had big expectations in his life. He moved out of town after the incident, thinking he could get away from it, but it never escaped him and he returned grizzled yet determined to find a way to rid himself of the guilt. Another good example of a rounded character with internal conflicts is Julie James, the first protagonist we meet, who feels the most guilt about the incident, and also is the most impacted by it. She has a weak relationship with a new guy she met, went through a total change of personality after the incident, and has parent issues. All of the characters are very well designed and believable, even if they do fit into certain stereotypes, such as Barry being the Dumb Jock, or Helen being the Pretty Blond Girl. The book is able to make them seem believable and realistic too, not conforming too much into their typical characteristics too much. Overall, the book has great characterization, and every person that we meet feels real and alive. Even if the mystery may seem a bit slow at first, the characters and their own internal conflicts will be able to hook readers right from the beginning.

“Tags” Argumentative Essay

On October 17, 2022October 23, 2022 By FINN L.In Characterization, Coming of Age, Short Stories, Uncategorized1 Comment

The short story, “Tags” by Walter Dean Myers presents the ghost of Big Eddie as a round and dynamic character. To start off, Big Eddie is shown to have emotions inside of himself, even though he is in the afterlife. The story is set in a place where the dead walk upon the living, with “Tags” being the way people could remember the deceased. Big Eddie confirms this by saying, ‘”When that old dude told me you could still be in the world as long as people kept you in their minds, I knew what I had to do. They see these tags and they remember”‘ (Pg.74). Eddie explains how he knows that if someone makes tags, people in the non-deceased world remember them. This reveals how Big Eddie is someone who has hidden emotions by hinting that he fears being forgotten in the world, further developing his character. Additionally, Big Eddie explains how he died, which is able to make the reader to figure out more clues about the character. Big Eddie claims, ‘”I told this dude to meet me in the park and he said okay. When he showed with the money, I tried to take him off, and he flashed a badge on me.’ ‘A cop.’ ‘Yeah. I had my piece out and was about to hit the dude, when his partner shot me”‘ (Pg.74-75). Big Eddie opens up that he was someone who was killed by a police officer for selling drugs and attempted assault. This unlocks the fact that Big Eddie was someone who was caught up in the criminal lifestyle and paid the heavy price. This is able to make Big Eddie much less admirable, but a much more depth character. To finish off, Big Eddie is able to show more feelings about himself, unlocking a new door in his mind. In the story, different characters are explaining to each other how they died, with a few of them freaking out about what happened. Big Eddie does not freak out but he does say this, “‘Being alive ain’t tagging. Being alive is walking the damned streets, and making love, and listening to some music. This is just hanging on to what you know already is gone. This ain’t nothing like no life”‘ (Pg.83). Eddie realizes that this life in the afterworld is much more than being alive. This predicts that Big Eddie regrets his actions that caused him his death. He realizes that the rest of his afterlife is in shame and pain. He can never go back, which makes the reader come back to respect him once again because he is ashamed of his actions. These pieces of evidence prove that Big Eddie from “Tags” is a round character in the story.